Beyond the Mirror
Copyright© 2012/2014
Chapter 31
JJ woke Tom just after they flew over the last of the mountains west-northwest of Calgary.
“Tom, wake up, please.”
“Oh, what’s up?”
“Liz would like you to handle the landing at Calgary. There’ll be a fair amount of traffic at this time of night, and she’s never landed there before.”
“Oh, okay. It’s been a couple of years for me, but if I remember correctly, the air traffic control there is top-notch.”
“They should be; they handle enough traffic. Once we’re down, I’ll come forward and direct you to Dunn-Redding’s hangar. Don and Jesse have already arranged to have someone there to meet us, so we won’t even go close to the terminal.”
“Great! That means no media scrum tonight,” Tom was smiling as he headed for the cockpit.
As soon as he saw Tom coming, Russ slipped out of the left seat, and Liz looked up at Tom.
“Did you have a good snooze?” she asked with a smile.
“Yep, have you called in yet?”
“No, I thought I’d let you do that.”
“Okay, we ought to be on their radar by now, so I’ll do it,” he keyed the radio. “YYC, this is Learjet CGXAX, incoming from your west-northwest.”
“CGXAX, this is YYC, we have you on transponder and radar... “ came the return, along with instructions on which vector to fly and which runway to use.
It was only a few more minutes before they were landing. Then JJ stood near Tom’s shoulder to help him find his way to the Dunn-Redding hangar. Don and Jesse were there to meet them, but no one else was there.
“Hi Tom,” Don greeted him as he stepped down from the plane. “Jesse is here to pick up JJ, Ann, and your two pilots to take them to JJ’s house for tonight. I’m here to give you, Sandy, Linda, and David a ride, but we’re going to Grandpa and Grandma Redding’s house. I didn’t tell Mom and Dad that you folks were coming tonight, but Grandpa and Grandma know, and they invited the family over for the evening. Unfortunately, Brenda had to go to a school function of some sort, and Em took her there, so I don’t think they’ll make it tonight, but we want you to have dinner at our house either tomorrow or Saturday evening.”
“Hi Don. Hi Jess, and I’ll bet I’m going to be in for a hassle with Dad tonight,” Tom rolled his eyes. “By the way, you both remember Sandy, don’t you? And, this is Linda and our son David. Linda Schultz, my brother Don, and my nephew Jess.”
“Well, of course, I remember Sandy! She was here with you about a month or so ago. Hi Linda, and I can see that David is your son, since he looks like you, but I don’t know your pilots.”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Liz and Russ Smith, this is my eldest brother, Don, and JJ’s son, Jess.”
After the greetings were done, they all hopped into the two vans that Don and Jesse drove. Then they circled halfway around the city from the airport on the northeast to the Redding acreage on the southwest, and since Calgary was a sprawling city, that drive took a while. In fact, it was after eight before they parked the two vans in front of Tom’s grandparents’ home and went inside.
That meet and greet was interesting to say the least. Ann and JJ hadn’t been away from Calgary for long enough to draw much attention, while Sandy and Tom had visited recently, so Linda and David drew the most attention. Thankfully, Sandy had spent some time preparing Linda for what she would face that evening, and David had slept through most of the flight, as well as the following drive across town, so he was bright and happy.
Tom was astonished to see that his grandparents had even dug out the old crib and highchair that they’d used as a baby when they had babysat Jesse as a child.
“Every one of our grandchildren and great-grandchildren has used that crib and highchair when they’ve visited us,” Tom’s grandma told Linda proudly, then got in a friendly dig at Ann. “Of course, some of our grandchildren are being a little slow about providing us with more great-grandchildren to spoil.”
“Oh, don’t be too hard on her, Grandma Gladys,” Sandy winked. “I think she’s working on the first prerequisite for that responsibility by finding a guy. I know she’s met someone who both Tom and I like, and she’s already acting a little jealous of others when they comment about him.”
“She sure does,” Linda grinned. “I think he is a nice guy too, but as I told her, I have my hands busy with David, a new job, and a new house, so I’m not competition.”
Ann just rolled her eyes and shook her head, but didn’t comment. Tom’s dad did, though.
“I can see why you would hang on Tom’s coattails for those benefits, though,” he snorted.
Tom planned to ignore the snide comment, but Sandy didn’t.
“Jack, there are times when I simply do not understand you. Tom is going out of his way to make sure his son does not grow up to be fatherless like you did, so I would have thought that you would be proud of what he is doing. Instead, you make snide comments that make you seem to be a lot less of a man than I know you are,” she shook her head and sighed. “I can tell you that I’m proud of what Tom’s doing. In fact, I’m so proud that I’m going to make sure Linda and David are part of our lives, and when my baby is born, I’m going to be happy that he or she has an older brother.”
Tom knew his dad was about to react to that, but David intervened by turning in his mother’s arms and looking toward Tom, babbling, “Da-da-da-dad.”
“Oh, so you want to see me do you, Davy?” Tom moved closer just as David smiled and reached out a tiny hand.
“When did you say he was born?” Tom’s mom asked.
“About fourteen months ago,” Linda grinned as Tom took David from her. “Mom thinks he should be crawling by now, but he hasn’t managed that yet; instead, he squirms along like a worm. As for talking, he learned Mum-mum a few weeks ago, then he started calling his granny Nu-nu-nu, which is short for Nana, and my Dad became Pu-pu-pu not long after that, so I guess he’s a talker, not a walker.”
“Oh, he may take after his father,” Tom’s grandma joined the conversation. “Tom didn’t do much crawling when he was young; instead, he went from wriggling and rolling to standing and walking in a few weeks. Then he went from toddling to running and climbing in almost no time, and I don’t think he’s ever slowed down. Come to think of it, he was quick to learn to talk, and he was the same way about his dad as well. When Tom was about two, if he saw Jack walk into the room, he would charge over to his dad, holding out his arms, wanting to be picked up and talking a mile a minute. Now let’s see if he’ll come to me or if he makes a fuss about a new face.”
David didn’t fuss at all; instead, he seemed fascinated by his great-grandmother’s long white hair. Only minutes later, Tom found himself squeezed out of the group of women who were talking about kids. He wandered over to talk with his Grandpa and his Uncle Tom since he hadn’t spoken to them in a while. Then, Don and JJ joined the group.
They had a short chat, then Grandpa Redding turned to JJ, “I’m sorry, JJ, we weren’t able to purchase that kit house you wanted. Morris Kit Housing went bankrupt and sold all their unfinished homes to Western Double Wide.”
“Yeah, Don called me about that, and it’s not a major worry. Instead, what interests Jim Burke and I now are the larger buildings on the Morris site because I understand the land has been sold to a company that builds condos, and the site has to be cleared,” JJ frowned slightly. “Do you happen to have any information on the size and construction of their production buildings? We heard they had two buildings that were large enough to be used as hangars, so White Out is interested in buying them. That is if they go cheap enough and if they can be dismantled, moved, and rebuilt.”
“Oh, I think with minor adaptation, you could use the buildings as hangars because they’re certainly large enough. The two biggest ones are listed to be a hundred and twelve feet wide by two hundred and forty feet long, and they each have twenty-four-foot-high walls. The roof is laid over a bolted truss unit that uses three sections per truss, so it breaks down into pieces that are about forty feet long. As well as that, the corrugated steel sheathing is fastened to the steel studs with machine screws, so the whole building can be taken down in sections and transported by flatbed tractor-trailer units,” Tom’s grandpa smiled. “You should know there are four buildings there, two large and two smaller ones. I don’t have the dimensions of the two smaller buildings, but I understand they’re about half as wide and a bit over half as long. I’m not sure of the exact sizes of those, though.”
“Well, what are the comparable costs between demolition of those buildings and buying new buildings, then having them delivered to Bear Creek? That will give you an idea of what to bid, but take into mind any time constraints and haulage costs as well,” Tom snapped quickly. “To be honest, unless you can get both buildings for a very low price and have them in Bear Creek in early April, I think it will be more hassle than it’s worth.”
“Well, I was thinking of a limit of 10% over scrap steel value for my bid,” JJ shrugged. “As I said, Don told me they had some buildings for sale, so I talked to Jim about them this morning. He thought that was a decent price for used steel buildings, but he wanted you to look at them, Tom. He wanted you to see if you thought they’d be useful to us.”
“I can’t see why they wouldn’t be useful to you,” Jack snorted. “They’re top-quality steel construction, and they’re all less than ten years old. They’ve been well maintained, and they have a clear span floor. Just beef up the front truss, then use wider doors, and you’d have a hangar that will handle any machine you own now. Hell, if you don’t want to use them yourself, you could probably make money on a resale.”
“As for demolition, I’m positive we could have all four buildings down, loaded on trailers, and out of Calgary well before the end of the month,” Don commented. “I have a crew of ten men and a foreman I can put on the job of tearing down the buildings and loading the sections on flatbed trailers. The foreman will get full wages, but construction jobs are still scarce at this time of year, so I can get ten steel workers to do the job quite cheaply, perhaps 25 to 30% over minimum wage. As well as that, I’m able to provide a small crane to use for removal of the roof trusses and loading the trucks. Now, considering demo costs, let’s say twenty-five to thirty-grand for labour, seven to ten-grand for the crane, and fifteen to twenty-grand for haulage. So, we’re talking about fifty, maybe sixty grand tops for demo and moving costs. I was out there last week and looked the place over, then I talked to a couple of scrap dealers about the building’s value. If it were me, I’d figure scrap value at somewhere between a quarter and a half mil, so knock off a hundred-grand for costs. I’d offer them a quarter-mil and see if that bid would fly before going any higher.”
“Cripes, are you sure? That’s about half of what Jim thought they’d want for one building, not full price for all four.” JJ frowned.
“That’s what they want, bro, not what they’re liable to get, and since they’re under pressure to clear the site by next month, I wouldn’t go much higher,” Don shrugged. “The sheer size of the buildings and the time constraints are scaring off the scrap dealers. I’d be willing to bet that if we offer a quarter-mil, we’ll be the high bid, and if we get it, I can have men in there on Monday. We’ll cover the labour cost for now, and White Out can pay us back in installments, no interest either, but we might call on you for a flight or two to move some of our equipment out in BC.”
“Hell, if we can get all four buildings for under half a mil, I’ll put up a quarter of the price personally, and I’ll pay you for the labour out of my pocket, Don. If I do that though, I’d like you to arrange for the demolition, as well as the loading and haulage, then we can settle for that when the job is done,” Tom nodded. “JJ, if we go that way, I’ll want to take the two smaller buildings myself, then set up at least one out at the lease, but I might put the other one at either Misery Flats or Bear Creek. Once I get things settled at the lease this summer, I’m going for my rotary license, then I’ll be using my Jet Ranger for transport, so I’ll want to have a hangar at each end to protect that machine from the weather.”
“You bought a Jet Ranger?” Jack frowned at Tom.
“He bought two that had been damaged and had our mechanics at White Out rebuild one of them, then we had the rebuilt unit recertified by a government airframe inspector, so it’s legal,” JJ grinned. “We’re trying to talk him into buying the Learjet he has on lease as well. Personally, I think we can make money on it; of course, that means we need to find an extra pilot or two. Which reminds Tom, you and I have an appointment tomorrow morning at ten to interview another pilot or two. I think we should take Russ and Liz along, since they’ll be working with the new people.”
“You boys can talk about that later,” Grandpa Redding said shortly, surprising everyone. “Right now, I think we’d better decide if we need to bid on those damn buildings. If we do, I’ll handle the bidding, since Tom and JJ have an appointment at the same time as the auction. I’ll warn you now, I think I’ll need to go at least a hundred thousand higher than you were planning to pay in order to win the bid, JJ. Are you willing to go that high?”
Both Grandpa Redding and Don looked at JJ, then at Tom, who shrugged and nodded his head. “Yeah, but don’t go overboard on it, so no more than four hundred grand. I’m a bit leery of the extra costs. First off, I doubt if the demo will be quite as cheap as Don estimates, and I’m worried about the haulage too, because I think that could get expensive. If possible, I’d like to see the total costs to be less than those we came up with for the larger hangar we bid on in Prince George. We dropped that bid when it became clear that the costs would have been excessive, considering the amount of square footage we would have gained.”
“I agree with Tom,” JJ nodded. “In fact, we put out a contract to supply and erect a bare-bones hangar onsite, and the best bid we got was for just under two million. So if we can’t purchase those four buildings for a quarter of that, I’m not really interested. By the time we’re done with demo, shipping, and rebuilding the dang things, we won’t gain all that much extra space, and we’ll have a lot more hassle and even more cost this way. If we bid too high, our final costs are likely to be comparable to that one huge hangar we considered having built.”
“Okay, we know our limitations. So, Don and I will head for that auction tomorrow morning then.” Grandpa Redding nodded, then he turned to Tom. “On another subject, did you fill out those forms for your gun collector’s clearance yet, Tom?”
“Yep, and they’ve been sent off to Ottawa.”
Since the subject had been switched to the subject of guns, Tom mentioned meeting both Matt Devons and Joe Archer as well as Joe’s wife, Rita. Tom could see that his Grandpa had bittersweet memories of that time, but he still mentioned that he had hired Art and Josie Reynolds and explained a little about his growing empire in Bear Creek.
“Well, I hear we’ll all be there next weekend, so I can meet up with Matt anyway,” Grandpa smiled. “How is Master Sergeant Devons doing?”
“Oh, I think he’s doing fine, but if you get the chance, you might want to drop by Victoria and speak to Joe and Rita fairly soon. They aren’t doing so well,” Tom said quietly.
“You know, I’ll be honest, I don’t remember either of those names. I suppose that’s no surprise, because Matt and I must have hauled ten or twelve injured men to the medics while we were over there. There’s no way I would even want to remember each one. Some of them lived, some of them died, and really, the whole thing was a time I’d like to forget. Wars or other conflicts that become vicious are an utter waste of resources, and that includes people, not just material objects,” Tom’s Grandpa said quietly. “Look at the amount of time and energy being wasted over this economic conflict we’re having with BP. It’s a legal battle that’s become vicious, almost a war between a modern-day David and Goliath.”
“Well, it’s only become vicious because BP has been hit in their pocketbook,” Uncle Tom commented.
“Oh, it was vicious long before that,” Tom snorted. “It was already a vicious battle long before I bought the lease. Old Serge had been fighting them off for years, and I think he passed the ball to me because of what he thought I’d do. I almost think that man was prescient and set up his will so I would be able to do battle with BP and their minions. If I hadn’t had that inheritance, I’d never have been able to do what I’ve done, but I haven’t enjoyed what we’ve had to do.”
“Why would you say that?” Jack broke in.
“Very simple, Dad,” Tom snorted. “It takes time, energy, and money to counter all their greedy actions. I’d much rather be able to live my life on my own terms, without having to worry about what was coming next. For instance, without their interference and the news service’s stupidity, I wouldn’t even be here right now. I’d still be back in Bear Creek, handling various problems or even just relaxing, but instead, I’m sneaking in here at an odd hour so I can avoid the press. By the way, has anyone else noticed that instead of actually checking on the people involved in the legal end of matters, the press seems to prefer to ask the victims for information? They don’t seem to be interested in discovering the truth; instead, they want to feature people’s reactions. Why aren’t they talking to the police, the lawyers, the judges, the prison officials, the politicians, or others who look at the problem from a different perspective? Instead, they’re hitting on either us or BP? I’m sick and tired of them basing their ‘news’ reports on hearsay information, and I’d like to get them off their ass and doing some actual investigation for once.”
“Ah, but in the recent past, the press often found that ‘victim impact statements’ were selling advertising time, so they used that to their advantage,” Uncle Tom snorted. “By the way, your handling of the situation is causing a backlash, so your speech the other night has caused an impact outside of the press. People are actually questioning them about what they see as the lazy approach to news reporting, and other victims are telling them to get stuffed. You may have already had an influence on the press’s position because if victims won’t cooperate, their news reports are going to be rather boring unless they actually do some investigating.”
“Good, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to change my stance on what I consider to be the press corp’s laxness and lazy attempts to fill the news with fluff pieces. In fact, it might harden my attitude toward them.”
“Well, there are bound to be press at the Dunn-Redding offices during the party tomorrow. What will you say to them?” Tom’s grandfather asked.
“That’s going to depend on their questions, won’t it? But you won’t have to worry in any case. I’ll do my best not to embarrass anyone at Dunn-Redding,” Tom shrugged. “If they ask me about my relationship with Dunn-Redding, I’ll be pleasant and explain that our relationship has improved. If they ask about JJ or Ann, I’m going to praise both of them to the hilt and tell the world that I feel we’re lucky to have them working up in Bear Creek. If they ask me about BP, I’m going to ask them what research they’ve done and I’ll give them shit if they’ve been lazy again. If they ask me about my business or about my personal life, I’ll simply say ‘No comment’ and walk away. You already know that I’m a very private person as far as my personal life is concerned though, so that’s no surprise either. I’ll modify my response to match any questions that I’m asked, but in fact, nothing I plan to do should be any surprise to anyone who knows me.”
Grandpa Redding just grinned and gave Tom a thumbs-up sign, then again brought up the subject of Tom’s new gun collection. Tom had to admit that he hadn’t even had time to look over the collection, but promised that he would as soon as he found time.
“There are just too darn many things interfering with my time right now, and I do have several rifles and shotguns available up at the lease, so I haven’t really worried much about it yet. I’ll definitely be moving that collection up to the lease this summer though. You can count on that.”
“Since I’ve moved up to Bear Creek, I can tell you that Tom is darn busy,” JJ joined in. “I’m being run into the ground and wondering how I can scrape up some spare time myself, but Tom is making me look like a piker. Right now he has at least three or four construction jobs on the go, then he’s developing at least four different businesses and he’s still expanding his business footprint. The thing is he’s setting it up as much for others as for himself and people know it.
“You’ve seen how people regard Tom, Dad. They know he’s bringing in improvements and they consider him a hero, because suddenly the prospects of work are appearing in a town that was slowly fading into limbo. He started out to clean up a few problems and people jumped on the bandwagon, then the whole attitude of the community improved. People had been moving out of town before, but now you can’t find a room to rent and new places are being built. House prices are climbing and empty storefronts are being reopened under new management. Bear Creek is the only town in the area that isn’t in the depths of a recession. Instead it’s becoming something of a boomtown and all because Tom and his buddies chased the crooks out of town. The thing is, Tom doesn’t even want to live there year-round. He’s making those improvements and investments so he has a decent place to live for three or four months of the year.”
“I’ll add to that, because I know of at least twenty people living in Bear Creek who are working now, but were unemployed before Tom came to town,” Russ spoke up then. “I’m not adding Liz and myself to that count either, because you know as well as I do that we’re part of White Out, but even that is part of the improvements he’s making around town. After all, White Out is a reputable, multimillion-dollar business that he’s bringing to Bear Creek’s doorstep. People know that Tom is the person who is responsible for that and they know the folks working there will be living in town and spending money there.
“You’ve seen it, Jack, hell you’re part of it, whether you like it or not. People up there might not like your frosty attitude, but they certainly respect you. When Tom was shot, you were the guy who stepped in and raised hell. People liked that, and while they may think you’re a grouchy S-O-B, they certainly approve of what you did when the chips were down.”
Jack made no comment, other than a grunt, and Tom had to hide a smile because he knew his dad was actually pleased by Russ’s comment but would never admit it. When his Grandpa winked at him, he almost broke into a laugh though and had to turn away for a moment to calm himself. That’s when he saw Jesse yawning.
“Tired, Jesse?” he asked.
“Yeah, some. Hockey practice was too early today, then I had a test to write this morning, so I was studying last night and didn’t get a lot of sleep.”
“So how are you doing? Are you making out okay with your dad away?”
“Yeah, but it’s a bit strange. The family has been great about helping me get ready to move and getting everything arranged. I’ve been living at home and packing up a lot of Dad’s and my personal stuff, but I don’t think I’ve had to cook more than one or two meals in the last couple of weeks. The toughest part has been saying goodbye to all my friends and teammates. Are you and Sandy coming to see my last game with the Broncos tomorrow night? We’re going to play Red Deer, and the coach has shifted me to playing center on the first wing because it’ll be my last game with the team. My transfer is official now, so I start playing with the Bear Creek Bruins next week.”
“Good, from what I’ve heard, the Bruins could use a good center or a right winger, and I know you can play both positions. I haven’t really had a chance to see them play, but I know a couple of their defencemen through their families. I’ve seen them playing road hockey though, and they look like a pretty tough bunch, but from what they’ve said, they’re short of shooters.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ve seen their stats, and the coach even managed to get me a couple of videos, so I’ve seen video of some of their players and how they play in tight situations. Dad told me he brought another video with him that was taken by a guy who works for White Out now, a guy named Sammy Bowman. From what Dad told me, you know him, don’t you?”
“Yeah, he’s a Métis who originally came from a town just a few miles down the Mirror from the lease. His cousin was the woman who guided me into the area, and I think he has a son playing on the Bruins as a defenceman.”
“Yeah, a kid called Johnny-B who looks like a football player and hits like a freight train.” Jess grinned. “He was one of the guys I noticed in the first set of videos of some of their games. They showed one clip where he threw a check on an opposing forward, stole the puck, fed it to a forward with a tape-to-tape pass, and got an assist on the goal that followed. From what I could see, he’s a darn good player.”
“Oh, I know Johnny and his buddy, darn if I can remember his first name right now, but his last name is Proudfoot. Sandy and I met them at a New Year’s Eve party, and they mentioned that they played on the Bruins hockey team. I think they’re both defencemen. His dad works for White Out too.”
“Oh yeah? It sounds like we should hit you up for a sponsorship, huh?” Jesse grinned.
“Talk to your dad, not me. I’m just a shareholder in the company.” Tom grinned right back. “Your dad runs the Bear Creek airfield, even if he doesn’t seem to realise that yet. The company is just a little slow in letting him know how big his job really is, but I think he’s starting to catch on to the idea that when he says ‘Jump,’ people working there ask ‘How high?’ Your dad is just too damn good as a manager to let him slip away into obscurity. Besides, he owns half of the property, so I’m leaving that job in his hands.”
“Yeah, but I think he’s already catching on to what you and Gramps did, though.” Jesse winked. “You ended up in the hospital, and he ended up being handed a job that was a lot bigger than he ever expected it to be. I think he started out expecting to only be another pilot, then he thought he’d just been put in charge of the move, but now I think he’s starting to realise that he’s pretty much in charge of the whole airfield. He sure seems to like it, though, and I know he likes the people he’s working with. I could hear that in his voice when he’s called me on the phone, and he’s getting a real sense of accomplishment out of it too.
“Now, I have to change the subject because I’m darn curious about Laura, the gal he’s been seeing up there. Just what’s she like?”
“Well, let’s see,” Tom smiled slightly. “She’s smart, very attractive, but a bit insecure in some ways. She’s younger than your dad, about the same age as Sandy or Linda, maybe a bit older. I’ll be honest, I don’t know her extremely well, but I like her a lot as a friend. Since she’s a lawyer, she looks at things differently than I do, and she’s changing some in the last while because she’s the leading partner in a law firm now, so she’s becoming more assertive. If you want to ask someone who knows Laura quite well, just talk to Sandy; she won’t mind telling you what she thinks. I’ll be honest, though, I don’t think Laura and your dad are extremely serious about each other yet; instead, I’d say they’re still getting to know one another.”
“Okay, thanks, Tom. I hope I like her, and if I do, I hope they get together. Dad needs a woman in his life again.”
“How about you? Are you leaving a few broken hearts behind when you move?”
“Nope,” Jesse grinned. “I enjoy being around girls, but Dad and Granny say I’m like you; I’ve got several friends who happen to be girls, but no one very close. Dad said you dated a different girl every weekend, but never got serious. Sandy was a huge surprise for everyone, and now Linda is an even bigger surprise. In fact, Linda and David have blown Granny and Gramps away, and you should have heard the fuss when Aunty Em heard you had a son by a former girlfriend. Aunty Em took Brenda to see a gynaecologist the next day, and Brenda quietly told me that she’s on the pill now, church doctrine or not. The thing is, Brenda is only fourteen, and she isn’t even dating yet, so she thinks it’s sort of weird on her mom’s part.”
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