Chapter 32

Tom already had his cellphone in his hand and was planning to turn it off before getting in the car, so he almost dropped it when it rang. Instead, he flipped it open after a glance at the display, since the call was from JJ’s home phone. “Good morning, JJ, what’s up? We were just heading out to meet you at the airport.”

“Glad I caught you then, but instead of heading for the airport, just drop by my place.”

“Okay, what’s the reason for that? Did your pilot cancel?”

“Nope, instead of meeting them at the airport, we have three pilots dropping by the house, and the good news is that one of them is Seth Ross, the pilot who taught me to fly.”

“Okay, we’ll see you soon,” Tom answered and closed his cellphone. “Well, Russ, that cuts down on our driving time. Now all we need to decide is which of us is driving?”

“I will, then you can leave your phone turned on,” Russ chuckled.

“Oh, sure, then for the next half hour, I’ll get a dozen calls from news jerks,” Tom snorted. “Instead, I’ll set it to vibrate, then I can check to see if I recognise the number before answering.”

Actually, Tom’s phone never rang at all during the next hour and a half. By the time it did ring, they had seen all three pilots. The first pilot had never flown a float plane, a jet plane, or a helicopter; in fact, he had fewer hours of flight time than JJ did. He admitted that he hoped to get a steady job to build up his hours and his experience. Unfortunately, Tom wasn’t really interested in that scenario, so he let the young pilot down easily by telling him the truth. White Out needed a pair of experienced pilots right then and couldn’t afford to spend time training someone at the present time. Tom did like the guy though, so he told the young fellow that when he had more time and experience under his belt, he could certainly apply again.

Luckily, Tom was quite impressed by the other two pilots. Seth Ross and Darrel Mortimer were both former military pilots and were widely experienced, although neither of them had flown much in float planes and had never flown as bush pilots. Both men were single, in their early forties, and each of them had a reason for wanting to work in a smaller town than Calgary. Seth was divorced with no dependents, but he wanted to move out of town to get away from his ex-wife. Meanwhile, Darrel was a widower with a teenage daughter who lived with her grandmother in Ontario, and he wanted to move them both to a smaller town in western Canada. Neither of the men drank, smoked, or used drugs. Both of them were healthy and had recently passed their yearly medical. Seth had dual citizenship for Canada and the US, while Darrel was a Canadian citizen but had a passport and had flown in and out of several countries. Both men had learned to fly in the armed forces, but neither of them was a ‘combat jockey’ - instead, they had both flown rescue and supply missions in either helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft during their time in the military.

Finally, after almost an hour of questioning the pair, Tom leaned back and slowly shook his head.

“You two are making this very hard for me, but then the final choice is not mine, even though I am the majority shareholder in White Out. We do need two experienced pilots, though, and I can’t see any major flaws in either of your work records, but I don’t want to make a mistake. You see, I established a policy that seems to have taken hold at White Out Wilderness Services. All the shareholders of the company have a say in who is hired and who isn’t. The three of us are all shareholders, but there are seven others, so the only suggestion I can make is that you come to Bear Creek and meet everyone, then let the crew make the final decision.”

“Pardon my asking, Tom, but just exactly what does White Out Wilderness Services do?” Darrel asked quietly. “I’m originally from Ontario, and although I’ve heard that name, I don’t know anything about the company.”

“Well, you could call us the ‘jack of all trades’ of the BC flight services. We do everything from dropping off prospectors and arranging to supply their needs in wilderness areas to rescuing tourists and hikers who get into trouble. We haul freight, shift people and their goods, fight forest fires, or move huge hydroelectric pylons. We have a lot of equipment to do that, though, everything from trucks, crawler tractors, snowmobiles, and boats to float planes and helicopters. We also have mechanics and office workers as well as truck drivers and pilots, but each of us has to be ready and willing to help out others if needed. The only thing we really don’t do is haul passengers on scheduled routes, although JJ over there keeps saying that we should.

“Our smallest plane would be my Murphy Moose, which can’t be used commercially, but we have three Beavers, a pair of Otters, a Twin Otter, and right now I have a Learjet on lease for a month. For choppers, we have a Bell Jet Ranger, a Huey, a Chinook, and a Sky Crane. In the winter, most of our work is in the rescue field, but come summer, we go crazy, and this year will be crazier than most, so we’re starting early. I don’t expect we’ll be taking many holidays for the next six months or more,” Tom paused and winked at JJ.

“What Tom means is that he has a gold mine up in the mountains that he can only work in the summer, so he disappears for months at a time. Meanwhile, I imagine I will be up to my eyebrows in our move for the next few months. You see, White Out is moving to Bear Creek from another airport that’s about a hundred miles away. We have to move almost everything but the tarmac before the end of June, which is when the old lease runs out,” JJ carried on. “Not only that, but although Tom has damn near any license going for fixed-wing, he doesn’t do much flying for the company, and the way things are developing, I doubt if I’ll be flying much either.”

“Another thing that should be mentioned is that my wife is pregnant, but she’s been acting as second pilot on the Chinook, so we’ll need someone to take her place when she gets further into her pregnancy,” Russ added. “Tom purchased the Chinook from us when it was damaged, then hired us to fly it once it was repaired. In fact, Tom owns one of the Beavers, the Twin Otter, the Jet Ranger, and the Chinook, but leases them to White Out. Then, as well as that, Tom and JJ own the airstrip at Bear Creek as well as shares in White Out, which means that White Out’s new lease is extremely secure, not like the old one was.”

“Well, I know JJ and I know Tom’s reputation, so I’m going to gamble and bum a ride with JJ in the Twin Otter on Sunday,” Seth grinned. “You see, I know White Out’s reputation as well, and I’ve met both Harry Guildford and Jim Burke, so I’m fairly certain I can fit in with the crew. What do you think, Darrel?”

“Can you handle another passenger, JJ?” Darrel grinned. “Bear Creek sounds like Shangri-La to me right now, and from what these guys are saying, we’ll have steady work for at least six months if we get hired on. Besides, I don’t know about you, Seth, but I miss the challenge and excitement of flying into rough country and the adrenaline rush of rescue work or things of that sort.”

So before noon, Tom, JJ, and Russ had lined up two pilots that they felt would suit White Out’s needs. Seth and Darrel had just left when Tom’s phone rang, and he saw that it was Don’s number.

“Hi Don, how did the auction go?”

“Granddad bought all those buildings for a little over three hundred and twenty thou. I have my surveyor here, and he’s going to draw up a plan for the footings you’ll need for each building. That way, you can set your mounting bolts at the right spacing to match the original layout. As well as that, I brought in my crew foreman to look over the demolition, and he says it’s going to be a piece of cake. We figure that we can have these four buildings down and shipped to you inside of two weeks, so your total cost is going to be well under your limit, barring accidents and weather delays.”

“That sounds wonderful, and thanks for your help.”

“Aw, no problem at all, glad I could help. How did you make out with the interviews? Did you hire anyone? Dad has called me three times to ask if I knew anything.”

“You can tell Dad that our preliminary interviews worked out well and that we have two pilots flying back to Bear Creek on Sunday for their crew interviews. That’s what we wanted, and that’s what we got.”

“Well now, that’s marvellous. I should run, but Granddad says to head home for lunch, and he’ll talk to you there. I need to do a bit of work at the office, though, so I’ll see you around two o’clock.”

“We’ll be there, and thanks again for all your help.” Tom answered, then flipped his phone closed once more and looked at JJ. “I guess you heard what Don said; it seems that we’ve bought some hangers, so let’s go see Grandpa and pay for them.”

JJ begged off for the time being, though, because he had several things that he had to clear up at the Dunn-Redding offices before his and Ann’s afternoon farewell party. So Russ and Tom headed back across town to have lunch with Grandpa and Grandma Redding and their womenfolk.

Lunch had been fairly calm and quiet, but afterward it seemed to Tom that every woman in the house was running on a sugar high. He couldn’t see what all the fuss was about; after all, it was just a farewell party of sorts, and both Ann and JJ had worked at jobs that were becoming redundant. So, if Ann hadn’t been able to get a job with Sandy, and JJ hadn’t gotten a job with White Out, Dunn-Redding would have had to either lay them off or create jobs for them. That would not have gone over well, especially since several more senior people were becoming redundant at the same time, so having Tom and Sandy hire them worked out well for all concerned, but Tom still felt the party was a bit of a farce.

Tom chuckled over that as he changed his clothes, donning a clean white shirt, a black tie, charcoal britches, and a matching sports coat. Then Tom, Russ, and Grandpa Redding sat in the living room and had a quiet chat about the buildings that they had bought that day until the women were ready to go. Of course, that was another hurry-up-and-wait routine in the heavy traffic, and Ann was almost going nuts again. She seemed to be convinced that they were going to be late right up to the moment they walked in the door. Thankfully, everyone calmed down then—for a while anyway. But at one point that afternoon, JJ and Ann’s parting bash became something like a zoo on steroids!

It didn’t start out that way, of course. In fact, it started out with a series of speeches: first by Don, then Tom’s dad, followed by his uncle Tom and finally his grandpa. Next, JJ and Ann were both brought to the stage to be given their departing gifts. Then, they had to make speeches of thanks. After that, Grandpa Redding called on Tom to say a few words, and he did, welcoming JJ and Ann to Bear Creek, White Out, TF Dunn and Watkins Tax Service. Even that went fairly well for a while, but soon the mood of a group of news media at the party changed. Some of the news snoops became raucous, shouting and screaming, demanding answers about Tom’s business, his personal life, and about the BP situation.

Tom listened to them without responding for a moment or two, then he looked over at his dad and his uncle Tom. His dad just rolled his eyes, but Uncle Tom winked and waved his hand as if saying, ‘Go ahead,’ so Tom stepped back to the microphone once more.

“Be quiet, you nosy rumour mongers. You sound like a bunch of squabbling vultures, and I’m not dead. So, I find your squawking to be irritating!” he barked.

“As I said previously, my reasons for being here today are quite simple. I am here to express my thanks to Dunn-Redding for recommending that I and my fiancée hire some excellent people to work for the companies we are involved with. Nothing more.

“In the first place, Ann is an excellent accountant who is well trained and quite capable of stepping in to handle my fiancée’s accounting office when Sandra is unavailable for any reason. As well as that, Ann has worked for Dunn-Redding in the supply division, which helps me out because I happen to own a warehouse. So, Ann has become a switch-hitter, a bean counter while working with Sandra, and a shipper of beans, as well as many other things, while working in my warehouse.

“Now, as many of you know, I am also involved with White Out Wilderness Services, which includes a fleet of aircraft involved in transport and supply for people who work in out-of-the-way places. JJ just happens to have his pilot’s license and has worked with Dunn-Redding’s supply services, but not only that, he also worked with the transport and establishment of oilfield facilities. Gee, White Out just happens to be moving a complete airfield to Bear Creek from a hundred miles away. I’d be a damn fool if I didn’t put him in charge of that little adventure, wouldn’t I?

“That’s why I’m here - to say thank you to Dunn-Redding for training our new workers so well. At the same time, I’d like to welcome Ann and JJ to the wacky and wonderful world of Bear Creek, where the weather and your outlook on life can change at a moment’s notice. Just ask me. I’ve had it happen.”

“Do you mean when you were shot and hospitalized?” one of the men in the audience demanded.

“You, sir, are a perfect example of why I will not respond to the media’s demands concerning my personal life and the lives of my friends and family. I’ve already told you people that I will not discuss private matters because I am a very private individual, and my affairs are none of your business. The success of my business and my plans for the future are also dependent on maintaining a modicum of privacy at the present time. The legal actions I have taken in relation to a few other businesses or individuals are due to the fact that I believe they have broken the law. Therefore, I am under legal constraints concerning my testimony against those who have been charged, and to broadcast my opinion would open me to legal challenge. In other words, I simply cannot and will not comment any further on any of those subjects at the present time.”

“But you haven’t given us any detailed information to follow up on,” a young woman shouted. “Why won’t you tell us what you plan to do next?”

“Miss, would you please explain to me why you haven’t bothered asking your questions of the police in Bear Creek? Their answers would have led you to several other sources, and you could easily have followed those clues to almost any answer you wanted.” Tom said quietly. “In fact, I have heard that all major media outlets were sent faxes relating to the subject, noting all major sources of information concerning the whole situation at that time. Only I heard later that the media never even bothered to verify those faxes. So, since the media seems to be too lazy to do any actual work and aren’t seeking answers from the lawful authorities, I’m afraid I’ve lost my patience with all of you. As a result, I refuse to answer any further questions on those subjects.”