Chapter 31

[Janice writes]

One of them reached for me and I spit on him. He didn't like that. "You will pay for that and it won't be fun."

I said, "I won't be fun for you." He started to reach for my breasts and suddenly found out that my hands were loose. I hit him as hard as I could. Charlie jumped the other and put him in a chokehold removing the man's pistol and immobilizing him. He went down but could still breathe. My victim had a crushed sternum that caved his chest. Charlie had the other man's pistol in his hand and was ready. He was looking around for more trouble but it was quiet, deathly quiet. One was choking to death. The other was on his hands and knees gasping.

Charlie let him stand. "How many kids have you molested before you killed them? I bet you molested Jacob's little sister. He asked me to give you a present. Charlie kicked the man in the groin as hard as he could. Charlie is good at hand-to-hand and his kicks hurt badly even when he was trying to pull his "punch." He hit him hard. Charlie probably broke the guy's pelvic bone and ruined his testicles and other parts of his body. The man passed out from the pain.

Marv dropped his rifle and ran to a woman about his age who was holding two girls. The four hugged each other tightly. An older man reached for Marv's rifle. Charlie said, "Don't!" He had the pistol in an easy grip pointing down. The man didn't listen. As his hand touched the rifle, Charlie shot him between the eyes. At fifteen feet, it would be hard to have missed and Charlie didn't. With that, it was over. Pam, Bennie, and Robby entered the area with their rifles ready. No one challenged them.

The first two men were allowed to die from their injuries. The third that Charlie shot already was dead. We took the horses and rode back to the airport. Charlie rode behind me. At one point, he muttered, "I may have broken a toe. It was worth it though."

We arrived back at the airport to everyone's relief and joy. Andy ran to Charlie and jumped into his arms pushing him to the ground and kissing him again and again. SJ came up to each of us and gave us a solemn hug. We went inside for a late supper. Mel said, "Andy made the report and did an excellent job, claiming that Charlie and his mom were out gallivanting and causing trouble."

Everyone laughed except Andy who blushed beautifully. She didn't stop holding on to Charlie the entire evening. That night, I heard SJ say that she would look the other way if Andy really wanted that. Andy said, "No. We will wait though we will be as close as we can be while clothed." I heard a kiss and Andy said, "Thank you, SJ. Hold me, Charlie. In time, we will be truly together, my love." I burrowed into Bennie's chest and went to sleep.

We went back to the village and its community center. The three bodies were gone. Joe and Carl were there to meet us with their families. Marv and Gene had passed us on the road with his wife and children. They were going to Phoenix.

Our entire party went into the forest and looked at the big trees. Some of the people went with us and buried the victims away from any of the trees. We went back to the airport, pulled the planes out, and checked them thoroughly. We left the radio with its antenna, battery, and charger for the Bakers as they would call themselves to use in the future.

San Francisco was less than two hours away and we landed at San Francisco International Airport. It was late afternoon and we taxied to a safe spot and found a place to sleep for the evening. We locked our planes and had supper before settling in for the night. SJ came over to me as I lay with Robby and curled up with her back to me. Robby was snuggled in behind me. I looked up having heard a low giggle into Andy's eyes. She was wearing shorts and a tee shirt with Charlie snuggled in behind her. She smiled, "Mom, it's a good way to sleep." I smiled back at her and nodded. We all slept the night away peacefully.

I woke in the morning feeling deliciously warm. I gently pulled loose and slipped on my shoes and pistol belt. I went outside and was joined by Andy. She gave me a hug and kissed my cheek. "Mom, I feel good today. Charlie held me all night. I am looking forward to next year. Again, you have my promise that we will abide by the rules. Just sleeping with Charlie's arms around me is so good. He explained what the two of you did with the Bakers. I'm sorry I got emotional before you left. Charlie has only had to speak to me in that tone of voice once before. I'm going to try not to have a third. I know I'm willful but I usually listen to Charlie before he gets frustrated with me. When he calls me by my full name, it's either real good or real bad."

I smiled at her. "I hope you made some of that speech to Charlie."

She nodded. "We have no secrets. He just has such deep places within his heart. It will be my life's work to know him completely."

She changed the subject. "This is a beautiful place in many ways. I wonder if people still live here."

"There might be someone north of us. When I was preparing for this trip, I studied this area among others. North of us is the wine country called, 'Sonoma.' If there are people close, they would have to be in areas where there is open ground. It's hard to farm in a city. We'll probably look around but I don't know enough about the climate here.

"I read one comment that it can be cold in the summer. I was looking at latitudes and we are further north than you would think. I would like to ride around a bit. The Golden Gate Bridge was world famous before the Day. On the way up, I could see fog over the ocean. The climate is different from Preservation or El Paso."

We had found a place to sit looking out over the bay. It was comfortable outside. I heard a faint noise and saw Charlie come out, looking around. I waved and he walked our way. We stood as he approached. He came up between us and hugged us both. He said, "Good morning. I was told to tell you that it's breakfast time." He had an arm around each of us still and gently steered us both in the direction of the terminal. We joined everyone for breakfast.

As we ate, the question came. What would we do today? I looked up and said, "I have a list of sights to see but we will need transportation and some of it may no longer be worth seeing." All nodded. My husbands finished eating and a number of us joined them in going outside and looking for transportation. We found a cart for our cranking equipment and trundled it along. We had to work over many vehicles before finding a bus that would crank and had tires that would hold air. Tires were becoming a problem all over

Rubber doesn't last forever and twenty-three years is a long time. Sooner or later, the fear was that tires might stop our flying and driving vehicles. We could fit floats on the Otters but that would limit where we could land. That was a problem for another day but that day was coming.

We loaded up with supplies for a day trip and left the airport. SJ and I had a list and a marked map. We went through the dead city. Lombard Street was interesting with its block long crookedness. Chinatown and Fisherman's Wharf were a bust. Deserted and rundown from time, there wasn't anything worthwhile seeing. We could see Alcatraz out in the bay but no one was a boater even if we found a good boat. I had gone out on bass boats on lakes close to Preservation but that was vastly different from the waves of the bay.

Golden Gate Bridge made up for it! It was breath taking. We rode out on it and stopped to look out and way down. We watched a fog bank roll under the bridge. It was magical and mystical. We finally got back in the bus and went to the other side. We drove to Sausalito before turning back. We regained the airport in time for supper. After supper, we talked about what we wanted to see and from where.