Chapter 13

(Day 13, evening at 8,500 feet, enroute to Clovis, New Mexico)

The flight to Clovis Municipal would take a little over two hours. Tara was impressed with the power over the Cessna 185, just as Grif had been when he flew the T-206H of the Aurora View Lodge. Tara was glad they were dealing with Tracy now instead of Sheila. Somehow she suspected that Sheila wasn't done trying to get her hooks into Grif yet.

Not that she wanted him, but that Sheila thought she was prettier, wealthier, and more important than Tara was. Not just that, Sheila had the kids that Grif had always wanted. For Dick or Barry in the past, losing was nothing that enough money couldn't change to a win. A wedding ring never kept anyone that she knew from cheating on his or her spouse.

At 4:35, Tara at the controls touched the plane down in Clovis and Grif went to call Sam while she tied the plane down and had it refueled. Ten minutes later, Grif's nephew Chris came to pick them up and bring them to the motel. There, Grif and Tara were given a complimentary room, and waited for Sam to get back from his doctor's appointment, where he also got his flight physical.

While they waited, Grif called the man selling the Beech King Air 350 to set up an appointment the next day to see and fly the plane. Grif had been authorized to initiate the transfer for the purchase and act as Tracy's agent. The appointment was set for 10:00 the next morning. Grif called Tracy to update her, and tell her that they had the new bush plane.

Tracy asked, "How will you fly it and the other one back to Alaska?"

Grif said, "I guess we will just have to hire someone to fly it back for us, unless Sam can fly it up."

"Your brother flies too?" asked Tracy.

Grif replied, "He isn't instrument rated, so it could take him a long time to get there if the weather is bad."

"Well, you and Tara are not to fly in bad weather either," admonished Tracy. That, they agreed on. "Otherwise come on back when you get the problem of the two planes sorted out."

Sam came in and took Grif and Tara to dinner. He asked if there was anything at Walker Lake Lodge for Chris to do. Grif told Sam that he wasn't sure what all there would be, but they would probably need someone to keep track of the Boat rentals and the horse, and probably mountain bikes if nothing else. The lake was too cold to swim in as far as Grif and Tara were concerned.

If Chris learned to catch them, there were Lake Trout, Pike, Arctic Grayling, Whitefish, and some Arctic Char in the lake. Sam told of how they went up to the San Juan River to fish for trout, so Chris would probably like that job. Grif described the layout that Tracy and Sheila agreed upon, and the additional cabins. Their goal was to make Walker Lake and Gates of the Arctic N.P., almost as popular as Denali. It was a really tall order, being farther from Anchorage than Denali, but other than Denali having the biggest mountains in North America, their area had the same flora and fauna as Denali. Walker Lake was simply not accessible by road from Anchorage.

Nenana was accessible by road, and so was Bettles Airport but it was a very long trip, and once you got off the Dalton Highway, the roads were not great, and that was in the summer. A lot of its success would depend on the marketing of the facilities. People had to fly to Lake Brooks and Katmai National Park but they did a lot of business. Of course Katmai was known for its many large Brown Bears. That alone was enough to keep some people with good sense away.

Chris had been contemplating joining the Marines, but working at the lodge was infinitely more appealing to him. Sam and Chris Walker were both hesitant about the brutal winter weather, but it was a year round operation with a few people coming in the winter to see the Aurora Borealis, and other such winter activities. With fewer people in the winter they could no doubt run a smaller crew.

(Day 14)

Early the next morning in Clovis, NM, Grif, Tara and Sam took off for Borger, Texas to see about the Beech King Air. For what it was, the price was excellent. Grif began the paperwork and Tracy verified the transaction and within two hours, they had another plane. Now, Sam having flown the short flight to Borger was on his way to Arlington Municipal in the T-206H.

Sam was already packed for the trip to Philadelphia, where they were to pick up Tracy and continue on to White Plains. Sam offered that Grif and Tara could take the King Air on ahead, and he would fly up with Chris in the Stationair. The Cessna dealer in Arlington had quoted Grif a price to deliver the plane to the AVAS hangar at Merrill Field. Both he and Tara thought that was best for all involved.

Once the transaction was complete, Grif and Tara took off for Arlington too, arriving just a few minutes behind Sam. Sam had tied up his loose ends so he could take a week off if need be. In reality, the new managers were ready to operate on their own. Sam just had to formally file the paperwork to that effect.

After refueling the Beech King Air (BKA) 350 and grabbing a bite to eat, the three took off in the new company plane at 5:30 in the evening. They stopped once in Bowling Green, Kentucky for fuel, and continued on to Northeast Philadelphia (KPNE) where the trio caught a cab to the motel Grif and Tara had stayed at. Once there, Sam would get his own room next door to Grif and Tara's.

They slept until nine the next morning. Kathy came to get them and bring them to the house for lunch. Tracy had been in a meeting with the board of another radical Animal Rights group to negotiate the sale of the entire Animals First Foundation, and Merchandising Division. Sheila had given her the go ahead on all of her shares Sunday at the memorial service for Dick and Barry.

Kathy was excited since she had just been admitted into the Police Academy. She would be twenty-one on September 10 and she was able to get a waiver to go ahead and begin. Ricky had been running drugs for the Mud Devils, an outlaw biker gang, and his girlfriend Carmine Kennedy was a friend of Kathy's from the local college. Carmine's brother Jerry was the leader of the Mud Devils.

With Ricky in jail in Alaska, the PPD wanted Kathy's help to break up the Mud Devils from within. Kathy's boyfriend Nick Manelli talked her into the Academy with him. Nick told her that he had been in trouble and the judge gave him the option of straightening up and going to the Academy, or to Federal Prison; Nick chose the Academy. Of course Kathy never suspected that her rogue boyfriend was undercover officer Mike Donnelly.

Kathy just went along with everything because it sounded like fun. It was Nick's job to help her and make sure that she thought it was fun. Kathy Ray did not need the money. She got off on the thrill of being in on arrests and possibly someday soon, shootouts. Mostly it taught her self-defense to protect herself from her brother when he got out. Putting him away for a really long time would do that. Kathy wouldn't know for weeks to come that she was going undercover in the biker gang. Nick was saying what fun it would be to bust kids in the parking spots and confiscate all of their dope. Kathy really looked forward to that. For now she thought Police Academy was like the movies of the same name.

When Tracy came home from the lawyer's office, she honked for Kathy to come and help her from the car. She was still very sore, and had taken a side trip to a gun shop to buy a rifle and scope to hunt bears with. She could laugh some but it still hurt. She was surprised to meet Sam, who also shared her newfound interest in big game hunting.

Sam and his boys hunted Antelope, Elk, Mule Deer, and Black Bear in New Mexico.

Tracy admitted that hers was a vendetta, and not for sport. Then she did admit the pleasure she would get in shooting the bear in the leg so it couldn't walk. Sam made a note not to get on Tracy's bad side, but advised her that wounding the bear would be more dangerous.