Chapter 25

We didn't even have to ride back for a shovel since Mary spotted one in the plane. We had him planted in half an hour and by that time Chris and Mary were back out on the ground and the discussion was on.

"It's bad luck for him but a treasure chest for us. You'll probably be happy to know we found twenty three-pound cans of Maxwell house coffee," Mary said.

"The tools will be worth a fortune for us too," Chris said.

"Not to mention the fuel. If we can figure out how to move it," I said.

"Can't we remove its tanks?" Mary asked.

"Maybe, but that would be too much work. Its wings have the tanks built in. It probably has over a thousand gallons of fuel and it could have as much as fifteen hundred or so. We'll never have to worry about the chain saw running low again."

"Does the chain saw use the same fuel?" Chris asked.

"It can. Avgas will be much better quality fuel than that chain saw has ever even heard of, but it will run great on it. So will that small welding machine I saw in there and I'm sure it can charge batteries on the side."

"It's sad for him, but it's going to be wonderful for us isn't it?" Mary asked.

"The only thing any better I can think of is a route to fly the plane back and forth between where he came from and where we are," I said.

"You sound like Mary and me. I don't think I'd go back to stay now if I could," Chris said.

"That's the way I feel too, but we don't even have to worry about decisions like that, because we can't get back. Still, I'm glad we found this and I'm happy about everything in it. We'll have hell figuring out how to get it back to the caves, but we will sooner or later."

"Why don't you just fly it back?" Chris asked.

"I might be able to, but I've never flown anything except a Cessna 150. If this still runs I'm pretty sure I can get it in the air, but I'm not so sure I could get it back on the ground, or water. Not safely at least," I said.

"We can worry about that later. Do you think you can move it closer to where our camp is?" Chris asked.

"I'm sure I can handle that, but the rest of you should probably go back and warn the others I'm coming. Let me see if I can even get it started."

Back inside, and in the pilot's seat I looked around and managed to get the engines started. I turned them back off and got out so I could direct getting it headed away from the shore. Later I was right back inside, started both engines, and then headed down the edge of the lake, sitting still for a while to let the others get ahead of me and then moving on until I eased it against the shore near our camp.

The bad part about even thinking of trying to fly the damned thing home was I didn't have the slightest idea how fast I needed to get it going to even lift off. Not to mention not knowing whether the landing gear even worked or not. The owner could have been operating it strictly off water for landings as far as I knew. Still, it would save a hell of a lot of time if I could fly it back. I knew it would take days for me to work up the nerve to try though.

The rest of our people had a hard time grasping what they were seeing when I pulled into the shore. Chris, Mary, Mecha, and the girls had warned them not to be afraid and I think some of them were even able to get it done, but they were mostly nervous when I got there.

The bad part was most of them couldn't understand what good the things we'd found would do us. They had a point in a way, since none of it would be immediately wonderful and nothing in there was critical to our short-term survival. Still, I could think of dozens of things we could do much more easily with the plane, its tools, and equipment. It was going home with us or we were going to make a new home here.

The first thing I though of was big hinges for our cave's doors. Even if there weren't any already among the cargo they'd be simple to build. I tried to quit thinking up more things to do with these tools though and tried to figure out a way to get them all home.

We spent the rest of the afternoon getting things set up for sleeping. We didn't try to put up any kind of shelter and we didn't poke around in the plane looking for things we could use right now because we just didn't need them. There'd be plenty of time for all that starting tomorrow. Besides, I had a new wife/mate to get acquainted with and she was on my mind by sunset.

I was in an excellent mood the next morning and the women cooking made it better almost at once. They'd even made coffee for me since I could put off fears of running out forever for a long while now. My main dilemma was what to do first.

The plane's fuel gauges has showed practically full and I decided to get more familiar with running it across the water. The lake was very large and I had no worries about running out of room. It was also a good excuse to get out of helping pack things up for the trip back.

Of course I got tired of riding it across the water, and after half an hour of so I picked out a long stretch, pushed the throttles forward and ran the speed up. It was an adrenaline rush and before I knew it I was passing eighty mph. I eased back on the yoke and away we went.

This was dangerous as hell, or it had been until I lifted off and it would be again when I tried to set it back down. Chris and Mary were probably going to give me hell about doing it without warning them, but it was done now and as long as I was up I just had to take a look around.

By the time I passed six thousand feet I could see where we'd come from. It didn't take twenty minutes to go check it out and I did. From the air I could tell that landing was going to be simple if I could do my part even half ass. I made a mock run from the far end of the back valley and even coming over the ridge between them was not going to cause me grief. The only possible snag would be stray horses and they headed for the woods when I flew low. If the landing gear worked I felt nothing could go wrong, or maybe it wouldn't anyway.

I lowered the gear on the way home and all the right lights came on so I raised it again and went back to the lake. When I was back I made several circles while I lowered and raised the gear a couple of times hoping Mary or Chris would notice and pay attention. I really should have let them in on at least the potential for takeoff. Finally I raised the gear and put us on the water. Everyone was waiting at the shore when I eased back up to it.

"Asshole. You could have warned us," Chris said, and Mary was giving me a hard look too.

"I didn't know myself until I was zipping across the lake and it practically jumped into the air by itself."

"That's what they all say isn't it Chris?" Mary asked.

"Especially this one, but he lived over it and there's no sense beating him to death now."

"I guess you're right. What was it like flyboy?" Mary asked me.

"It flies great and the horses get out of the way in the valley after you make one pass. It should be no problem to land there."

"You mean you went there and back already?" Chris asked.

"Yep, it can't be much over thirty miles. We took a long way around. I sighted the direction and even found a good place to enter the forest about a mile past here in the other direction. Even on the horses the trip will be much shorter. We'll come back to the caves north of where the entrance is.

"That isn't all I saw either. There's another nice valley coming off the end of the one we caught Red and Lola in. It doesn't have any way out though."

"It's just too damned bad you can't carry us, the horses, and all in that thing," Chris said.

"It might not be so bad on the way back, especially if the route is as good as it looks," I said.

"I'll still be nervous without you to watch over us," Chris said.

"I'll be with you all the way. There are still three horses back there that we've trained to ride. I'll rope one, saddle up and come back here before we leave for there again. I'll be with you all the way. I need to make sure of the route anyway. I should be able to make the trip in three or at the most four days if it's just me and a horse with no travois to drag," I said.