Chapter VI
haron, sensing the seriousness of his voice, scooted over to the right seat, then crawled out onto the wing. She never even questioned him. William was already standing on the ground and taking her weight, carried her through the high grass over to a mossy spot under an old Oak tree a couple of hundred feet away from the plane.
She spread the old quilt brought along with which to keep warm and now spread it on the ground. William went back three times to get everything, then, after they were settled, he sat back and began to talk. They'd not had the time to talk on the trip up this far, but now, it seemed as if they had all the time in the world to talk.
William related his entire night to Sharon while she sat stoically and listened without interrupting. It wasn't long before they were piecing together the parts of the puzzle. At this time, they didn't know who the true culprit was. That was the biggest part of the mystery.
Another big part of the mystery was who helped him get loose then disappeared, who killed the woman William found. And, who was the woman?
Then the thought hit Sharon that the gun was planted for William to pick up and thereby incriminate himself if he were caught with it. Had it not been for the plane quitting, and them surviving, it may have been a long time before they figured out what was going on. Now, they felt they had to get to Uncle Lane as soon as possible and thereby seek help.
Will went back to the plane and with a minimum of tools, pulled the apparatus off. Since a section of line had been cut out, he had to pull a line off one tank with which to reconnect the fuel line going from the pump back to the tank selector valve. He knew it could be a problem if he had to fly very far because the tanks must be emptied at the same time keeping the plane in balance. Therefore, the need for the selector valve.
Will calculated out about where they were, how much fuel they needed, and with a stick marked off in increments, measured the balance of fuel left as he drained it away. He was lessening the weight to lift in a short field takeoff. They were going to need every ounce off the plane they could get. Even then, it might not take off successfully.
At first the plane would be out of balance, but as it used the fuel the balance factor would increase. If Will wasn't able get someplace right away and make repairs the plane would simply run out of gas and they would fall from flight again. It was doubtful they'd be so lucky as to find a second place to land safely.
Will and Sharon also weeded out a lot of material possessions from their luggage. After complete sacrifice, they left fully three fourths of their belongings in the little field.
William realized the only reason they were still alive was the small remote-controlled explosive on the fuel, had not gone off for some reason. All it had done was halt the flow of fuel to the engine. By pulling it out of the fuel system, William was able to reconnect the line from the selector to one tank. The other line had been cut and was thereby destroyed.
With the fuel line now hooked up, William hit the starter and cranked the engine. It took a couple of times before the fuel got to the point of the carburetor, but then it quickly fired and roared to life. Now, Will shut the plane off, got out and started stomping the vegetation down in a straight path to create a makeshift runway.
He had also spent some time in the upper reaches of the scrub Oak in the direct line of their runway breaking branches off. The only tool he had was his own weight. And he had a surprising pile of branches laying around the tree. After breaking off everything he could, he climbed back down for a breather and to study the runway again.
William studied out the scenario time and again, and he was very fearful. He even considered asking Sharon to stay while he went for help, but knew from past experiences that wasn't gonna work! He kept up his manly determination simply because he didn't want to betray his own feelings of doubt.
It was getting late by this time, and Will was getting panicky. He did not like the thought of trying to take off out of this miniature area in the dark! But he was gonna try it! They had no provisions for survival, nor did they have any idea where they were or what, if anything, was around. Had no idea what dangers were around.
Will had the tall grass stomped all the way the from one end of the little clearing to the other in an area wide enough for the plane to go. He'd already found the direction of the prevailing wind and found, much to his delight, the prevailing wind blew perfectly down the clearing. The problem was the trees. He had lots of trees with which to contend. He did not like the odds.
He and Sharon tugged and pulled, prodded, pried and pushed the little plane back down his little runway and pushed the tail clean into the brush. He was going to need every inch he could get. They loaded up what they had left of their belongings after weeding through them a third time. Before William reached for the headset, Sharon put her hand on his arm and said "lets say a little prayer."
William was a total stranger to prayer. Sharon knew a little, so she closed her eyes, bowed her head and said "God, please help us and keep us safe. Amen."
Although William had followed Sharon's example, he had no idea as to what he was supposed to do or say, so he crossed himself as he'd seen the Catholics do in the movies, said "Amen," and reached for the headsets.
The little prayer was on his mind and he secretly thought to himself "God, if you're real, we really need you now."
He flipped a few switches, opened the little window out of habit, yelled "clear," hit the starter switch and the plane sputtered, coughed to life, settled onto it's tricycle gear and ran smoothly. With it's minimum load of fuel and its minimum load of belongings, it would be a little easier to get off the ground. He noticed a fair breeze had come up in the last few minutes, right into their face. "Perfect!" he said to himself.
Will let the engine idle to warm up while he set all the switches. He went through his check list, then did a run up on the engine just as he would if he were on the end of a perfect runway in perfect conditions. No carelessnes and no hurry this time! Sharon sat quietly and confidently beside him, their shoulders touching. It felt so reassuring with her next to him. But now, he felt there was some extra help. Help they needed desperately.
He looked at his beautiful lady sitting there. "Here we go Babe! I love you Babe! Hold on!"
He pushed the throttle to the dash and the engine roared to life. He held both brakes on and let the wind pattern stablilze across the little plane. The engine was running full out. When he was satisfied, he pulled the yoke all the way back, and let off the brakes. The front wheel came off the ground almost immediately, and the plane lurched forward.
William hadn't seen the little rise just a few feet in front of the trees, and instantly thought to himself "wow, we can sure use that cuz we're gonna need it!"
The plane wasn't moving near fast enough, but it covered the distance across the valley very quickly. Will had lowered the nose just enough to allow the plane to gain speed but at the same time keep as much weight off the front wheel a possible. They were speeding directly toward the Oak at the end of their runway and toward certain death.
Right at the last moment, he dumped the flaps, yanked the yoke back at the same time he hit the little rise . . . all in perfect unison. The plane bounded into the air it's wheels taking some foliage off the scrub Oak directly in their path. He eased the flaps off as soon as he cleared the tree and stabilized, then it climbed steadily.
Will, in an effort to save fuel as much as possible, had already worked out the direction needed and, set the plane into a slight climb and headed for the Reno Municipal Airport. They would make the airport fine, and in record time with the plane so light.
But trouble again would be waiting at Reno, and he would know it almost the instant he touched down.
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