Geese and Goons
"Courage is simply the willingness to be afraid and act anyway" Anthony
Three hours after his escape from Witherspoon, Kit and Sadie were airborne. The silver Conwing L-16 called the Wild Geese was being flown and navigated by Russell Ganderson and his wife Dolores. The two geese had been more than happy to make Kit's acquaintance and Dolores had made it blatantly obvious, "Sadie, tell me, where did you find this handsome little fellow?" Kit felt himself blush as the matronly goose craned here head down to get a closer look at him. "You are just the absolute cutest little guy I have seen in a long time!"
"Dolores! Quit embarrassing the lad can't you see he ain't no baby? He's a guy and a guy isn't cute! If anything a guy would be handsome, like me," Russell said with a grin.
"Well Dolores, Kit happened to make a real 'splash' so to say and I decided that he could use a helping hand," said Sadie.
Sadie then went into the details of Kit's escape much to the amazement of the Gandersons. The middle-aged couple had three grown children and four grandchildren that they seldom saw so the addition of Kit to their flight manifest was more than a welcome. During the long flight from Tidewater to their destination of Marshall's Island, the Gandersons gave Kit some thorough lessons on navigation. They orientated him to their map, showed him how to work the compass, and to plot his flight plan. They also explained to him the proper radio etiquette as well as pointing out the controls on the control panel. He was beginning to enjoy this. Each lesson was bringing him one step closer to his goal of becoming a pilot.
"Russell, what's the legal age to get a pilot's license?" asked Kit.
"Well you're in luck Kit. Last year it was lowered from 21 to 18 and there's a learners permit starting at 16."
"Great only 6 and a half year to go."
"Haha, bet you can't wait huh?"
"Nope, I think about flying at least every ten seconds!"
The Gandersons landed their plane at the refueling station of Simpson's Reef. The reef was off on its own and the nearest refueling point was over three hundred miles away. While there Kit pressed Sadie to tell him about the air hobo life.
"Well Kit, air hobos haven't been around that long. There have always been drifters and other hobos, but ever since the market crashed back in 29' and the Dust Bowl hitting the Midwest in Usland, people have gone on the road or the sea or the air to look for a better life. Some are criminals, others are runaways or orphans, and some are just down on their luck people looking for a new start," she said.
"How'd you get into this?"
"I got tired of all of the dust back home so I and my family went to the west coast, but everyone along the way looked at us like we we're bad luck. Work is scarce and I just decided that I didn't want to stand around in line at the local soup kitchen so I decided to travel. I always liked adventures so I thought I'd have one myself and here I am, been doing this about three years now."
"How old are you?"
"15. Next year I can legally drive, but I like airplanes more so maybe I'll see if I can get my pilot's license and start doing the Pacific runs. That'd be something for a little Mid-Western girl."
"I want to be a pilot but that's a long ways off. I'm thinking of staying an air hobo."
"How many flights have you been on Kit?"
"This is my third."
Sadie laughed and said, "Boy, you got a lot of learning to do and a lot of traveling to get going on."
"Hey Kit, get up here! You've got a job to do," bellowed Russell. Kit jogged up to the front of the L-16 and saw Russell motioning for him to take a seat as co-pilot, "Sit down and plot the rest of the trip."
"What? Me? What about Dolores?"
Dolores sauntered in and said, "I'm on my break and my break lasts till we get to Freeport."
"Don't tell me everything we've been teaching you went in one ear and out the other. It's time to see if you learned anything," said Russell as he fired up the engines.
Kit grabbed the map and compass and located Simpson's Reef and Freeport. He carefully plotted out their route and measured the distance. Next he calculated the azimuth and the estimated flying time.
"If we head out on 215 degrees at a speed of 160mph for 855 miles, we should make it to Marshall's Island in about 5 hours and 40 minutes," Kit said.
"I hope you're right Kit because I forgot how to navigate," Russell said with a wink to Kit.
The final leg of the flight went by smoothly and the plane landed at Marshall's Island in the late afternoon. Kit and Sadie helped the Gandersons unload the Wild Geese and afterward, Kit insisted on treating them all for hamburgers at a nearby diner. Kit felt bad hoarding his money and decided he would repay the nice couple and Sadie for their help. Later in the evening Kit explained that he was going to stay on in Marshall's Island and the next morning he bid farewell to the Gandersons. He got firm handshake from Russell and a kiss on the forehead from Dolores.
"You take care now Kit and learn as much as you can from the pilots," said Russell.
"I will Russell."
"And you be sure to eat more," said Dolores as she noted the cub skinny frame, "You need to get some more meat on those bones."
Sadie had decided to stay in Marshall's Island as well and the two of them spent the day exploring the bustling city.
"Hey Kit, I don't want to sound nosey, but I noticed some green in your pocket. Are you sure you're not a master criminal?"
"Uh no, I just am good at saving money, that's all," Kit answered while doing his best to avoid sounding deceptive.
Sadie smiled and said, "Sure… I got good eyes and I saw quite a lot of green in there."
Kit took a deep breath and explained to her that he had been left the money. He didn't go into details, but he made it clear that he wasn't a thief. Sadie looked at Kit as if considering him and then said, "OK," and left it at that. Later on Kit showed her the sketches of the air foil and told her that some 'people' had been working on it and that he had wound up in possession of their paperwork. He didn't want to mention that the 'people' were his parents for fear that he might lose it and start crying in front of the girl. Sadie looked closely at the sketches and noticed the one with the small figure standing on the air foil.
"This looks like you can ride it Kit. Maybe it's a kind of mini-airplane or a glider."
An idea began to form in Kit's mind; "Hey Sadie is there any place around town that a guy can get his paws on some metal?"
Three days after his arrival in Freeport, Kit was once again alone. Sadie had met up with another teenage raccoon air hobo named Eddie whom she had known for quite a while, and the two of them had decided to hop a flight Honululia Island. Kit was invited to come along, but decided that he was going to stay and get to work on the air foil. Mr. Villers had informed Kit in his letter that his parents were both aeronautical engineers and reasoned that perhaps Kit had that trait in his blood. Sadie had mentioned that there was an old scrap yard at the edge of town, so after they had parted ways, he made his way there.
"You sure you don't want to go with me and Eddie Kit?"
"Yeah Kit, you ought to come with us," said Eddie, "The waves are pretty good this time of year."
"Thanks for the offer but I think I'm going to stick around here."
"You sure about that Kit," asked Sadie.
Kit looked around at the bustling city and saw nothing but oppurtunities for him. "Yeah, I think I'm gonna stay here for a while."
"Well take care Master Criminal and see you around," Sadie said as she gave Kit a pat on his head.
"You too Sadie," Kit said and then went about reaching the scrap yard.
Kit was now sitting inside a large workshop with an array of tools and pieces of aluminum scattered on a table he was seated at. He had agreed to pay $20 to the yard's owner for him to stay a month. The wily old goat named Ray allowed Kit the run of the place as long as he didn't cause any trouble. Too most people, $20 was a lot of money, but Kit wasn't concerned with the cost. He had enough to go around but Ralph needed the money and Kit needed to make his air foil. He had to make the air foil. Ever since he had realized what the air foil was intended for he had thought and dreamed of using it. He imagined himself sailing across the skies and darting through the clouds. He reasoned that the only way it would work was as either a gliding device or it would be used in conjunction with a tow-rope and airplane. Whatever the case, it would be his to use. Kit had a small corner of the workshop set up as his living space. He had a make-shift bed and pillow and a clothesline. He had had to ditch the clothes he had worn while escaping from Witherspoon due to damages incurred while landing in the trash truck. Also, the smell of garbage hadn't quite left it. Now he was down to two changes of clothes and his backpack.
Presently the young cub had been working studiously for the past several hours on trying to shape a piece of aluminum into a wedge shape.
"Whacha making there Kit?" asked Ralph as he walked in to check on Kit, "Is that a boomerang like the ones them Downunda people use?"
Kit looked at the airfoil sketches and realized that it could be used as a boomerang, then said, "It's called an air foil Ralph."
"What's it for?"
Kit explained to Ralph its use and the old yard owner shook his head and said, "You'd be liable to hurt yourself on it, but then again, what's a little adventure. Where'd you learn to do this sort of stuff?"
Kit thought for a moment then he said, "It's in my blood."
Ralph looked at the boy and thought how sad it was that a kid his age was forced to live on the streets. Too many orphaned kids and too many runaways these days.
During the next week Kit had made little progress with the airfoil. Despite his understanding of the sketches and the tools he had available he was still having trouble bending and assembling his project. He was deep in thought when he heard someone yelling. He strained his ears and heard it again. Someone was yelling and cursing. Then he heard Ralph yell out in pain. Kit ran out the workshop's entrance and looked at the yard's office. There was a car parked in front with a large hippo standing next to it. The hippo wore a dark brown suit and wore a fedora. Kit wasn't 100% sure but he thought that he saw a gun in the hippo's hand.
Noise alerted Kit, there was the sound of a struggle coming from the office. Ralph is in trouble he thought. He looked around the workshop and found a 12 inch wrench and grabbed it and ran out toward the office.
Kit darted alongside the workshop and saw one of the office's side windows was open. He ran to the open window and peeked in. Inside a mean looking badger was punching Ralph in the stomach while a thin leopard in a white suit and gold chain looked on.
"Now Ralph, we're reasonable people and I know you're a reasonable person, but really we expected more of you. You are late with your rent money and to be honest 20 bucks is chump change," said the leopard.
The badger stopped punching Ralph to allow him to speak. "Look Vinnie, I can get the money, just give me a few more days and I can get you the rest plus some extra."
"From where Ralph? Who's gonna give you a loan? Bruno, hit him again for me."
Bruno slammed his fist into Ralph's gut and the old goat doubled over. Kit gasped and reflexively threw his wrench at Bruno. Bruno screamed in rage as the wrench hit him upside the head. He staggered then fell to his knees.
Kit jumped through the open window and ran to recover the wrench. However he was met by a pistol being leveled at his head.
"Nice try boy," said Vinnie as he cocked the pistol's hammer and smiled.
Kit stood frozen in fear as he stared down into the blackness of the revolver's barrel. He was so fixated that he didn't notice Bruno get up and take a swing at him. An excruciating pain came crashing down into the side of Kit's skull as the badger hit Kit with an open palm. Kit saw stars and then he passed out.
Kit came to just as the hippo had finished dowsing the inside of the office with a bottle of liquor. The hippo stopped, looked around, and took swag of the whiskey then dumped the rest of the bottle onto Ralph's desk.
"Lou! Quit screwin around and get to the car so I light this!" bellowed Vinnie, "We got some more rent to collect and I don't feel like waiting around!"
"Yeah boss," answered Lou, who then turned and walked out of the building.
"Hey kid, if I was you I'd be running right about now. Consider me letting you two live as a favor," said Vinnie.
Kit sat up and looked at the leopard and saw that he was lighting up a cigarette. Kit glanced over to Ralph and saw that the old goat was lying on the floor. "You-you're a monster!"
"Boy, I'm no monster. I'm just a middleman. Besides if I was a monster I would've killed you myself, but I don't waste kids, it's not my style. Now be a good boy and grab the old goat and get him out of here."
"You're letting us live?" asked Kit nervously.
"That depends on you getting the two of you out of here. Besides, ol' Ralphie is still of some use to us. Now you should be moving," with that the leopard dropped his cigarette and walked out. Kit watched in horror as the flame ignited the liquor with a whoosh. He jumped up and ran to Ralph.
"RALPH! WAKE UP!" he cried, "We've got to go now!"
Ralph stirred and struggled to open his swollen eyelids. "Wha-what's happening Kit?"
"Never mind! We got to go!" Kit yelled as he lifted Ralph's head and shoulders off of the floor. Ralph managed to stand and grabbed onto Kit's arm and let the cub guide him to the open window.
Several hours later, Kit sat inside the workshop with his arms wrapped around his legs. The boy had managed to get help from a nearby home and the fire department had arrived and put out the blaze. Ralph had been taken to the hospital but not before he warned Kit to hide.
"Kit listen, forget about this ok? Those men are dangerous and they won't give us a second chance. Don't tell the cops anything, just get out of here and I'll handle it."
"Who are they? Why did they hurt us? What did they want?"
"They're with the mob. I owed them money and was overdue. That's why I charged you the 20 bucks. I'm sorry Kit."
Kit reached into his pocket and pulled out two twenties and stuffed them in Ralph's shirt. "I hope this'll help Ralph. Thanks for the stuff and I hope you'll be ok."
Ralph smiled and ruffled Kit's hair, "It'll take more than those three goons to get ol' Ralph. Now get out of here and watch out for dangerous people Kit. Marshall's Island can be a dangerous place."
Kit stood up and grabbed his belongings and his unfinished air foil and walked off toward town. He was tired and shaken and his head still throbbed from where Bruno had smacked him. He held back his sorrows and with a face full of grim determination, entered the town.