Cad Trouble 10

Cad rolled over restlessly on his sleeping mat and glanced at the clock hung on the opposite wall. 0400, to early for his likings, but he was wide awake. That infernal racket made by Joe-Joe and Dynamite's combined snores didn't help either. Cad sighed and slammed a pillow on his cabin. No good, he was awake. Putting the pillow back he retrieved his book, which had fallen off the mat when he grabbed the pillow. On the cover he found a note. What on earth was the P.V.O.B. team? Probably something to do with the jumpers. Shrugging the note off, Cad flipped the book onto his hood. Moving a sleeping Drip out of the doorway, Cad drove out of the hanger's open door.

Cad looked around the base. Blade was asleep on the overlook, Windlifter next to him. They were actually very cute all floppy rotored and drooling. Even in his few weeks at the base, Cad had caught Blade sleeping on the overlook many times but never Windlifter. He had guessed it was some sacred spot reserved only for Blade, this was new. Cabbie and Benjamin were snuggled down in their hanger. Only Patch, who was up in her tower with all the lights on, seemed to be up. Cad went into the main hanger and flopped on the couch. Soon he was enthralled in his book and didn't notice the stream of activity that passed his trunk.

Maru came in around five and put the coffee on. Blade followed soon after baring a pile of paper work. He snagged a cup of Maru's coffee a few minutes later and was gone off on petrol. Maru swept up the flour tracks and left Cad alone with the coffee. In due course the heavies tramped in, took their coffees and left. Off to listen to Cabbie's radio's weather forecast even though either one of them could have given one just as accurate and way more entertaining. Then came Trouble. Drip rolled in on Cad reading and since he had nothing better to do, decided to unleash this Cad maddening prank.

Drip lazily rolled over to the coffee machine and poured himself a large cup. He sipped thoughtfully then an idea popped into his head. This was going to be good.

A few hours latter, it was training time. The whole base participate in the first part, which happened on the base, everyone hit the deck and did what seemed like thousands of wheel push ups and crunches. Afterward the jumpers split off from the group taking off and headed into the woods. Dynamite took the lead but was closely followed by Joe-Joe and Cad. Scaling a drop off in order to jump off of it Drip silently caught up with Cad. At the top Dynamite jumped off to the west, Joe-Joe follow her. Cad was up next. When he went to jump off he felt himself get pushed. Soon he was plummeting down the south face and onto a bloated dead opossum. Cad grimaced as he impacted. Dead opossum juice covered his under carriage and a horrible stink rose up the drop off. The whole rest of the time Cad got an excellent course in staying pushed off of things became a norm soon for him as it was part of training. Still that opossum had had a great idea of were to just suddenly die at. Yeah right. Cad was catching on and quick. There would be retaliation.

That night Avalanche had dawn cooking duty. Cad had grimaced but still eaten the fire hot chili. The latter offered ice cream with chocolate pieces went over much better. Everyone was enjoying the cooler mouth temperatures when Cads middle gurgled. All the jumpers snickered. After another gurgle Cad b-lined the bathroom.

Once Cad fled, Blade turned and looked at the jumpers, who squirmed under his gazes,"Who's responsible for the opossum juice."

Drip slowly and cockily raised his blade.

"Good job,"Blade replied running his gaze over everyone,"if I might ask though, who's idea the was the coco lax?"

Dynamite smiled and did a mock solute,"it was all my genius chief."

Blade grinned sagely and finish his ice cream.

An hour or so later Cad emerged from his indesposal , to a completely empty hanger. What luck he thought. Going over to the trash can he looked inside it and sure enough there was a coco-lax bar rapper sitting under a bean can. He rinsed his the melted ice cream down the drain and exited the hanger turning off the light. It then occurred to him that he hadn't seen his book since the morning. After searching the base high and low Cad gave up and went to sit with the jumpers in Cabbie and Benjamin's hanger. Cabbie and Benjamin were having a not so friendly debate about if it was proper for a respectable cargo plane to have vacuumed carpet in their bay.

Cabbie said,"No, no respectable cargo plane every did."

Benjamin said,"but I have carpet and I like it to be cleanly vacuumed and I'm respectable!"

The debate went on for sometime until the conclusion was reached that Cabbie should try being vacuumed once and that Benjamin's carpet might not be practical. A date of the next morning was set for the test vacuuming. The jumpers soon left once the debate ended. Cad had drifted out before and laid his prank. When the tired vehicles lay down to sleep they found the prank. Drip was first. Their beds were full of ice cubes. Cad had magically disappeared just when the ice was discovered, so the jumper's revenge was waiting on him in his sleeping mat. Latter after hiding out with Benjamin, Cad went to lay down only to find a rubber snake in his bed. What to do with this? Idea: hang it over Pinecone as retaliation for stealing his book continuously. He'd caught her doing that! But not anyone else, that is as of yet ... The observations would continue.

In the morning the base got a snake over Pinecone's head wake-up call. Luckily Blade was already out on patrol and the coffee started or some heads would have been rolling. After breakfast, morning chores, and training, the base settled down to watch the vacuuming. Benjamin, Cabbie and Maru all gathered in front of the repair hanger with the jumper's and Dipper scattered around, Blade and Windlifter perched on Blade's hanger's porch with a big pile of paper work each.

Dynamite yawned,"Benjamin, what is the blindfold for?"

Cabbie jumped,"blindfold! What's that for?"

"Oh it doesn't let you see the cleaner coming."Benjamin simply replied.

Cabbie raised his eyebrows in a question but was interrupted,"WHY WOULD OUR UNCLE BE SCARED OF A VACUUM? HE'S THE BRAVEST C119 EVER!" Shouted Avalanche. Benjamin went to answer but Cabbie jumped as a rooooooooomvoom echoed out of Cabbie's bay. Maru had started the vacuuming. Cabbie's face contorted into a series of smiles, grimaced , and awkward looks, this caused great merriment on the porch.

Blade couldn't help himself,"Cabbie haha, your face haha. Does it tickle hahaha or is the noise scary?"

Cabbie tried to growl through a choked giggle but failed miserably and everyone ended up laughing their heads off. Even Windlifter, who's deep bellow echoed around on the canyon walls.

Cabbie was throughly terrorized when the vacuuming finished and was in a funk all the rest of the day. Everywhere he went he would growl not so softly at Benjamin or a passing jumper. Once he even tried to nip at Benjamin's tail after he had dared to mention that you just had to get used to it. Cabbie didn't think so!

A week after Cabbie was vacuumed, Cad snuck out after the jumpers one night. Because the moon was new, darkness hung everywhere. Following the five old jumpers he crawled along through the underbrush. Slowing the five stopped in a small clearing, as Cad tried to sneak in closer.

"So Pine and Blackout and you Drip have gone and I've gone. So that only leaves you 'Lanche, right?"

"RIGHT!"

"Ssshhhh!"

"SORRY!"

"Ssshhhh... Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"A rustle."

"No!"

"EVERYONE BE QUIET!"

Cad stood stalk still and listened with the jumpers, figuring he had actually made the noise. In a moment there came another noise, it was the sound of a poorly placed wheel. Cad looked in his rear view mirrors to see Maru bumbling along right toward him. In a panic, Cad sank to the leaf loam and hurried out of Maru's path. After what seemed like hours of crawling Cad entered the training clearing. On the known trail, he made good time back to the the base. He silently slid into the jumper hanger lay down, faking sleep until the others arrived not long after.

In the middle of the night, Dynamite got up and rolled over to Cad's mat. Taking a marker in her mouth she went to write on his hood. Stopping just millimeters away she held the marker poised and ready. But something in her made her stop. She couldn't do it. She couldn't write a nasty thing on this SUV that had proven to her that he had changed. Changed for others good. But she couldn't write a nice thing ether or she'd get mocked and stared back at. What to do? Taking a lipstick from her small makeup bag she drew a huge mouth on Cad but nothing else.

Laying down she though to herself, why couldn't I do it? Why?

Then a terrible thought came to her, no, no it can't be. I can't like him in the least he... he... did all those things to the base, to my people. No. I just can't.

With that she rolled over a tried to sleep.

A few days later Cad had completed all the training Blade could give him and was leaving the base for three weeks. He was headed for a neighboring base that actually had a jumping tower. Blade had instructed him in first aid and general wild land fire fighting and Cad had passed all fitness standards this was one of the last steps. Cad hoped to soon be on the ground helping out nad not only stuck on the base doing very useful but boring chores.

As the base disappeared behind him he remembered all the days that had passed since he had been super intendant of this park. All the years of re-building the lodge on the bases stolen money had not given him as good a feeling as giving back to the ones he'd hurt. The two years in death valley had changed him to were he would now never consider participating in that type money dealings but instead wanted work hard and give back. Maybe in a year or two he'd look back and see all the hazing and following around as an outsider, be nothing but a distant memory fading into all the others. Who knows?

Three weeks later Blade was doing paper work in his hanger. The fans surrounding him buzzed softly as they continually threatened to blow all his paper work to the floor. One rather successful breeze did knock some of it off. Blade growled as he reached for it with his mouth stick. It was an application. Blade stopped for a moment, sure enough it was Cad applying not only to train but to work. Hmmm. Under it Blade found a certification paper.

Blade rolled to his door and called to Windlifter, who was lifting his logs out of boredom." Hey Wind come over hear."

The Sikorsky rolled up and questioned with his eyes. Blade showed him the papers. Windlifter asked,"you taking him?"

Blade nodded back. "Good choice, you are at last trying to work with the wolf and not with the coyote."Windlifter replied

Blade pitied the bases employees of next the year when he retired and got left with this wolf and coyote nonsense. Oh brother!

When Cad returned to the base the following week he was greeted as a team member. This surprised Cad because it was the opposite of what he expected. He'd expected cold glances at best, not the loud greetings of hello from the jumpers and all the other arial firefighters. Blade rolled over to Cad after the jumpers finished,"Welcome to the team Spinner."

Cad's heart swelled with happiness as he heard this. Maybe all the drama was behind him. Maybe he could get down to businesses. He sure hoped so!