Chapter XIX
Secrets Revealed
Jenny Hakes was a jolly, good-natured woman who didn't let much of anything upset her for long. She also sprinkled her conversation liberally with quotes from the Bible. By the time Lex got her and her improvised water-bucket back to Andy's shady spot and introduced her to everyone, her conversational style had already begun to get on his nerves.
"I knew that all would be well," she told the three boys. "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them. Psalms 34."
Clark didn't seem to have the same problem with her speech patterns that Lex did. Probably he had been inoculated against them by his own father's penchant for platitudes. "How did you manage to survive, Mrs. Hakes?" Clark asked.
"Please call me Jenny, Clark. All of you." The leathery face beamed at them. "I brought my poor old crate down as well as I could -- brush is a wonder for bleeding off speed, you know." Andy nodded. "Lost a wing, and that helped too. I'm thankful I didn't hit that boulder head-on!" The weather-beaten pilot laughed heartily. "Had my fire-extinguisher, of course, used that right away. Whenever you fly cross-country you should have some food and water, just in case. Of course, that ran out a while ago. Thank God I've always been a fat woman! Brush also usually means water. There's a little spring up thataways." She gestured with her bandaged hand. "Got off pretty lightly with the injuries, too, just burned one hand. I honestly haven't opened it up since I wrapped it -- it hurts like blazes, and I'm afraid to look at it, but it smells all right, and I just hope for the best." The kind brown eyes turned sharp. "How did you three manage to survive?"
Lex and Andy both looked at Clark. Clark blushed a deep red and stammered, "Survive?"
"Look to Him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame," Jenny quoted idly, studying Clark's face. "I heard your plane, dear. Cessna 172, I'm betting. Probably Mr. Alvin's, right, Andy?"
The young pilot nodded. He looked like the shock of his injuries was wearing off, and the pain was setting in.
"I heard you flying nearby, and started rushing back down from the spring so I could be near my plane and try to get your attention with the radio. I've been attempting to piece together one working set from the four damaged ones, but I don't really think I've managed. Still, the Lord helps those who help themselves. I couldn't just lie down and die!" She laughed again. "I heard the explosion, and I heard your plane crash. I'm thankful that you made it here, but it's not the easiest thing to understand."
"For me neither," Andy gritted out. "We should be dead! When the plane blew like that, I knew we were dead! What happened?
Clark had shrunk in on himself so that he wasn't even recognizable as the young hero who had leapt through hundreds of feet of empty space and brought Lex and Andy safely to the ground. The blush seemed permanent now, and he stared at the ground as if his head were entirely too heavy to lift.
Lex decided he had to step up now if this situation were going to be salvaged. Jenny still seemed open to any explanation, and he was hoping he could put Andy's hostility down to the pain of the broken leg. Striving to look casually in-control, just as he did whenever he had to explain something to his father, Lex steepled his fingers together and took a deep, but very quiet, breath.
"I don't know if you were in Smallville in 1989, Mrs. Hakes," he began.
The woman's laughter startled him a little. "Of course! Of course. And call me Jenny. You boys would have been little then. Were you all caught out in it?"
"Huh?" Andy asked.
Clark looked up hopefully at the light tone of the old pilot's response. He licked his lips nervously. "Andy's from Grandville," he said.
"That's right; I think I knew that about you, Andy. Well, dear, you don't need to fret," she said. "God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. Years ago, in Smallville, there was a huge and deadly meteorite shower. Many people were killed, and others were changed. Some went mad from it, but not all. For who has known the mind of the Lord?"
"Clark and I were both caught out in it, as you say. I went bald that day, and was cured of my asthma. I've never been sick a day since, and I heal fast. Clark," Lex gritted his jaw for a moment, then smirked and went on. "Well, Clark hides his light under a bushel, but it's clear that he's not exactly...."
"I'm fast," Clark gulped out, interrupting him. "And strong, and hard to hurt. We jumped from the plane before it crashed, and I held onto Lex and Andy so I could take the force of the landing." He still couldn't look anyone in the eye. "Please don't tell anyone," he whispered.
"I won't," Jenny promised. "Andy?" she prompted.
"Okay," the young pilot replied, with an awed expression on his face. "But why not?"
"My dad," Clark started, still looking at the dirt, "He's, well, we've always been afraid, that somebody would find out and take me away from them, from my parents and the farm, to study me." Blue-green eyes met blue-gray. "Please don't tell anyone," he repeated.
Lex quirked a crooked smile at him. "I swear I'll keep your secrets, Clark."
"Jonathan Kent," Mrs. Hakes mused. "I was there the day he punched out Reverend Carlson. That man would rather be right than President."
"He'll never be either," Lex muttered grumpily.
"Lex!" Clark exclaimed. "That's not fair!"
Lex smiled up at him. Clark ducked his head, then smiled back. It looked like everything might still be okay between them. "I know," Lex admitted. He ran his hands over his head, grimacing at the feel of the grit he'd gotten on them. "It's just -- we've found Mrs. Hakes, Jenny, but we don't have a working plane or a working radio. We're stuck in the middle of Colorado with no food...."
"There's a little blackberry patch up by the spring," Jenny interrupted.
Lex glared at her, and she smiled at him. "With very little food," Lex fumed, "and we still don't know who was stealing my electronics parts, or have any proof against Johnson or Rankin!"
"Well, I think perhaps Nick Johnson isn't his real name," Jenny said. "I found him looking through some papers the day before I took off on this flight, and one of them had the name 'Nick Sloane' at the top of it. He swept them away in a hurry, and I didn't think anything of it until after the crash."
"I think I've heard of a Nick Sloane," Lex offered.
"Wasn't he wanted for fraud last summer?" Clark wondered.
"Maybe. I'm sure it was something like that. We could certainly investigate it if we could ever get back to civilization!"
"Once the Feds get a look at the wreckage of our planes, that will be a charge against him," Andy put in. "They take bombs in planes very seriously, even in little planes like these."
"The Feds?" Clark asked nervously.
"Sure!" Andy replied. "As soon as we can get to a phone, we're required to notify the NTSB -- that's National Transportation Safety Board -- of plane crashes involving injuries. Then they notify the FAA -- Federal Aviation Administration -- and *they* bring in the FBI -- Federal Bureau of Investigation -- as needed. Bombs mean FBI, for sure."
"FBI?" Clark repeated, aghast. He looked kind of pale.
Lex considered. "We can't have the FBI asking how we survived that crash."
"I'll end up in a lab," Clark breathed. He swallowed hard. "Dissected."
"Not going to happen, Clark," Lex assured him.
"But we have to!" Andy insisted. "We have to report the crashes, and they have to investigate them! It's regulations! Besides, if they don't, then Nick whatsisname gets away with bombing our planes!"
"Maybe there's another way," Jenny speculated. "How fast are you, Clark?"
Clark gave her a deer-in-the-headlights look. "Pretty fast. Why?"
"If we work it right, we can report just one crash to the government, and keep the 172's quiet."
"Mrs. Hakes!" Lex pretended to be shocked. Was this old bible-thumper suggesting they lie?
"We wouldn't be bearing false witness against anybody," she clarified. "Render up to Caesar that which is Caesar's, which Clark isn't. The only one who might be hurt by this idea I've got would be you, Andy."
"What is it, then?" Andy asked.
Secrets Revealed
Jenny Hakes was a jolly, good-natured woman who didn't let much of anything upset her for long. She also sprinkled her conversation liberally with quotes from the Bible. By the time Lex got her and her improvised water-bucket back to Andy's shady spot and introduced her to everyone, her conversational style had already begun to get on his nerves.
"I knew that all would be well," she told the three boys. "The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them. Psalms 34."
Clark didn't seem to have the same problem with her speech patterns that Lex did. Probably he had been inoculated against them by his own father's penchant for platitudes. "How did you manage to survive, Mrs. Hakes?" Clark asked.
"Please call me Jenny, Clark. All of you." The leathery face beamed at them. "I brought my poor old crate down as well as I could -- brush is a wonder for bleeding off speed, you know." Andy nodded. "Lost a wing, and that helped too. I'm thankful I didn't hit that boulder head-on!" The weather-beaten pilot laughed heartily. "Had my fire-extinguisher, of course, used that right away. Whenever you fly cross-country you should have some food and water, just in case. Of course, that ran out a while ago. Thank God I've always been a fat woman! Brush also usually means water. There's a little spring up thataways." She gestured with her bandaged hand. "Got off pretty lightly with the injuries, too, just burned one hand. I honestly haven't opened it up since I wrapped it -- it hurts like blazes, and I'm afraid to look at it, but it smells all right, and I just hope for the best." The kind brown eyes turned sharp. "How did you three manage to survive?"
Lex and Andy both looked at Clark. Clark blushed a deep red and stammered, "Survive?"
"Look to Him that you may be radiant with joy, and your faces may not blush with shame," Jenny quoted idly, studying Clark's face. "I heard your plane, dear. Cessna 172, I'm betting. Probably Mr. Alvin's, right, Andy?"
The young pilot nodded. He looked like the shock of his injuries was wearing off, and the pain was setting in.
"I heard you flying nearby, and started rushing back down from the spring so I could be near my plane and try to get your attention with the radio. I've been attempting to piece together one working set from the four damaged ones, but I don't really think I've managed. Still, the Lord helps those who help themselves. I couldn't just lie down and die!" She laughed again. "I heard the explosion, and I heard your plane crash. I'm thankful that you made it here, but it's not the easiest thing to understand."
"For me neither," Andy gritted out. "We should be dead! When the plane blew like that, I knew we were dead! What happened?
Clark had shrunk in on himself so that he wasn't even recognizable as the young hero who had leapt through hundreds of feet of empty space and brought Lex and Andy safely to the ground. The blush seemed permanent now, and he stared at the ground as if his head were entirely too heavy to lift.
Lex decided he had to step up now if this situation were going to be salvaged. Jenny still seemed open to any explanation, and he was hoping he could put Andy's hostility down to the pain of the broken leg. Striving to look casually in-control, just as he did whenever he had to explain something to his father, Lex steepled his fingers together and took a deep, but very quiet, breath.
"I don't know if you were in Smallville in 1989, Mrs. Hakes," he began.
The woman's laughter startled him a little. "Of course! Of course. And call me Jenny. You boys would have been little then. Were you all caught out in it?"
"Huh?" Andy asked.
Clark looked up hopefully at the light tone of the old pilot's response. He licked his lips nervously. "Andy's from Grandville," he said.
"That's right; I think I knew that about you, Andy. Well, dear, you don't need to fret," she said. "God moves in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform. Years ago, in Smallville, there was a huge and deadly meteorite shower. Many people were killed, and others were changed. Some went mad from it, but not all. For who has known the mind of the Lord?"
"Clark and I were both caught out in it, as you say. I went bald that day, and was cured of my asthma. I've never been sick a day since, and I heal fast. Clark," Lex gritted his jaw for a moment, then smirked and went on. "Well, Clark hides his light under a bushel, but it's clear that he's not exactly...."
"I'm fast," Clark gulped out, interrupting him. "And strong, and hard to hurt. We jumped from the plane before it crashed, and I held onto Lex and Andy so I could take the force of the landing." He still couldn't look anyone in the eye. "Please don't tell anyone," he whispered.
"I won't," Jenny promised. "Andy?" she prompted.
"Okay," the young pilot replied, with an awed expression on his face. "But why not?"
"My dad," Clark started, still looking at the dirt, "He's, well, we've always been afraid, that somebody would find out and take me away from them, from my parents and the farm, to study me." Blue-green eyes met blue-gray. "Please don't tell anyone," he repeated.
Lex quirked a crooked smile at him. "I swear I'll keep your secrets, Clark."
"Jonathan Kent," Mrs. Hakes mused. "I was there the day he punched out Reverend Carlson. That man would rather be right than President."
"He'll never be either," Lex muttered grumpily.
"Lex!" Clark exclaimed. "That's not fair!"
Lex smiled up at him. Clark ducked his head, then smiled back. It looked like everything might still be okay between them. "I know," Lex admitted. He ran his hands over his head, grimacing at the feel of the grit he'd gotten on them. "It's just -- we've found Mrs. Hakes, Jenny, but we don't have a working plane or a working radio. We're stuck in the middle of Colorado with no food...."
"There's a little blackberry patch up by the spring," Jenny interrupted.
Lex glared at her, and she smiled at him. "With very little food," Lex fumed, "and we still don't know who was stealing my electronics parts, or have any proof against Johnson or Rankin!"
"Well, I think perhaps Nick Johnson isn't his real name," Jenny said. "I found him looking through some papers the day before I took off on this flight, and one of them had the name 'Nick Sloane' at the top of it. He swept them away in a hurry, and I didn't think anything of it until after the crash."
"I think I've heard of a Nick Sloane," Lex offered.
"Wasn't he wanted for fraud last summer?" Clark wondered.
"Maybe. I'm sure it was something like that. We could certainly investigate it if we could ever get back to civilization!"
"Once the Feds get a look at the wreckage of our planes, that will be a charge against him," Andy put in. "They take bombs in planes very seriously, even in little planes like these."
"The Feds?" Clark asked nervously.
"Sure!" Andy replied. "As soon as we can get to a phone, we're required to notify the NTSB -- that's National Transportation Safety Board -- of plane crashes involving injuries. Then they notify the FAA -- Federal Aviation Administration -- and *they* bring in the FBI -- Federal Bureau of Investigation -- as needed. Bombs mean FBI, for sure."
"FBI?" Clark repeated, aghast. He looked kind of pale.
Lex considered. "We can't have the FBI asking how we survived that crash."
"I'll end up in a lab," Clark breathed. He swallowed hard. "Dissected."
"Not going to happen, Clark," Lex assured him.
"But we have to!" Andy insisted. "We have to report the crashes, and they have to investigate them! It's regulations! Besides, if they don't, then Nick whatsisname gets away with bombing our planes!"
"Maybe there's another way," Jenny speculated. "How fast are you, Clark?"
Clark gave her a deer-in-the-headlights look. "Pretty fast. Why?"
"If we work it right, we can report just one crash to the government, and keep the 172's quiet."
"Mrs. Hakes!" Lex pretended to be shocked. Was this old bible-thumper suggesting they lie?
"We wouldn't be bearing false witness against anybody," she clarified. "Render up to Caesar that which is Caesar's, which Clark isn't. The only one who might be hurt by this idea I've got would be you, Andy."
"What is it, then?" Andy asked.