Part 5: Flight Home
"I'm so hungry, I haven't eaten for ages," complains Buck looking down at his stomach, expecting it to groan.
"You should've eaten that food they offered us in jail," says Chris from his driver's seat.
"Are you CRAZY?" exclaims Buck, remembering the sort of food prisoners have to eat.
"We didn' even have breakfast this mornin'," joins in Vin, thinking he could eat just about anything now.
"Can we stop talkin' 'bout food?" requests Buck, as his stomach starts to feel really empty.
"You started it!" says Vin.
"I'm finishin' it. Can we go to McDonalds?" replies Buck.
"This is a jungle - no fast food here," reminds Vin.
"Let's get the next flight home then," suggests Buck.
"Our return tickets are for a week's time, Buckley," says Chris, wondering how much longer it will be before he ends up shooting someone, if he only had a gun.
"Hey, let's forget about those, let's charter a plane home, I'm gettin' homesick," says Vin.
"Have to be the cheapest plane available!" says Chris.
"I got a pilot's license," offers Buck.
"Don't even think about it; I can fly a plane perfectly well," says Chris. He starts to think about what would happen if they let Buck fly them home.
"Since when?" asks Vin in surprise.
"Since I was 24," answers Chris, remembering his flying lessons.
"Have ya got your license with you though?" asks Buck, remembering he didn't think to bring his with him.
Chris pulls the bus over to the side of the road, then finds his license and shows it to Buck. Buck looks at it annoyed, and then hands it back to Chris.
"If you get to fly the plane, can I drive us now?" asks Vin, eager to do something as he's getting bored just sitting down.
"NO! I'm still hurt about that snake trick you pulled on me."
"That snake trick was only revenge fer what you did."
"It was uncalled for," says Chris.
"How about we all stop fighting and drive to the nearest airport?" speaks up Lu, annoyed at all this disharmony within the group.
"And steal a plane?" suggests Nathan.
"No. We'll rent a plane and fly home, do you want to end up in jail again?" says Lu.
"We'd get away with it, we're ATF!"
"Nathan, what's up with you lately? Snap out of it NOW, and THAT'S an order!" says Chris. He looks at the team medic, thinking that maybe the vacation is starting to get to the man.
"He's gonna get us inta more trouble an' danger if he doesn' start behavin', "says Vin.
Suddenly, a police car comes toward the bus with its siren going. It overtakes them and stops in front of the bus. Chris gets off the bus and walks to the car, which has the window down, as it's such a hot day. Chris looks in the window at a North American-looking policeman and asks, "Is there a problem, Officer?"
"We're looking for some fugitives, who're on the run, have you seen anyone suspicious looking?" answers policeman.
"Yes, there were some guys in the jungle, but I don't know where they went. Sorry," says Chris.
"Okay son. Where are you headed?" asks the policeman.
"We need to find the nearest airport to hire a plane to get a flight back to North America."
The policeman takes a map out of his pocket and says, "Here - have this. The nearest airport is clearly marked."
"Thanks, have a nice day!" says Chris, accepting the map from him.
"You too, sir." The policeman drives off.
Chris gets back on the bus with the map. "Okay, the airport's 10 miles away from here. Won't be long now," he tells them.
"What if we can't get a plane?" frets Lu, thinking it's very short notice to get a plane.
"We will persuade someone that we urgently need a plane. We're ATF Team 7 remember," answers Chris with a grin.
"Me and Krys could pretend to be your prisoners if you like," suggests Lu, thinking that this might make it look more urgent for them to need to get home.
"I'll be Vin's prisoner!" says Krys
"We don't need to exaggerate to get a flight home, but thanks for suggestin' it," replies Chris with a small chuckle.
"Can we pick up that hitchhiker over there?" asks Krys, while looking out of the window.
"NO WAY!" refuses Chris.
"If I was drivin' I would pick him up," says Buck.
"You'd rather it was a female hitchhiker though!" states Nathan.
Buck nods and smiles in agreement.
"We could miss out on something if we don't pick him up," says Vin.
Chris feels hesitant about picking up a hitchhiker and says, "He could pull a gun on us."
"Please can we pick him up? I want to know where he's going and who he is," asks Vin.
"Okay but if he pulls a gun out, YOU can protect us!" Chris stops the bus, stands up and opens the doors.
"Hi, where ya headed?" asks the stranger.
"To get a flight home to North America," says Chris, not liking the look of this man.
"Just where I'm headed. I got a brother at the airport who's gonna fly us home. Maybe he could take you guys as well, his plane's jus' big enough."
"I was gonna charter us a plane - I've got a pilot's license," says Chris.
"You'll never get a plane at short notice here," replies the stranger.
"Where abouts in the states do you live?" asks JD.
"Nashville, Tennessee."
"Let's go there for a while; I've never been there," says JD.
"My sister owns a guesthouse there, she'd put y'all up," says the stranger.
"Thanks, that's very kind," says Chris, deciding that maybe the stranger's not so bad.
"Two of my other sisters cook there - best food in the whole state," says the stranger.
"How many sisters do you have?" asks JD.
"I got 6 sisters and 5 brothers," answers the stranger.
"Your parents had 12 children?" exclaims Vin, clearly surprised.
"Not all together they didn'! The name's Will by the way," says Will.
"I'm Buck. Are your sisters all married?" says Buck.
"Two of my sisters are married and the others are single. Are you looking for a girlfriend?" says Will.
"Could be."
Will gets onto the bus and sits next to Buck who he is getting on well with. Chris is now driving them to the airport.
"Let's play 20 questions," says JD, forgetting how Buck ruined it last time.
"I've got one," says Krys.
"Is it a vegetable?" asks Buck.
"No."
"Animal?" asks Lu.
"Yes," answers Krys.
"Does it fly?" asks Vin.
"Yes, onto question 4."
"Is it a bird?" asks Buck.
"Nope," answers Krys.
"A bat?" asks Lu.
"Nope."
"A butterfly?" guesses Buck.
"Yes. You gonna think of one now?" says Krys, glad that someone finally got it.
"No, let's play I spy. I spy with my little eye something beginning with S," says Buck who's no good at twenty questions.
"Seat?" guesses Lu.
"Nope," answers Buck shaking his head.
"Shoe?" guesses Vin.
"Nope."
"Mr. Standish?" asks Vin.
"Good guess but... nope."
"Spider?" guesses Lu.
"Nope," answers Buck, thinking that no one will ever guess right.
Vin guesses whilst looking towards Chris, "Snake?"
Chris forgets they're playing I spy and asks, "WHERE?" and tries to drive whilst worrying about it.
"I was only guessin' Chris," says Vin, starting to laugh.
Chris glares at him; "Don't say that word again."
"Sorry."
"Nope," says Buck jokingly.
"Don't be stupid, ass. That wasn' a guess," says Vin angrily.
"Give up?" asks Buck.
"No. Sky?" guesses Lu.
" I thought no one was gonna get it!" says Buck, whilst nodding at Lu.
"It's too noisy on here. Everyone be quiet 'til we get there now," orders Chris, who's starting to get a headache.
Will is asleep in his chair and Buck is looking out the window. They are quiet for a while until they get to the airport.
They push and shove to get off the bus, as they are desperate to get home to the States.
"No pushin'," orders Chris.
Will leads them to his brother's plane.
Chris looks at the small plane and asks, "Will that fit all of us in it?"
"Sure it will," answers their new friend, leading them over to a man who looks slightly similar to him. "This is my brother Patrick."
"Top o' the morning to ya," greets Patrick, sounding a lot different from Will.
"Your brother's Irish!" exclaims JD in surprise.
"He's really my step-brother," explains Will.
"Ahh."
"How long have you been flying?" Chris asks the Irish brother.
"Since I was a beebee!" answers Patrick.
"Wow!" says JD.
"We have to go NOW. Weathers gonna change soon," explains Will.
"Looks okay ta me!" says Vin, looking at the blue sky.
"Strong winds forecast for later," says Patrick.
They get onto the plane and manage to find space to sit down, but it's a bit cramped.
"Buck, move over, yer crowding me," complains Vin, feeling a bit claustrophobic on the small plane.
"I have nowhere to move to," complains Buck.
"Move over anyway!" orders Vin.
Buck gets up to try and move over but Will glares at him and orders, "Sit down, we're taking off." Buck quickly sits down again.
The plane rapidly takes off, but is a bit wobbly. "Is this thing all right?" asks Chris, concerned for their safety.
"Jus' a bit of turbulence," explains Will.
The plane gets higher and starts flying faster and faster.
"We're gonna die!" yells JD, feeling terrified.
"My brother's jus' eager to get home. We've been away from there a long time," says Will, inwardly cursing his brother for his flying.
"Workin' here?" asks Vin.
"No, we jus' been having a long holiday."
They soon arrive in Nashville, Tennessee and land on a small airstrip.
There are some men and women with children waiting for them.
"Looks like the whole family turned out to meet us!" says Vin counting the people.
"They musta really missed you guys!" says JD.
They get off the plane and approach the crowd.
"This is my sister Clara, my sister Alison and my sister Alice," introduces Will.
"These are my kids: Ed who's 5, Joanne who's 6, Carrie who's 7 and a half, then there's Joseph who's 10, Jim-bob who's 11 and finally Louis who's 14."
"All these kids are yours?" says Buck in disbelief.
"Yes. All my nephews and nieces are at home at the moment," says Patrick, wondering why Buck's surprised.
"It's gettin' late, let's go to my sister's guesthouse, it's on the other side of town," says Will, eager to get home.
They get into cars, which are parked there. All Will's brothers are the drivers plus Will and Patrick
Buck ends up sitting between two of the sisters. "Hi, I'm Buck," he says smiling at them.
"That's a pretty name, I'm Clara," says Clara, looking him up and down trying to decide what to make of him.
"I'm Alice. I was named after Alice in Wonderland because of my blonde hair," says Alice, wishing Clara wasn't there as well, as she fancies Buck.
"It's very fine hair. Are either of you two married?" asks Buck.
"No. It wouldn' suit our career to be married," answers Alice.
"What do you do?" asks Buck, wondering what jobs would stop these pretty women from marrying.
Clara winks at Buck and says; "We'll show you at the guesthouse when we get there."
"Great!" says Buck grinning.
To be continued…
"I'm so hungry, I haven't eaten for ages," complains Buck looking down at his stomach, expecting it to groan.
"You should've eaten that food they offered us in jail," says Chris from his driver's seat.
"Are you CRAZY?" exclaims Buck, remembering the sort of food prisoners have to eat.
"We didn' even have breakfast this mornin'," joins in Vin, thinking he could eat just about anything now.
"Can we stop talkin' 'bout food?" requests Buck, as his stomach starts to feel really empty.
"You started it!" says Vin.
"I'm finishin' it. Can we go to McDonalds?" replies Buck.
"This is a jungle - no fast food here," reminds Vin.
"Let's get the next flight home then," suggests Buck.
"Our return tickets are for a week's time, Buckley," says Chris, wondering how much longer it will be before he ends up shooting someone, if he only had a gun.
"Hey, let's forget about those, let's charter a plane home, I'm gettin' homesick," says Vin.
"Have to be the cheapest plane available!" says Chris.
"I got a pilot's license," offers Buck.
"Don't even think about it; I can fly a plane perfectly well," says Chris. He starts to think about what would happen if they let Buck fly them home.
"Since when?" asks Vin in surprise.
"Since I was 24," answers Chris, remembering his flying lessons.
"Have ya got your license with you though?" asks Buck, remembering he didn't think to bring his with him.
Chris pulls the bus over to the side of the road, then finds his license and shows it to Buck. Buck looks at it annoyed, and then hands it back to Chris.
"If you get to fly the plane, can I drive us now?" asks Vin, eager to do something as he's getting bored just sitting down.
"NO! I'm still hurt about that snake trick you pulled on me."
"That snake trick was only revenge fer what you did."
"It was uncalled for," says Chris.
"How about we all stop fighting and drive to the nearest airport?" speaks up Lu, annoyed at all this disharmony within the group.
"And steal a plane?" suggests Nathan.
"No. We'll rent a plane and fly home, do you want to end up in jail again?" says Lu.
"We'd get away with it, we're ATF!"
"Nathan, what's up with you lately? Snap out of it NOW, and THAT'S an order!" says Chris. He looks at the team medic, thinking that maybe the vacation is starting to get to the man.
"He's gonna get us inta more trouble an' danger if he doesn' start behavin', "says Vin.
Suddenly, a police car comes toward the bus with its siren going. It overtakes them and stops in front of the bus. Chris gets off the bus and walks to the car, which has the window down, as it's such a hot day. Chris looks in the window at a North American-looking policeman and asks, "Is there a problem, Officer?"
"We're looking for some fugitives, who're on the run, have you seen anyone suspicious looking?" answers policeman.
"Yes, there were some guys in the jungle, but I don't know where they went. Sorry," says Chris.
"Okay son. Where are you headed?" asks the policeman.
"We need to find the nearest airport to hire a plane to get a flight back to North America."
The policeman takes a map out of his pocket and says, "Here - have this. The nearest airport is clearly marked."
"Thanks, have a nice day!" says Chris, accepting the map from him.
"You too, sir." The policeman drives off.
Chris gets back on the bus with the map. "Okay, the airport's 10 miles away from here. Won't be long now," he tells them.
"What if we can't get a plane?" frets Lu, thinking it's very short notice to get a plane.
"We will persuade someone that we urgently need a plane. We're ATF Team 7 remember," answers Chris with a grin.
"Me and Krys could pretend to be your prisoners if you like," suggests Lu, thinking that this might make it look more urgent for them to need to get home.
"I'll be Vin's prisoner!" says Krys
"We don't need to exaggerate to get a flight home, but thanks for suggestin' it," replies Chris with a small chuckle.
"Can we pick up that hitchhiker over there?" asks Krys, while looking out of the window.
"NO WAY!" refuses Chris.
"If I was drivin' I would pick him up," says Buck.
"You'd rather it was a female hitchhiker though!" states Nathan.
Buck nods and smiles in agreement.
"We could miss out on something if we don't pick him up," says Vin.
Chris feels hesitant about picking up a hitchhiker and says, "He could pull a gun on us."
"Please can we pick him up? I want to know where he's going and who he is," asks Vin.
"Okay but if he pulls a gun out, YOU can protect us!" Chris stops the bus, stands up and opens the doors.
"Hi, where ya headed?" asks the stranger.
"To get a flight home to North America," says Chris, not liking the look of this man.
"Just where I'm headed. I got a brother at the airport who's gonna fly us home. Maybe he could take you guys as well, his plane's jus' big enough."
"I was gonna charter us a plane - I've got a pilot's license," says Chris.
"You'll never get a plane at short notice here," replies the stranger.
"Where abouts in the states do you live?" asks JD.
"Nashville, Tennessee."
"Let's go there for a while; I've never been there," says JD.
"My sister owns a guesthouse there, she'd put y'all up," says the stranger.
"Thanks, that's very kind," says Chris, deciding that maybe the stranger's not so bad.
"Two of my other sisters cook there - best food in the whole state," says the stranger.
"How many sisters do you have?" asks JD.
"I got 6 sisters and 5 brothers," answers the stranger.
"Your parents had 12 children?" exclaims Vin, clearly surprised.
"Not all together they didn'! The name's Will by the way," says Will.
"I'm Buck. Are your sisters all married?" says Buck.
"Two of my sisters are married and the others are single. Are you looking for a girlfriend?" says Will.
"Could be."
Will gets onto the bus and sits next to Buck who he is getting on well with. Chris is now driving them to the airport.
"Let's play 20 questions," says JD, forgetting how Buck ruined it last time.
"I've got one," says Krys.
"Is it a vegetable?" asks Buck.
"No."
"Animal?" asks Lu.
"Yes," answers Krys.
"Does it fly?" asks Vin.
"Yes, onto question 4."
"Is it a bird?" asks Buck.
"Nope," answers Krys.
"A bat?" asks Lu.
"Nope."
"A butterfly?" guesses Buck.
"Yes. You gonna think of one now?" says Krys, glad that someone finally got it.
"No, let's play I spy. I spy with my little eye something beginning with S," says Buck who's no good at twenty questions.
"Seat?" guesses Lu.
"Nope," answers Buck shaking his head.
"Shoe?" guesses Vin.
"Nope."
"Mr. Standish?" asks Vin.
"Good guess but... nope."
"Spider?" guesses Lu.
"Nope," answers Buck, thinking that no one will ever guess right.
Vin guesses whilst looking towards Chris, "Snake?"
Chris forgets they're playing I spy and asks, "WHERE?" and tries to drive whilst worrying about it.
"I was only guessin' Chris," says Vin, starting to laugh.
Chris glares at him; "Don't say that word again."
"Sorry."
"Nope," says Buck jokingly.
"Don't be stupid, ass. That wasn' a guess," says Vin angrily.
"Give up?" asks Buck.
"No. Sky?" guesses Lu.
" I thought no one was gonna get it!" says Buck, whilst nodding at Lu.
"It's too noisy on here. Everyone be quiet 'til we get there now," orders Chris, who's starting to get a headache.
Will is asleep in his chair and Buck is looking out the window. They are quiet for a while until they get to the airport.
They push and shove to get off the bus, as they are desperate to get home to the States.
"No pushin'," orders Chris.
Will leads them to his brother's plane.
Chris looks at the small plane and asks, "Will that fit all of us in it?"
"Sure it will," answers their new friend, leading them over to a man who looks slightly similar to him. "This is my brother Patrick."
"Top o' the morning to ya," greets Patrick, sounding a lot different from Will.
"Your brother's Irish!" exclaims JD in surprise.
"He's really my step-brother," explains Will.
"Ahh."
"How long have you been flying?" Chris asks the Irish brother.
"Since I was a beebee!" answers Patrick.
"Wow!" says JD.
"We have to go NOW. Weathers gonna change soon," explains Will.
"Looks okay ta me!" says Vin, looking at the blue sky.
"Strong winds forecast for later," says Patrick.
They get onto the plane and manage to find space to sit down, but it's a bit cramped.
"Buck, move over, yer crowding me," complains Vin, feeling a bit claustrophobic on the small plane.
"I have nowhere to move to," complains Buck.
"Move over anyway!" orders Vin.
Buck gets up to try and move over but Will glares at him and orders, "Sit down, we're taking off." Buck quickly sits down again.
The plane rapidly takes off, but is a bit wobbly. "Is this thing all right?" asks Chris, concerned for their safety.
"Jus' a bit of turbulence," explains Will.
The plane gets higher and starts flying faster and faster.
"We're gonna die!" yells JD, feeling terrified.
"My brother's jus' eager to get home. We've been away from there a long time," says Will, inwardly cursing his brother for his flying.
"Workin' here?" asks Vin.
"No, we jus' been having a long holiday."
They soon arrive in Nashville, Tennessee and land on a small airstrip.
There are some men and women with children waiting for them.
"Looks like the whole family turned out to meet us!" says Vin counting the people.
"They musta really missed you guys!" says JD.
They get off the plane and approach the crowd.
"This is my sister Clara, my sister Alison and my sister Alice," introduces Will.
"These are my kids: Ed who's 5, Joanne who's 6, Carrie who's 7 and a half, then there's Joseph who's 10, Jim-bob who's 11 and finally Louis who's 14."
"All these kids are yours?" says Buck in disbelief.
"Yes. All my nephews and nieces are at home at the moment," says Patrick, wondering why Buck's surprised.
"It's gettin' late, let's go to my sister's guesthouse, it's on the other side of town," says Will, eager to get home.
They get into cars, which are parked there. All Will's brothers are the drivers plus Will and Patrick
Buck ends up sitting between two of the sisters. "Hi, I'm Buck," he says smiling at them.
"That's a pretty name, I'm Clara," says Clara, looking him up and down trying to decide what to make of him.
"I'm Alice. I was named after Alice in Wonderland because of my blonde hair," says Alice, wishing Clara wasn't there as well, as she fancies Buck.
"It's very fine hair. Are either of you two married?" asks Buck.
"No. It wouldn' suit our career to be married," answers Alice.
"What do you do?" asks Buck, wondering what jobs would stop these pretty women from marrying.
Clara winks at Buck and says; "We'll show you at the guesthouse when we get there."
"Great!" says Buck grinning.
To be continued…