Chapter 16

A Brazilian adventure

Shortly after coming back from Arizona and their spring break vacation.

Freya was back in school and hanging out with her friends again.

Today, she was staying after school and playing basketball with her friend, Lorma Yamada.

Per their prior arrangement, Roger would be picking her up from Lorna's house after dinner.

Roger privately envied her, Lorna's grandmother was doing the cooking and had promised Freya a real treat for dinner.

Lorna had commented, "You'd better appreciate this, Gramma doesn't cook very often any more and for her to do the cooking, means she really likes you!"

Freya smiled and replied happily,"Och, Ah am sae lookin' for'ard tae thes!"

Lorna merely shrugged and remarked with a grin, "What ever it was you said!"

The letter in their mailbox was unexpected and it bore a foreign stamp, Brazil. It was from the TAM museum in Sao Carlos, Sao Paulo state, Brazil. Opening it up he read:

Mr. Roger Tate

1432 Woodlane road.

Portland, Or.

USA

Dear Mr. Tate,

It has come to our attention that you are seeking a large, amphibious aircraft.

We have a Martin Mariner PBM-5 that is surplus to our needs. It is missing its engines but is in otherwise, sound mechanical condition. We are asking $250,000.00 USD for this aircraft, as you are affiliated with a museum involved in extensive field research. We are offering it to you first. If you are interested in this offer, please contact us within 21 days of receiving this letter.

Respectfully yours,

Hector Contreras, Director

MuseoTAM

Roger read the letter through several times, then called his boss.

Rachel Thompson answered the phone before the third ring, "Hi Rodge! What's up?"

"You got a couple of minutes?" he replied.

"Sure thing, what can I help you with?"

Holding the letter in his hands Roger said, "I got this strange letter today, it came all the way from Brazil..."

"Is it from the TAM museum?" interrupted Rachel.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact it is. Did you get one too?" asked Roger.

"Yes, and so did Henri duValliere." replied Rachel.

Roger laughed and said, "Wow! So, who didn't get one of these, I wonder?"

"Do you think it's legit?" asked Rachel.

"It's hard to say, the TAM museum is a real place, I've heard of it but haven't seen it. The missing engines could be a problem though."

"Why is that?" asked Rachel again.

Roger sighed and said frankly, " Well for starters, Wright Cyclone fourteen cylinder engines are a bit scarce these days. We would need complete units too, carburetors and everything. Assuming that those are missing too."

"Damn...That sounds expensive...Anything you can do with your old airplane connections?"

He chuckled and replied, "Well, yeah, if your looking for things for an old Beech Craft or such like. This is a Martin Mariner PBM-5, that's whole new level of scarcity."

" Last question, just what is so special about this airplane?"

Roger replied, "It's an amphibious aircraft, meaning it can land on either water or dry land. As I recall it's a honkin' big plane too, about the size of a B-24 liberator bomber."

"Is that a good thing?"

"If a fully grown Freya can stand up straight inside of it, yes, it's a good thing."

Rachel chuckled and remarked, "That could be a good thing...Are you able to get away for about a week? And is your passport current?"

"Yes and I have my shots up to date as well. I'll ask around and get back to you." replied Roger.

When he knocked on the door to Lorna's house, her mother answered it and said happily, "You're just in time for dessert! Come in! Come in!"

Leaving his shoes on the stoop, Roger entered the Yamada house and smiled at the sight of Freya sitting on her knees in traditional Japanese fashion, she was young and flexible enough to get away with it.

He knew better than to try.

Lorna, her father Toshiro and her grandmother were all seated on a plinth and playing a lively tune on their shamisens.

After a couple of minutes, Roger realized they were playing Kentucky blue grass music on Japanese instruments and Freya was smiling happily the whole time.

Mrs. Yamada tugged gently on his sleeve and murmured, "Come into the kitchen." he followed her and she handed him a bowl with a couple of round rice flour balls in it.

They were cold to the touch.

Roger grinned as he picked up the pale green one and took a small bite. "Green tea mochi ice cream!" he said, she smiled and said, "The other one is mango, Lorna made them, we're thinking of making our own for the shop."

Roger grinned at her and said, " They are pretty good and if you can make them fairly cheaply, why not? You're already selling them at your shop, making your own is simply the next step."

She smiled at him and remarked, "We think so too and wanted your opinion on the quality." He grinned at her and commented, "You've got the quality, now you've got to work on the quantity."

The music had stopped and they could hear Freya cheerfully clapping, so Roger and Mrs. Yamada left the kitchen and came into the living room.

Freya smiled at him happily and declared, "Ah loove tae hear them playin' th' shamisen. Thaur's somthin' aboot th' soond ay them."

She rose to her feet in one swift move and hugged Roger.

He grinned and asked, "You behaved yourself?"

"Ay coorse, ye thenk Ah'll mak' trooble?" replied Freya.

"There's always a first time..." he replied with a wink.

Freya turned to Lorna's family and bowed to her grandmother before saying, "Thenk ye sae much, Ah really appreciated th' dinner."

The tiny, white haired woman smiled and said cheerfully, "It was my pleasure to cook for someone who appreciates it so much!"

On the drive back to their house, Roger showed Freya the letter.

She read it through a couple of times then asked, "Brazil, 'at's way sooth ay haur isnae it?"

"Yes, it's several thousand miles from here actually, I'd have to look up the actual distance but yes, it's a long flight." replied Roger.

"Ur we gang doon thaur?" asked Freya.

"We're thinking about it, I've talked to Rachel and will likely be talking to Henri DuValliere before we make a decision to go look at it." replied Roger.

Freya looked at him steadily and asked, "Am Ah goin' wi' ye?"

He smiled at his growing ever larger companion and replied, "I will be taking you with me to see the plane. However, if we buy the plane and get it flyable again, you will not be going with me on that flight. I want you to be clear on that."

Freya looked thoughtful and replied, "Wull flyin' it back haem be dangerous? Is 'at wa ye dornt want tae tak' me oan 'at flight?"

Roger smiled at his youthful charge and said gently, "Yes, it will likely be dangerous and if we have a major problem and go down, I don't want you to be involved in any accidents. Henri and I are both experienced pilots, we know what we're getting ourselves into."

"But yoo'll tak' me tae gae see th' plane?" she asked with a hopeful expression on her pretty face.

"Yep, I 'll take you to go see the plane and a couple of other places while we're there." Replied Roger with his trademark grin.

The next morning after getting back from dropping Freya off at school, Roger made a phone call. "Henri!" he said cheerfully, "I hear you may have gotten a letter about a plane, one down in Brazil."

Henri chuckled and replied ,"You mean ze one about ze Martin Mariner missing ze engines?"

"That would be the one, yes." replied Roger.

"'Ave you priced zhose engines lately?" asked Henri.

"No, but I'm sure it will be painful." said Roger, "You wouldn't happen to know of any laying about unwanted?"

Henri laughed and replied, "Don't I wish. I'd sell zem to you and make a handsome profit, no?"

"Of course you would and I'd be disappointed in you if you didn't try." replied Roger with a chuckle.

Roger turned serious and asked, "Are you available to go look at this offer? We could use an amphibious aircraft."

"What's in it for me?" asked Henri.

"You will be paid your usual outrageous consulting fee for one. I'll be bringing Freya along so you can practice your Gallic charm on her. Mind you, she doesn't like smelly cigarettes. So leave your Gauloises Caporal 'French Women' at home."

Henri laughed and retorted, "But ze smell keeps away ze mosquitoes, does it not?"

"There is that." commented Roger.

"Are you interested?" Roger asked.

After a pause Henri replied, "Certainly! I could use a small vacation in Latin America."

Roger called Rachel next, she must have been anticipating his call because she picked it up almost immediately, "Have you talked to Henri yet? Is he interested?"

"Well, hello to you too Rachel." replied Roger with a laugh, "Yes, I spoke with him and yes, he's interested."

Rachel laughed and said, "Sorry, this offer is kind of outside my usual area of expertise. I'm relying on you two to know what to look for. This is a pretty big cash outlay, a quarter million bucks would buy a lot of storage space."

"Let's not forget additional expenses, those kind of engines go for about fifty grand and tend to be old. We need to allow for an extra hundred grand on top of the purchase price just to get it back home again." said Roger.

Rachel whistled and muttered, "I better put on my big girl clothes and start hitting up our big donors then."

Roger chuckled and said, "I'll start getting my act together and get myself and Freya all shot up for the trip..."

"You're taking Freya?" gasped Rachel in alarm.

"Of course, this is just to go look at the plane, not to fly it back. We'll be using the usual airlines for the trip." Replied Roger soothingly.

Rachel growled, "Don't scare me like that, I thought you were going to take her along on the flight back with the airplane!"

Roger laughed and replied, "I've already had to explain to her that she is not going with me to bring the plane back, I'm not that crazy. I'll send her up to her folks when we do the retrieval."

Rachel chuckled and remarked, "Well, I guess there's hope for you yet! Let me know how things are going and I'll respond to this letter."

"Cool, I'll keep you posted." replied Roger as he set down the phone.

When their names were called, Roger and Freya rose and followed the nurse into the doctor's offices.

Like so many nurses these days, she was a tiny Filipina about five feet tall and quite professional in her demeanor.

She showed them into an examination room and politely asked them to wait.

Freya sat quietly looking around at the various posters and charts on the exam room walls, in her hand was her shot records.

A soft rapping sounded and the doctor entered the room, she smiled at them and said, "Good afternoon!"

She glanced at the paperwork and asked, "Taking a vacation?"

Roger smiled back and replied, "It's a little bit of vacation and business all mixed together. We need to get our shots for the trip. Tropical bugs and all."

The doctor looked over their trip itinerary and commented, "Pretty much the usual vaccine cocktail here, malaria, dengue fever... The usual suspects."

Roger chuckled and remarked, "In all the hospitals and in all the examination rooms, I had to run into a Casablanca fan."

"Guilty as charged!" laughed the doctor, "I'll be right back!" and she stepped outside, closing the door behind her.

A few minutes later, she came back in bearing a tray with several hypodermic syringes laid out in it.

Roger smiled grimly as she quickly administered his vaccines then picked up his shot records to update it.

After a few moments, she added the latest round of shots to the record with the comment, "You may have to get a new shot booklet, this one's almost filled up!"

Next she turned her attention to Freya, taking up her shot record she briefly perused it and commented, "You didn't get any of the childhood vaccinations until recently...Hmmm..." The doctor looked at Freya sharply and said in surprise, "You're almost eleven years old? I'd've sworn you were older from your size."

She smiled at her and said, "Please take off your shirt."

When Freya complied, the doctor's eyes widened and she blurted out, "Well, I'll be...You're a girl and such a tall one."

She glanced over at Roger and asked, "Has she had her thyroid checked? Her growth is highly unusual."

Roger smiled at the doctor and replied, "Her regular physician has gone through all of that already. We're just here to get the shots so she can go to Brazil."

The doctor smiled at him and replied, "I didn't mean to pry, it's just that I've not seen a nearly eleven year old girl standing six foot six before."

"It's not a problem doctor, you were just curious that's all."

"True that!" she replied and she quickly went through the shot regimen for Freya's shot records.

When she finished marking Freya's shot records she remarked, "I envy you, my husband is Brazilian and we go there every year for our vacation. The beaches are incredible and the girls wear such tiny swimsuits!"

Roger chuckled and commented, "Freya burns so easily I doubt she'll be wearing any 'tiny swimsuits', more like a bodysuit."

The doctor looked at Freya's pale skin and said to her, "Yes, you do have more of a Norse goddess look to you with your complexion and hair color."

Freya merely shrugged, she'd pretty much given up arguing that she was not of Norse descent, even though her people were from the northlands.

People pretty much assumed that she was of Swedish or Danish descent because of her height, later on when she exceeded even those height averages she would talk about her true heritage.

For now, being thought of as Norse was simply easier, her friends knew the truth and she was content with that.

Freya stood and put her shirt back on, she smiled at the doctor and said pleasantly, "Thenk ye kindly fur seein' us today."

The doctor on shift smiled at her and replied, "You're welcome dear, enjoy your trip."

During the drive home, Freya absentmindedly rubbed her arm where she had gotten stuck and commented, "Is it s'posed tae itch?"

Roger grinned at her and replied, "Yeah, I'm afraid so, if it's any comfort to you, I'm itching too."

They stopped at a surfboard/water ski shop and looked at full length bodysuits for Freya, but only found wetsuits for the chilly Pacific waters.

Leaving the shop empty handed, Roger said to Freya, "Don't worry, we'll find you a suitable swimsuit for the Brazilian sun."

Freya smiled at him and asked, "Where would ye go tae find such a swimsuit?"

Roger laughed and replied cheerfully, "First, we'll consult the oracle of Google, then we'll go from there!"

"Tis a wonder, 'at Google." remarked Freya.

"Aye, that it is dear." replied Roger.

A few days later they entered the tiny shop, the proprietress looked up from her sewing machine and smiled at them before saying, "Be right with you! Just finishing up a seam here."

"Take your time we're in no hurry!" replied Roger over the whirring and clicking sound emanating from her sewing machine.

Finishing up the seam, she set the work aside and came out from behind her work table. Extending her hand in greeting, "Emma Granger, pleased to meet you." she shook hands with the two of them, pausing only a moment to look Freya up and down before saying, "You must be Freya, the Wharton's have mentioned you might be coming to me."

She smiled at Freya and said, "Stand over here so I can get a better look at you, and take off that ridiculous shirt!"

Freya hastily complied as she was guided over to a well lit spot in the shop.

Emma slowly walked around Freya mumbling to herself all the while.

Freya looked down at the eccentrically dressed woman as she stared critically at her, suddenly she barked, "Look straight ahead! Looking down throws everything off, don't you know?"

Freya obediently straightened up again and glared at Roger's grin.

Emma Granger was a legend among costumers as the one to go to for the impossible costumes.

Emma pulled out a measuring tape and began measuring Freya top to bottom as far as she could reach, then she directed Freya to sit on a stool while she finished with the tape.

Taking up a clip board, Emma jotted down all the measurements she had taken and finally looked up at Freya and said, "So you want me to make a..."

Roger cleared his throat and said as he handed her a photo, "A modified Burkini like this one."

Emma took the photo and gazed at it for a few moments.

Emma looked up at him and said evenly, "I can copy this easily enough, but I don't like copying another's design, it's respect thing."

Roger smiled at her and said, "And I respect that. My thought was to make it less modest by shortening the legs to above the knee and the sleeves to above the elbow for easier swimming."

"And the point of all this is?..."

"Freya burns like right now, we can slather her with SPF 75 baby lotion, but having a special swimsuit would make things easier." replied Roger.

"When do you need it?" asked Emma.

"We leave in three weeks for Brazil."

Emma looked thoughtful then replied, "Bring her here tomorrow evening, and we'll get started."

"Okay, what time?"

"7 P.M. Sharp!"

"Sharp it is!" replied Roger with a boyish grin.

They arrived at precisely 6:55 P.M. Just to make to make sure they would be on time when they entered the shop.

Emma looked up from her sewing machine, smiled at them and said, "You're a mite early, have a seat, there's tea and biscuits if you'd like some."

A few minutes later, Emma finished her sewing and after snipping the thread, came out from behind her work table.

She held up what was essentially a long sleeved unitard and said, "This is not the final product, I just want to see it on her so I can make any adjustments needed."

Handing it to Freya she said, "Put this on and we'll see how it fits."

Freya stepped into the dressing room and closed the door, then Emma said to Roger, "How much taller will she be getting if I may ask?"

Roger smiled and replied, "We figure she'll hit at least nine feet tall. Her people are quite large, much larger than us 'wee fowk' as her mom puts it."