“You ready to go?” he asked her.
“Let’s do it!” she said enthusiastically. She had found that she quite liked flying, especially in Uncle Jake’s plane, and that taking off was her favorite part.
“Okay,” he said. “Why don’t you help me out then? Put your hand on those throttle levers and slowly push them forward until I tell you to stop.”
“Really?” she asked, her enthusiasm kicking up a few notches.
“Really,” he said. “Just be sure that you advance them together at the same pace. Nice and slow, keep them together.”
She nervously reached out and put her left hand on the two side-by-side levers. They were not very big and she could grasp both of them easily. She pushed forward, surprised at how much force she had to use to get them to move. As they moved forward, the sound of the engines began to get louder and the plane began to move forward, slowly at first but quickly picking up speed.
“That’s good there,” Uncle Jake told her. “Thanks for the help.”
“Anytime,” she said with a smile.
They left the ground about fifteen seconds later, passing over the perimeter fence for the airport and climbing higher and higher into the sky. Uncle Jake flipped up a lever and the landing gear came up. He flipped another lever (“flaps to zero,” he said as he did so) and there was a whine of machinery from behind them and she felt the now-familiar sensation of falling as the nose came down a bit and they began to pick up speed. The town of Oceano, with the sand dunes they had ridden on yesterday and the bright blue ocean beyond was now visible in front of them. She thought she could actually see the cliff where Uncle Jake and Aunt Laura lived for a brief moment before they passed over the water and turned to the left.
They climbed to twelve thousand feet. Uncle Jake showed her the altimeter and taught her how to read it. It was easy when you saw how it worked. Just like an old-fashioned clock. The scenery was amazing as they flew. From up here in the front, she could see everything! Uncle Jake pointed out the sights as they came into view. There were the coastal mountains, and the city of Santa Maria, and then Oxnard—mere suburbs that were each more than twice the size of Pocatello. Off to her right, she could see the Channel Islands, and boats and ships down in the water looking like tiny little toys with V-shaped wakes stretching behind them opposite of their direction of travel. Far in front of them, beyond another set of mountains, was a brownish-gray haze. He told her that was the Los Angeles basin and the smog layer it was famous for.
As they descended over that last mountain range and over the huge expanse of houses, buildings, and freeways that was Los Angeles, she began to feel nervous again. Celia Valdez is down there! And I’m going to meet her as soon as we land! Oh my God! Can I do this? Do I have a choice at this point?
Once again, Uncle Jake picked up on this. Even though the cockpit was supposed to be sterile at the moment, he reassured her. “Don’t worry,” he said. “She really is nice. Much nicer than me.”
They touched down smoothly at the same airport they had left from two days ago. Uncle Jake drove the plane off the runway and followed a series of taxiways until he came to an area where a whole bunch of planes were parked and there was a large building adjacent. He pulled into a spot near the building and shut down the engines.
“We have arrived,” he told her. “And Celia is here. That’s her car parked over there.”
“Which one?” Chase asked, looking at the row of parked cars.
“The gray Mercedes,” he said.
“I don’t know what a Mercedes looks like,” she said.
“The most expensive looking car in that parking lot,” he said.
That was the clue she needed. She quickly found the vehicle in question and looked at it in awe.
They unstrapped from their seats and Uncle Jake opened the door just behind the cockpit and folded down the small set of steps. They stepped out into the warm air—it was noticeably higher in temperature and humidity here than it had been in San Luis Obispo—and out onto the tarmac. The sound of aircraft engines could be heard from several directions and the air had the distinct smell she had come to associate with the jet fuel that airplanes like Uncle Jake’s ran on.
“There she is,” Uncle Jake said as they reached the nose of the airplane. He pointed in the direction of the building.
Feeling a little jolt of adrenaline, Chase looked in that direction. At first she could not credit what she was seeing. Yes, there was a good-looking woman heading in their direction, a friendly smile on her face, but that wasn’t Celia Valdez, was it? She was wearing jeans and a sleeveless button-up peasant blouse. Her hair was in a ponytail and she had on a blue baseball hat with the letters L and A superimposed upon them. She looked just like anyone else in the world—perhaps a bit more attractive and fit than most—not a goddess. But then Chase noted the guitar case she carried in one hand and the suitcase she carried in the other. And she looked carefully at the woman’s face. She had no makeup on except lip gloss, but the facial resemblance to Celia Valdez could not be denied. It has to be her! she was forced to conclude. She felt all the spit in her mouth dry up at this realization.
Uncle Jake smiled and walked forward, meeting her about halfway and taking the suitcase from her hand, leaving her with just the guitar. The two of them exchanged a hug and Celia actually kissed him on the cheek affectionately. They exchanged a few words she did not hear clearly and then they turned and walked directly toward her. Chastity felt her heart beating faster in her chest as he idol approached.
“Celia,” Uncle Jake said when they were all face to face, “this is Chastity Best, my niece from Pocatello. She’s your number one fan and she likes to be called Chase, right Chase?”
Chase’s mouth was now open in awe. She tried to respond but all that came out was something that sounded like: “Arrgh gast a maw.” Oh my God! she thought desperately. I can’t friggin’ talk! She’s going to think I’m a moron! Or that I’m having a friggin’ stroke! Or both!
Uncle Jake chuckled at her, though in a sympathetic way, not in a mean way. “Well put,” he said. He turned to Celia. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen her speechless before.”
Celia’s smile grew warmer and she took another step forward. “It’s nice to meet you, Chase,” she said. She set her guitar case down on the ground and then held out her arms for a hug.
She wants to hug me?? Oh my friggin’ God! “Blast a maw,” she said.
Celia chuckled and put her arms around her. Chase was amazed at how tall she was. She stood a good six inches taller than her, almost as tall as Uncle Jake. Her body was firm and fit as it pressed against her. She smelled of vanilla. Instinctively, she returned the hug. I’m actually hugging Celia Valdez! she thought in amazement.