Jessie

by JJ Aughe

  Jessie remembered he had told her the cavern was situated about three-quarters of the way up the adjacent mountain. Curious, she interrupted to ask how he had come to discover it. His reply, though lengthy, had Jessie spellbound.

  Enthralled with the pristine beauty around him, Bailey told her he slowly walked along a faint trail through the pristine forest for a hundred yards or so. Sensing he was not alone in the forest he paused and cautiously surveyed the nearby area. He had to smile when he peered through a sparse stand of sapling pine and saw a doe and fawn in a small clearing. The doe’s head came up when she sensed he was there, but when he didn’t move she went back to foraging. Amazed that the doe hadn’t spooked when she spotted him, he watched her and the fawn foraging until they finally ambled out of sight along another faint trail.

  Bailey let his mind take in the beauty of the scene and started to turn to go back to the plane. As he did, his eyes again fell on the trail where the doe and fawn had disappeared. Suddenly there seemed to be a quality in the air. A sense of urgency, desperation even, that had him, cautiously at first, then with that same urgency and desperation growing stronger, following the trail.

  The trail led him around the northern tip of the lake’s finger to a very steep, rugged area. Not hesitating, Bailey continued on the trail until it was no more than a ledge twenty feet above the boulders lining the edge of the lake. He didn’t slow his pace though, just made sure of his footing at each step. Soon he came upon a wide gully. Here the trail dipped down to almost the water line, then continued on, and he hesitated.

  The rocks and large boulders the trail wound its way through were covered with a thick growth of green moss and appeared very dangerous to traverse. That same urgency and desperation he had felt at the clearing again assailed him and had him carefully working his way down the incline. About half way to the bottom his foot was just settling on a moss-covered boulder when the loud snarl of a near-by cougar startled him. Though aware that a cougar would normally shy from humans, Bailey’s attention was distracted and his foot slipped on the moss-covered boulder. His balance gone, he knew he was about to tumble through jagged boulders below him. Throwing out his arms, he caught a handhold on a moss covered, pyramid shaped boulder. The moss under his right hand came away but the fingers on his other hand found a crevice and held.

  Struggling for hand holds on moss-covered boulders above him, he finally reached the safety of the trail, carefully stood and glanced down the side of the embankment. The jagged boulders down there would have surely caused numerous injuries, if not his death. He shook his head at the near fall and as he did he noticed the bare side of the pyramid shaped boulder where his hand had torn away the moss. There appeared to be something written on the bare stone. Kneeling to take a closer look he discovered a crude arrow pointing up the steep gully had been deeply chiseled into the stone. Above and below the arrow at each end was what appeared to be crude stick men.

  Bailey was thinking the stone might be an old property boundary marker or claim marker when he heard a rush of wings above and glanced up to see a Bald Eagle fly past just feet above his head. He automatically focused his eyes on the magnificent bird as it winged its way up the gully, then its high pitched call floated back to him as it soared into the azure-blue sky and made a towering circle out over the lake. Bailey was fascinated as the eagle made the call twice more and again made a pass just feet over his head and winged its way to the upper reaches of the gulley to alight on an outcropping of boulders.

  Bailey’s vision suddenly blurred, he blinked and shook his head. When he could see clearly again the eagle was gone, replaced on the boulders by what Bailey was sure was a Native American maiden. There was an ethereal glow around her. He could plainly see the fringe on the sleeves of her white dress blowing in the wind as she raised her arm, beckoning to him. He blinked his eyes again and she was gone, replaced by the eagle. The eagle’s piercing call came once, twice and a third time, before he rose into the air, coming straight at Bailey, only to circle back and disappear over the upper edge of the distant boulders.

  Bailey’s eyes immediately went to the pyramid-like pillar as the eagle disappeared. He stared at the stick figures of men and heard a musical voice saying, “Honor your ancestors, Bailey Gilmore. Follow the eagle.” His common sense telling him he had went insane, Bailey started for the top of the gulley, intent on finding what awaited him there.

  He had just passed the boulders where the eagle had landed when he again heard its piercing call and spied the beautiful bird perched on a boulder at the top of the bare escarpment of an old landslide. The eagle called again, leaped from his perch and sailed downward, almost colliding with the rubble at the bottom of the slide area before turning outward to make two vertical circles then disappear over the horizon.

  Having at the clearing suspected he was being led somewhere by the doe and fawn, Bailey was now sure that he was supposed to investigate the area at the bottom of the distant landslide. When he arrived there minutes later, he found not only the rubble left by the slide but three sets of cougar tracks, one set twice the size of the other two, in the loose dirt and sand around the many boulders. Those tracks led to, then away from, but, as evidenced by the smooth sandy dirt, never between a jumble of large boulders at the very base of the slide. Almost certain he was supposed to, Bailey boldly strode into the dim shade between boulders and found the opening to the cavern.

  Reluctant to say he had seen the maiden, Bailey left that part out of the telling but included most everything else. While he was doing the telling he took an extra tour of the crater before bringing the plane around on the south side of Mt. St. Helens as he headed for Mt. Rainier.

  The flight plan he had filed that morning indicated he would take a southern route around Mt. Rainier then swing back north, then west to the co-ordinances of the lake. Because of the extra time spent flying around Mt. St. Helens, Bailey was a little anxious to reach their destination so he radioed the tower for a change in flight plans saying he wanted to fly west of Rainier on a more direct course to the lake but still wanted to get close to Mt. Rainier. The tower gave him the OK on his change then gave him a heading and a higher altitude that would give Jessie a good view of Mount Rainier’s snowcap as they passed its western face.

  Able to relax a little Bailey took a deep breath. He noticed Jessie giving him a questioning look and offered, “This new course will save us a little time. I hope you don’t mind, Jessie. I was going to fly over Longmire and Paradise recreation areas so you could get a sense of the beauty of those areas from up here. The extra passes I took around St. Helens took a lot of time. Thinking we might want more time to explore the area around the lake I made the decision to change course.”

  Jessie gave him a serious frown, smiled her most beautiful smile and returned, “Hey! You’re the pilot! If you think it best we go straight to the lake, then I’m not going to second guess you!”

  Bailey glanced out his side window and spotted a bald eagle as it soared and circled on thermals. He was about to call Jessie’s attention to the beauty of America’s National bird when a movement behind and above the plane caught his eye and he glanced up and immediately yelled, “WHAT THE . . .!”

  Bailey’s instincts kicked in a nanosecond too late. As he shoved the stick forward, putting the plane into a dangerously steep dive, he yelled, “Hold on!”

  Suddenly, what sounded like an explosion rocked the plane and had Jessie automatically ducking her head. The ceiling structure above and just behind the cockpit suddenly caved inward and a large gap opened in the overhead fuselage. Bailey was immediately struggling to bring the plane out of a steep, spiraling dive! His headset askew and struggling with the controls he yelled into his microphone without looking at her, “Press the red button Jessie and say May Day! May Day!”

  He needn’t have bothered.

  Jessie was already in action. When there was no reply to her first May Day call, and nearly hysterical, Jessie’s voice broke as she de
sperately began again. “M-May Day! M-May Day!” Suddenly a calmness came over her as she heard her mother’s voice, ‘Remember your heritage, daughter! Listen to your Heart. You can accomplish anything if you listen to your heart.’

  Jessie took a quick deep breath to calm her nerves then calmly repeated the May Day call. “May Day! May Day! This is niner, two, one, four, seven. We have been hit by another plane and our plane is out of control!”

  A calm voice came over the headphones. “Niner, two, one, four, seven. This is Seattle Tower. We have you on radar, Miss. Are you the Pilot?”

  Instinctively knowing Bailey had all he could handle, she calmly answered, “No. But the pilot is trying to bring the plane under control!”

  Knowing the pilot and Bailey’s very sensible habit of thoroughly briefing every passenger on emergency procedures, the controller very calmly said, “Okay Miss. I know you are a passenger but you are going to have to be his co-pilot. Find the altimeter on the control panel and tell me what your altitude is right now.”

  Through her terrified tears, Jessie searched the control panel, located the altimeter and, as the plane spiraled toward certain death in the forest below, calmed her rising fear and replied, “Seven thousand-two hundred feet. And the needle is falling fast!” Her fear returned then and she voiced a prayer. “God? We need your help or we’re going to crash!”

  The air controller heard and knowing the young woman was near panic and could become hysterical any second, calmly replied, “Bailey knows what he is doing, Miss. He is a good pilot.” Then, to ease her terror, he calmly asked, “What is your name, Miss.”

  Hearing his calm, reassuring voice steadied Jessie’s own nerves a little as she replied, “Jessica Melano. Please help! I don’t know anything about flying or what I’m supposed to do!”

  With a studied calmness, the controller came back, “Jessica, stay calm. You’re doing just fine. Just try to remember the procedure Bailey briefed you on before the flight.”

  “Okay,” he continued when she didn’t answer. “This is what I need you to do. Watch the altimeter and call off the altitude every 500 feet if possible.”

  Terrified beyond belief, Jessie was tempted to look away from the instruments at the fast approaching trees below, but calmed by the air controller’s matter-of-fact voice, she tried to instill a little calmness into her own voice as she glued her eyes to the altimeter, replying, “Sixty-five hundred feet.” Seconds later, “Six thousand,” then, “Five thousand five hundred feet! God! We’re gaining speed!”

  Jessie was calling four thousand-five hundred feet when the plane suddenly stopped spiraling downward, the nose no longer pointing straight at certain death in the forest below. Bailey let out a ragged breath and glanced at his passenger with a triumphant smile. He straightened his headset and spoke into his own mike, “This is Niner, two, one, four, seven, Bailey Gilmore at the controls. I have the plane leveled off at Forty-two hundred feet. There is extensive damage to the upper fuselage behind the cockpit and I need to land as soon as possible, if not immediately.”

  The Controller came back: “Can you make it to Paradise or Longmire?”

  “Negative!” Bailey replied. “I don’t think I could gain enough altitude. Besides, the fuselage is coming apart as I speak! The closest place I know is that lake on my original flight plan. Unless I see a better place sooner I’ll land there.”

  “Roger that,” the Controller returned. “We’ll keep you on radar just in case. Bailey? Do you know if the other plane went down?”

  Jessie froze when she heard Bailey’s next words. “Unknown. After impact I was too busy and couldn’t take time to look. But I don’t think so. I also don’t think this was an accidental collision! Before impact, I got a good look at the plane. It was an older, blue and white Cessna 172C. Though it was coming directly at us, the plane itself never hit us. What hit us was what appeared to be an auxiliary fuel tank hanging on a cable twenty feet or so below the fuselage.”

  “Niner, two, one, four, seven,” the Controller incredulously replied. “Say again? You think the other pilot did this intentionally?”

  Foregoing all formality, Bailey shouted into the mike. “You heard me right, Mac! That sucker was trying to knock us out of the sky!”

  There was silence for a moment or two before the controller came back. “Niner, two, one, four, seven. Be advised that what you just told me forced me to notify my superior, the FAA and Homeland Security. Jim Cannus from FAA is here with me right now. He heard what you said. He tells me that from the replay of the monitor image the only other plane in your area at the time had only just come on radar before your distress call. It was heading south-southeast and was tracked going off radar seconds after your May Day call. It either crashed or lost elevation to stay off radar.”

  “The latter I’ll bet,” Bailey testily replied.

  The plane suddenly shuddered and a loud ripping, tearing sound came from overhead drawing Bailey’s attention. “Another piece of the upper fuselage just tore away and now the stick is real sluggish and hard to move! I think I can keep this altitude but I don’t believe I can gain any! The forward piece that came off must have taken a piece of the tail section with it! The plane is slewing to the right and it’s getting harder to hold a true course.”

  After a slight pause, he exclaimed, “There! I can see the lake just ahead. I’ll set down there! If we make it, I’ll inspect the damage and report what I find. The way this thing is handling I wouldn’t bet I could fly out of there. I’ll let you know if we need rescued.”

  “Niner, two, one, four, seven, Roger on landing on the lake. Negative, I repeat, Negative on trying to fly out. Cannus says the FAA will meet you there with a chopper.”

  Bailey immediately returned with, “Negative on the chopper, Mac. Unless the chopper is equipped with floats, there are no open areas around the lake for miles for the pilot to set down. A floatplane is the only other way to get in there. Tell Jim to contact Joe Mahr at Mahr Charters. He had a two day charter set for B.C. this morning. I understand it was cancelled last night. If that is right Mahr’s plane should be available.”

  “Roger on that, niner, two, one, four, seven. Jim is already on the phone with Mahr.”

  “I’m starting my descent now. I will radio in when we are on the surface of the lake. Over and out.”

  Instead of circling the lake once or twice as he normally would on a regular approach, the suspected damage to the plane and the need to get out of the air as fast as possible made it paramount he go directly into the last segment of his landing routine. As he brought the plane to a course that aligned with the longest, albeit narrowest and shallowest, of the five fingers of the lake, he instructed Jessie to brace herself for impact in case the damage caused the plane to flip.

  The plane was skimming just feet above the surface of the lake within seconds, giving Jessie a false sense of safety. Her nerves were set on edge again as Bailey eased the plane to the surface. When the plane’s floats touched the water it skipped twice then slewed first one way then the other, narrowly missing a half submerged dead tree snag near the shoreline before Bailey finally regained control.

  Bailey glanced over at Jessie. Taking in her terrified expression and white knuckled grip on the seat he gave her a reassuring grin and gently patted her left hand. “You can let your breath out now Jessie, and let go of the seat. We are on the surface of the lake and everything is under control. In moments I’ll have us on the beach.”

  With those words, he taxied on a course for the small beach he had used the first time he had been there. Certain there had to be severe damage, as the plane neared the beach he told Jessie what he was about to do and to brace for any rough bumps. Revving the engine, he braced his own body. As the floats hit the sand he immediately cut the engine. Jessie anxiously watched as the plane skidded across the sand of the beach until the propeller was only a few feet from the trees lining the beach.

  The plane had barely stopped moving when Bailey ordered
Jessie out of the cockpit. “There is still danger of fire, Jessie. So, get out of here and get as far from this plane as you can!”

  As Bailey got on the radio Jessie unbuckled her seat belt and lifted the door latch, but the door was jammed. Her adrenalin flowing strong, she swung her feet up, turned in the seat and gave the door a hefty martial arts kick. The door swung open on her second kick and she jumped to the sand below. She let out a cry of dismay at what she saw as she turned to run away from the plane. “Oh my god! Bailey!” she yelled. “The tail is mangled!”

  “Jessie!” Bailey yelled. “Get away from the plane! It’s liable to explode!”

  Tears streaming from her eyes and flowing unchecked down her cheeks Jessie defiantly screamed. The man had just saved her life and she wasn’t going anywhere without him. “I’m not going anywhere, Bailey! Not without you!”

  Bailey’s eyes drilled into hers. “Just go, Jessie! I don’t want anything happening to you!”

  She heard the anxiety in his normally calm, commanding voice and some other emotion too. She wasn’t sure what the other emotion was, but the anxiety alone made her to gasp and sent her running the hundred yards or so to safety at the far end of the narrow beach.

  His own emotions in turmoil and a curious ache in his chest, Bailey watched until Jessie was safely out of danger. Another feeling, one he was not accustomed to, one that all but consumed him, flooded his mind. Recognizing it, but refusing to acknowledge it was there, he made the call to the tower, grabbed Jessie’s backpack and the small case he always carried for emergencies such as this and hurried to Jessie’s side at the other end of the beach.

  Terrified because Bailey was still in the plane Jessie didn’t even notice the beauty of the moss draped cedar tree branches near her or the serene calmness of the mirror like surface of the lake in front of her. Though it seemed an eternity to her, only a minute after she reached the tree line she saw Bailey jump from the cockpit with her backpack slung over one shoulder and holding a small leather case in the other. He rounded the tail section of the plane, shook his head as he briefly glanced at the damage, then ran toward her.