The Great Plane Robbery

by J.T. Lewis

"So tell us about this wild story you mentioned to your Pa young man?something about robbers?"

  Reaching into his jacket, Gabe pulled out one of the stacks of hundred dollar bills and handed it to his grandpa.

  "They had a whole bunch of these in some old duffle sacks."

  GB and his dad looked at each other, surprised.

  "The bank robbers?" GB questioned, looking at his dad before turning back to Gabe.

  "Ok son," GB started, "start at the beginning again, and tell us the whole story."

  ***

  Twenty minutes later, Gabe had relayed the whole story for the men, including his harrowing escape from the cargo hold.

  "He, he," his grandpa snickered with a grin at the conclusion of the story, "That's my grandson!"

  "Don't egg him on dad!" GB yelled in exasperation. "He shouldn't have been at the airport in the first place, much less playing on a plane."

  Gabriel senior remained silent out of respect for his son, but the grin on his face remained.

  "Ok, let's get out of here," GB muttered, "get in the car Gabe. We'll call the police when we get home."

  "But dad, I know where they are!"

  "You know where the robbers went Gabe?" his grandpa asked, "How do you know?"

  "I saw them turn off the road and onto a trail just past the runway. It's not on the map, so I knew it couldn't be very long. While I was waiting for you, I went up there and walked back a ways. It just goes to this old cabin, their car is there."

  "What?" his dad exclaimed excitedly. "Do you know how dangerous that was? You could have been killed if they had caught sight of you!"

  "I was careful dad. We practice that stuff all of the time in scouts you know, stalking prey through the woods."

  "Usually prey doesn't have guns and can shoot back Gabe. Where's the phone? I'll call the cops from here."

  "Now hold on a minute GB," senior piped in, "I don't think it would hurt to check it out ourselves, they may leave before the police get her. And we did bring our guns."

  "You're as bad as he is dad! Why should we get involved in this when there is a perfectly good sheriff's department around here somewhere?"

  "Because son, they took our money, and we've always taken care of our own problems."

  "Awww, you're both crazy! I'm going to go call the cops."

  With that, GB turned on his heals and stalked off toward the office.

  "Thanks for trying gramps," Gabe said sadly, "at least we can tell the cops where they are I guess."

  Gabriel put his arm around his grandson. "I don't think we're quite done with this mess yet Gabe, hold your horses.

  "Dammit!" they heard then coming out of the office. GB exited the building and made his way back toward the car. He was not happy.

  "Problem son?" Gabriel senior uttered, hiding a slight smile.

  "Awww, the dispatcher thought I was some kind of nuts. Said she hadn't even heard about a robbery yet, and if there was one, how did I know they were here?a hundred miles away?"

  "Then, she insinuated that maybe I was involved!"

  GB kicked at a stone on the ground angrily.

  "To top it all off, she said the only deputy they have is on a real case, and that he probably couldn't get out here for another two or three hours!"

  "Seems to me that they may make their escape before then son," Gabriel senior uttered. "I think we owe it to ourselves to at least slow them down a little?.don't you?"

  GB stood staring at the other two, resignation setting in as he let out a sigh.

  "I suppose, but Gabe stays in the car!"

  "Nuts," Gabe muttered dejectedly as his grandpa patted his shoulder in understanding.

  "Ok, let's do this," GB stated as he walked around the car, "I'd like to get home in time to get some sleep tonight!"

  They all piled into the front seat before GB spun the car around and headed for the road.

  "Where's this trail Gabe?" his dad asked when they entered the blacktop road.

  "Right there, on the left," Gabe answered, pointing.

  Easing the car onto the rough trail, GB stopped.

  "How far in is this cabin?"

  Gabe gave it some thought. "About as far as from our house to Becky Saunders'," Gabe said decidedly, "something like that."

  "Harold Saunders' house is about 200' from ours," Gabriel senior responded thoughtfully, "we had better walk from here GB. Otherwise, they may hear us."

  GB nodded, reaching below the seat and pulling out his old revolver. "Gabe, you stay here, and be quiet. Get down on the floor when we leave."

  Gabe's grandpa squeezed Gabe's knee before opening the door and exiting the car. Gabe heard the distinctive sound of his grandpa's old Colt .45 as he slid a round into the chamber before starting into the woods beside GB.

  Gabe wasn't happy being left behind, but decided he had been in enough trouble for one day. Rolling down the passenger window so that he could hear what was going on, he then followed orders and slid down onto the roomy floorboard of his dad's old Oldsmobile.

  He listened intently for anything to happen, but the stress and exertion of the day soon overcame him as his suddenly heavy eyelids slowly closed.

  The last thing he remembered was hearing the hoot of an owl somewhere off in the woods.

  ***

  Gabe awoke with a start, unsure of what had awakened him. He wouldn't wonder for long as gunfire erupted ahead of him in the woods.

  "Jeepers!" he shouted as he rose up and looked above the dash. He could make out flashes in the distance, the light of the shots coming a few seconds before he would hear the retort.

  "A shootout!" he said, both excited and worried. He was pretty sure that this would not have been part of his grandpa's plan.

  Making a quick decision, Gabe quietly opened the door, slipping out of the car and into the weeds before closing the door silently.

  Noiselessly, he started making his way through the trees, angling toward the flashes

  ***

  "Was this part of your plan dad?" GB yelled from his cover behind the old oak as he added bullets to his cylinder. "If it was, it seems to be going splendidly!"

  Gabriel senior slid around the edge of his tree, pulling off a shot in the direction of one of the robber's muzzle flashes, the boom of the .45 filling the woods with noise.

  "I kinda figured they would give up when they saw us coming son," he intoned dryly as he pulled the clip out of his weapon and counted his bullets. "Best laid plans son, that's why we always have a back up plan."

  "Oh good!" GB yelled back as he pulled off another shot. He scampered quickly behind the tree again as a piece of the tree trunk above him blew apart and rained down on his head. "What's your plan?"

  "Working on it," the older man muttered as he took another shot. "They don't come to me as quick as they used to you know!"

  ***

  Still a hundred feet from the action, Gabe hunkered down behind a tree and took in the situation. "Mexican standoff," he thought to himself, "Until one side runs out of ammo anyway."

  Not sure how well armed the robbers were, he figured that his dad and gramps probably hadn't brought a boatload of bullets with them.

  "Somebody needs to run," Gabe reasoned, and knowing his hardheaded grandpa, he was afraid that it wouldn't be him. His dad would be mad about that too!

  Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Gabe tried to calmly think of a solution. He had found that sometimes, when he closed his eyes and relaxed, a good idea would just suddenly pop in his head. It was hard to concentrate with the gunshots going on though, and he was afraid that it wasn't going to work this time?until?

  "Eureka!" Gabe mumbled excitedly.

  Reaching into his pocket to confirm what he needed was there, he crawled back fifty feet before moving forward again into a little valley to his right. Snaking his way down until he figured he was safe from a stray bullet, he half ran down the dry run, trying not to trip on the roots and rocks that stuck out from the bottom of it.<
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  Getting his bearings from the noise coming from above him, he stopped when he thought he was in the right location and started back up the hill slowly. When he reached the first crest in the hill, he plopped down on his stomach and snuck a look over the edge.

  "Perfect!" he thought to himself as he continued forward on his belly. Fifty foot ahead of him was the back of the old hunting cabin. He reasoned that the cabin itself would block any bullets from hitting him, and he was only really worried about one of the robbers seeing him out the single back window.

  As dark as it was though, he thought he was pretty safe.

  As he made his way closer to the old board-sided cabin, a cold sweat formed on his forehead and hands.

  He was scared.

  He hadn't thought about how scared he would be though, a couple of times he almost froze in his tracks because of his fear. And it got worse the closer he got to the old cabin.

  But he couldn't let anything happen to his dad and gramps!

  "You ain't brave if you ain't scared," he kept repeating to himself over and over again, even though it didn't seem to be helping much.

  Finally, he was where he wanted to be?right at the back of the cabin.

  He had been grabbing dry twigs and sticking them in his pocket as he had made his way here. Pulling them out now, he then made a small pile of them in front of him. Reaching into his pocket again, he pulled out the waterproof match holder from Boy Scouts. He had been practicing for his Tenderfoot cooking requirement, and had everything prepared to take the test the next night.

  The requirement stated that he had to start a fire with two matches or less, and then cook a meal on the fire that he would make. He had been practicing with his dad, and they had rigged up the little kit for the test. Pulling open the lid, Gabe extracted the small piece of newspaper first. Although he wasn't allowed to use the newspaper for his regular test, it was wrapped around some dry tinder that was allowed.

  He'd use the newspaper tonight though.

  Sliding the newspaper on the ground and under the old wood siding of the cabin, he laid the tinder on top of it, and then built a small pyramid over top of it with the twigs. That done, he quietly scurried around at the back of the cabin. Gathering a bunch of bigger sticks, he put them in another pile beside the twigs.

  Pulling out one of the matches, he leaned over it to block the light from the window and rubbed it quickly across the striking surface. The match flared to life, glowing brightly in front of his face. Slowly he moved it to touch the tinder before a wind kicked up and blew out the match!

  "Dang it!" he hissed at himself, pulling the second match out of its case?his last one.

  Gabe was afraid to light it, not knowing what he would do if it to went out. Blowing out a breath, he rubbed it past the striking surface, this match too flaring brightly in his face. Dropping the waterproof case, he cupped his hand around the glowing match and moved it toward the tinder, praying for it to light.

  Smoke started curling from the tinder as it tried to light. Suddenly, this match went out too. Worried, Gabe saw the slight glow from the tip of one of the pieces of tinder. Putting his face beside the pile, he blew on the glowing ember, trying to coax it to life. It glowed brighter with every breath, but dimmed again when he had to inhale. Finally, the tinder burst to life, the quick fire trying to catch the twigs ablaze. As they too accepted the fire, Gabe started adding progressively bigger sticks to the fire until he had a small blaze going, the old siding just catching on fire.

  "Hey! There's someone out back!" he heard from inside the cabin as the sound of breaking glass met his ears. Dropping to his knees, Gabe held himself close to the cabin and took off toward the woods as bullets landed around the fire.

  Coming to the corner of the cabin, he pushed off with his legs, diving toward a bush on the other side of the clearing.

  Landing in the Multiflora Rose bush, the thorns tore at his skin as he pulled himself through the bush to escape the shots. Clearing the bush, he rolled head over heals down a steep embankment on the other side, landing with a thump as his head landed on a rock.

  A beautiful night sky filled with stars was the last thing he saw before his eyes closed.

  ***

  GB glanced around the tree, confused.

  "Are they shooting behind the cabin?" he yelled across the yard to his dad.

  "Sounds like it," Gabriel senior uttered, "Although I can't think of any good reason?"

  Both men looked at each other simultaneously.

  "Gabe!" they said in unison.

  They were both ready to charge the cabin when GB saw it.

  "Hold up, what's that?"

  Both men noticed it, but it took a few moments to realize what it was.

  "A fire!" GB yelled. "Get ready dad, the back of the cabin is on fire, they'll be heading out soon."

  Not a minute later, Roy came charging out of the cabin, his gun blazing as he drug one of the duffle bags through the dirt.

  "Put the gun down youngster," Gabriel senior yelled to the man, who continued taking pot shots at the men, screaming, "I earned this money, it's mine!"

  As the man aimed another shot at GB, Gabriel let loose a shot from the old .45, the man thrown back as if the sound itself pushed him.

  "I'm done!" the second man said as he ran coughing out of the cabin, throwing the other duffle bag on the ground before raising his hands in the air. "Don't shoot, please!" the second man whined as he fell to his knees.

  ***

  "Gabe? Gabe! Come on son, speak to me."

  Gabe opened his eyes slightly, seeing a fuzzy image in front of his face.

  "Dad?" he mumbled, "Where am I?"

  "You're in a gully, behind the cabin. Does any of that ring a bell son?"

  It was coming back to him slowly. Suddenly, he remembered everything, and pulled himself up on his elbows.

  "The fire! Did it??"

  "Yeah Gabe, it flushed them out. One of them is wounded; the other one finally just gave up. Your grandpa is covering them until we get some rope from the car. Can you stand?"

  Nodding, Gabe stood slowly, his legs feeling wobbly for a few moments.

  "What happened to me?" Gabe asked his dad as he tried to regain his balance.

  "You hit your head on a rock when you fell," GB stated worriedly. "We should probably get you to a doctor."

  "I'm ok I think," Gabe said bravely, if not convincingly.

  GB turned around and got on his knees. "Climb on buddy, I'll take you to the car."

  Gabe wrapped his arms around his dad's neck as his dad grabbed his legs and stood.

  Walking back to the car, they were both silent for a time.

  "That was a big risk you took Gabe. Why did you do it, you could have been killed?"

  "It looked like you and gramps might run out of bullets before they did dad," Gabe said matter-of-factly as he laid his head on his dad's shoulders. "It seemed like it would be better if they gave up before that happened."

  "You know you're grounded, right?"

  "Yes sir," Gabe said quietly.

  "And I don't ever want you to burn someone out of a house again unless you ask first. Ok?"

  "Ok dad, sorry."

  "And one more thing son."

  "Yeah dad?"

  "I think you had better let me do all of the talking when we explain tonight's adventure to your mom. I think your version might scare the bejeezus out of her."

  Thank you for reading The Great Plane Robbery!. If you liked this story, you might want to get the whole series?The Adventures of Young Gabriel Celtic! Available at any eBook retailer!

  Copyright 2012-2014 by J.T. Lewis

 
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