Chapter Eight
The Banshee soared over the forested hills of the Allegany State Park with it’s three passengers. Dave was still tightly gripping his knife, trying to figure his next move. Chip was doing his best to deal with the cuts he had sustained during his scuffle with Dave. Dee flew her aircraft in no particular direction, growling to herself. I should have charged him, she thought angrily, he would’ve let go of Chip and used the knife to defend himself! I’d love to be able to eject that son of a bitch, but the handle is right next to him three seats back. An idea suddenly manifested itself, That might work, not like things can get any worse if it fails.
“Where am I supposed to be flying?” Dee called back to Dave.
“I don’t know!” he yelled.
“Great,” Chip responded, “we’re being held hostage by an amateur!”
“Shut up!” Dave searched his mind for an idea, “The mine! You’re going to take us to the mine!”
“What makes you think we know where it is?” Chip asked.
Dammit, Chip, shut up! Dee thought to herself, I know what I’m doing!
“Don’t give me that bull!” Dave yelled.
“We don’t have the fuel!” Dee responded.
“You’re lying!”
“Listen!” Dee countered, “We’re too heavy to get that far with the fuel we have! If you’d told me we were going there I could’ve dumped the cargo before we left!”
“Then dump the cargo NOW!”
“I can’t dump it while I’m flying you jack ass! That’s why I would’ve had to dump it before we took off! The only way to dump it in flight is for someone else to pull the release lever!”
“Fine! Where is it?”
“On the right hand side of the third seat!”
So that’s what she’s trying to do, Chip realized, I hope Dave is as stupid as she thinks he is.
Dave quickly looked around and found the lever on his right, and pulled it. It wasn’t until he saw the whole aircraft shrinking beneath him that he realized something was very, very wrong. His blood froze as the full realization of what was happening hit him. HOLY SHIT!! his panicked mind cried out, I’M NOT WEARING A PARACHUTE!! He instinctively clutched the foam padded seat with all his strength, not knowing that the seat itself was equipped with a life saving device.
Dee turned the Banshee and searched the surrounding sky for her former passenger. She soon caught sight of Dave, desperately clutching his seat, dangling by a set of strings from a handkerchief.
Back at the mill Bob, Monterey, and Gadget were busy trying to determine what should be done. They were getting nowhere fast by the time they heard the wail of the Banshee. The three stood at the side of the landing strip in excruciating anticipation. Though each had great faith in the abilities of their missing comrades they had each privately feared that they would meet nevermore (at least not in this life). Almost before the aircraft even came to rest in the hanger Dee leapt from the cockpit. She dashed over to one of the workbenches and retrieved a first-aid kit.
As Chip began to disembark the others ran over to him. “Chipper, what happened?!” Monterey shouted.
“We dumped some unwanted cargo,” Chip calmly answered.
Gadget gasped as she saw the dried blood all over Chips hands, stomach and thighs, “Golly! Chip, are you alright?!”
“Huh?” the immense relief of a safe return had temporarily taken his mind off his injuries, “Oh... it looks a lot worse than it is.”
Dee rushed over with the first-aid kit and promptly set to dealing with Chip’s injuries, “Who’d think hand wounds could bleed so much?”
“Where’s Dale?” Chip asked as Dee bandaged his hands.
“He’s telling the pups a bedtime story,” Bob answered.
When Dee was finished tending to Chip’s injuries she wandered over to a workbench, grabbed a pencil and began writing. “Next refit: Install pilot activated passenger ejection system,” she mumbled aloud as she wrote.
“What happened to Dave?” Monterey asked.
“Dee tricked him into activating his ejection seat,” Chip answered, “he’s probably dangling from a tree branch somewhere.”
“Unless we were lucky and he got plucked up by a predatory bird,” Dee smiled as she looked up from her writing.
From down below came the cries of frightened wolf pups. The sadistic pleasure Dee took in imagining Dave’s demise dissipated at the sound of the first pitiable whine. She bolted from the hanger, down the stairs, and sprinted across the map room towards the den. The others did their best to keep up with her. Dee nearly collided with Dale while entering the den.
“Dale, what happened?” Chip asked as he came to a stop at the entrance.
“I don’t know,” Dale responded, “I was telling them the same bedtime story my mom always told me... Little Red Riding Hood...”
“Oh, Dale...” Gadget groaned.
“What?”
“Dale, you dummy,” Chip answered, “you just told a litter of wolf puppies a bedtime story that ends with a wolf being HACKED TO DEATH by a woodsman!”
“Oh... hadn’t thought a’ that.”
“Well, on the bright side,” Gadget pointed out, “they’ll at least have a healthy fear of humans.”
Dee was inside the den doing her best to comfort the pups. “Don’t worry, the pack will be home soon,” she told them as soothingly as possible, “and they’ll be home even sooner if you go to sleep.”
“Will you sing us a lullaby, Aunt Dee?” one of the pups meekly asked as he sniffed back a tear.
“Ok, I’ll sing you a lullaby,” Dee responded softly, “but only one, so find yourselves a comfy place to sleep.” The sleek black coated puppies began to mill about searching for the best sleeping spot, and within a minute had conglomerated into one big pile on a blanket. While a few legs and tails still twitched within the mountain of puppy fluff, Dee began, “Ok li’l pups, here’s your lullaby...
“When the dark wood fell before me
and all the paths were overgrown,
When the priests of pride say there is no other way
I tilled the sorrows of stone.”
Out of sheer curiosity the five persons assembled in the map room stopped to listen.
“I did not believe because I could not see
though you came to me in the night.
When the dawn seemed forever lost
you showed me your love in the light of the stars.”
It sounded particularly familiar to Chip, who listened more intently as he tried to place it.
“Cast your eyes on the ocean,
Cast your soul to the sea,
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me.”
He finally remembered that Tammy had tried to serenade him with it last Valentine’s Day.
“Then the mountain rose before me
from the deep well of desire,
From the fountain of forgiveness
beyond the ice and the fire.”
It was a song by Loreena McKennitt: “Dante’s Prayer”.
“Cast your eyes on the ocean,
Cast your soul to the sea,
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me.”
Tammy’s version didn’t have quite so much emotion...
“Though we share this humble path, alone
how fragile is the heart.
Oh give these clay feet wings to fly,
to touch the face of the stars.”
...or quite so much tenderness.
“Breathe life into this feeble heart,
lift this mortal veil of fear.
Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears,
we’ll rise above these earthly cares.”
Chip hadn’t noticed the others had already returned upstairs.
“Cast your eyes on the ocean,
Cast your soul to the sea,
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me.”
For a few moments Dee watched as the pups, piled one atop another, slept quietly. She turned and proceeded to leave the den, and was surprised to see Chip waiting in the map room. “Hae’,” she said smiling pleasantly.
At this point Chip finally realized he was alone with Dee. “Hi,” he responded nervously, “I... guess the others went back upstairs.”
“Either that or they became invisible,” Dee responded with a nervous laugh. She hadn’t thought that anyone would have stayed to listen to her sing. The fact that Chip had was incredibly flattering, and she began to blush noticeably. This eased Chip’s mind greatly, knowing that he was able to make her as nervous as she’d made him, even if it was unintentional.
“Do you pupsit often?” Chip asked as they began to leave the map room.
“Off and on, everyone in the pack takes their turn as the nanny,” Dee answered, “and besides, I am their ‘furry godmother’!” They were both laughing as they entered the hanger.
“How’re yer hands doin’ there, Chip?” Bob asked once Chip and Dee had seated themselves on the couch.
“Oh, they’re just a little sore,” Chip responded, not mentioning that some of the cuts still stung quite badly.
“If they start to bother you just let me know,” Dee offered, “I have plenty of painkillers, antibiotics, bandages... whatever you need, anything at all.”
Chip continued to downplay his discomfort. Both he and Dale would exaggerate their wounds in an effort to get just a little more attention from Gadget, but this wasn’t Gadget. Chip didn’t have to exaggerate to get attention from Dee, and he knew it, so he figured this would be an excellent time to demonstrate his mettle.
The Banshee soared over the forested hills of the Allegany State Park with it’s three passengers. Dave was still tightly gripping his knife, trying to figure his next move. Chip was doing his best to deal with the cuts he had sustained during his scuffle with Dave. Dee flew her aircraft in no particular direction, growling to herself. I should have charged him, she thought angrily, he would’ve let go of Chip and used the knife to defend himself! I’d love to be able to eject that son of a bitch, but the handle is right next to him three seats back. An idea suddenly manifested itself, That might work, not like things can get any worse if it fails.
“Where am I supposed to be flying?” Dee called back to Dave.
“I don’t know!” he yelled.
“Great,” Chip responded, “we’re being held hostage by an amateur!”
“Shut up!” Dave searched his mind for an idea, “The mine! You’re going to take us to the mine!”
“What makes you think we know where it is?” Chip asked.
Dammit, Chip, shut up! Dee thought to herself, I know what I’m doing!
“Don’t give me that bull!” Dave yelled.
“We don’t have the fuel!” Dee responded.
“You’re lying!”
“Listen!” Dee countered, “We’re too heavy to get that far with the fuel we have! If you’d told me we were going there I could’ve dumped the cargo before we left!”
“Then dump the cargo NOW!”
“I can’t dump it while I’m flying you jack ass! That’s why I would’ve had to dump it before we took off! The only way to dump it in flight is for someone else to pull the release lever!”
“Fine! Where is it?”
“On the right hand side of the third seat!”
So that’s what she’s trying to do, Chip realized, I hope Dave is as stupid as she thinks he is.
Dave quickly looked around and found the lever on his right, and pulled it. It wasn’t until he saw the whole aircraft shrinking beneath him that he realized something was very, very wrong. His blood froze as the full realization of what was happening hit him. HOLY SHIT!! his panicked mind cried out, I’M NOT WEARING A PARACHUTE!! He instinctively clutched the foam padded seat with all his strength, not knowing that the seat itself was equipped with a life saving device.
Dee turned the Banshee and searched the surrounding sky for her former passenger. She soon caught sight of Dave, desperately clutching his seat, dangling by a set of strings from a handkerchief.
Back at the mill Bob, Monterey, and Gadget were busy trying to determine what should be done. They were getting nowhere fast by the time they heard the wail of the Banshee. The three stood at the side of the landing strip in excruciating anticipation. Though each had great faith in the abilities of their missing comrades they had each privately feared that they would meet nevermore (at least not in this life). Almost before the aircraft even came to rest in the hanger Dee leapt from the cockpit. She dashed over to one of the workbenches and retrieved a first-aid kit.
As Chip began to disembark the others ran over to him. “Chipper, what happened?!” Monterey shouted.
“We dumped some unwanted cargo,” Chip calmly answered.
Gadget gasped as she saw the dried blood all over Chips hands, stomach and thighs, “Golly! Chip, are you alright?!”
“Huh?” the immense relief of a safe return had temporarily taken his mind off his injuries, “Oh... it looks a lot worse than it is.”
Dee rushed over with the first-aid kit and promptly set to dealing with Chip’s injuries, “Who’d think hand wounds could bleed so much?”
“Where’s Dale?” Chip asked as Dee bandaged his hands.
“He’s telling the pups a bedtime story,” Bob answered.
When Dee was finished tending to Chip’s injuries she wandered over to a workbench, grabbed a pencil and began writing. “Next refit: Install pilot activated passenger ejection system,” she mumbled aloud as she wrote.
“What happened to Dave?” Monterey asked.
“Dee tricked him into activating his ejection seat,” Chip answered, “he’s probably dangling from a tree branch somewhere.”
“Unless we were lucky and he got plucked up by a predatory bird,” Dee smiled as she looked up from her writing.
From down below came the cries of frightened wolf pups. The sadistic pleasure Dee took in imagining Dave’s demise dissipated at the sound of the first pitiable whine. She bolted from the hanger, down the stairs, and sprinted across the map room towards the den. The others did their best to keep up with her. Dee nearly collided with Dale while entering the den.
“Dale, what happened?” Chip asked as he came to a stop at the entrance.
“I don’t know,” Dale responded, “I was telling them the same bedtime story my mom always told me... Little Red Riding Hood...”
“Oh, Dale...” Gadget groaned.
“What?”
“Dale, you dummy,” Chip answered, “you just told a litter of wolf puppies a bedtime story that ends with a wolf being HACKED TO DEATH by a woodsman!”
“Oh... hadn’t thought a’ that.”
“Well, on the bright side,” Gadget pointed out, “they’ll at least have a healthy fear of humans.”
Dee was inside the den doing her best to comfort the pups. “Don’t worry, the pack will be home soon,” she told them as soothingly as possible, “and they’ll be home even sooner if you go to sleep.”
“Will you sing us a lullaby, Aunt Dee?” one of the pups meekly asked as he sniffed back a tear.
“Ok, I’ll sing you a lullaby,” Dee responded softly, “but only one, so find yourselves a comfy place to sleep.” The sleek black coated puppies began to mill about searching for the best sleeping spot, and within a minute had conglomerated into one big pile on a blanket. While a few legs and tails still twitched within the mountain of puppy fluff, Dee began, “Ok li’l pups, here’s your lullaby...
“When the dark wood fell before me
and all the paths were overgrown,
When the priests of pride say there is no other way
I tilled the sorrows of stone.”
Out of sheer curiosity the five persons assembled in the map room stopped to listen.
“I did not believe because I could not see
though you came to me in the night.
When the dawn seemed forever lost
you showed me your love in the light of the stars.”
It sounded particularly familiar to Chip, who listened more intently as he tried to place it.
“Cast your eyes on the ocean,
Cast your soul to the sea,
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me.”
He finally remembered that Tammy had tried to serenade him with it last Valentine’s Day.
“Then the mountain rose before me
from the deep well of desire,
From the fountain of forgiveness
beyond the ice and the fire.”
It was a song by Loreena McKennitt: “Dante’s Prayer”.
“Cast your eyes on the ocean,
Cast your soul to the sea,
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me.”
Tammy’s version didn’t have quite so much emotion...
“Though we share this humble path, alone
how fragile is the heart.
Oh give these clay feet wings to fly,
to touch the face of the stars.”
...or quite so much tenderness.
“Breathe life into this feeble heart,
lift this mortal veil of fear.
Take these crumbled hopes, etched with tears,
we’ll rise above these earthly cares.”
Chip hadn’t noticed the others had already returned upstairs.
“Cast your eyes on the ocean,
Cast your soul to the sea,
When the dark night seems endless
Please remember me.”
For a few moments Dee watched as the pups, piled one atop another, slept quietly. She turned and proceeded to leave the den, and was surprised to see Chip waiting in the map room. “Hae’,” she said smiling pleasantly.
At this point Chip finally realized he was alone with Dee. “Hi,” he responded nervously, “I... guess the others went back upstairs.”
“Either that or they became invisible,” Dee responded with a nervous laugh. She hadn’t thought that anyone would have stayed to listen to her sing. The fact that Chip had was incredibly flattering, and she began to blush noticeably. This eased Chip’s mind greatly, knowing that he was able to make her as nervous as she’d made him, even if it was unintentional.
“Do you pupsit often?” Chip asked as they began to leave the map room.
“Off and on, everyone in the pack takes their turn as the nanny,” Dee answered, “and besides, I am their ‘furry godmother’!” They were both laughing as they entered the hanger.
“How’re yer hands doin’ there, Chip?” Bob asked once Chip and Dee had seated themselves on the couch.
“Oh, they’re just a little sore,” Chip responded, not mentioning that some of the cuts still stung quite badly.
“If they start to bother you just let me know,” Dee offered, “I have plenty of painkillers, antibiotics, bandages... whatever you need, anything at all.”
Chip continued to downplay his discomfort. Both he and Dale would exaggerate their wounds in an effort to get just a little more attention from Gadget, but this wasn’t Gadget. Chip didn’t have to exaggerate to get attention from Dee, and he knew it, so he figured this would be an excellent time to demonstrate his mettle.
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