The Bridge at Puerto Barrios

The bridge we flew under at Puerto Barrios. Lou paid me twenty dollars on the bet.





There is an old cassette deck in Naomi Lou finds mounted under the passenger seat. He slides the tape in and we hear Los Lonely Boys... I think.
"A nice plane like this and he has a fucking tape deck... what about CD or MP3?
I tap my fingers on the tiller as I fly, "Probably some old guy that doesn't want to mess with new technology."
Lou looks at our fuel gauges, "You planning on stopping for a little fuel? I hope?"
"Yeah, we'll touch down in Santa Cruz del Quiche. There is a fuel farm at their little airport. The Federales use it for patrol aircraft."
"You want to land on a field patrolled by Federales?"
"I didn't say it was patrolled by Federales, I said it is used by Federales."
"Oh... okay, that's nothing to worry about." Lou gives me look.
We are over the field within ten minutes and I make a low fly-by. "There, you happy? No feds."
There seems to be no activity what so ever on the little airfield. I bank around and line up on the runway. We touch down and I taxi our girl over to the fuel farm and stop. The both of us climb out into the noon day sun and take a look.
"Here they come." Lou says, pointing to one of the hangers.
A lone worker emerges from the old wooden hanger and slides the door open. He disappears and then the yellow fuel truck pulls out. He stops the truck and gets back out to close the door.
"Must be airconditioned." Lou surmises. I nod.

The guy is in his forties, grey coveralls and a Yankees ball cap. He hooks up a ground wire from the truck to the plane, and then from the truck to a grounding lug in a padeye on the tarmack. He knows his business.

It takes about twenty minutes from the time he pulls up until we are topped off and ready to fly. I pay him in American money. It holds a lot of weight down here... more than any other currency. Lou takes him aside and talks to him. I don't understand much of the conversation, but I know what he is looking for. The fueler goes into his truck and tips the back of the seat forward. Out comes a flat plastic wrapped package about the size of an encyclopedia volume.

"No, hombre, eso es demasiado, apenas un pequeño". He uses his thumb and forefinger for distance, "Just a little."
The fueler nods. He pulls a little cloth parts bag from his pocket. It is about the size of a pack of cigarettes with a drawstring at the top. He holds it up and Lou nods, "Perfecto". The bag is filled until it can hold no more and still be able to close.
The man looks at Lou, "Cinco."
"Five bucks... " Lou turns and digs in his pocket. "Shit, all I have are twenties and hundreds." He whispers to me.
"So give him a twenty you cheap bastard. These people remember this shit. Kharma... you know?
Lou hands him a twenty and the man smiles. He pulls out a pack of rolling papers and hands them to Lou and shakes his hand. "For me?"
The man nods.
"Gracias Senior, Gracias."

We are flying over small farms and a few villages on our way to the coast. I drop the plane low enough that a few kids on the streets run and wave. I tip my wings so they know I see them, then climb back up to two thousand feet.
"So... what are we going to do when we get there? The guy we are meeting won't even be there until tomorrow afternoon." Lou asks as he rolls his Walkers. He has about ten of them done so far.
"I don't want to walk into a trap, man. What if our friends intercepted that call we made?"
"Then they know we are landing at Tiller's field."
"It isn't called Tiller's field by anyone but me and Jerry. We could be landing on four or five different strips." I do a sweep of the gauges. "I am more concerned with finding this restaurant and bar... checking it out. I don't want any surprises."
Lou licks another Walker and runs his thumb along the seam of the rolling paper. "But why did we leave today? Why not party at the compound and leave tomorrow?"
"Jerry is right. We don't want those diamonds any where near El Corazon. That is our safe place. We need to draw these guys away from our home, not lead them into it."
"Take the fight to them." Lou adds.
"Hopefully we can just give the stones to Bear and somehow let them know we don't have them any more... and that should be the end of it."

Five minutes later I point out of the windscreen, "See the river down there? That's the Rio Polochio. We follow it right into Lake Isabel and over to Puerto Barrios."
"How long?"
"Maybe a half an hour, maybe less."
Lou keeps on rolling.
"How many of those are you going to roll, Lou."
"Until I run out of pot or papers."
"How many papers are in that bindle?"
Lou looks at me, "You don't know how many papers are in a package? I thought you were a partier. No, now I remember. You fucking school boys were to busy playing with your... "
"HOW MANY, LOU."
"Thirty three."

We are over the waters of Lake Isabel when Lou finishes his business. He ran out of papers first with a little weed to spare. He sparks up a pinner that he rolled last and takes a long drag.
"Not bad... " He says while holding his breath. He holds the toothpick thin Walker out to me and I wave it off.
"I better not. Not until we get on the ground. We can party our asses of once we get her on the ground."

Ahead of us is Puerto Barrios. I fly out and around south of the bay to show Lou the lay of the land. He spots the bridge and dares me to fly under it.
"Good way to get busted."
"Pussy."
"You won't see pussy for the next ten years if they force us down and find your stash."
"Twenty bucks." He says, letting a hit out, Pointing toward the bridge.
"They will be selling your rank old asshole for twenty bucks in prison."
"Come on... "
I change course and line up with the river. I drop down to about thirty feet and head toward the bridge. Lou starts whooping like a rodeo clown. I hit the throttles to the stops and we power toward the span and head under to the shock of several small boats.
"YEAH!" Lou slaps me on the shoulder, "That's what I'm talking about." He pulls out a twenty and reaches over and stuffs it in my shirt pocket.

I follow my landmarks to Tiller's field. I shouldn't have done the bridge like that... it is like advertising that we are here. Too late to worry about it though.

There is a lot of action on the airfield. A lot of small planes being worked on, some being loaded by unsavory characters hopped up on meth or coca or both. They regard us with suspicion as we taxi toward our usual parking spot. It isn't until Eduardo, the guy that collects landing fees when he can, comes up and shakes my hand that the onlookers go back to what they were doing. We must be okay if Eduardo shakes our hand. That is the "signal" if you will. If he would have greeted us without a handshake, that would have meant he didn't know us and that we would either be sent on our way... or worse.

Lou still has the nine millimeter in his belt. I find a good hiding spot for the forty four. Lou takes his stash with him. We leave Naomi with Eduardo and explain to him that there might be someone looking for the plane. Along with that knowledge we hand him five hundred bucks, for which he offers to shoot anyone that comes near her. I tell him that's not necessary, just to keep an eye out. He asks about Abby and I tell him that Jerry will be here tonight, or maybe tomorrow, but to keep it on the down low.

Eduardo calls us a cab... his brother, who is a bank guard during the day. He is still in his uniform with a shotgun on the front seat. Some how I feel safer. We make arrangements to hire him for the length of our stay. One thing for sure... for the next couple of days we don't have to worry about getting lost, or anyone fucking with us.

Hot Rocks

One of ten diamonds in the bag.








"Holy Shit... where did you get these?" Jerry turns a couple of the stones over in his hand. "These are worth a lot of money, man."
"I gathered that. This is why we were being chased by those men, the ones in the plane that Lou downed." I look a Lou, "There was another plane, Lou."
"They must still be looking for us."
Jerry's jaw drops, "Hey... you don't think they followed you to Tapia's, do you?"
"No, the two planes were in different areas. Lou monitored them talking to each other and they were looking in a different grid."
Jerry looks at Lou, worried now, "You think they were somewhere else?"
"That's what I got from it. The plane I shot down radioed the other plane that they had spotted us, maybe even that they were going to force us to land, but they didn't make it to the scene. At least not while we were there."
Jerry stuffs the stones back into the little bag and hands them to me, holding the bag like a dead rat. "These need to go."
"Yeah, I know."

The next morning we are up with the sun. Lou and I give Naomi a quick look and then we fire her up and roll out of the compound. We need to make a call on the satellite phone, but don't want to be anywhere near El Corazon when we do. There is enough fuel in our girl to make a run about an hour away and then turn backwith some to spare. Jerry stays behind to make arrangements with Nester for the equipment run. There has also been some radio traffic requesting Abby for a few cargo runs. Jerry will try to incorporate those on his run to the coast. For now it seems that our paths are running in different directions.
Naomi takes to the air with Lou on the stick. We climb out over the mist covered jungle and continue to gain altitude.
"Let's head south, along the Sierra Madre."

An hour or so out from El Corazon, and up over the Sierra Madre we pull the phone number and dial the satellite phone. After a few interchanges, I hear it ring... and ring and ring. I pull away and look at the number on the read-out and check it against the number on the card. " Same number." I tell myself. I just let it ring. After about ten rings it hangs up and redials the number.
"Great, no one is going to answer."
The phone rings again, but this time after two times it is answered.
"I can barely make out what he is saying." I tell Lou.
"Signal that bad?"
I put my hand over the receiver, "No, it's Agaki." I hand Lou the phone, "You talk to him."
Lou takes the phone and I take Naomi.
"Agaki... it's us, Lou and Jake." He smiles at the recoginition, "Konichiwa to you too. Hey, is Bear there? We really need to speak to him."
There is a pause on the other line while Agaki finds Bear. Lou pushes the button for speaker phone, then...
"Hey boys! How the hell are you? You get your plane home safe?" Bear sounds like cocktail hour started a little early this morning.
"Bear, that's what we want to talk to you about." Lou looks at me.
"Bear, this is Jake. We were followed out of Caracas. Two planes, one of them tried to shoot us down."
There is complete silence on the other end of the line.
"Bear? Did we loose you?"
"No, boys... hell."
"I think we found what they are looking for."
"Well, you did better than I did. The man that owned that plane stiffed me on some cargo. It was supposed to be an even trade, but then he held out for twice the money. I tried to convince the man to tell me where he had hidden them but he didn't make it through the questioning. You boys aren't interested in my business problems. But I didn't expect giving you that plane would bring this shit storm down on you. I would have thought who ever knew about the stones would have known I tore that plane apart looking for them."
"They weren't in the plane, Bear."
Silence... "No? Then where were they?"
"In the satellite phone."
Silence again.
"Bear?"
"Well, congratulations boys."
"No... no, Bear, that is not why we called. We need to bring these to you. How do we find you?"
We can hear him talking to someone in the room with him, then... "We better not talk until we have a secure line. These satellite phones can be intercepted... evesdropped, and the signal can be triangulated."
Lou and I look at each other. "Yeah, Bear... we know."
"Look, I am going to send a courier with a scrambled satellite phone to... " You can hear him shuffling paper, "to Puerto Barrios. That is near you, isn't it?"
"We know where it is, Bear."
"Down by the main marina there is a restaurant and bar with a name you will recognize. I will have a man waiting for you there tomorrow... can you do that?"
"It will be in the late afternoon."
"That's fine. You will recognize the courier. Get the phone and we will talk."

We are about five minutes out from the compound when we see Abby take to the skies heading east. Lou has the stick, so I take the radio.
"Jerry... got your ears on?"
There is just static, then... "Go."
"Where you headed?"
"I am with Nester. He is going to handle some cargo for me, I have to pick up from the growers on Rio Silvestre and drop at Valle Verde. Then we are going to Puerto Barrios to pick up some equipment for him."
"We made contact with the Ice Man... "
Lou smiles, "good one."
"Come back with that, Jake?"
"We got a hold of the owner of our found merchandise and we are going to meet him."
"Gotcha. When an where?"
"We have to fuel up and then we should be on your six. We have to be at your final destination tomorrow afternoon."
"We are parking at Tiller's field, we'll see you there. Good luck."
I key the mike twice and hang it up.
"Where is Tiller's field?"
"It is a dirt strip local airport outside Puerto Barrios by about four miles. We've made quite a few runs from there.... shipping traffic and all."

Lou lands our girl and we pull into the compound. I should tell him how impressed I have become with his aircraft handling abilities, but I don't want him to get a big head about it.
"I think we should grab a back pack and a couple of changes of clothes this time. What do you think?" I ask Lou as I follow him out of the cockpit.
"I think you better have some clothes for me becuase all of my shit is in Barra de la Cruz. What do you think?"
I give the smart ass a little shove as we walk hunched over toward door and he snickers.
"I tell you what we we need... a couple more guns, that's what we need." Lou says as he hops down out of the plane.
"Out choices are limited, but let me show you anyway."
I have the gun safe open now and we both are looking at the three handguns that are left inside.
"What the hell is that?"
"A paint ball gun."
"Unless we want to put an eye out we better leave that one here."
"That leaves this nine millimeter... " I hand it to Lou for inspection, "and this forty four." I hoist the giant revolver up.
Lou pulls the clip and opens the slide on the nine and gives it a quick look. He slaps the clip back inside, pulls the slide back to chamber a round and then looks out into the compound. There are a couple of empty oil cans about thirty yards out. He levels the weapon and draws a bead on one stray can.
"That's a long way out for a pistol... "
He fires and the can jumps in the air about five feet. He fires again before it falls and it launches.
"...shot" I finish. I watch the can sail back toward the fence. "I'm glad you're on our side, Lou."
He tucks the nine in the back of his belt. "What do you have there?"
"It is a forty four that Jerry picked up after we had a little run in with some poachers that came in for one of our drops?"
"Poachers?"
"They were posing as customers at one of our drops. They show up when they hear the plane and try to intercept the cargo before the real recipients show up. It only happens every once in a while. We had to run them off with the M-16 and a grenade, one of them dropped this cannon and ran."
He hoists the gun and aims at the cans.
"I wouldn't use it if I were you."
"Why not?"
"Because those six rounds are all we have for now."
"How about the nine?"
"We have five hundred rounds for the nine."
Lou hands me the revolver and then quick draws the nine from the back of his belt and fires on one of the two remaining cans. It jumps in the air and he hits it two more times before it lands in the rough another twenty feet back.

Within the half hour we are packed and walking out of the crash pad. Lou spots a half empty bottle of tequila and throws it in the bag. There is a liter bottle of sprite that he picks up as well.

We are wheels up and I am at the controls. Lou tries in vane to hail Jerry on the radio. "He's not responding." Lou reports.
"He might be out of range or off our frequency. Let's hope he is just out of range. Just keep the radio on and we'll check in on him."

East bound... the Spanish Main... diamond pirates. We have a delivery to make to our new friend, and a treasure to keep from those men who had tried once to kill us. Good thing we packed clothes this time.

Nester, Nogales, and the Satellite Phone

Nester after receiving his gold transfer payment.







The living area is in good order. There is a basket of spoiled fruit on the counter in the kitchen. It is from one of the families in town that didn't know we were on an adventure. By the looks of it they had brought it over just after we left last week. They usually take good care of us when we are here.

"I'm getting out of these clothes." Jerry tells me.
"Hey, now... you have to buy us dinner first, you know... don't treat us like whores."
Jerry peels his shirt off with his good hand and digs around on the shelf of folded clothes for a shirt to his liking. "You know, I missed that all week. Tapia is fun, but I missed that."

I walk over to my hammock and give it a push. "Hey baby, boy did I miss you."
Lou steps up beside me, "Where is the guest room?"
"It's rolled up and in that box over there." I point to the spare hammock in the box under the bookcase. "Just use the hooks on those supports." I point him in the right direction.
I pick out a clean Dead shirt, Boreal Ridge 1985, and pull it on. Then pull on a clean pair of Khaki shorts.
"Hey, we can fuck with the hammock when we get back from town." Jerry says as he brushes his hair out.
Lou grabs the hammock anyway and unrolls it on the floor, "Just keep brushing your hair, Nancy. This won't take but a second."
He gets it hook on the first post and then gives it a hard shake for bugs and lizards before hooking up the other side.
"All done." He looks at me in my fresh duds, "How about lending me some clean clothes?"
I shrug, "Mi Casa Su Casa. Take your pick."

We all get freshened up and then it is time to get the bags from Abby's hold and separate some money. There is eight nine thousand and change left from the Dominican Brother's money and that is mine and Lou's. Then there is Lou's eighty thousand in gold money, our five thousand, and the rest is Nester's one point eight million.
"Hey Jerry, you should know that the Dominican Brothers had these bags out of Abby's hold and in their safe for a couple of days. I never counted it when it was returned. I just figured that if they were going to take it they would take it all."
"I agree with that. There is no need to count it. If Nester comes up short, then there isn't much we can do about that."

In the hanger Jerry has a three thousand dollar gun safe that is bolted through the bottom to an old refridgerator that is filled with cement and buried beneath the floor. It is not going to be breeched or moved unless with explosives. We take the money that is not Nesters and place it in the safe. The sight of the gunsafe angers Lou.
"Those tongueless fuckers took my sniper rifle. I had that built by Carlos Hathcock, the best sniper that ever lived. That rifle and the scope are worth ten grand... irreplaceable."
Jerry puts a hand on his shoulder, "Your rifle is in the wooden crate in Abby that Tapia's boys loaded last night. That and my M-16."
"No shit... oh man that is great news." His expression changed in a flash, now a little angry, "Why didn't you tell me?"
"You didn't ask and frankly it wasn't first and foremost on my mind, Lou. Tapia found them in the rough next to the airstrip that day when you two flew off with the La Segunda Vida. Why they didn't take them I don't know."
Lou turns to go and get the weapons.
"You can leave the M-16 in Abby." Jerry calls after him.

After Lou checks his prize possession and places it in Naomi, we lock up the safe, grab Nesters money, and pile into the Jeep. "You're going to have to drive." Jerry tells me.
With a little coaxing she starts and once she has her wind, I throw it in to gear and off we go.
We make quick work of the jungle road and are on the outskirts of town in no time. It is about three o'clock and there is action at the small market.

The town's folk smile and wave as we drive up. Some of them realize we have been gone, others don't. Jerry makes a quick tour of the store. The shortened supply run we made to Barra de la Cruz has left the "shelves" a little bare. He tells the girl watching the place that he will make a supply run and for her to get a list together. Then he inquires about Nester and is told he is at the waterfall.

As we make our way to the main house at the waterfall we can see people running from the house to meet us. Nester and his wife Consuela, their kids, and about ten of his cousins all pour from the house and surround the truck as we pull up. There is genuine concern... they thought something happened to us. As we get out of the truck we are embraced by Nester and his family. They crowd around us like we are celebrities touring the Sudan or something. There is no outward concern for the money, just concern for us. They notice immediately that Ollie is not with us, drawing a gasp from Consuela. Jerry quickly lets them know that he is okay but in the hospital for an infection.

It takes the better part of an hour to tell the story of the run to the city, our escape into the hands of the La Segunda Vida, and everything else that came after. Nester continues to shake his head at every incredible turn of events in the tale that is told. He feels somehow responsible because of the large sum of money we were carrying for him. We assure him that this wasn't the case, that we were going up there with or without his gold. In the end Jerry has some of Nester's men removed the leather satchels from the back of the truck and then he tells Nester how much he got for the gold. He is speechless.

During cigars and tequila, which Lou eagerly participates in, Nester tells us that he will spend the money on equipment that will get him more yield from the waterfall claim. He also tells us that he is going to give us a small percentage share in the yield from the newly equipped claim... two percent, for all that we have done for him and will do for him.
Jerry looks at the two of us, "Hey boys, it looks like we are in the gold mining business."
We raise our glasses and all toast to the newly equipped venture.
Nester and Jerry get into a discussion about equipment and making a possible run to Puerto Barrios on the Caribbean to pick up an equipment order he has already made. Then he wants to stop on the way back at the hospital that holds Ollie and see if he can be transported home.

"So, just like that? Two percent of the gold he takes out of the waterfall is ours? No contract or lawyers or anything?" Lou sounds skeptical.
"Yeah, pretty much. Nester's word is his contract. These people have no need for lawyers... they are honest and say what they mean. Nester has been trading his gold for goods, for cash here and there, but never has he had a strike like this... almost two million. He knows he couldn't have done it without us, and we couldn't have done it without you. So that two percent is ours to keep when it comes."
"And this is like... forever?"
"Well, yes, until we are all dead and buried I would assume."
Lou tosses back another shot of tequila, "No shit... that is nice."

Plans are made for Nester and Jerry to take Abby over to the Caribbean side of Guatemala. Lou and I plan to go along to help fly because Jerry's wrist is still pretty sore. But all of this changes when we get back to the compound.

Lou decides he wants to take Naomi up before dark and use the satellite phone to call Bear and let him know about the men that followed us. As he grabs the case for the phone the handset falls out and hits the ground. It breaks on impact, the back falling off and exposing the battery and something else.
"What the fuck... " Lou picks up the pieces of the handset, "I broke it." When he straightens up, a small cloth bindle falls out on the ground.
I reach down and pick it up. "What do we have here?" I hold it in the palm of my hand. It's not flat, but quite lumpy.
"What's in it?" Lou pokes it with his finger.
I open and spill the contents into the palm of my hand. There, in the afternoon sun, are ten diamonds, each about the size of a large green pea.
"Holy Shit... " Lou gets right up on them and watches the afternoon light sparkle in my palm.
"This explains a lot." I report.
Lou picks one up and turns it in his fingers. "What do you suppose they are worth?"
"Enough... enough to track them down to the ends of the Earth, I suppose."

Home Sweet Home

Jerry... ready to go after the party last night.


I wake up in a lawn chair. There are empty red plastic glasses laying around my feet like fallen soldiers gracing the hallowed ground of a battlefield. I think I won. I have no hang over, no sour stomach... I don't even have to take a piss. Before I move I look around in the growing light of dawn. I am not the only one out here. Jerry is laying on one of the couch cushions from the bunkhouse. Aside from the two of us, Lou is up and drinking coffee by the fire, along with Tapia and a couple of the boys.
"Buenos días, Jake. Come... have some coffee and wake up." Tapia holds up a steaming cup of ranch coffee and I take it from him.
"Thanks Tapia. Man, that was the best shit we were drinking last night. I don't feel hung over one bit."
Lou nods, "Me neither. We need to put some of that in the coke bottles we have in Abby so we have something to take on the road."
"No problemo boys. Take all you want. We made it especially for these occasions."
Lou gestures toward the motionless body laying ten feet from us. "Ole Jerry drank a shit load last night."
Tapia nods, "He is on pain medication for his arm. So that and sangria are enough to make him sleep like a baby."
"Well, we have places to go and people to see." Lou walks over and kicks his foot, "Wake up princess." Nothing. "Hey Jerry, time to get up." Still nothing... just the light buzz of snoring.
"I guess isn't time to wake up."
"Let's take a look at Naomi once we get back to El Corazon. We don't want to start pulling panels on her here." I look at Lou, "You already gave her the once over, huh?"
"Well, there isn't anything obvious, if that's what you mean."
"If there is something hidden, it is in a damn good spot if Bear's men couldn't find it."
Lou gives me a look, "Who do you suppose those guys were anyway?"
Tapia sips his coffee, "What guys?"
"There was an aircraft that followed us from Caracas to Panama. We thought we lost them when we left Panama, but they found us anyway." I take a sip of the steaming brew, "They shot at me and forced us to land. Lou went down first and managed to get off the airstrip and in position when I came by with these guys on our tail."
Tapia shrugs, "So what happens?"
"Lou here pops a couple of rounds into the engine nacelle as the plane flies by and it blew up and crashed."
"So you boys don't know who these people were? Did they have tongues?"
"Tapia, they weren't La Segunda Vida. We didn't get that close to see if they had tongues, but I know they weren't. These guys were either the former owners of Naomi, or they traded with the former owner of Naomi."
Lou's eyes light up, "Maybe Bear will know something. We should call him."
"Not from here. We'll call him from the air. That's how they found us last time. Tapia doesn't need any more excitement here."

Jerry is finally up and around after nine o'clock. His wrist and arm are still in a sling, but the wound is healing nicely according to Mari. She tells Jerry if he were a steer she would have made him all better by now. We all walk up to the ranch house and Mari is waiting there to change his dressing. Before we hit the door you can smell breakfast cooking.
"Tapia, with all of Mari's cooking how is it that you don't weigh six hundred pounds?"
He smiles and grabs at Mari's ass as she passes him to get to her patient. "It is because of all the exercise we get in the bedroom, eh mi gorrión pequeño?"
She slaps him on the shoulder, pretending to be offended. "I get more exercise feeding the animals, usted cabra vieja."
Tapia smiles, "She called me an old goat. You should see the balls on that old goat... enormes pelotas." He looks at me and holds his hands like he is holding a basketball, "huge balls, my friend."

It is high noon before we are ready to depart. Jerry cannot put into words how thankful he is for them taking care of him in this ordeal. So I figure money will talk. I talk to Lou and we both agree that ten thousand dollars from the money that we got from the Dominican Brothers would do nicely.
"Put it in a bag or something and don't let them open it until we leave or they will never take it."
Lou comes up with a small cloth duffel bag out of one of Naomi's side bins. "This will do the trick.."

We are at the planes and have said our good-byes... for now. I hand the duffel to Mari, who I know will respect my wishes and not look in it until we leave. Tapia would be like a kid at Christmas and have it unwrapped and refused before we even got seated in the airplane. Even as we turned to walk to the planes he was trying to see what it is.

I am once again alone in Abigail. Jerry and I did a quick walk around. I did the actual walkaround, and Jerry just wanted to see if I had done anything bad to her. Now he is in the cockpit with Lou, and I am on my own for the third time on this adventure.
I set up the cockpit. As soon as I put the headset on and turn on the radio, Lou is there.
"Hey Captain."
"Lou, are you ready?"
"Yeah, brother. Let's get home and go drink Jerry's beer."

We fire 'em up. The sound of those radials firing up is the sweetest sound. Abby is primed to go and I give Tapia's man on the ground the signal to pull the chocks, a job he has done dozens of times. He calls good luck up the cargo bay as he tosses the chocks in through the door, then I roll out. We are lined up and ready to go. I lock the tail wheel and Abby is in the wind. Tapia's strip is long and smooth. I take half of it just to get up some speed and then we are up.
I make a turn over the La Dora and then line back up with the airstrip at about a thousand feet and watch Lou lift off.
"Jake?" It is Jerry on the radio.
"Yeah?"
"This is a sweet little plane. Have you done any water landings or take offs?"
"Me and Lou both."
"Bastards. I have never done either." There is silence for about thirty seconds and then, "Jake?"
"Yeah?"
"Come close and do a little fly-by. I have never seen Abby fly before without sitting at the controls."
I entertain his request and do a couple of close fly-bys, peeling off on the right wing to turn away and then comeback on him again.
"That is fucking beautiful, man."
I can hear Lou in the background saying something. It is obvious to me that we are going to have to get another headset.
"When we land you go first so I can watch." Jerry tells me.
"Why don't you go first and that way you can watch her land."
"Better."

Within the hour I see our compound. It is such a sight for sore eyes. I drop back and then watch as Lou makes his approach. It is a perfect landing.
"Hey, Jerry... you were supposed to let Lou land the plane so he could get the practice."
"That was all him. I didn't even tell him anything. He is good."
I fly over as they are still taxiing back to the compound.
"Hey Jake, do me a favor and make a hi-speed fly by... gear up and as low as you feel comfortable."
"Just one, then I have to piss."
I take her down as low as I dare and go full throttle toward the airstrip. I see the two of them running from inside the compound to watch me as I scream by. Once I have passed them I pull up and bank her on her wing and then come around to land. It hits me as I feel her touch down... how fortunate we are that we lived to make it back here.

I taxi her in and make my turn. As I shut down her engines, the jungle seeps back into camp and the noise seems to rise a bit and then settles on a dull chatter.
"Abby is one sweet sight flying by like that." Jerry calls from the cargo door as I slip out of the cockpit.
"I'm just glad to get her back in one piece."
Jerry and Lou are waiting as I step out on home ground once again. Jerry seems impatient.
"Let's check out the hanger and the crash pad and make sure the monkeys didn't get in and fuck it up. Then we better head to town and pay a visit to Nester and tell him everything that has happened."