House on Fire

Chapter 12

  Morning light fell onto my shoulder, illuminating Jessie’s sweet face.

  The doorbell rang again. I was confused. The Franks! I slid out of bed and pulled on some shorts.

  When I got to the door, Grace said, “Good morning, Cory. Looks like we woke you up.”

  “Yeah, sorry for the wait. We usually sleep late between camping trips.”

  I motioned them in, and shut the door loudly, hoping to wake Jess.

  Grace carried a bag of groceries to the kitchen, and Daniel held up a pair of empty duffle bags. He handed me the green one saying, “G’mornin’ kid. Here, go pack yourself some duds.”

  “Uh, okay – what’ll I need?”

  “Enough for a week or two – nuthin’ fancy. Socks, unders, jeans, and some shirts you don’t mind gettin’ dirty.” He held up the other bag, which was a pinky shade of purple. “I thought your sister might like this color. Kinda matches her room.”

  He headed down the hall – I guess to give it to her. Too late, I realized that she was still asleep in my bed, and that things might look wrong to him. What if he told Dad? I stood there frozen, not knowing what to say or do.

  He reappeared a minute later, and I started yammering, “Uh, Judge Franks, I uh, I mean...”

  He held one finger to his lips, nodding toward the kitchen, so I shut up.

  “You know,” he said matter-of-factly, “My brother and I used to swap beds like that. We’re twins, too, but it was funnier for us because we’re identical.” Then, without missing a beat, “Maw? What’s fer breakfast?”

  I felt nervous and excited packing my clothes, toiletries, and pills. Jess and I dragged our feet leaving the house, getting it ready to be empty for a few weeks, so it was nearly eleven when we pulled into the Esky airport.

  “It’s ‘bout six hours flyin’ time,” Daniel warned, “We’ll take a rest stop in Sioux Falls, but that’s still three hours between outhouses, so I don’t recommend any heavy drinkin’.”

  Once we returned the car, we all used the restrooms. Out on the tarmac Daniel introduced us.

  “Kids, this is Lester.”

  “Atcher service. Y’muss be Cory and Jessie, though I s’pose it could be t’other way ‘round.”

  “Hi Lester,” I said. “Cool plane – what kind is it?”

  “Piper Seneca Three – bran’ new,” he bragged.

  “We’ve never flown before,” Sis said.

  “Nothing to it, missy.” He swung open a long door behind the left wing. There were four big seats facing each other. He helped Jessie climb up the step and she scooted in to leave me the other back seat. Grace got in behind me and took the one facing Jessie, and Daniel filled up the one facing me. It was a compact space, but not cramped.

  Lester opened a smaller door behind us and loaded the luggage, then strapped it down with my cheap guitar on top.

  “All set?” he asked, and then latched us in. He walked around to the right-hand side where the front door was, and slid in behind the big control panel. Grace showed us how to fasten the seatbelts as the twin motors whined to life.

  The noise rose to a growl as we taxied to the runway. I could hear Lester talking to the control tower, but couldn’t make out the words. I felt him release the brakes as the engines rose to a roar. We rolled forward, faster and faster until I was pressed into the back of my seat. We lifted, and the tires went silent. I could feel the gear as it tucked up inside the plane.

  Out the window, houses grew smaller as we set out down the lakeshore toward Wisconsin. I saw what must have been an empty limestone freighter heading east toward the quarry at Gulliver. It looked like a bathtub toy.

  All that water... Rats, I thought, now I’ll want to pee again.