REKINDLED YOUTH

REKINDLED Part 19

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

Up in the hills past Coyote Valley was a little ranch that was little on ranch and big on rundown. They got out, fought off a hungry dog and knocked on the ancient door. A grizzled old curmudgeon with a salt and pepper beard and an attitude opened the door and growled a hello to them. Mike said, "Jake, this is ex-deputy Dale Mosier." Jake responded, "You're the one that cracked that ring of horse thievery run by that no good, piece-of-trash Burl Rogan, weren't you?" Dale smiled, "Yes I was, you've got a good memory, Jake." Jake said, "at this stage of the game, that's about all I've got left, except a powerful thirst. Did you bring the whiskey, Mike?" Mike said,"one drink, Jake. Then you've got to rack your brain and remember if any Big Drug planes crashed around here. After that you can have the whole bottle." Jake tilted the bottle up and half emptied it." Dale looked surprised. "Jake laughed, "Whatsamatter, Boy, you never seen an Irishman sip whiskey before." Mike laughed and said, "Now how about that information. Drug Planes, spill it." Jake looked out the window and said, " There was a single engine went down in sixty seven out by the Dam. Pilot was killed. A big bust. A lot of Heroin in that one." Mike said, "How about Big Planes like a DC-3?" Jake looked puzzled, "Nope, No Drug Planes that big." Mike looked dejected. Jake said, "Of course there was a DC-3 National Guard, went down in a storm in nineteen fifty two, over by Carlson Ranch." Mike looked surprised, "That's just east of the old slaughterhouse, isn't it?" Jake nodded, "That ought to be worth the bottle, Right, Mike?" Mike handed him the bottle, "Well we got to be going, Jake." "Come back anytime, Mike, BRING WHISKEY."

" Do you know where that Plane is, Mike?", Dale asked. Mike looked at him and said, "I think I can find the approximate spot, but it wouldn't be a good idea to go out there in the dark. We could force them to kill her or move her. We need to take the Airplane early tomorrow morning and fly over there and look, or see if Frank wants to help us with his drone." Dale looked apprehensive, "What if it were your wife, Mike, what if it were Deb out there being held by those animals. Would you want to wait." Mike looked at the painful look in his eyes, "I like to think you would talk some sense into me, and save Debra's or Sarah's life. You've been in a night firefight. You know that collateral damage is inevitable. The right thing to do is to get a quick nights sleep, and then get up while it's still dark. Get off the ground at first light and find out if there's a Big Plane out there, and see if Sarah is in it. When we know more about what we're facing, we can go in and save Sarah's life. And you two can live happily ever after." Dale said, "I know you're right, Mike, it's just so hard to wait." Mike said, "Let's go get a few hours sleep and hit the air early in the morning." Dale said, "But Jake drank up all the whiskey." Mike laughed, "Not ALL the whiskey. Remember I'm Irish, too." They went to Mike's place and drank a big swallow of Whiskey apiece and hit the sack."

Mike was shaking Dale awake in about five minutes, or was it four hours? Mike said, "It'll be light in about an hour. Dale roused himself awake and drank one of Mike's famous cups of Coffee. Deputies used to say it "would float an iron wedge". They got left out in Mike's truck, and were in the Cessna in a half hour. Dale had preflighted it in a hurry, and they left the ground just before full daylight. He flew out to the site of the old Slaughter house and then Mike directed him. He didn't dare do spirals or dally around, it might alert the kidnappers. He just did slowflight in straight lines with a fairly quiet engine. At first they didn't find anything, just when they thought it was a lost cause, they saw a glint of aluminum in the trees. Trees had grown up around the old fuselage. There was a rough road to it, and there were a couple of vehicles mostly hidden in the trees. One of the vehicles was black. Mike took some pictures with Dale's camera, with landmarks in the picture for reference. Mike traced the road to it's source, Old Slaughterhouse Road, just east of the county line. He looked it up on a Gazeteer map, and marked the location within fifty yards.