Stone Ranger

by Bob Blanton

  “Bye, have fun,” his mother managed to get out as she tried to stifle a yawn.

  Matthew heard a car drive up. “That must be Jason, bye.” He gave his mother another kiss and then bounded down the stairs.

  “Hi Jen, hi Mr. and Mrs. Reeves,” Matthew said, waving to his neighbors who were just loading up.

  “We could have given you a ride, Matt,” Jennifer said.

  “I know, but Jason needs backup when he drags Alex out of bed.”

  Jason had already loaded most of Matthew’s gear by the time he got to the Expedition. “Hey, Jason, I thought you didn’t schlep bags?”

  “I want to make sure we’ve got the maximum amount of time to get Alex; she’s as bad as Brea when it comes to waking up in the morning.”

  “You’re not so hot in that department yourself,” Matthew said.

  “I know, but I can make it work when I’m motivated.”

  “Why are we going so early?”

  “This way we’ll arrive in time to unpack at the house and be on the slopes by noon. Everybody wants to get in at least a half day today.”

  “I like that idea,” Matthew threw his last bag into the back of the Expedition and hopped into the front seat. “So do you think that with me along, Alex will behave herself?”

  “I thought it might help.”

  After a quick drive they pulled into the circular driveway in front of Alex’s house, stopping outside the front door. “I took most of her stuff over last night. So there should only be one or two bags left.”

  Matthew hopped out of the SUV, ran over, and knocked on the door.

  “Just a minute,” Alex yelled from inside the house. As she opened the door, Matthew could see her hair was still wet from her shower and she hadn’t put on any makeup yet. “Hi, Matt, don’t look at me, I haven’t put my face on yet,” Alex said, putting her hands in front of her face.

  “You look fine to me. Do you have any bags you want me to carry?”

  “No, just this,” Alex said through a big yawn. “Jason took everything else over last night.” Alex was holding onto a small leather carry-on bag and her purse.

  “Then give that one to me,” Matthew said, as he reached for the bag.

  “Okay,” Alex set the security alarm then closed and locked the door. “Mommy and Daddy left for Hawaii yesterday. I slept through my first alarm.”

  “Your first alarm?”

  “Yes, I always set two, just in case.” Alex did a sort of sleep walk to the SUV.

  “Hi, sleepy head.”

  “Hi, yourself. I plan to sleep all the way to Vail.”

  “That’s what I figured. You and Brea can have the seats in the back with Sonja and Hanna.”

  “Thanks.”

  It only took fifteen minutes for them to reach Palomar airport. Jason drove into the private aircraft area. There was a pile of stuff next to the plane and Jennifer and her mom were standing next to it. Mr. Winthrop and Mr. Stevenson were talking with a third man who looked like the pilot. The plane was the sleekest jet Matthew had ever seen.

  “Nice jet,” Matthew said.

  “Yes it is,” Jason replied. “It’s a Gulfstream VI, one of the top jets around. That baby can make it to Europe or Japan.”

  “Who cares about the plane,” Alex said, “let’s get on board so I can get back to sleep.”

  Jason just shrugged his shoulders as he pulled the SUV to a stop beside the plane. Alex immediately got out and walked up the ramp into the plane.

  Mr. Reeves walked up as Jason was opening the back of the Expedition. “Mr. Reeves, we’ll load everything,” Jason said. “Go ahead and take Jennifer and your wife onto the plane.”

  “We can help load our stuff,” Mr. Reeves said.

  “Don’t worry about it; Jack won’t let anyone else put stuff into the cargo hold, so all we have to do is carry it over to him.”

  “All right, you’re in charge.”

  It only took the boys ten minutes to unload the Expedition.

  “I’ve got to park the car. Can you keep handing stuff up to Jack? I’ll be back in a minute.”

  “No problem,” Matthew said, as Jason got into the SUV and drove it over to the parking area.

  Matthew kept feeding Jack the items as he called out for them. He’d just handed Jack the last item when Jason came back.

  “Man, I’ve got great timing; I’m going to go check on Alex, see you on the plane.”

  Matthew decided to check out what the two men were discussing with the pilot.

  “Hi, Mr. Stevenson, Mr. Winthrop.”

  “Hi, Matt, it didn’t take you boys as long as we thought,” Mr. Winthrop said. “I expected you to still be dragging Alex out of bed.”

  “Not quite. I think she’d just gotten out of the shower though.”

  “Typical.”

  “Matt, this is our pilot, Norm Washington.”

  “Hi, Mr. Washington.”

  “Call me Norm, good to meet you, Matt,” Mr. Washington extended his hand to shake with Matt.

  “Yes, we’re all on a first name basis here,” Mr. Stevenson said. “And you’ve met Jack our co-pilot, steward and payload specialist.”

  “Yes, we sort of met.”

  “We’re all loaded up,” Jack said, as he came from the back of the plane.

  “Good, why don’t you two go ahead and board, we just need to do the preflight check then we’re off,” Mr. Stevenson said.

  “Come on, Matt, we’re going to have to let the pilots check their toy out.” Mr. Winthrop put his arm around Matthew’s shoulder and guided him toward the ramp to the jet.

  “Wow,” Matthew exclaimed as he entered the cabin. “This is really posh.”

  “Yes, it is; it’s one of the nicer charter jets you can get. I’d suggest you take the seat next to Jason; the girls have taken over the back of the plane so they can try and sleep during the flight.”

  “I can tell,” Matthew looked at the back of the plane. Emily was sitting next to her sister, Sonja, and Mrs. Winthrop was sitting with Hanna, then Brea, Alex and Jennifer had made up the seats behind them with blankets and pillows. All the shades were drawn.

  Mrs. Stevenson was sitting in the front of the plane talking to their nanny, a young Hispanic woman whom Matthew had seen around their house. “Now, Yvette, are you sure you don’t want to try skiing? The girls will be on the slopes at least four hours a day.”

  “No, Mrs. Stevenson, I stay at lodge and keep warm, or I clean the house. No ski.”

  Matthew smiled; he could tell that Yvette was either afraid of skiing or afraid to get cold, but definitely had no intention of being on the slopes.

  “Hi, Matt, I didn’t see you come in.”

  “Hi, Elizabeth, you’re not going to sit in the back with the rest of the women?

  “No, I like to be up here with Walter. And I’m a morning person. No morning people are allowed past the fourth row.”

  “Interesting rule.”

  “On the way back it reverses, except for the little ones. The three girls will be all wired and talking the whole way home.”

  The door to the lavatory opened and Tyler came out.

  “Hi, Matt.”

  “Hey, Tyler.”

  The two boys were a little uneasy around each other. Tyler used to pick on Matthew before the kidnapping incident. Now they had an uneasy friendship. With Tyler dating Emily, and Matthew and Emily being friends, they had learned to tolerate each other.

  Tyler walked back to his seat just in front of the girls.

  “Must not be a morning person,” Matthew muttered to himself.

  “No, he’s not. He’ll be asleep before we reach altitude. Let me or Jack know if you need anything,” Mrs. Stevenson said.

  “I will, thanks for having me.”

  “After you rescued Sonja, I like to think of you as part of our family.” Mrs. Stevenson’s eyes welled up with tears as she thought about the kidnapping.

  “I just…” Matthew stammered.

  �
��I know; now just go take your seat, here come our pilots.”

  Matthew made his way back to his seat next to Jason. “How come you’re not in back with the other sleepy heads?”

  “Not enough room, but I’m planning to sleep, so I hope you’re not going to be chatty on me.”

  “I’ve got a book, so don’t worry.”

  “If you’re going to read, you’ll have to use the reading light. They’ll come up here and hit you upside the head with your book if you raise the shade. They even make the pilot keep the cabin lights low so they can sleep.”

  “I didn’t know you’d been on a trip with them before?”

  “We took a charter to Aspen, and I’m guessing that Alex and Brea have taken over and the same protocol will apply.”

  “It looks like it,” Matthew watched Jack pull down the few shades that were still up.

  “Okay, let me have your attention please,” Jack said, as he stood in front of the passenger cabin. “I need to review the emergency procedures with you before we take off, and then I’ll dim the lights so you can all get your beauty sleep.”

  Jack went through all the exit procedures and such for the plane in case of an emergency. Then he dimmed the lights and took a seat in the front of the cabin. Mr. Stevenson had taken the co-pilot’s seat next to Mr. Washington.

  The jet engines roared to life as Mr. Stevenson came on the PA. “We should be in the air in about ten minutes. So everyone sit back and relax.”

  Soon the jet started taxiing to the runway. When it reached the end, it turned and the engines screamed as it raced down the runway. After what seemed to Matthew an incredibly short distance, the Gulfstream lifted into the air.

  “Wow, that was fast.”

  “It doesn’t take much to get these small jets up into the air. Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to sleep.”

  With that Jason pulled the blanket up around his shoulders and reclined his seat. In just five minutes he was breathing deeply. Matthew took his book out and started to read.

  After they were in the air for fifteen minutes, Jack got up and started to serve coffee and drinks to the passengers that were awake.

  “Matt, what would you like to drink? I’ve got 7-Up, Coke, coffee, orange juice, apple juice and water. If I don’t have what you would like, I can sneak back to the galley and get it. We carry just about everything.”

  “Orange juice will be fine,” Matthew replied quietly, hoping he wouldn’t wake Jason.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “If you need anything else, just wave at me, or if that doesn’t work, here’s your call button,” Jack pointed to the call button in the console.

  “I will, thanks.”

  In just under two hours, Mr. Stevenson came on the PA system to announce that they were on their approach to Vail. The whole cabin started to stir as everyone got up and put away their blankets and pillows. Matthew saw Alex come out of the lavatory with her makeup kit and her face fully made up. Brea went in right behind her carrying her makeup kit.

  Mr. Stevenson came into the cabin and Jack took his place in the cockpit. Matthew looked at him wondering why he would give up his co-pilot position.

  Seeing Matthew’s quizzical look, Mr. Stevenson said, “We like to have two professional pilots at the controls when we land, especially at a challenging airport like this one.”

  “Oh,” Matthew nodded in agreement.

  Brea came out of the lavatory, walked up, and sat down beside Matthew. “Hi,” she said, giving him a light kiss.

  “Are you awake now?”

  “Yes, are you ready to get some skiing in today?”

  “Me, I just do what I’m told.”

  Jason came out of the front lavatory, and seeing Brianna in his seat, he walked back and sat with Alex.

  “Interesting set of rules you guys have for flying.”

  “They seem to work, and in case you haven’t noticed, the rear lavatory is only for us girls.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “Because men are pigs when it comes to bathrooms. We want a nice clean restroom to use while we’re trapped on the plane.”

  “Whatever,” Matthew rolled his eyes.

  “We’re landing,” Brianna started to buckle her seatbelt.

  The jet entered its approach and glided onto the runway. As it touched down, there was hardly a bump and it smoothly braked to a stop.

  “That’s some nice landing.”

  “Yeah, it was certainly smoother than when we went to Aspen.”

  “I guess Mr. Stevenson picked a great pilot.”

  The plane quickly taxied to the gate area and pulled up beside three Expeditions. As they started to haul stuff out of the jet, Matthew was amazed at how much stuff fourteen people could pack. By the time they were done, the three vehicles were packed to the gills with suitcases and ski equipment.

  “It’s 10:30, factoring in the time to get to the house, unpack and have a quick bite to eat, we should be able to hit the slopes by 12:00 when our half-day lift tickets kick in,” Jason said.

  “Should we go and buy our lift tickets now?”

  “They’re waiting for us at the house -- part of the service provided by the rental agency,” Brianna said.

  “Wow, that’s nice service. How do I pay for mine?” Matthew asked.

  “Don’t worry about it.”

  “I’m not going to let you guys pay for everything.”

  “Chill out Matt, you can buy dinner one night,” Jason said as he climbed into the driver’s seat of one of the Expeditions, “that’ll more than cover your lift tickets.”

  “Okay.”

  Matt and Brea got into the back of the Expedition and Alex climbed in beside Jason.

  “Do you know where the house is?” Alex asked.

  “No, but I’m following Dad. I assume he knows where he’s going, or at least Mom does.”

  A few minutes later, the three Expeditions pulled up outside a large black and white A-frame house. It was done up like a Swiss chalet, with the roof, crossbeams and all the trim in black. The rest of the house was painted white.

  “Okay, here are the room assignments,” Mrs. Winthrop called out. “Matt, Jason and Tyler, you’re on this floor, down the hall, room on the right. Emily, Alex, Brea and Jennifer, you’re in the room on the left. Yvette, you and the two girls are upstairs, first door on the left.”

  “Now none of you teenagers are allowed upstairs,” Mrs. Stevenson continued for Mrs. Winthrop. “This is your TV, reading, whatever area, ours is upstairs. We expect you to try and be quiet at night, and everybody is inside by one hour after they close the mountain. Got it?”

  The seven teenagers all nodded their agreement.

  “We’ll assign breakfast duty for the four mornings later tonight. After today you’re on your own for lunch. Dinner will be at 7:30 and nobody skips dinner,” Mrs. Winthrop continued. “We’ve got pizza coming in thirty minutes for lunch, so you have until then to get your stuff stowed in your rooms; skis and ski boots stay on the porch; it locks so they’ll be safe. After lunch you’re free to hit the slopes. Elizabeth and I’ll take care of the two girls this afternoon, but tonight we’ll assign shifts to look after them.”

  “You thinking you joined the military?” Jason asked Matt in a whisper.

  “And no smart-aleck remarks,” Mrs. Winthrop said, giving Jason a stern look.

  “Busted,” Tyler said with a snicker.

  Mrs. Stevenson clapped her hands, “Move, we want the room cleared by the time the pizza gets here.”

  Everyone grabbed as much of their stuff as they could carry and hauled it to their rooms.

  The boy’s room had what looked like a queen-size bunk bed and a third bed to one side. There was a closet and a dresser.

  “Okay, looks like we each get two drawers, and four hangers,” Tyler said. “Which beds do you guys want?”

  “I don’t care, you two decide, I’ll take the one left over,” Matthew said.

>   “Matt, since we’ve bunked together before, I’ll take the bottom bunk, if you’ll take the top. That work for you, Tyler?”

  “Suits me,” Tyler pulled his pants off and put on a pair of ski pants.

  “Tyler, we should probably go help the girls move their bags into their room,” Jason said. “I think they each brought three big bags.”

  “Good idea,” Tyler stopped unbuttoning his shirt and headed out after Matthew and Jason.

  “Well it took you long enough to come back and help us,” Brianna and Alex said together. Emily was already dragging a large suitcase down the hall.

  Matthew grabbed two suitcases and followed Emily. Jason and Tyler did the same. Brianna and Alex picked up a couple of small bags and followed the boys.

  The girls’ room had two king-size beds, two dressers and a double closet.

  “What’s with this? You have a better room than we do,” Matthew complained.

  “We’ll switch if you want, just decide who you’re sleeping with,” Emily laughed.

  “I guess I’m happy with the room assignment.” Matthew’s face turned red from the teasing.

  “Darn right we are,” Tyler added, in a deep masculine voice.

  “Well, thanks boys, we’ll take it from here.” Alex started shooing the boys out of the room.

  Emily followed the boys out and grabbed Matthew’s arm before he could follow Jason and Tyler into the boy’s room.

  “Matt, got a second,” she said motioning back to the main area.

  “Sure,” he followed Emily to the side of the big open area.

  Emily motioned for Matthew to come close so she could whisper, “I just wanted to get your promise that you won’t be making any unauthorized scans of our room.”

  Matthew looked offended, “No way would I invade your privacy.”

  Emily gave him a stern look.

  “I told you that was before I realized what was happening. I promise not to spy on you or any of the girls without your permission.”

  “Okay, I just wanted to be sure; it’s going to be tempting being so close and hearing us right across the hall.”

  “Don’t worry, I promise.”

  “Hey, you guys, what are you talking about?” Jason hollered, as he and Tyler came out in their ski clothes.