6/6/66

by JN Lenz

  “The boy will be fine Lilly you know me, I will guard him with my life, it will be the last chance he may have for a trip like this for a long time once he is in Med school, he won’t have the time.”

  Clyde knew that mother still carried a momentous weight with Sid and he wanted her approval which she gave, there was no way Lilly could wipe that ear to ear smile that Sid had on his face that night. Christ I guess not a brand new Aston Martin DB sixteen and the adventure of a life time all in one day, the two gifts proved to be a cure for the common hang over that kid if I could still call him that at the age of twenty was the happiest I had ever seen him that entire day.

  The two of them would leave the following Saturday, it was the adventure to top all adventures. I knew damm well Clyde had decided on South America only due to the lack of security in those Nations. South and Central America remained one of the few bastions of freedom in the world where facial recognition and DNA monitors at their border crossings were basically nonexistent. Although the International Airports in these southern countries had been forced by the developed world to adopt the technology their ports and road border crossings had no such instrumentation for visitors. Clyde would use the lack of scanners in a small regional airport in Canada to charter a jet to Victoria, leaving from a small airport a couple hours north of his farm, in the town of Kinder Falls.

  The small airport had a long runway, long enough to accommodate a Jet large enough for the straight flight to Victoria. The port of Victoria his choice for departure, Vancouver had become a city he feared returning to. It went without saying that Clyde instructed the captain of the Yacht to keep the large boat only within Canada’s water boundaries before entering International Waters, keeping clear of America’s two hundreds mile boundary as they made their way down to their first stop in the Port of Acapulco. The borders in Costa Rica, Equator and Peru would be similar to Mexico where only a passport would need to be presented in an office absent of the world’s security technology.

  There would be six days remaining before he was set to leave for the biggest climb of his life, to light up the streets of Largo and area with his DB Sixteen. He nearly burnt the tires off the back of that thing in less than a week, each time he exited our laneway he left a fresh track of rubber, I apologized to the neighbors but they were all good. The residents in Largo it seemed had never lost their sense of tolerance. I don’t think Lilly had any idea that car was so powerful, the onboard computer knew when the car was on a registered race track, the Nurmburgring in Germany allowed the highest output of eight hundred and sixty horsepower to be produced by the motor, if the car was on say Laguna Seca in California the computer would allow the engine to produce six hundred horsepower maximum.

  Both Sid and I had taken in several race schools and track days over the past handful of years, Clyde was there as well, once he ended his time behind the wheel on public roads, this was the only driving he performed. Sid would wash and wax the Aston Martin one last time on the Friday evening, the night before leaving. It’s sitting where he left it, in the new garage I had built years earlier at the back of old lady Preston’s Mansion.

  I would drive the pair of them up to the small airport on the outskirts of Hinchcliff Saturday morning; I used one of the black service vans from the Shackles Funeral Home in town, they had a significant amount of gear for their climb.

  The Lear Jet buzzed the top of the highway as we approached the airport; the plane was arriving from the east arriving. The small regional airport was nearly deserted, which was the primary reason Clyde preferred to use when he chartered a jet. After checking in with the airport administrator, I drove Clyde and Sid around to the tarmac to unload the gear into the belly of the jet. The plane was a little older model, something in the range of a 2013- 60XR, with all the Jet’s Clyde had chartered in the past ten years I knew my jets.

  The 60XR was a quality plane during its production run, being a fast long distance cruiser. The cabin had been changed from the standard seven seating layout to accommodate four passengers in greater comfort. Packing the bags into the underside of the plane, I gave them both a hug and told them to stay safe. I watched as they both climbed the few steps and disappear as the co-captain closed the door behind them. Lilly had decided to say good bye to Sid at home, she was always terrible at good byes. There was the year we dropped Sid off at residence for his first year of University, she burst out in tears standing in his dorm room with his new roommate standing a few feet away.

  The jet would take them to the west coast where they would board the Yacht which would take them to South America. Sid would send Lilly and I the first of hundreds of photos of the trip, the first photos of the yacht Clyde had chartered. Seeing that photo and the ship like proportions of the craft that Sid was about to set out onto the Pacific Ocean in, went a long way in calming Lilly’s nerves. Not that she would breathe a word of it to Sid, but she had been nearly sick with worry the whole week. It was really unlike Lilly to worry in that way, not when Sid had raced go carts at a young age or when he hunted or taken part in earlier climbs had she been so nervous. I told her the standard stuff like he was an adult now, getting on with his life.

  In reality he would never be returning to Largo and old lady Preston’s Mansion where he had grown up. That chapter of his and our lives had come to a close. Those first shots of the ship and its crew standing along her had made her feel much more at ease she would reassure me, but I knew better. It was hard not too, she wore her emotions on her sleeves, it was one of the things I loved about her.

  The entire trip along the coast of the Americas would be sent back to both Lilly and my Blackberry’s daily, all in real time. The direct Satellite feed from their handsets worked flawlessly for the entire sail.

  There would be pics as they powered out of Victoria Harbor, the open Pacific Ocean and the pair of them enjoying the sun, fine food and liquor. The yacht included a good sized workout room and sauna which helped in conditioning them for the climb in Peru. On the third day out, hundreds of miles from the American coast, the crew dropped the twenty six foot speed boat which had been resting on the mid quarter top deck of the yacht, the boat has a set of twin four sixties and could do one hundred and sixty kilometers an hour.

  The two of them were given a quick lesson on how to handle the boat with the amount of swells they had well out into the Pacific Ocean, after that they dropped the first mate back on the Yacht and off the two of them went. The Yacht would continue on its GPS course to Acapulco, Mexico, the first mate also programmed the GPS unit in the speed boat and would remain in contact by radio to ensure the pair did not get lost. There would be shots of the two shooting skeet and driving those balls that were actually fish food into the Ocean, there was a large hot tub at the top rear of the boat where they would look at the night sky like they had never seen.

  The photos both Lilly and I waited for each day proved Sid was having the time of his life on the fourth and fifth day on the Pacific Ocean he would sent pics of the fish that they had caught. In addition to the Speed Boat on the top middle section of the yacht a Boston Whaler style twenty six foot open fishing boat which sat directly beside the Speed Boat. Each boat had its own crane that would drop the Speed boat on the starboard side and the Fishing boat with its twin outboard two sixties.

  Sid used the BBM and sent photos mainly but he would give us a call from time to time, like the call I was expecting tonight but the majority of our contact with him had been in text. On the sixth day the photos changed from the open Ocean to the Mexican shoreline as the Captain brought the ship closer to shore once we had crossed the Mexican International water boundary, the two of them would spend that night partying on the streets of Acapulco with one of the crew members picking them up at a pier shortly after three AM in the Boston Whaler style boat and brought them back to the anchored yacht.

  The yacht continued on towards Costa Rica, the pair would sleep until six Pm on the following day. Captain Hector brought the great boat to
a complete stop after they finally made it out of our estate rooms, telling them the only thing that would rid of us of our remaining Mexican hang over was to jump into the Pacific Ocean.

  “Wash it off.”

  The captain chucked, watching the sad looking tandem jump from the back of the great boat into the warm waters of the Pacific. The waters off the coast of Honduras gleamed in gold and silver as the low lying winter sun sat low in the sky on a beautifully warm evening, Sid would provide a before and after photo along with the story on that day, even in the pictures the Ocean looked amazing that evening.

  They would travel on to Potrero, Costa Rica. There they would take on supplies, and top up the fuel before heading back out to sea, the Captain gave them a last minute opportunity to head to the Galapagos Islands first before setting sail for Vero. The captain’s suggestion was to head for the Galapagos directly

  “Everyone I take there wants to spend more time and does not want to leave”

  He reasoned in his recommendation to head straight to the Islands. Both Sid and Clyde instantly agreed and they set sail for the Galapagos Islands on day eight, they would pass one of the Northern most islands of Genovesa two days later. The captain would bring the large yacht to the basin of Puerto Villamil on the Island of Isabela, they would pass the incredible moon shaped rock island to the Southeast of the bay which would lead to the beaches of Puerto Villamil .

  The captain anchored the yacht in sheltered basil between the main Island and a cropping of rock that would shelter the boat from the East and the South with the main island shielding the yacht from the greater Pacific Ocean. They would drop the Fishing power boat down into the clear blue waters of the sheltered bay after anchoring the Yacht and head into town to talk to the locals about the best places to dive and explore on land.

  Captain Hector was right in his recommendation of heading straight to the Galapagos Islands, after the fourth day they had pulled anchor setting course for South America. The two were to meet the mountain guides for their last climb of the season, six days to the day.

  Sid wrote several messages along with the pics from the islands, both of them had decided to return to the islands after the climb, and cancel the plans for visiting Bolivia and Panama on the way home. Almost every animal he captured was different than anything you had ever seen before, Sid would BBM us along with what each animal was named; the Blackberry could research the details of each species from the digital image of the photos taken on its camera.

  The multitude of colorful Lizards and Iguana’s, the giant turtles and the magnificent variety of birds, they would capture shots of several Humpback Wales while making their way around the south section of the island on the yachts fishing boat where they went diving for two of their four days exploring the islands.

  On the morning of day thirteen the giant yacht pulled anchor and began the voyage to the beaches that were close to the small town of Punta de Bombon, The Yacht would need to anchor close to shore and transfer Sid and Clyde along with the gear to the sandy beach shore. After dropping the pair of them off the Yacht would travel back up the coast to the large sheltered Marina in San Juan, Peru.

  The voyage from the edge of the Galapagos Islands to the beaches of Punta de Bombon would take three days with the great boat arriving at the shore at noon on the sixteenth day of their trip. The following morning both Sid and Clyde had already consumed breakfast and had boarded the Whaler which the crew had packed with their climbing gear setting off for the beach shortly after six. There would be a member of guide team they had contracted for the climb waiting on the beach with a jeep to take them up highway fifteen into the heart of the mountains where they would take pack horses along the narrow trails to the base of the mountain they would climb.

  The climb from the time they hit the South American beaches of the Pacific Ocean, until they return to the yacht should take sixteen days, Sid would text us before departing for shore. The text let us know that he would call Lilly and I once they had reached the base camp, near the bottom of the mountain. The pictures continued to arrive on my Blackberry including a great shot of an open Jeep loaded with Sid, Clyde and their gear.

  The Jeep would take them through the town of Punta de Bombon and on through the foot hills at the base of the mountain range on highway fifteen. I would track them using satellite images of Peru’s mountain ranges, determining their progress by the photos and texts Sid would send me along the way. Soon the roads came to an end, they transferred the gear to the horses and donkeys as they made their way deep into the mountain range.

  The pair arrived at the mountain base camp on the evening of their third day in Peru; two of those days spent on horseback scaling up and down the thin mountain side trails experiencing the brilliant vistas of the snowy mountain tops and deep valleys many of which dropped sharply for hundreds of feet below the thin trail. Sid would call Lilly and I that evening that the two of them arrived at the mountain base camp, it would be the last chance he would have to call us as he wanted to save as much of the Blackberry’s battery life as possible for the sixteen day trip. The only way they could charge it would be from the solar panels on his back pack which would trickle charge the phone, but is the weather remained overcast the charging capabilities would be greatly reduced requiring several days to recharge the Blackberry.

  Sid BBM’d the details to us on how far the guides planned to take them up the mountain each day, the summit would take seven days to reach. The return climb back down to the base camp would take one less day at six. Sid let us know that if he had enough battery he would send us a picture and a BBM from the summit, but if nothing came through not to worry because the cold would hurt the batteries strength as well.

  The guides had told them they were anxious to get the last climb of the season underway there had been more snow than normal for this time of year at the peak, blinding storms could develop very quickly on this ridge making it hard to track even with satellite and radar. The weather had been good for our trip inland from the Pacific Ocean and the long term weather forecasts had predicted cloudy but stable weather over the next fourteen days. After telling the two of us not to worry Sid told Lilly and I that he loved us and not to worry, the guides appeared to be highly knowledgeable and reliable. He would hand the phone over to Clyde after saying good bye to the two of us, Clyde and I talked briefly about business before Lilly and I both wished him well on the climb and told him to take care of our boy.

  “He’s in good hands folks and having the time of his life, don’t worry you know I would never let anything happen to Sid”. Take care talk to you soon.”

  Clyde added before ending the connection that was the last Lilly and I talked directly to Sid in over two weeks.

  When the sun was shining Sid would send us a pic and a short BBM of their progress up the mountain, the weather had been mixed with a few sunny days with the remainder of the days since arriving in Peru being overcast. There would be a gap in the messages from his phone on the days when the skies remained overcast. They always ensured the GPS tracker and emergency beacon remained fully charged by the solar backpack unit before charging any phones.

  The climb had progressing well; they had scaled a series of vertical ascents far greater than Sid and Clyde had ever attempted which would test both of their physical abilities and endurance to the limit. There were two shots that Sid had sent with the two of them hanging off what looked like a thousand foot cliff, Clyde was below Sid hanging on the ropes that had been anchored into the cliffs face by the guides.

  The fear Sid initially felt at sleeping in a tiny tent on the edge of a mountain at night had been overcome by the sheer exhaustion from the days of climbing in thin oxygen air. That would be the final message and photos that Sid would send, but he had told us to expect that with the colder temperatures as they climbed higher would impact the batteries life. I wish to hell at this point I would not have left that damm Blackberry at home this morning, I thought I would be back home by one or t
wo in the afternoon but here a still sat in Clyde’s secret basement.

  All the while I would have no idea of what was taking place at the bottom of the world where my son and my best friend who I now know is a serial killer are near the top of some snow covered mountain top. There would be no way for me to know that the weather had become progressively worse as they climbed, the cloudy skies had begun to release a steady drop of fresh snow. The temperatures had not dropped substantially and remained just below zero degrees Celsius, they would make it to the last camp base in the late afternoon of day twenty two.

  The following day Sid and Clyde would be led to the summit by a pair of the guide’s top climbers, they would leave the remaining four guides at the camp and strike out for the mountain summit by six in the morning. The climb would take a full day to reach the top and return to the base, no day light time could be wasted and there would only be time for fifteen minutes at the top. Clyde had joked to the guides that they would be staying on the summit for sixteen minutes, he tried to explain the whole lucky sixes thing but the guides did not seem to understand.

  The first two hours of the accent to the summit went well, the four men had made good progress until a heavy snow and high winds forced the guides to abort the summit, deciding instead to turn back for the camp. After the guides informed Sid and Clyde of the decision to return to the camp the pair led the way ahead of Sid and Clyde. The wind and the snow increased as the four retreated down the mountain face, the camp would be sheltered from the winds as it was around the mountain from the prevailing north winds. Although the snow continued to fall heavily on the mountain side the temperatures remained at a relatively warm zero degrees Celsius, without notice a large avalanche of snow swept the two guides off the face of the mountain only meters from Clyde and Sid. The pair of guides had been attempting to transfer onto a new decent line from the anchors Sid and Clyde were still attached to at the same time as the mass of snow enveloped the men and swept them off the rock face.