Castaway Ch. 03

She smiled, apparently hearing the right answer. "Well of course I wanna keep seeing you, ya big dummy. I've never had orgasms like the ones you gave me last night. I definitely want some more of that," she chuckled as well.

Her giggle was infectious, and I smiled widely in response. I walked over to her, and gave her a bear hug, with a loving kiss to the lips. When we parted, we both knew it was time for me to go. I told her that I would call her, and fly back to her very soon. I got ready to go, and left her with another of those passionate kisses, the kind that almost pulled me back in the door.

I returned to my new home, in Moloka'i, and was on cloud nine the whole time. When I returned my boat to my slip, I noticed something funny. The mooring next to mine was now occupied, with that huge boat of Howard's. I walked up to it, and yelled out, "Ahoy!"

It took a minute, but Howard found a window and looked out to see who it was. Seeing me, he came out of the cabin onto the deck, and waved me over. "Come aboard James. It's good to see you my friend."

I was definitely puzzled as to why he was here, but didn't much care. At this point he was my only friend here, and a good one at that, from what I could tell. We went into his cabin, and sat in our spots. I took the same stuffed chair, while he preferred his couch.

"James, I like your choice of port. This is truly a beautiful place to setup shop. O'ahu was nice, but this is serene."

"Well thanks, Howard. I'm glad you like it."

"You are probably wondering why I am here, huh?"

"The thought had crossed my mind," I replied with a grin. "I mean, I know we both can appreciate the finer things that can be distilled, right?"

"Haha! See, that's why I like you. Actually, I have a proposal for you. I know you said you just started looking for places to setup a new charter service, and I would like to help you out. I have a line on a plane for sale. The pilot is retiring, and just wants to get some extra money to help with moving back to the somewhere in the Midwest."

"I'm listening," I said, encouraging him to go on.

"Well I don't know too many specifics, but he said it's a 1957 'Beaver', whatever that means, and has been very well taken care of. I must admit, I have a self-serving interest in helping you with this. I have some friends that want to come here to visit me, for a very special vacation. They want to travel to one of the smaller islands, that aren't inhabited, for a couple nights, and camp on the beach. If I help you get this plane, would you be able to help me out? I tend to have visitors like this every now and then, and could really benefit from having a business partner that could fly us around, as needed."

I gave it some thought. I would need to get registered here, and get a good set of some maps and things, but there was no reason I couldn't jump-start my service with some exclusive clients such as this. I looked at him, smiled and said, "I think it sounds great. Obviously I have official stuff to take care of, to register both myself and the plane with the State, but also research the maps of the area and such. When are your friends coming?"

"They get into Honolulu next week." He must have seen the shock on my face, so he went on. "Sorry for the short notice, but I'm really stuck here and could use the favor."

"OK Howard. I can get to work on the paperwork stuff tomorrow. Get in contact with your guy, and tell him I want to look at this plane of his. If it is a sound machine, I will consider buying it. Now, how about we have some drinks and talk about something less important?"

He chuckled, "Sounds like a great idea."

So that's what we did. We had a few drinks, and I ended up falling asleep on my own couch, having not made it all the way forward to my berth. The next day proved to be a truly miserable day. Damn Howard and that dark Rum of his. I was going to need to stick to my own drinks from now on. Not only was I hungover, but working with the government folks was slow and tedious. They needed me to fill out a ton of papers, and they needed a lot of proof of my previous experience and pilot's license. Thankfully I had the license covered, but my flight logs were all back in VA. I decided to call Shawn.

He and I had a short discussion. He filled me in on the new boss, and I told him about my new setup.

"So Shawn, you wanna come out here and work for me again? Can't promise much pay to start with, but I have extra room on my boat you can stay in and the location more than makes up for a temporary pay cut."

"You know, that sounds like a pretty good idea. This new guy, well he's not bad, but he's not great either. He already told Jenny and Tammy that he doesn't really need them around, as he has his own office people to handle stuff. He really only needed the planes, a mechanic to keep them working, and some pilots. He hired two new pilots to fly for him, one man and one woman. Both of them are assholes, and I mean that in the nicest possible way. They both have their noses pointed up so high in the air that I am shocked they can still breathe."

I started laughing a bit at his description. "Tell you what, talk with the girls and see if either of them is interested in moving out here. I know that Tammy has a husband and kid, so that might be tough, but Jenny was single right?"

"Yeah, but I will talk to both anyhow. Tammy might be up for moving, actually, as she just told me yesterday that she caught her lazy ass husband fuckin around on her. While she was working hard, he was sitting at home banging the neighbor. Get this, the girl was only nineteen. Fuckin' scum, if you ask me."

I had to agree. "No shit. Well talk to them, and let me know. I am on Moloka'i right now, and already have a line on a plane that I need to check out. I could use the help around here, and some familiar faces might be nice. Also, I need you to send me all my flight logs from the office, so that I can register here in this state."

"Ok I will get those right now. James, don't go looking at that plane until I get there, ok?"

"Sure thing buddy. I will send you some tickets for a flight tomorrow, and we can work out the details then. Also, let me know what the ladies want to do."

We hung up, and I felt a lot better, knowing that at least my friend Shawn was going to have my back out here. The next day started off uneventful. I had sent him the ticket e-receipts the night before, so he should be flying somewhere over the Pacific by now. I briefly talked with Howard about Shawn coming, as well as his friend and the plane. He assured me the plane was sound, but I told him I wanted to check it out with my friend to help me.

Shawn arrived late in the afternoon, and he took a smaller plane from Honolulu Intl. to our local airstrip on Moloka'i. I took a cab to the airport, and waited for him. Once he got off the plane, I was waiting to give him another of our tight man-hugs. He wasn't much of a sentimental guy, but having been through so much, and apart for a while, it was just natural. He and I had been through a lot together, that's for sure.

We took a cab back to the dock, and I showed him his bunk. He tossed his suitcase in, and then we went to see Howard. He called the friend, and said the plane would be over in about an hour, having to fly over from another island. We waited on Howard's boat, drinking some iced tea. Every now and then, hydration before dehydration is a good thing, right?

About an hour later, after some idle chat, we heard the roar of the motor as the seaplane got close to the dock. He was obviously a good pilot, and had pulled it right up to the dock. We walked out to the plane, and it looked like it was in immaculate condition. The pilot opened the door, and stepped out one leg at a time. I was shocked to see long slender legs and a very nice sized pair of breasts on the pilot. The woman who flew it, looked to be about fifty, and still gorgeous for her age. She shook her head, and her light brown pony-tail whipped around a bit.

She walked over to Howard, shook hands with him, and then turned to me.

"You must be James, right?" She held out her hand, and I took it. "I'm Martha, but everyone calls me Marty."

"Pleased to meet you, Marty," as I shook the offered hand. "This plane looks amazing. I was a bit worried when I heard it was a 1957 model, but it doesn't look its age at all." Kinda like the pilot too, I thought to myself.

"Well, thank you. I did all the restoration work myself, most of it in the last few years," she said, beaming with pride.

"Mind if my friend and I take a closer look?" I asked.

She just waved at the bird, smiled, and walked to the side of Howard. Before we even got inside it, they were having some kind of whispered conversation.

Looking in the interior, it was all very well appointed. The seats all had white leather upholstery, and the control panel gauges looked new. Even the windows were all in great shape, and not all scratched up as I half expected. Shawn went out and pulled open the engine hatch, looking in at the 627 SMOH engine. He poked around, jiggled a few connections, and slid his hands over one of the propeller blades.

Shawn told me to turn the controls and rudder pedals a few times, and was satisfied that all the parts moved with ease. There were no squeaks or other noises that would indicate fatigue of the mechanical parts, although he would likely take some of the parts off to verify, visually, that everything was in order before letting me fly people in it. After about twenty minutes of examination, he looked at me and grinned.

I walked back to the pilot, and smiled. "Marty, I think we like it. What do you want for her?"

She looked like she was deep in thought for a minute, "I have been asking for four-hundred fifty thousand for it, but for you, I will take an even four-hundred."

That was a lot of money, but might be well worth it. These planes, in this condition, could fetch at least five-hundred grand back on the mainland. "Marty, if you can come down to three seventy five, I think we have a deal."

"I guess I can come down to that."

We shook on it, and retired to Howards' cabin for a drink. Marty stuck to just one drink, so she could still fly home. She told us briefly about her time on the islands, and how her husband of nearly thirty years had just passed away from cancer. She decided that it was time to move back to the mainland, so she could be closer to her grandchildren. I felt bad for her loss, but also thought it was really great that she had what sounded like a wonderful family to go spend the rest of her life with.

We made an arrangement for me to go pick up the plane once the financing had all been concluded, and said our goodbyes. She floated out away from the dock, and then accelerated and took off towards her island. Shawn and I said goodbye to Howard, and returned to my boat. That night, sleep came slowly. The weather got a bit nastier than usual, and a storm blew through, which always made the boat rock.

The next few days were stormy, but eventually it cleared back up. It took an additional week for the financing paperwork to be completed, but I was now the proud owner of a 1957 DeHavilland DHC-2 Beaver seaplane. Shawn and I took the boat on the day long trip to her island. He drove the boat back to our dock, while I flew the plane. The older plane was a joy to fly, and gave me absolutely no problems whatsoever. Obviously, I made it back before he did, so I hung out with Howard until Shawn pulled the boat up to the dock.

Over the next few weeks, we had all of our official requests and licensing taken care of. Our business, Puddle Jumpers, was born. Jenny, the office clerk, decided to stay back in Virginia and got a job working with FedEx. Tammy, our old office manager, decided that she and her twelve year old daughter needed a new start, away from her unfaithful husband. Hawaii was rapidly becoming everyone's fresh start destination.

I helped pay for her to move to the island, and she rented a place in town. She ran a small, two-room commercial space for us, claiming the larger office for herself, of course. I used the other room, and Shawn pretty much just stayed with me when he wasn't working on the plane. He did find some other jobs around the marina to work on, for some cash on the side. All-in-all, we were not at all busy, and liked it that way.

It was about two months later, when I got the package in the mail. My divorce had been finalized as of the day before. It was a somber day, but one that I knew meant the official beginning of the rest of my life. That night, Shawn and I decided that a small tiki hut bar down the beach needed our attention. He has always had my back, and he knew that I had to go out and forget the night completely. The bits and pieces I do remember of it were pretty fun, actually. I stayed away from Tequila this time, but the Spiced Rum did me in nearly as bad as last time. We both woke up with terrible hang-overs, and promised to keep each other away from that tiki hut for a while.

About a week later, my daughter was finally due to come visit. She was coming to spend a week with me, right before starting the new semester of college. I prepared two berths for them, even though I was pretty sure one would just be a glorified closet. I also went to the store to make sure my galley was as stocked as it could be. I picked them up at Honolulu Intl., and would fly them to my home on Moloka'i in the seaplane.

When I saw them come out through security, I ran to her and gave her a squashing hug. I missed her so much, and told her so. "Maddy, my god I have missed you." I looked at her girlfriend, and smiled. "And who is this lovely lady?"

"Dad, this is my girlfriend, Sarah Jones. Sarah, this is my dad."

"It's so nice to finally meet you, Mr. Holmes. After having met your wife... sorry, I mean... well anyway I really have been looking forward to this."

The poor girl looked so nervous, I had to rescue her. Time to get her used to my motto, and hopefully set the tone for the next week.

"Please, call me James, or Dad if you get comfortable enough. While you are here, I want you both to just relax and enjoy yourselves. If there is anything you need, let me know, and I will get it. Well ladies, go get your bags, and we can head over to the local terminal. I will explain everything else on the way."

With that they ran off to get their bags, and met me by the local terminal. I say local terminal, but really it was a pair of bench seat rows, next to a sliding door out onto the tarmac. There was a counter, which was usually unmanned, and that was about it. Oh, and a security guard posted at the door to keep kids from running out.

We walked out onto the pavement, and I led them to the plane. As a seaplane, it had pontoons, but when needed, actual landing wheels could deploy from within these floats to land on a real runway. I loaded their things into the hold, and we got in and buckled up. We took off, and I pointed the nose towards Moloka'i.

"So, are you two looking forward to next semester?"

"Definitely Mr. H., I mean dad. Sorry, that is going to take getting used to," Sarah said, with a blush in her cheeks. "Maddy's mom usually prefers either Caitlin, or Mrs. H."

I was surprised to hear that she kept my last name, but oh well. I no longer wanted her to die a horrible death, but I also still didn't want to be around her.

"No worries, it will take me some getting used to as well."

"Anyway, yeah things are good. We moved in together, and school shouldn't be as bad this year, as it was last year," Maddy finished the answer.

I remembered well her complaints about finals, and the stress she was under. I was very glad to hear that things would be getting better, at least on that front.

"Maddy, Sarah, I want you both to have a great time while you are here. Unless you really want to go somewhere else, I have cleaned and set up rooms on my boat for you both to stay in. I made up two rooms, but I'm not so old that I think you will actually sleep apart. Use one as a glorified closet, or something."

They both blushed at this, and my daughter did her usual, "Daaaaad," whine. It was mostly for show, but still hilarious. We all started laughing at this. It felt good to laugh with her again, it had been too long.

"Once we get there, we will get your stuff dropped off, and then go meet my neighbor, Howard. You guys will enjoy hanging around him, he's a riot. After that, I'm taking you guys to dinner. Sound good?"

"YUP!" they both answered in unison. My gut told me that they probably did that often, which was a good thing, I think.

We made the rest of the trip, chatting mostly about college life. The girls, strike that, women, were very happy together. Anyone could see that. I was going to need to get used to thinking about my daughter as a woman now. We landed on the water, which was a first for them, so of course they were excited.

After getting the plane tied up to the dock, we walked to my boat. "DAD! Oh my god is this YOURS?!" my daughter exclaimed.

"Yep, all mine. I let Shawn, my mechanic and friend, use one of the bunks. Do you remember him from Virginia?"

"Oh, yeah I think so. That's cool dad, so which room is ours?"

I led them below deck, and showed them to their room, as well as where the head was. I pointed out Shawn's berth, as well as mine, and then took them back to the Galley. They sat at the table, while I pointed out the simple kitchen-like features. It took all of four minutes.

"You ladies go get settled in, and come up on deck when you are ready to meet some of my friends."

They went into their room, while I mixed myself a 'Beach Pineapple', and went up on deck to my favorite chair. I was sipping the drink, enjoying the noise of the gulls flying around, when I heard a slight moan coming from below deck. Thinking of my daughter having sex, was something I never wanted to do, so I turned on the radio and got lost in an 80's playlist I had setup on my iPod. Currently, I was nodding my head to 'Down Under', by Men at Work. It's funny that the music itself wasn't that great, but just listening to it brought back memories of when I was young and listening to it when it was new.

After about thirty minutes, the ladies came up looking a little flushed, but otherwise happy. I really didn't want to know what they had been doing. Being honest with myself, if it had been anyone but my daughter, I would be curious, but with her, I just didn't even want to imagine it.

"Hey, you guys ready for a drink and meeting my neighbor?" I asked. I knew they were both under twenty one, but here, on my boat, I would let them indulge a little.

"Sure, what's that?" asked Sarah.

"I call this, a Beach Pineapple. It's basically some Rum, with juice that I think tastes like Pineapple. I came up with it when I first got here, and spent almost all my time on the beach. They are tasty. I made a batch in the galley, if you want to go pour yourselves a glass."

They did just that, and joined me on-deck, each with a full glass. I led them onto the dock, and we walked over to Howard's boat. If they had been impressed with my 36' boat, their eyes truly bugged out at the sight of his huge yacht.

"Ahoy, Howard! May we come aboard?" I yelled out for him. Knowing him, he was passed out below deck yet.

I was pleasantly surprised when a gorgeous red-head came to the rail, and waved us up. "Come on up. Howard and Shawn are in here debating the finer points of beer. Personally I think all beer is the same, and tastes like shit, but that's just me."

We climbed aboard, and she offered her hand. "My name is Tanya, Tanya Pierce. My friends and I are just spending the week here in Hawaii, trying to ignore real life for a while to pretend like we are normal."