Story
History Repeats Itself
Chloe was nearly 25 and she stood only 5 foot, five inches with tussled blonde hair and a mischievous grin. She has been staying with her aunt and uncle after graduating from college in Dublin. Chloe was having an absolute wonderful time making many new friends on her little island of paradise in Nassau, Bahamas, and it was a dream comes true for her. Her aunt and uncle who to some degree considered wealthy and had their own Cessna airplane had taken in Chloe. Chloe had become very interested in flying and David and Jessica had taken Chloe under their wings. Jessica had already taught Chloe to fly their Cessna, and she had obtained her pilots license. She could tell that Chloe was a natural flying their Cessna airplane, and was eager to learn any and everything about piloting a plane. Chloe's love was for learning more and more about flying, and when she was not in the wild blue yonder, she was sitting around with the rest of the private pilots that were drinking coffee if they were not flying. They talked about their experiences with various planes and various places that they had been to. Chloe had been on a couple of dates with Captain Sammy who was obviously infatuated with Chloe and craved her approval with every being in his body. Unfortunately, for him, Chloe's is too much in love with flying to be serious with Sammy. It was Independence Day on Saturday July 10 and there would be lots celebrations and parties to go to, but all Chloe could think about was how wonderful it would be if she could be in the cockpit of that Cessna. She did not really care about going any particular place, seeing any particular thing she wanted to be flying. That evening at about eight o'clock, the phone rang and Sammy called to Chloe and asked what she had planned for tomorrow on Independence Day. Without hesitation, Chloe said nothing, but I wish I could be flying. Sammy smiled and said a friend of mine has a small part for his business that needs to be picked up and brought back to Nassau. That means somebody will need to fly down to San Andros, pick up the part and bring it back to Nassau. The thought of flying to San Andros excited Chloe, and without any hesitation, she told Sammy she would absolutely be thrilled to fly to San Andros. She asked what time he would need her to be at the airport. Sammy told her to be there at nine on Saturday morning and they would do their preflight check, and maybe if she felt like it and she wanted to, he would let her go by herself. Chloe grinned and said, "That would be great, I'll be there." Chloe could not wait to see if her Aunt Jessica would approve of this idea. At the dinner table, she told about the opportunity that she had. Her aunt and uncle looked at each other and as Chloe sat on the edge of her seat. Her uncle said, "Sure I don't see a problem with that, if you just go down, and come right back." We will check the weather, and it is supposed to be just perfect. That settled, Chloe could hardly control herself and thanked her aunt and uncle. She was thrilled that she would have a chance to fly tomorrow. Chloe and her family left the house at about eight and after listening to the weather report, they headed for the airport. In about 15 minutes at the airport they could see Sammy's car parked there and when they got out and walked over to the hangar they could see he was out at the Cessna making things ready. He was checking to make sure that there was no water in the gas. Chloe knew never to limit any circumstances or to miss anything, and let her safety be of the utmost importance. Her young agile mind had no difficulty in remembering what her Uncle David told her verbatim about safety. Chloe looked at her Uncle David and he said, "The weathers is perfect for the very short flight, and we have been there before. Mr. Mackey will be looking for me and will meet me at the San Andros airport. Aunt Jessica looked at David and Chloe and said, "Sorry but I just can't go home thinking that I need to go with you." Chloe rolled her eyes and looked at them, looking for someone to say something about the idea of her going alone. Aunt Jessica said, "I am going with you, and that is not open for debate guys. We will back later this afternoon." Before anyone could collect his or her thoughts, Chloe was behind the cockpit, checking to see if everything was in order, completing the flight plan, and logging everything in the logbook. She was in her element and she would be soon in the air flying to San Andros. Everybody said goodbye, Chloe was very cheerful and deliberate to thank her Uncle David for her opportunity, and he grinned and winked at her and Aunt Jessica and said you have fun and be careful. She hollered at Sammy and told him thank you. At that point, everybody stepped back behind the rails. Uncle David then moved the chocks from underneath the plane's wheels and walked around the back touching the rudder one last time. Chloe could feel her heart pounding, and she said the words that she loved to hear, "Clear Prop," and pushed the ignition and felt the plane’s engine as it came to life. Chloe began to a taxi down the runway as she continued her checks making sure everything was perfect. Chloe checked her instruments, making sure the oil pressure was where it needed to be. It was all second nature to her and she was in her element. Chloe talked with the tower on the two-way radio, it came alive, and squawked back at her, told her that she was clear to take off on runway zero two, and gave her a final clearance. As Chloe eased off the brakes, and the little Cessna began to move slowly at first down the runway, Chloe began to increase the speed of the engine making the prop turn faster and faster as they sped down the runway. Chloe had no idea the adventure that awaited them. The weather was perfect, the sky was a wonderful bright blue, and there was a gentle breeze coming out of the southeast at about 10 knots. Chloe climbed to her cruising altitude of 4,000 feet. Below them the beautiful turquoise blue water, and they could see a little fishing boat off to their right, apart from which was just the vastness of the beautiful water. Now a part of San Andros Island in the Bahamas has a unique feature in that on one side, the water drops off very quickly into deep ocean water. Because of these features, the US Navy leased a parcel of land to build its submarine testing facility, AUTEC. The tourist and the fishing boats coming from South Florida made up most of the income of the island and the people are accustomed showing hospitality to visitors. Most of the people in Andros are religious and there are numerous Baptist churches over the island. There is one small Catholic Church in San Andros and the priest there was a gentle soul and everybody called him Father Abraham. The flight to San Andros from Nassau is a short flight and it was for all practical purposes to be an uneventful flight. The plans were to go and pick up the package, eat lunch, and then head back home to Nassau. For their landing on the small airstrip of San Andros there was no control tower so as a precaution Chloe buzzed the runway and made sure that there were no vehicles or any obstructions that she could see on the runway. Then Chloe continued out, back over to the ocean side, and then brought the plane back around to align with the runway that was entirely visible, and then made her visual approach. The landing was as perfect as any landing could be, and Aunt Jessica patted Chloe's shoulder and said," That was just perfect, you're a good pilot and that makes me very proud of you." After landing and securing the plane, they walked into the small terminal, it was just a small cement block building about twenty-five feet by about fifteen feet with jalousie windows, a couple of ceiling fans, a few tables and some chairs, and two pay phones on the wall. In the corner, there was a small office that served as an immigration and customs office. As it turned out there was nobody there. There were a couple of locals sitting around playing dominoes, and drinking what appeared to be Pepsi-Cola and eating pretzels. They barely acknowledged the two women as they walked in, and were intent on their game again. By the time, Chloe and Aunt Jessica sat down after also getting themselves a Pepsi from the vending machine a man walked in the door. He was tall, and his hat made him even taller. Immediately he walked over to the two women, said hello, and inquired as too which one of them was Chloe. Chloe stood to shake the man’s hand but he just looked at the two of them and smiled and said he was Mr. Mackey and that he had a small box in his truck to give to her. Then Mr. Mackey got himself a Pepsi-Cola from the vending machine, and sat down with the two women and asked them if they had a good flight from Nassau? Chloe told that it was perfect, and the she had enjoyed the flight. Just at that moment, their conversation interrupted by a peculiar sound, but it was distinct. It was the sound of an old-fashioned bell, on a bicycle outside the building. Father Abraham pushed the screen door open and came in. He was beaming as if he had just won the lottery. He walked around and spoke to the men that were playing dominoes. He called most of them by name, and had something to say to each one of the men, they seemed to be familiar with his antics and they were all very pleasant to him. Then he walked over stretched out his hand to Chloe and then Aunt Jessica and said, I do not think I know who you are. I am Father Abraham and have the small church up the road." Chloe asked the priest how long he had been there, and he told her that he had been there for many years and it he would be there until God moved him somewhere else. He inquired as to their journey, and said he assumed that they had flown in on the small aircraft, and asked where they had come from. Aunt Jessica spoke up and told him that they had come to pick up a small package and that they were leaving in a few minutes to go back to Nassau. It was then Father Abraham abruptly changed and said, "I'm very serious." He spoke very distinctly but in a voice low enough that the men at the table playing dominoes could not hear him. "Take some advice from an old priest, spend the night here in San Andros, I have room on the church property that you can stay free of charge. I admonish you not to go back to Nassau today. Mr. Mackey had been staring at this priest but he looked like he was asleep. Chloe glanced over at Aunt Jessica and realized that she looked a little pale. Chloe collected her thoughts as quickly as she could and asked the old priest why would he say that when the weather's is so perfect. The priest got to his feet, pointed his bony finger at the two women, and said, "Mock the words of this old priest," and with that the priest turned and went back through the screen door and in seconds they could hear the bell on the bicycle as he pedaled away. Chloe was a bit shaken up but she did her best to camouflage it and asked Mr. Mackey if he heard what the old priest had said. Mr. Mackey said, "No Mam, sorry I drifted off. I was up late last night. What did he say?" Chloe told Mr. Mackey what the priest had said, and Mr. Mackey's eyes got very big and he swallowed hard. He said he had no idea why the priest had said what he had said but that he thought that they should do what the priest said to do. Mr. Mackey said, "I can take you to the church property, and you will see that there is a little bungalow near the church on the property. The priest doesn't stay there, you would find nice accommodations." "We can't stay here, we are to be back in Nassau right after lunch, exclaimed Aunt Jessica!" Mr. Mackey spoke up and said, "I’ll take y'all to lunch, we will go to Sally's place, she has home cooked meals; you can decide whether to spend the night." The women stood up and Mr. Mackey opened the screen door for them, and they went out glancing at the Cessna. They scrambled into Mr. Mackey's truck, took off down the pot hole roads, and found themselves in a few minutes outside of a building about the size of the terminal building. In Sally's place there were a couple of workers, that seemed to have finished eating their lunch and were just sitting around and enjoying their conversations. A young woman came over with a pitcher of water and some glasses and gave them a hand printed menu. She told them that she would be back in a minute for their order. They were deep in their own thoughts about what the priest had told. In a few minutes the ladies went through the motions of ordering off of the menu, but they scarcely knew what they ordered and barely tasted the food because the words of the old priest kept coming into their minds. They finished their lunch, paid in cash and got back out to the truck. Aunt Jessica spoke up and said that they needed to get back. "I don't know what in the world that priest was talking about, but look at the blue sky, and the weather's perfect, and we do need to get back home. David won't be too pleased if we don't." Chloe said, "Okay, then it's settled we're going to go back to Nassau and Mr. Mackey will you take us back to the airstrip." Mr. Mackey's bit his lower lip until Chloe thought it would bleed and then he looked at the both of them one last time turned his head, walked towards the truck, and got in. They sat in silence on the drive back to the airstrip. Chloe did the preflight checks on the outside of the aircraft moving the rudder back and forth, checked the gas for water and confirmed that they had sufficient gas for the trip back to Nassau. Mr. Mackey removed the wheel chocks. They told Mr. Mackey goodbye and climbed on board the plane. While Chloe was working on her pre-flight checks in the cockpit, Mr. Mackey's began tapping on the door of the plane grinning, holding up a small box. They were about to leave the box with the part that they had come to San Andros to pick up. Chloe opened the door and he handed her the small box. Chloe thanked him, and Mr. Mackey told them to have a safe flight and to be careful. Chloe then surveyed the small runway carefully, she used some binoculars from behind her seat and looked down the runway, and looked as far as she could see from her vantage point into the sky and then she placed the binoculars back satisfied that all was a go. Chloe said the words that she loved to hear, "Clear Prop," and pushed the ignition and felt the plane’s engine as it came to life. She then began to take her foot up off the brakes slowly, and the plane began to move slowly. As she increased, the RPM of the engine, and the speed picked up and they could feel the plane racing down the runway. Soon they began to lift, and in a few more seconds, they were airborne. In another three to five minutes, they worked their way up to 3000 feet and there was not a cloud in any direction. Back at the small church the old priest lay prostrate in front of the cross of Jesus, and he was speaking in what sounded like Latin, and at times unable to continue because he was too weak from the intensity of his fear for the two women. He was certain they had gone off to meet their fate, of that he was sure. He feared that they would be lost in the Bermuda Triangle on this July 10.