Page 13 of Journey to Cheshire Bay
“No, not always. But it’s better to land than take a chance.”
A hard statement to disagree with. Despite my best efforts, I was unable to keep the panic out of my voice. “So, what do we do?”
“Most likely, if it’s going to be a wait of a couple of hours, we’ll sit on the tarmac, and wait for clearance to take off again, especially if it’s just weather related. The storm will pass, and we’ll be on our way.” There was a hesitation on the tip of his tongue.
“But…”
He searched to see if anyone was listening and lowered his voice as he twisted closer to me. “If it’s mechanical, we’ll deplane at an available gate, and they’ll unload the passengers and put everyone onto a new plane. They’ll transferthe luggage over.”
Although I didn’t know Holden well enough to know any of his tics, I understood people as a general rule. He was holding something back; it was there in the reserved way he spoke and the way he put a bit of space between us, but it wasthe way he refused eye contact that sounded the alarms.
I waited and let go of his hand, opening and closing it to bring back the blood flow. “Or?”
“Or, if this is going to be a much longer wait, we’ll deplane, grab our luggage, and need to rebook with the airline onto a different flight. That seems like a worse case scenario and would mean there’s something huge going on. Personally, I think it’s just weather related, and we’ll be parking until it passes.”
“Is that all?” I deadpanned. “Can’t we fly abovethe clouds?”
“There’s only so high we can go, and the mountain range is already a tough airspace.”
“What do you think’s going to happen?” I looked into the depths of his eyes. It seemed like he’d travelled on enough flights to know. “Answer honestly, I can handle bad news.”
Without skipping a beat, he answered solemnly. “I think we’ll be eating stale cookies for a few hours in Calgary.”
Chapter Six
It was pushing three in the morning when our plane taxied up to the gate and opened the doors, spilling the weary passengers out into the waiting area of the airport. So much for sitting on the tarmac and waiting. I hated how Holden was right.
The smoke blowing in from the out of control forest fires throughout the lower British Columbia mainland and northwestern USA were causing massive flight delays. The forestry services declared multiple no fly zones so they could extinguish and control the fires.
According to the ticket agent at the airline check-in, there were no flights into BC. We just had to sit, wait, and be patient. A virtue I’d never had.
Holden was waiting just beyond the ticketing counter when I walked toward him. “Any luck?”
“No.” I sighed. At least I was a long way from Toronto, but I wasn’t anywhere near my intended destination, maybe half-way. “All flights are grounded. She said all should be good in a couple of days and gave me a list of nearby hotels to stay at.”
Holden rolled his eyes. “That’s great. I’m supposed to be at the university on Monday morning.”
Which was just over forty-eight hours away. Sticking around for a fight would be a waste of time, although there wasn’t much he could do.
“Have you considered taking a bus?”
“Like the big greyhounds? No thanks.” He shook his head, and shifted his weighted backpack over his shoulder. The straps dug into his sweater. “Have you ever ridden on a bus?”
“Just a yellow bus for school. When I was ten.”
“It’s like that, but longer. Not any fun and an absolute last case scenerio. Ugh. I can’t just sit around and wait. I have things to do, places to be. People are counting on me to show up.” There was a borderline panic in his tone. He spun on his heels and released a loud, painful exhale. “They’re unloading the bags onto the carousel. Let’s collect our luggage while I think this through.”
I followed him past the endless line of airline counters, populated with frustrated and angry passengers, and high-pitched voices. Trying to get a different flight would’ve been pointless, since all flights heading into the lower BC mainland were cancelled. The flight boards with redcancelledall over backed that notion.
Despite the growing crowds from the recently landed arrivals, none of the restaurants and kiosks were open, and therefore, there wasn’t any place to grab a hot cup of coffee, something I desperately wanted. I yawned, but considering the hour, I was quite surprised how awake I was. Holden on the other hand, had the zest of the energizer bunny and had more of a spring in his step than normal people should have at three am.
The carousel started with an awful grinding sound, and the buzzer flashed overhead, sending a current of fresh adrenaline through my body. Any lingering sleep was wiped out in a heartbeat. One by one, bags popped out from behind the rubber door.
“What about a car rental?” I had just scanned the area and spied a few rental agencies.
Lights were on in each of the stations, and the lineups were manageable of only a few people. Less than the plane load of travellers gathered around the baggage claim area.
“I don’t know. That’s a long drive.”