Trees Hold Up the Sky 17 William James Johnson

Arturo's widow asked Laura to remain in Bogota for her husband's funeral. Reluctantly Laura agreed after she told her that she knew about her husband's affair, and was grateful he had someone who could make his long stay in San Fernando de Atabapo more bearable.

"I am so relieved you had the courage to speak to me about this," said Laura. "Many women would have condemned me."

"It was not your fault Dr. Marsh. Arturo has always been this way. He is a most attractive man, do you not think so?"

"Very attractive. In his dress uniform, he is truly handsome."

The two women suddenly realized they were talking as though the man was still alive. There was an awkward silence followed by a gentle smile as the bereaved wife acknowledged Laura's sincere praise of her dead husband. Laura felt the widow was actually proud her husband had made such an impression on a gringo woman, a doctor no less.

"Arturo was a caring husband," continued Laura. "He spoke of you and the twins all the time. He loved you dearly."

"He loved life. It was his willingness to try everything in life which has put him into an early grave. We will miss him very much senorita."

Obispo and other government officials attended the military funeral of their comrade. Their dark skin contrasted splendidly with their sparkling white uniforms, trimmed in gold braid. Obispo had a chest full of military decorations awarded in recognition of his leadership in the war on drugs. After the twenty-one gun salute at the grave side, and the final prayers of the army chaplain, the crowd disbursed slowly. A young lieutenant approached Laura, and saluted smartly.

"Senorita. Pardon this intrusion. General Obispo would like to have a word with you."

He led her to a Mercedes limousine parked behind the funeral procession. Obispo was seated in the rear, his legs extended outside the vehicle. As they arrived he stepped forward to meet them, saluting first, then extending his hand in friendship to Laura.

"Dr. Marsh. I could not let you return without expressing my sincere appreciation for the way you helped Arturo's family in this moment of grief."

"It was not easy," said Laura. "I had no idea what to expect when his wife asked me to be a part of this intensely personal experience."

"Our women are like that. They understand men, and they value the importance of having strong families. What a man does on his own is just that. They are not judgmental as are the women in America."

"What do you mean?" asked Laura. "How can they expect to have strong families if they tolerate these outside dalliances?"

"Listen to what you have said senorita Laura. We do not use such words as tolerate when referring to relationships. You make it sound like we need permission before we can have outside 'dalliances' as you call them."

"You mean that your wives are not upset about what their husbands are doing outside their marriage?"

"I'm afraid my dear doctor you have not been with us long enough to see that we do not believe that marriage is a command to end all other relationships."

"Relationships...You mean sexual activity don't you?"

"Whatever. Colombians are proud to have the warm blood of Spain coursing through our veins. We are true romantics."

"And your women...they too are true romantics?"

"But of course...that is until they are married. It is then, the family and children become the priority. This is why we men must seek our sexual release elsewhere. It is just the way it is."

"And Arturo was just doing what came naturally."

"That's right. And thank God it was someone as beautiful as you. I envy my fallen comrade."

"Did he know he was infected with AIDS when he was making love to me?"

"This we will never know. But I had to insist you be checked for the presence of the virus. It was the only ethical thing to do."

"But I'm terrified, not just for myself but for others I have known."

"As soon as the testing results are in, I will let you know. Who knows, we may all be carrying the disease. This may be the plague which ends it all. I had no idea we would have such a conversation doctor. I meant only to tell you how much I appreciate what you have done for this sorrowing family. I will have my driver pick you up at your hotel and take you to the airport. Goodbye. And may you have a safe journey."

On the flight from Bogota to Caracas Laura began to tremble uncontrollably. She staggered to the washroom, and dropped onto one knee before opening the door. A stewardess rushed to her side and helped her stand up.

"Senorita you are so pale. Can I help you?"

"Thanks...gracias. I'll be okay now."

She bolted the door and collapsed onto the toilet, still shaking all over. She was shocked when she saw in the mirror, a once attractive woman, whose deep energetic eyes now appeared hollow, ringed in dark circles, framed by loose sagging flesh across her cheek bones. Tears began to well up. She began to cry out loud, her sounds muffled by the humming of the jet engines.

"Oh Arturo, if you can hear me, I am so sorry. I never thought for one moment that I was putting you at risk. Dear God help me. I may be dying, and I'm not ready to die."

For several minutes she spoke to herself, feeling the burden of guilt being washed away with the salt of her tears flowing down her cheeks. When the crying and confessing was over, she opened her handbag and put her makeup on the small sink. The cool water freshened her beautiful face.

Several minutes later she returned to her seat, a new person. She was ready to live with whatever might happen. The stewardess checked on her, and was surprised at how well she had recovered. She stood up and removed her brief case from the overhead compartment. The hard blue loose-leaf binder opened across her lap. For a moment she flashed back to her high school days when she would organize her work in such binders. Despite the technical nature of the information, reading the Spanish was such a treat after the hours spent trying to interpret the Russian version.

She learned that this Russian troop carrier, the Severski 210, could carry 20 passengers and three crew. Its top speed was 180 knots with an endurance of 7 hours, fully loaded.

Hank arranged for Lt.Tomaso Gonzalvos from San Fernando to meet Laura at the terminal, to fly her back to base in a small two seater aircraft. She was feeling much better now after having expressed her emotions so freely coming to Caracas.

"We've all missed you Dr. Marsh. I'm glad you are back."

"Thank you Tomaso. How is everyone?"

"Good. Everyone is good."

"And Miss Garvas?"

"She is good too. She and Doctor Jess have been working very hard getting to know our aircraft. When you see one of them, you always see the other."

"And Hank...how is Hank?"

"They are all good doctor. Doctor Hank has been very busy with Arumba and the zambos. I think their idea is a good one. It's going to save us the dangers of travelling over land to the cave. I'm looking forward to seeing the cave."

Their small craft landed at the airstrip on the edge of the village. Before making his approach to land, they saw a jeep surrounded in blowing dust heading along the dirt road towards them. By the time Tomaso had taxied to the hangar area, Jess and Hank were standing beside their vehicle, anxiously waiting to welcome Laura.

"Two weeks...It seemed more like two years. How are you sweetie?" said Jess as he wrapped his arms around Laura and lifted her off the ground.

"Hey...Wait a minute," she said, with mixed feelings. "Where is she?"

"Who?"

"You know who. Estrelle. The beautiful Miss Garvas."

Hank sensed the tension in her question.

"She's here. Probably with Arumba out back. He needs a lot of reassurance that his men will not be endangered by our plan to use the winch. Seems they have known each other for quite a few years. Arumba was a very good friend of her father's."

Laura felt embarrassed she had been so petulant. Instinctively she reached out for Jess again and kissed him this time with some meaning.

"Whew! Now that's more like it. I missed you sweetie. We kind of put things on hold until you got back. How was it? We heard you met his wife and family. That took real guts. But then I've always said, you are one gutsy lady".

"She was the one with the courage. We spent some time together, and she even thanked me for looking after her poor lonely husband when he had to be away from them. I don't think I could ever get used to this kind of attitude."

"Tomaso go and find Miss Garvas and tell her to come back with us to the hotel," said Hank.

After supper Hank asked Laura to go for a walk with him in the small village. He said he thought it would give him a chance to bring her up to date on their progress.

"We could have saved this until tomorrow?" said Laura.

"I suppose." replied Hank. "But then we would both have lost sleep tonight. I think this matter of you and Jess and now this Estrelle affair may be getting in the way of doing our job. We are professionals Laura. A great deal depends on keeping focused."

"But Hank. How was I to be focused after Barbarosa's brutal attack? And what about you? Getting over a concussion takes time. As for Estrelle, it is only natural something would happen there. After all, she was ordered to stay with Jess night and day. We really should be grateful she took such an interest in her work."

Hank smiled when she said this. "Interest...that's got to be the understatement of the year. This beautiful mestizo is completely captivated by our friend Jess, and if I'm a judge of character, he's head over heals under her spell."

"As bad as that?"

"Completely. I wouldn't be surprised if he doesn't take her back with him."

"So you feel that by telling me this, I'll leave the half breed to her own devices, and not make waves." Her tone was antagonistic.

"Couldn't have said it better myself. Now that we have that settled, I would appreciate it if you could tell me why you had to go to Bogota in the first place."

"By now I'm sure everyone knows that Arturo died of AIDS complications."

"Obispo sent me a coded message about it. I'm so sorry Laura."

"Arturo was worried about me. He urged Obispo to have me there when he died. The truth is Hank, Obispo wanted me to be checked for the virus."

"And?"

"Takes a couple of weeks before I'll know. I was going to tell you. But please, let's not say anything to the others until we know for sure."

"It's a deal."

"So you see Hank, I wasn't going to make waves in the first place. All I want to do, is get our job done and get to hell out of here."

"Thanks for being so understanding."

"Yes, understanding. That's me. Understanding."

By the time they reached the hotel, most of the lights were out. Hank led her to Arturo's sumptuous quarters. "This is your room now. I've been using it since you left. Have a good night's rest. We have a lot to do to tomorrow."

"And where may I ask are you going to sleep?"

"Upstairs. In my old room.

"You could stay here if you prefer."

"Thanks...I'll take a rain check on that."

"Haven't you heard? The rainy season is over."

As he turned to leave, Hank had a wide grin on his face, content Laura was going to make it after everything she had been through.

The entire party gathered for a working breakfast in the hotel dining room. A ceiling fan turned lazily disturbing the air above them rather than cooling them. Jess was in the middle of Laura and Estrelle, studying the manual Laura had been given.

"If you would allow me Jess," suggested Estrelle, "I could go with you to the aircraft and translate the Spanish while you apply the instructions in the manual. I could be your co-pilot so to speak."

"That makes sense," said Hank, still concerned about the friction between Laura and Estrelle."

"What about Laura? Are you going to let her just lie around in that king sized bed, getting fat and lazy?" asked Jess.

"Well thank you for that vote of confidence," said Laura. "I think Estrelle's suggestion is a good idea. Only I think you better include Tomaso in this training session. He is still going to be your co-pilot isn't he?"

"Of course. I thought it was understood he would come with us."

"Then it's settled," said Hank. "That's what we'll do. And Laura, I think it's time we unpack the video gear and make sure we are all singing from the same hymn book."

Hank Newton began to feel the project was at last getting on track again. He and Laura waved to the trio as their jeep left the village. She sat down on one of the wicker chairs that were scattered across the Hotel verandah.

"Let's talk Hank."

"I think that went rather smoothly, thanks to you. You want to talk. Okay, let's talk."

"The cave. Tell me everything. We'll be going there soon, and I haven't any idea what to expect."

"Well first of all, it's tremendous. We have only gone about two hundred metres into it. It's enormous. The natives believe it may be the legendary gateway to the world of their ancestors."

"Wasn't there something about a mystery cave in which 17,000 Aztecs disappeared over night to escape their Spanish conquerors?"

"That's what the old natives still believe, but there has never been any evidence such a cave exists."

"Could this be that cave? My God. Seventeen thousand people disappear over night and are never heard of again. It's hard to believe."

"I agree. But what if they were all killed by the Conquistadors. Wouldn't such a legend be to their advantage. It may be an example of historical revisionism."

"Like those stories of the destruction of ten million Russians during their experimental farm collectivization."

"Yes. That's a good example. People who destroy large numbers of people don't want to be remembered as tyrants in the course of history."

"Then there was Nagasaki and Hiroshima," said Laura.

"I thought we were going to talk about the cave. Unless of course you would rather walk down the memory lane of history's greatest villains."

"You're right. Let's talk about the cave. Is it all underground, or is it in the side of a mountain?"

"That's a hard one to explain. The opening appears to be an old well shaft."

"What do you mean?"

"The entrance is really quite small. Have you ever been to Italy?"

"Yes. Many years ago. What's that got to do with it?"

"On the Isle of Capri is the famous 'Blue Grotto' ."

"I've heard about it. So..."

"The opening to the grotto is only about six feet wide. The width of a regular rowboat. And it's only about four feet high. As a matter of fact, the boatsman warns his passengers to bend down as low as possible so they will not hit their heads as they enter."

"What has this to do with our cave?"

"Once inside the grotto you enter a large hollow area with a magnificent domed ceiling, shaped by the changing tides. It is unbelievably beautiful. Our cave is like that. A small entrance into an enormous natural cathedral."

"Why Hank, you are waxing poetic." They both laughed at her description of him and went to the equipment room to unpack the recording equipment for testing.

At the hangar, Jess sat in the pilot's seat and Tomaso was beside him making a check list from the translations they were receiving from Estrelle. Occasionally they would burst into laughter when she would use an inappropriate word in English. The camaraderie energized them to speed up the tedious detail they would have to absorb before they could take the craft on a practice flight.

By the end of the week Jess now had a complete English check list for the Severski 210. On a bright tropical morning all the expedition members were out to observe the take off of this huge helicopter. Included in the gathering was Arumba and his ten zambos. Jess and Tomaso did an external check of the aircraft before going inside.

He read the required items to Jess as he repeated them before touching them and activating whatever was required. After several minutes, the engine coughed into life, and everyone moved further away, startled by the loud noise. Moments later the machine was purring like a large cat, its rhythmic sound comforting to the two pilots.

Then what they all had been waiting for happened. The large wheels appeared to become weightless as the huge craft began to rise slowly, in a swirl of dust and grass. Soon everyone was looking up at the bottom of the plane, which suddenly left the area and did a large circle west of the landing pad. Jess returned to where they were, and hovered gently over the grassy centre, and released the winch on the port side of the helicopter, letting it extend until it touched the ground. A large padded nylon loop on the end of the cable dangled limply when the winch stopped extending it.

Without warning a large zambo ran out of the group and grabbed the loop. Placing it over his head and shoulders, he let it fall to his waist. Grasping the cable above the loop, he signalled the pilot to activate the return of the cable to the helicopter. Tomaso selected the switch and slowly the loop firmly located itself under the armpits of the zambo. Gently he lifted off the ground and was taken aloft to the cheers of all the spectators. Tomaso pulled the excited zambo into the aircraft and hugged him warmly. This was enough for now thought Jess. In fact it was more than enough. He was afraid to think of what would have happened if the zambo had been injured. He brought the plane back to the pad and shut off the engine.

Hank and Laura rushed to their friend and congratulated him. He thanked them and hurried to Estrelle who was waiting outside this circle of friends.

"You are the one they should be congratulating. Without your help on the manual, there was no way we could've done this. Thank you my darling Estrelle."

Read other novels of William James Johnson at www.noozoon.blogspot.com.