Free The Rule of Three by Eric Walters

have?”
    “Not much.”
    “Good, because the gas station is the first place I want to stop.”
    “But the pumps don’t work,” I said.
    “Gas can be siphoned up from the storage tanks. Tell the twins. Then you go and get Todd, and I’ll meet you out on your driveway in thirty minutes.”
    *   *   *
     
    Danny didn’t want to come, telling me that since he wasn’t a girl, he wasn’t interested in riding any horses. I wasn’t a girl either, but a girl was certainly motivating me to ride a horse. I’d never actually ridden one before, but how hard could it be?
    With Danny in tow, I’d gone down the street to Todd’s house. His mother was puttering in the garden and she agreed to watch Danny. He actually seemed happy to help her in the garden. Todd’s father was in his woodworking shop in the garage and waved as I went in the front door. He was a banker by profession but a master craftsman with wood. Using hand tools, he’d made half the furniture in their house—including the bed Todd was sleeping in when I got there. I woke him up and he declined my offer by tossing a pillow at me, swearing, turning on his side, and pulling the covers over his head.
    Herb and Brett were waiting as I walked back to the house alone. Rachel was still inside trying to find something horsey to wear.
    “While you’re waiting, I was wondering if we could take a look at your ultralight,” Herb said.
    “You have a plane?” Brett asked.
    “My dad and I are assembling it, so it’s not quite finished yet. I’ll show you.”
    I opened the garage door. It sat on a trolley waiting for the wings to be added. I couldn’t help thinking about my father, hoping that he was all right, wishing he was here to take care of us. Strange, but I felt like if he had been here that we’d be safer, somehow.
    “Doesn’t look like much,” Brett said.
    “You don’t need much to fly,” I said, suddenly feeling defensive. It wasn’t just his words but the look on his face.
    “You’ve flown it?” he asked in amazement.
    “I’ve flown in one—it was a two-man ultralight just like this, and my dad was at the controls. You use them for training.”
    “That’s right—your father is a pilot,” Brett said.
    “And so is Adam,” Herb said.
    “I’m still a few lessons away from my solo, but soon, you know, when things get back to normal.”
    “Your ultralight doesn’t have computers, does it?” Herb asked.
    “None. Everything is simple. It even runs on automotive fuel. It could get up into the air.”
    “You know, being able to fly would be a huge advantage,” Herb continued.
    I thought about my father again. If he was here we could get it into the air almost immediately and he could fly it. Then I thought about if the ultralight was with him. Even halfway across the country he could fly home in a few days, a week at most.
    “All that’s left is to attach the wings, and it could be up there,” I said.
    “Are they difficult to fly?” Herb asked.
    “They’re not that difficult if you already know how to fly,” I explained. “You learn in a plane with a pilot, and then once you know what you’re doing you can fly an ultralight.”
    “So, technically, you could fly this thing,” he said.
    “Technically, yes.”
    “Very interesting.”
    A chill went up my spine. Was he suggesting that I fly it? But then again, that was why Dad and I were building it, to fly it. Flying an ultralight without training was difficult, dangerous, and maybe even a little crazy, but I’d certainly spent enough time on an ultralight simulator and I did know the controls of this thing as well as any pilot except my father. I could fly it.
    “But first things first—let’s go for that drive. Brett, you’re carrying, right?” Herb asked.
    Brett, who was wearing civilian clothes, pulled open his jacket to reveal a badge on his belt and his service revolver in a side holster. “I try never to leave home without it.”
    “I’m ready to go!”