Chapter 17 - Flight 216

Monday, October 5th

“Hey, Jeff! Want me to drive you to work today?”

“Do you mean fly?” His brown eyes looked into my hazel ones under his raised eyebrows.

“Of course. It’s the quickest way.”

“Why not? I assume you’ll pick me up too.”

“Right.”

“You’re really getting into this flying aren’t you?” Jeff put on his coat.

“Yup. I registered as an Urber driver last night.” I followed him out the door to the garage.

“I’d love to be in the car as you take off with your first customer.”

“I’m telling them this is a carbon-free flying taxi. If they ask me how it’s powered, I’ll say ‘magic’. That’ll put their fears to rest.”

“So you’re all ready with a line of B.S.?”

“I’ve been slinging it since 1946.”

We got into Jeff and Marie’s car and drove to the freeway. I took off again, using the ramp, but since it was rush hour, there was someone behind me. They honked as the car flapped into the air. I honked back.

“The geese are flying south for the winter,” I commented.

“You realize everyone will see you flying. You’ll get reported.”

“Yup. I’m counting on it. Free advertising.”

“You’re remarkably nonchalant.”

“At my age, what are they going to do? Arrest me for a flying car?”

“Maybe.”

“You have some of your Dad’s negativism.”

“I call it realism.”

“So did he.”

We arrived at Rockwell Automation in Mayfield Heights without incident and I landed on Allen Bradley Road without anyone seeing me and dropped him off.

“Thanks, Mom!” He kissed me. “Have a nice flight home!” He went to work, looking at his phone.

Flying back to Jeff and Marie’s home in Bratenahl took less than 5 minutes. I managed to land on their street without anyone seeing me. I dove down until I was skimming the street at sixty miles per hour and then slammed on the brakes and stopped in front of their house. I was tickled I could land in such a short distance.

“Yoohoo! Marie! Whatcha got planned for the day?”

“First, I have to take the kids to school. “

“I’ll take them. They go to Gilmour Academy, don’t they?”

“Yup. On Cedar Road. I’ll get you the address.” Marie gave me the address from her cell phone. “Thanks so much, Mom. This’ll save me over an hour. The traffic is terrible in the morning!”

“No problem. I’ll fly above it. They’ll love flying. Maybe we can go shopping after I’m back.”

“Sounds good! Oliver and Violet are in the kitchen eating.” I followed her into the kitchen.

Oliver was finishing off his eggs and pop tarts. Violet had bacon and eggs.

“Hi, kids. I’ll be flying you to school today.”

“Woohoo! I’m sorry I missed the trip last night.” Oliver said.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” I said automatically, but my words had no heat.

“Sorry G’ma,” he said with his mouth full.

“Chew. Now swallow. Now talk.” I ruffled his hair. When he stood, I had to reach up like I did with Ray. I glanced at Violet. She was watching with amused interest.

“I wish he listened to me like he does to you, Mom.” Marie shook her head.

“Could I fly the car?”

“No!” said Marie.

“Maybe,” I said.

“I should learn to fly first. I’m older.” Violet looked smug.

“You at least have your driver’s license. Oliver, no flying until you learn to drive.”

“Can you teach me?”

“You’re only 14!”

“Lots of kids on Viewtube drive at 14.”

“They’re on farms in the wilderness. You’re in a city with hundreds of thousands of people. Why am I arguing? No!” Marie pounded the table for emphasis.

Oliver’s head slumped like his dog died. Violet still looked smug.

“Okay, get in the car. I’ll tell you about how I learned to fly.”

“Lemme grab my backpack!” He raced upstairs to his room.

“Could I sit in the front seat with you, Grandma?”

“Sure, Violet.”

We settled in the car, with Oliver leaning over between the front seats watching me.

“Huh. It looks just like our car normally does.”

“Right. We drive out of the garage and down the street to the freeway,” I said.

“Then what?”

“Watch what happens.” I got to the freeway ramp. I glanced sideways and saw Violet watched as intently as Oliver. So I said, “I wish this car would fly.” I’d been saying that to myself, but I thought I’d give the kids the full treatment.

Obediently, the wings popped out of the door and flapped us upward. The dashboard transformed into a plane’s instrument panel.

“Wow!” my grandkids said together.

“That’s what I said, the first time it happened.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“When was that, grandma?” Violet asked.

“On my way to Phoenix from Paradise. I dreaded the long trip. Now be quiet. I have to find Cedar Road up here.” I swerved south until I saw it. Long and straight, it stretched eastward past I-271.

“There we go. Now help me find your school. I don’t know what it looks like from above.”

“I don’t either,” said Oliver.

“I’ve driven there down Cedar, with Mom. It’s the first left turn after Som Center Road.”

“Thanks, Violet. Som Center’s that long north/south street just past I-271, right?”

“Yup.” Violet smiled. She looked happy to help me.

“Man, I didn’t realize how hard it’d be to find your way around up in the air.” I turned and saw Oliver shaking his head.

“Yeah, it was hard for me too and I had driven to Phoenix many times. I just pointed my car east and hoped I’d find the airport.”

“At least that’s a big target.”

“Yes. Now I have to land. Don’t bug me and make sure your seatbelts are buckled.”

“How fast are we going?” asked Oliver.

“About two hundred.” I swerved left to land on the road off Cedar Hills.

“How fast do we land?” Violet sounded concerned.

“About fifty miles per hour. Like this.” I slammed on the brakes as I skimmed the road. Thump! Squeak! The tires squeaked as they went from still to fifty.

“Wow, grandma! You laid a patch of rubber.” Oliver said.

“I guess I did.”

“Won’t you get in trouble for going fifty in a school district?” Violet said.

“Uh, you’re right. I probably shouldn’t land here. But Som Center and Cedar were packed with traffic. Anyway, we’re legal now. Here we are, kids!” I pulled up to the high school.

“Thanks g’ma!” Oliver yelled as he bounded out of the car.

“Yes, thanks, grandma. That was really something. You’ll pick us up?”

“Yes, I’ll be here at 3 pm.”

“We’ll be ready. I love you!” Violet hugged and kissed me.

Glowing all over, I drove sedately out of the school district. I took to the air on the I-271 on the ramp.

I landed on the off-ramp from the I-90 freeway and then drove to my kids’ home on Haskel.

“I’m back, Marie!” I said as I walked in.

“Hi, mom! I got everything done I wanted, let’s go shopping.” She hugged me and we took off.

After a good morning shopping with Marie, including a tasty lunch, I decided to take the plunge. I marked myself available for Urber rides. In less than a minute I got a request to take someone from a hotel downtown to the airport.

“Huh. They could just take the train to the airport,” I said to myself. “See you, Marie! I’m off on my new business!”

“Good luck with your business!”

I quickly flew downtown, landing on the I-90 off-ramp at East 9th Street. Freeway ramps were ideal for takeoffs and landings. I drove to Superior and turned right until I got to the Hyatt Regency. A well-dressed man in a sharp suit stood on the sidewalk, looking at his phone. Beside him rolled a suitcase.

I pulled up to the curb and parked. “Are you Martin Willoughby?” I asked him.

He glanced up from his phone. “Yes. Are you with ‘Flight 216 – Enchanting Rides’?”

“You bet.”

“Your car doesn’t even have a sign on it!”

“Oh, right. I probably should get one of those magnetic signs. It’s not my car anyway. It’s my son’s and daughter-in-law’s.”

“What kind of fly-by-night outfit is this? No, don’t tell me. Just get me to the airport as quickly as you can.”

“Sure.” I opened the back door for him. He got in, and I said, “Be sure to buckle up.” He snorted and looked at his phone.

I put his suitcase in the trunk. It was way lighter than mine.

“And off we go,” I said as I got in. “When’s your flight?”

“One forty-five.”

“We’ve got half an hour. Easy-peasey.” I saw him raise his eyebrows in my rearview mirror.

“You seem confident. It doesn’t seem possible to me.”

“It’s ten miles or so. We’ll be there in five minutes, tops.”

“You’re going to go a hundred and twenty on I-71?” His eyebrows rose again.

“Not exactly. You buckled up?”

He clicked his seatbelt. “Yes.”

I accelerated onto the West Shoreway Drive. “Fly, my pretty,” I whispered.

Obediently, four wings sprouted out and blurred us into the air.

“Woah! What’s going on?”

“Welcome to my company ‘Flight 216 – Enchanting Rides’. We’ll fly you to your destination with a carbon-free flight in record time.”

“We’ll get up to a hundred and twenty?” Martin said as he peered out the window at the ground.

“Nah, we’ll peak at two-fifty. I gotta land and drive you around to your gate, so that’ll take some time.”

“I’ve never heard of any technology like this! Have you thought of franchising?”

“No, but that’s a good idea. Maybe I’ll try it.”

“You’ve got a gold mine here. Can I invest in your company?”

“Why not?” I shrugged. Who was I to turn down money?

“I’ve only got a thousand cash on me. How many shares would that buy?”

“A thousand. When I incorporated at a dollar a share. It’s a corporation sole, by the way.”

“So you’re not listed anywhere?”

“No.”

“Even better. That means I can get in on the ground floor.”

“More like the hundredth story. We’re a thousand feet high, but there’s the airport.”

“Where will you land?”

“On that exit ramp there.” I pointed ahead. “Hold on.” I braked and we dropped. I eased off and we landed.

“Wow. That was way more fun than I expected to have. I was sure I’d miss my flight. That’s why you got the job. You were the first Urber driver to respond.”

“Which gate do you want?” I drove around the airport road.

“72 A, American. I’ll give you my $1000 cash for stock in your company, but I need a receipt from you.”

“Sure.” I had a book of paper receipts to track my cash receipts. I wrote, “Stock certificate for 1000 shares of Flight 216 – Enchanted Rides, Angela Hamilton, CEO, CFO” in the description.

“Here you go, Martin. Thank you for your investment. I suppose I’ll have to pay you some dividends.”

“I wouldn’t mind. Or you can list your stock on an exchange.”

“Regardless, I’ll give you an update on how I invest your money and how I’m doing. Do you have a card?”

“Electronic. Here, scan this QR code.”

I did and my phone beeped. His website came up. “Okay. I’ll report to you monthly about our profits.”

“I’ve got to run. Thanks for the enchanted ride, Ms. Hamilton!” Martin took off at a rapid walk.

Well, that was more profitable than I thought. I suppose the thousand dollars is investment and not profit, but that’ll lead to more profit. I got in my car and headed for the takeoff ramp.

I had fun riding people around that week, but I felt I needed my own car. I rented one, another minivan. I read the rental agreement carefully. It had no prohibition against magical enhancements, nor flying.

I also got some magnetic signs with ‘Flight 216 – Enchanted Rides’ on them and put them on the doors. Marie watched me in their driveway.

“Okay, Marie, let’s see how this one flies. Watch me as I take off.”

Inside I whispered. “You can fly now, minivan.” I pictured Marie’s van’s transformation. The van’s doors sprouted wings which began flapping as I backed into the street. They were white blurs rather than blue ones. Instead of speeding up, I said, “Fly up. You can do it.”

The van flew straight up. I circled the neighborhood and landed, straight down, on the driveway.

Marie raced to the door. “Wow, mom! When you went straight up, you could read the sign on each wing, from underneath! How did you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Fly straight up.”

“Oh, I just wished for it, like I did for my flying car.”

“Could you enchant our car again? I’d like to try flying.”

“I guess you’re old enough,” I laughed. “And I’ve certainly got enough customers. I always feel bad about turning customers away when I stop flying. You can keep the money you make. I don’t need any more.”

Marie installed her app and used my account. I entered her as another driver in our business.

Then we took off for customers.

* * *

When I picked up Jeff to fly him home from work, I said, “Guess what?”

“What?”

“Flight 216 has doubled today.”

“Wow, how’d you do that Mom?”

“Marie started flying.”

“Woah! I thought she was nervous about flying.”

“She’s used to it now. I think she finally believes in the magic.”

“So, what’d you make today?”

“I cleared about five hundred and she got six hundred. She got more money on shorter trips. Also, I picked up the kids from school. Plus, watch this.”

We were alone on the long drive to Cedar Road. I said, “Up, White Swan.” We flew straight up.

“Ok, that’s really cool. So you didn’t need to go fifty miles per hour after all.”

“Nope. I feel like a dummy for not realizing it sooner.”

“The rules of magic aren’t the same as science.”

“What rules?”

* * *

Friday, October 9th

My first ride on Friday was to take someone from the airport to the Federal Building downtown. A gray-haired man in a suit entered. His name on the reservation showed Walter Borthwick.

“This is Flight 216 Urber rides?”

“Yes sir, Mr. Borthwick.”

“I understand you fly your passengers around town. Is that correct?”

“Watch.” I drove to the freeway ramp and took off.

“O-o-o-h. So you really can fly. Do you ever run into power lines or radio towers?”

“I’d have to be pretty stupid to do that. There’s a lot of space to go around them.”

“You’d be surprised at the number of rookie pilots who crash into them.”

“Not really. I know how stupid young guys can be. Anyway, this car is a lot more maneuverable than a plane.”

“Oh? How so?”

“We can stop more quickly. There’s the Federal building over there.” I pointed ahead of us. “Let’s land in the parking lot of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.” I pointed straight down, and then I slammed on the brakes.

We went from two hundred miles per hour to zero in less than a block. I glided down in a tight circle and then landed vertically in a parking spot.

“See? A perfect VTOL landing.”

Walter panted. He wiped his forehead with a handkerchief and said, “Let’s just get to the Federal Building, on the ground.”

I drove through downtown and we got there in five minutes.

“Here we are, Mr. Borthwick.” I parked next to the curb.

“Indeed.” He paid online with his app and got out and went around to the driver’s door.

“Please get out, Ms. Hamilton.” He opened the door.

“Why? Is there some problem?”

He showed me a badge that said FAA.

“Yes. I’m from the FAA and I’m arresting you for flying without a license.”