Back to Brett’s sweet dream.
Matthew and Meredith strolled lovingly, arm in arm, around the Irwin Home and Gardens, enjoying the beautiful flowers.
“I’m so sorry about Miss Snyder. Charles does everything she orders him to do. I’m scared of her,” Meredith said.
“That’s all right,” Matthew said, then hesitated momentarily. “There’s something else I should tell you,” he said.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“Well, it appears I got your sister, Anne, mad at me. She waited for me at my hotel and wanted to show me around town.
She suddenly forced a kiss on me. I immediately got out of
her buggy and told her about the two of us,” he confessed.
Meredith looked upset. “Anne is so mean. I’m sorry you had to be exposed to her.”
“So you’re not mad with me?” he asked.
“Of course not. It’s not your fault you encountered Anne,” she replied, then frowned. “I don’t want to marry Charles. I’ll live the rest of my life being miserable and controlled,” she said with sad eyes.
Matthew’s eyes widened. “I need to get you away from here,” he offered.
“But how?”
“Maybe you could fly away with me to Fort Wayne?” Brett replied.
“That sounds like heaven, but Grace would hunt us down, and Lord knows what she’ll do to us.”
“Don’t worry; I’ll always protect you,” Brett promised.
Meredith gave Matthew a loving smile.
Anne peeked around some flowers undetected, clenching her fists. Her face was beet red! She grabbed a handful of flowers, crushing the pedals with her hands.
“Where would we live?” Meredith asked.
“We could live up at my farm in Fort Wayne. I plan to turn it into an airfield,” he replied.
“Will you teach me how to fly?”
“You bet. I’ll start the day after we get married,” he replied.
Meredith. “I do.”
Matthew and Meredith stopped walking. They hugged and kissed. A passionate kiss.
Anne grabbed a handful of other flowers, breaking the stems and throwing them away. Her eyes bulged with hatred.
Matthew and Meredith gazed into each other’s eyes.
“I know; why don’t we go flying?” Matthew suggested.
“I would love that,” Meredith beamed.
Matthew and Meredith held hands, rushing away to the exit.
Anne stepped out from behind the flowers. She stalked them, leaving Irwin Gardens.
Meredith and Matthew drove another horse and buggy out of Columbus. A 1916 Ford Model T followed a safe distance behind them.
Meredith parked the horse and buggy near a tree.
They got down from the buggy and walked hand in hand to Jenny in the field.
The 1916 Ford Model T’s were parked down the dirt road. Anne peeked from around a large hedge thirty feet away. She snapped off some branches, throwing them away.
Matthew assisted Meredith into the front seat of the Jenny. He then placed a leather flight cap and goggles on her and configured the rear cockpit.
Matthew stepped down from the wing, rushed over to the engine, flung the prop around a couple of times, and it cranked up.
Matthew rushed inside the rear cockpit in the front seat.
Matthew taxied the Jenny down the field, then gave it full throttle and raced down the field.
Anne peeked around the hedge, watching the Jenny soar into the sky.
She stormed back to the Model T, sat in the driver’s seat, arms crossed.
Inside Matthew’s airplane, he flew the Jenny toward Columbus.
“I love the view up here!” she beamed.
Matthew flew the Jenny over Columbus and Washington Street ten minutes later.
Matthew flew the Jenny down 5th Street and over the Irwin Home and Gardens.
“The Irwin gardens are so beautiful up here!”
Matthew banked the plane and headed north over Columbus.
Matthew banked the plane and headed west back towards the field.
Anne spotted Jenny heading back to the field. She rushed over to her Model T, got out the hand crank, installed it on the front, hand-cranked it, and it started up.
Anne rushed over, got behind the wheel, turned the Model T around, and drove off down the dirt road, heading back to Columbus.
Matthew landed his plane in the field and taxied near the horse and buggy.
Matthew shut down the engine and got out, then assisted Meredith out of the airplane. They kissed, then held hands, walking back to the horse and buggy.
It’s later in Columbus.
Anne drove her Model T down the seedy part of Columbus.
She pulled to the sidewalk, spotting two large thugs talking by a building wall.
“Buster and Rocky,” she called out, motioning for them to come over.
They walked over to Anne’s buggy.
She opened up her purse and removed two ten-dollar bills. “I have a little job I need you to do for me right away. And this will remain a secret,” she said, handing them the cash.
“Sure thing, Miss Whitestone,” Buster said.
Rocky and Buster grabbed the bills and shoved them in their pockets.
“What would you like us to do?” Rocky asked.
She whispered in both of their ears. They nodded in agreement with an evil smirk.
She drove off with a smirk.
Buster and Rocky got inside a nearby horse and buggy and drove down the Street.
Later that day, Meredith drove the horse and buggy into Columbus with Matthew.
She drove the buggy to the Hotel St. Denis at 5th and Washington and stopped. They gazed into each other’s eyes.
“Can I see you later?” he asked.
“I can’t. There’s a social dance at the Prall home tonight, and I’m forced to attend with Charles,” she said, frowning.
Matthew’s eyes widened. “Why don’t we leave tonight? We could camp out at my airplane, leave as soon as the sun rises, and live a life full of happiness up in Fort Wayne,” he proposed.
Meredith looked at Matthew. “That would be grand,” she said. “There are some French doors that lead out to the backyard. You can meet me there and sneak off in the darkness. I’ll have a horse and buggy near the Prall home, and we can ride to my house so I can get some clothes,” she said.
“I’ll be waiting in the backyard,” he replied, got out of the buggy.
Matthew watched Meredith drive her buggy away, then went inside the hotel happy.
Across the Street and down the sidewalk, Buster and Rocky watched Meredith from their buggy. They got out of the buggy and rushed over to the hotel.
Matthew lay on his bed inside his hotel room and stared at the ceiling. It was peaceful. A knock on his room door.
Matthew shot up, rushing to the door, and reached for the doorknob.
The door busted open, knocking Matthew on his butt.
Buster picked up Matthew by his shirt.
“Who are you, and what do you want?” Matthew yelled.
Rocky punched Matthew hard in the stomach.
Matthew buckled over in pain.
Buster punched Matthew in the stomach.
Matthew dropped to his knees in extreme pain. “You will leave town now!” Rocky barked at Matthew.
Buster picked Matthew up by his collar, punching him in the jaw. Matthew flew back and slammed onto the floor on his back, and stayed on the floor, dazed and in pain.
Buster and Rocky picked Matthew up by his arms and escorted him out of the room.
Outside the Hotel St. Denis, Buster and Rocky escorted Matthew out of the hotel and plopped him in the buggy’s rear.
They got inside it and drove off.
Later, outside of Columbus, Rocky and Buster raced their buggy down the dirt road, leaving a trail of dust.
Busty and Rocky drove the buggy through the field and over to Matthew’s plane. They stopped and got out of the buggy.
They grabbed Matthew by his arms and pulled him out of the buggy’s rear.
They stood Matthew up on his feet and walked him to Jenny. Matthew dragged the tips of his shoes in the grass.
“You will fly away from Columbus and never return. Cause if you do, we will kill you if we catch you back in town,” Rocky threatened with a fist.
Buster and Rocky dropped Matthew to the ground by Jenny. They stood by him, arms crossed.
Matthew painfully stood up, noticing Buster and Rocky.
He climbed up on the wing, configuring the back cockpit console.
Matthew got down, walked over to the front, and flung the prop several times. The engine cranked up.
He rushed inside the cockpit, wearing his leather flight cap and goggles.
Buster and Rocky watched as Matthew taxied his plane down the field.
Matthew’s plane raced down the field and took off.
Buster and Rocky watched Matthew’s plane ascend into the sky and bank to the north.
“Would you fly in one of those contraptions?” Buster asked Rocky.
“No way. If the Lord wanted man to fly, we would be born with wings,” Rocky responded.
Buster nodded in agreement.
They walked over and got inside the buggy. They drove off through the field and down the road, noticing Matthew’s plane flying farther away to the north. They shook hands.
Matthew flew his Jenny north of Columbus, banked his plane, and headed west, then banked his plane again, and headed south.
Later, high above the south side of Columbus,
Matthew found a field suitable for a landing near another dirt road.
Matthew turned his plane into the wind, came in for a landing, touched down in the field, and slowed down to a taxi heading to some trees. After he shut the engine down, he removed his cap and goggles.
Matthew rushed out of his plane and ran out of the field to the dirt road.
Matthew ran down the dirt road toward Columbus.
The sound of an alarm clock filled the air. He looked around for the source of that irritating sound.
Back to Brett’s reality.
It’s Saturday morning.
The alarm clock in Brett’s hotel room blared that irritating noise.
Brett jumped up from his dream and looked around the room in a daze.
He slapped the alarm clock, turned off the alarm, got out of bed, and moped to the bathroom.
Twenty minutes passed.
Brett left the hotel with his laptop bag and drove to the Alliance plant. He parked his car in the lot and walked to the administration building. The only car in the lot was parked in the “Howard Bitner” spot.
Brett entered his office at Alliance, dropping his laptop bag on the desk.
He left the office, returned with a cup of coffee he had grabbed from the employee break room, walked over to his desk, and sat down.
Brett sipped his coffee and glanced at the pile of financial records and laptop bag.
Brett flipped through a few pages of records, then yawned.
The sound of an airplane from outside his office window caught his attention.
Brett got up from his desk and rushed over to the window.
Brett peeked outside like a child sent to his room for being bad, and observed a Diamond D40 flying overhead.
He glanced at the mountain of paperwork on the desk and out the window. His eyes widened, and he rushed to his desk, removing his laptop from its bag and powering it up.
After a few minutes, he searched Corrie’s website to locate her address.
Brett shut down his laptop, placed it in its bag, and rushed out of his office.
Brett rushed through the office area with his laptop bag slung around his shoulders.
“Where are you going, Brett?” Howard asked, leaving the break room with a fresh cup of coffee.
Brett stopped, hesitating for a few seconds. “I needed some information to work on the report. I left it in my hotel room,” Brett fibbed.
“Well, guess I’ll see you later,” Howard replied.
“Yeah, later,” Brett said, then rushed to the elevators.
“There’s something wrong with that boy,” Howard said. “He’s missing a few gears,” he added, then walked to his office.