Calgary, January 2024
Peter was a young man who liked two things in life: Flying and women. If somebody asked him to choose between the two, he wouldn’t be able to decide. Fortunately, he never had to make such a choice. Flying was his job and women were part of his life. But Peter wasn’t an ordinary airplane driver flying aerial buses across the Atlantic Ocean. He was flying for Kenn Borek Air, a Canadian aviation company known for its Antarctic polar operations, with headquarters in Calgary, Peter’s hometown. Since flying season in Antarctica is during the winter in Canada, he was filling his summers by competing in aerobatics. Competition season always started in spring in a small town near the city of Spokane, Washington. It was the time to meet friends and welcome new arrivals.
Usually, there weren't many new competitors, flying is expensive, but one spring there was a surprise. Two women, mother and daughter, flew in a plane considered to be one of the best in the world. This was doubly unusual. Women are rare in aerobatic competitions, and women flying expensive airplanes are even more uncommon. Peter thought they must be spoiled rich ladies, but he was wrong. During the final dinner after the competition, they were friendly to him, asked about his job and told him something about themselves. The mother’s name was Charlotte, and the daughter, who was in her early twenties, was called Olga. They owned a ranch near Spokane where people could fly in, bring their partners, and fulfill their dreams of love and romance. "But there is also a sad part to it," Charlotte remarked. “This winter my husband was killed in a car accident. A drunk driver hit him." This added a bit of a sad note to the otherwise pleasant evening, but then Charlotte surprised Peter by inviting him to come with them to their ranch. “You said the summer is low season for you, and we don’t have any guests yet,” she said. Peter was happy to accept, nobody was waiting for him at home.
The ranch was a beautiful place. It had a grass runway, a building with rooms for guests and a nice swimming pool. When they arrived, the weather was hot and sunny, and the swimming pool was tempting. "We don't use swim suites when there are no guests," said Charlotte. Both women stripped naked and jumped into the pool, and Peter followed. The water was great, and then they lay down on a blanket spread around on the grass, with Peter heaving each woman on his side, and the events took their natural cause. Peter thought he was in Heaven.
“I should be going,” he said when it was starting to get late.
“Do you want to fly our plane?” Charlotte surprised him by asking.
“Of course I would love to fly your plane.”
Peter flew it for about 20 minutes and when he landed, he exclaimed:
“Ladies, I don’t know what is better. Having sex with you or flying your plane.”
“You can have both,” replied Charlotte. “My husband did all the flying for the ranch, but we cannot continue, we have only the Private Pilot licence. Therefore, we are looking for a new pilot.”
Peter looked at this beautiful ranch and realized that the income from guests could not cover all the expenses. Suddenly he felt he wasn’t in Heaven but was on the verge of stepping into a trap.
"I don't do drugs," he declared very clearly.
"Nor do we. We have a different product which is very ordinary, is safe, doesn't do harm to anybody and generates a small profit: cheese."
"Cheese? You smuggle cheese to Canada?"
"Yes. Canadian duty on cheese is 250%, making it more than twice as expensive then here. We have been leasing a small plane from the local airport, filled it with cheese and my husband flew it to Canada. We covered the flight by declaring the cargo to be flowers. The duty on flowers is only 8%. There was little risk in those flights. If he got caught, he would only pay a fine. Smuggling cheese is not a big crime. Also, he did joyrides in our plane for the guests who wanted to see the world upside down. We would offer you standard rates for flying plus the accommodation here.”
It was very tempting. Peter asked his boss for the summer off and accepted the offer. The cheese runs went smoothly, flying Charlotte and Olga’s plane was great and the nights with them even better. But nothing lasts forever and one day in the fall Peter got a call from his boss asking him to return to work.
“I will be back the next spring,” he promised to Charlotte and Olga. “Don’t forget me, I definitively will be back,” he repeated when they parted.
The flying in Antarctica wasn't all that interesting for Peter anymore. He kept thinking about the ranch, but mostly about the two women. He was imagining helping them to run the ranch, to be part of a family. Olga was his age; she could be his girlfriend and her mom would fit into the arrangement. Therefore, as soon as he was back in Calgary, he called them, but an unknown male voice answered:
"Hello, how can I help you?"
"Can I speak to Charlotte or Olga?"
"They don't live here anymore. They sold the ranch and moved out."
"They moved out? Didn't they leave the address or phone number?"
"No."
It was a bitter disappointment. His dream of another summer of romance and adventure was shattered. He spent a boring summer doing small flights for the company and then it was off to Antarctica again.
I could leave the story at that, but it wouldn't be fair to Peter. He was young and nobody could expect him to miss Charlotte and Olga forever. There were other women in his life, and he continued competing in aerobatics. He always started the season at the same place as at that summer such a long time ago, and this was also where he saw them again. Charlotte and Olga were among the spectators, waving at him. Not even knowing how, the next moment he was with them, kissing and holding them in his arms.
"I am so glad you came, I missed you very much. Why didn't you call me?”
"There was no point, we had nothing to offer you except ourselves and that wouldn't last. After you left, we couldn't get a new pilot to do the cheese flights and without them, the money ran out. We had to sell the ranch and now we have an ordinary bed and breakfast place in Spokane. Nothing exciting but it allows us to make a living."
Charlotte was silent for a while and then she added:
"But it was a great summer we had together."
"Yes, it was a great summer," agreed Peter.