wrath of the Sea Queen (21 page)

"
All right
,
all right.  I hate to hear a grown woman beg
.
  We were staying at the lake house for a long weekend, and
Ben
told me he wanted to take me somewhere special for dinner.  Of course, no matter how much I pestered him, he would not tell me where we were going,
"
Salma began.

The plane continued to drop and
still nothing penetrated the dense clouds engulfing the plane
. 
Salma continued
her tale
as she squeezed C
a
eli's hand.

"
Ben said to wear blue jeans and a comfortable
blouse
, and sent me off to get ready while he busied himself in the kitchen.  I didn't
have any idea
what he was up to until
right
before we left.  He was carrying a large picnic basket
.  Well
, his version of one.  It was really an oversized tackle box that
Ben
cleaned up and even decorated in a
complete and utter
ly
manly fashion.  Since he obviously put so much effort into making it special, I
didn't tease him about it.  I
was
touched at
the
thought behind it
. 
Then
,
h
e
finally
told me that we would be dining outside.
 
Ben
was so keyed up that I couldn't help but share his excitement.  We didn't go far; down to the end of the dock.  The moon was full and shining on a
TV
tray and two chairs
already
out there
.  Ben really outdid himself.  There was a long, white tablecloth covering the tray, a candle
lit
in the center, and rose petals sprinkled
all around
.  There were two place settings. 
It was beautiful. 
I couldn't believe
Ben
was able to
arrange
it all without me knowing about it
;
but
he
can be sneaky when it suits his need
s
.  He pulled containers out of his makeshift picnic basket, and we enjoyed a lovely meal under the stars.
"
 

"He
i
s such a romantic.  I never would have guessed," C
a
eli commented with a smile.

"Don't tease
. 
I won't tell you the rest," Salma joked.

"Sorry."

"
Ok, then.  After dinner, Ben spread a blanket on the dock and we stretched out to enjoy the clear evening and the beautiful scenery. 
Ben became fidgety when he started talking about his life and how it
had
changed over time.  Finally, he took my hand and held it in both of his as we sat there.  Without me even
realizing
it,
Ben
slid the ring on my finger, but kept his hands covering it
in such a way that I couldn't tell it was there
. 
He
must
have used
his
slight
-
of
-
hand
skill that he
does
so well when he performs
magic tricks for kids
at
the hospital.  He
i
s really quite good at it.  Anyway,
Ben
told me how certain he was that we belonged together
. 
After a few
other private comments, he said he
wanted to let
the world
know
how great we were together
.  Then he asked me to marry him and revealed the ring already on my finger.
  He was smiling
from ear to ear
.  The ring was sparkling in the moonlight.  I wasn't expecting it at all, and Ben knew it.  He fully intended to catch me by surprise
, and he succeeded
. 
For once, I was nearly speechless. 
All I could say was yes.
"

"
The perfect answer,
"
C
a
eli added with a huge smile.

Salma concluded
her tale
with perfect timing, too
. 
The view over
her
shoulder suddenly brightened
to reveal a
clear, almost serene light, and the clouds appeared to be rising above and away from the plane.  Unfortunately, as C
a
eli focused on the scene unfolding over Salma's shoulder, she could not see what happened on the opposite side of the plane
.  S
he and Salma both heard
a
loud bang accompanied an explosion that rocked the entire
aircraft
.  Puffs of black smoke could
barely
be seen near the wing
,
if you could catch a glimpse
through the
quickly
raised window shades on the other side of the aisle. 
The redhead was already at his window when everyone else turned to see what happened.

Bright orange and red flames were visible near the
outer
engine.  The aircraft began to tilt downward on that side.  The pilot was obviously having difficulty maneuvering, and they were still losing altitude.  C
a
eli
began
to see the huge swells of the storm
-
tossed ocean
below
drawing nearer with each passing minute.

"
Ladies and Gentlemen, please remain
in your crash positions
and keep your electrical devices turned off. 
One of our engines has been struck by lightning, but we are not in any danger of crashing. 
We still have three good engines; more than sufficient to keep us aloft.  Nonetheless, w
e have requested an emergency landing and will be dropping
altitude rapidly
.  The landing will be s
haky
.  Please remain calm and stay in your seats.  We
should
be
on the ground
safely
with
in the next ten minutes.
"

Those ten minutes seemed to last forever to C
a
eli.  Salma was scared, and there was nothing more C
a
eli could say or do to make her feel better.  C
a
eli, herself,
was
not
faring much better
. 
Her
stomach
lurch
ing
each time the plane
made a sudden
drop was not helping the fact that she
was
already nauseous. 
T
he
unsettled contents threatened to rebel at any minute,
and
C
a
eli
thought she might
also
be runn
ing a fever
.

Af
ter several jolts of turbulent air and a few
more
stomach-churning turns, the plane's wheels finally
made an abrupt
touchd
own on
the runway.  C
a
eli watched out the window as the plane slid sideways on the slick concrete before skidding to a stop at the very end of the runway. 

"
There, you see?  What did I tell you?  We made it
safe and sound
. 
And, f
rom the look on your face, I can tell you won't be wasting money on any amusement park trips in the near future,
"
C
a
eli tried to help Salma relax now that they were safe
ly
on the ground.

Unfortunately, all of the emergency vehicles outside and the caution of the airline made it incredibly time consuming to get
the passengers off the plane
and into the terminal.  It was almost ninety minutes before
she and Salma
walked
hesitantly
up to the counter to catch their connecting flight.  Salma was not looking forward to it at all.  She tried to convince C
a
eli that they should take a taxi or
catch a
bus. 

But the
odd
weathe
r cleared
almost
immediately after
they landed
.  T
he storm seemed to have moved off
, and the
ir next
flight
was
not cancelled
. 
When Salma asked, t
he lady at the ticket counter assured them that the
next
flight should be uneventful.  They were going to be on a much smaller plane, flying lower, and traveling a
way from
the storm.  It would be a much shorter trip as well.  Since their tickets were already paid for, Salma finally agreed
, against her better judgment,
to continue by air. 

"
Don't worry, Salma.  If anything goes wrong this time, you can blame me.  We
wi
ll even take a
boat
home,
"
C
a
eli joked.