Prepper Jack by Diane Capri

Author:Diane Capri
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: AugustBooks
Published: 2020-01-30T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Thursday, April 14

6:35 p.m.

Albuquerque, New Mexico

The balloon’s tricolor envelope was bright against the late afternoon sky. Red, yellow, and blue primary colors arranged in a geometric pattern reminded Kim of a child’s Rubik’s Cube toy. Which made it starkly visible from a distance. Easy to identify, should there be other balloons or flying objects in the sky at the same time.

While the crew continued inflating the envelope by using two big fans to blow air into it, the gondola was upright and the pilot operated the burner to heat the air, making the envelope rise.

Kim had a clear view of everyone milling around. None of the men were Mason O’Hare. She hadn’t really expected to find him here. But it would have been a solid break. Not that anything ever came that easily.

She approached the group as they climbed into the gondola, one at a time. The basket itself was large enough to accommodate about twenty people, along with the propane and the burner.

Fifteen paying passengers were aboard when two women walked through the group of onlookers, asking whether anyone else wanted to join the ride. The pilot had heated the air inside the balloon enough to lift the gondola upright. The crew was holding it close to earth with big ropes, just in case another paying guest showed up.

When no adults accepted the invitation, one of the women gave a signal of some sort and three children, laughing and excited, ran over to the basket and climbed inside, clearly delighted to be allowed aboard.

One of the women stood next to Kim, smiling and waving toward them.

“Micah!” she yelled. “Put your jacket on!”

“Okay, Mom!” the boy yelled back as he slipped his arms into a bright green hoodie. The other kids had already donned their jackets.

“He seems like he’s having fun,” Kim said.

“He is. He loves to ride. Even when the flight will be rougher than today. When there’s extra space, he jumps aboard every time.” The woman smiled and nodded and spoke fondly of the boy. “It’ll be cold if they go as high as a mile up. Micah knows that. But he gets excited and forgets.”

Kim smiled back. “Are you involved with the ride or something?”

“I’m Cheryl. We live at Glen Haven,” she replied, watching the balloon rise into the air as the big gondola lifted off. “Micah and I help when we can. You should take the ride sometime. You get a great view of Albuquerque from up there. It’s a relaxing experience. Everybody loves it.”

“Don’t you worry about falling out?” Kim asked.

“I’ve fallen out before and lived to tell about it. Micah, too. It’s not the most fun I’ve ever had, I’ll admit that,” she said with a grin. “Actually, we’ve all had extensive training for all sorts of emergencies. Hot air ballooning is one of the safest types of recreational flying you can do.”

Watching the balloon float slowly up and away, Kim said, “Aren’t you nervous about those power lines?”

“The pilot knows these currents out here will push him in the right direction.

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