Chapter 5 Private Jets

What a crazy week! After digesting that Mom's family was filthy rich, I learned that even though Mom may not have ever shifted, she can still make miracles happen. I was proud that I kept a straight face as Mom made Dad think a "girls" trip was all his idea. All that time working on controlling my reactions paid off as I calmly watched him suggest that he take the boys camping and fishing for the weekend, since they had regular school on Monday, and we should leave Sunday and take a whole week somewhere fabulous

He actually said, "What's the point of homeschooling if you don't go to the places you've been learning about?"

I knew at that moment just how good Mom was at this thought transfer business. I wonder how many times she had used it on my brothers and I, to eat our dinner, clean our rooms, or take a bath....I actually heard her voice telling me what to say next,

"We've been studying Egypt all year, can we go there?' I said, the face of innocence .

Dad actually paled a little. The expense of an international trip was probably past the budget he was thinking of. Most likely we was thinking of a trip to the California Missions or maybe to the Grand Canyon.

"I loved studying all the Pyramids and ruins this year, can we go see them?" I added,

His next words even surprised him. "Well it's a good idea that we got you kids passports a few years ago then wasn't it?"

He looked around to see who had actually spoken those words. I don't know who was more surprised, all of us just sat there looking at each other, the room silent.

"Wow, ok then, I'd better get packing then!" Mom jumped up. She wasted no time in getting out of there before he could come to his senses.

Before I could catch up with my own thoughts on this, we were headed to the airport. We veered away from the commercial flights and instead went to a gated area for private planes. It was cold out and I could see my breath as I stepped out of the car. He dress and coat I wore did not protect my legs and I shivered in the cold. The "family jet" was enormous. Hopefully it would be warm.

Apparently in January it isn't that cold where we were going so a shopping trip had been in order. She told me that her family was pretty conservative and my collection of jeans and tank tops wouldn't suffice. "How was I going to survive in these hideous dresses for a week? How do you climb trees in a dress? Wait a minute,"I thought, "Do they even have trees?"

After the longest day known to modern man we arrived in Egypt. The family jet was in all actuality, a flying apartment. It had everything! There were so many buttons to push and gadgets to try that I am sure I missed a few. When I got bored with the technology in the back I went forward to meet the pilot and hand out in the cockpit for a bit. I tried to manipulate the pilots thoughts to let me check out the technology up here but I wasn't strong enough yet. He didn't budge!

After a while of just watching him fly, it got boring and I felt trapped. I went back to the bedroom area and fell fast asleep under a pre-heated electric blanket. I definitely needed one of these!

At some point Mom joined me for when I woke up she was lying curled up next to me. I didn't move for I was afraid I would wake her, and instead just enjoyed her arm draped over me keeping me close. We had raced all over town preparing for this journey. Mom had been super quiet about it. She hadn't welcomed my millions of question with more than a "You'll see." Could she be that nervous about seeing her family again?

I could feel the plane descending and fear washed over me. "Who would pick us up? What would we eat? Where would we stay? What would I learn? Why wouldn't Mom tell me anything?" I had so many questions and absolutely no answers.

I looked at Mom, she was now awake and straightening her hair and make up. She looked so confident that I tried to be brave. All I really wanted was to go home. Suddenly I missed my teammates, my Dad, and even my brothers. Everything in me was screaming, "RUN!"

We were met by a nice man in a white shirt and gray slacks. He had a sign that read "Kundam." I was walking past him when Mom put out her hand and said, "Amon, it's been so long!"

Was that the family name then? I found it strange that I didn't know this fact. I watched as he gathered our things and giggled when he winked and crossed his eyes at the weight of Mom's suitcase. Sadly, he herded us into the waiting car. After being cooped up for so long I was hoping to run and jump, just let out some of this pent up energy. I was so happy to be out of the sky I took a deep breath and jumped in the car. We drove for over an hour or so before I dozed off. When I awoke we were on a boat....in our car!

Mom said it was called a ferry and it was the only way onto the family island. "Did she just say family island? That didn't compute. What is a family island?" Thoughts began to whirl away in my mind again. This adventure kept growing and we really hadn't even begun.

As the ferry got near land again I could see a large crowd on the beach where we would dock. Seeing as we were the only people on the ferry I was guessing they were all out to greet us. The butterflies in my stomach started warming up their acrobatics.

I tried to hide behind Mom as we got out of the car but my curiosity wouldn't keep me hidden for long. As I stepped around her skirts to get a closer look, the people all stared back at me with wide eyed wonder. I heard a few gasps. Suddenly they all dropped to their knees and put their heads on the sand!