Chapter Ten

Jake’s frustration

Help! Help! Jake shouted, we need a doctor and a stretcher, quickly, hurry. Enrique raised himself up on the gun’l and shouted in Spanish. “Carlos has been hurt badly, get some men and bring a plank or a door to carry him on.” Enrique knew full well there was no ambulance or regular doctor here, no stretcher either.

In a very short time several men came with the door taken from a shed, they backed an old pickup truck up to the boat and climbed in with Carlos. “Gently, please, keep him on his side and do not let him roll. He lives but has the spear still in his chest” Enrique commanded. The men carefully eased Carlos onto the door and raised him over the side. They then lowered him into the back of the truck. That done they helped Enrique over the side as well.

“Are there any doctors here now” Enrique asked. Occasionally one of the guests at the resort was a doctor but luck was not with them. “No, we have no doctors here now. There are only three families from Mexico City and two gringos that stay drunk all the time.

Jake understood enough of the talk to realize there was very little help here. “Enrique, where should we take him now, what should we do?” “We must take him over the mountains to LaPaz, that is where the hospital is” Enrique replied. “How far is that” Jake asked. “It is a long distance and the road is very rough, but that is where the hospital is and that is where we must go. All we can do is radio them that we are coming and hope that Carlos can remain strong”.

“No Enrique a trip like that will surely kill him” Jake said. “Ain’t there something else we can do?” Jake looked at the old beat up truck and at his friend lying in the back and knew that Carlos would never survive the rough ride. La Paz lay much further north on the coast over mountains and around a large bay. The road wound up and over the spine of the ridge. It was a dirt track, very rough, rutted and often impassable for weeks at a time. The trip could take more than a day under the best of conditions and much longer most of the time.

Jake felt more helpless than he had ever felt before. He didn’t know what to do to help his friend and he knew Carlos would die soon without help. He thought, “If only I had my plane here I could take Carlos and Enrique to La Paz in a matter of minutes. Or at least bring the doctor to him. Jake looked around wildly hoping to find some solution to the problems he faced.

A shiny triangle shaped bit of something showed above the top of a small palm tree and caught Jake’s eye. “What’s that” he wondered. Jake did not understand why he was so attracted to the strange object but he trotted off a short ways to see it better. When he rounded the base of the tree he could see the entire object, it was an airplane! What he had seen was the very top corner of the vertical fin, the plane was a Cessna 206 and looked to be in very good shape.

“Hey! ENRIQUE” Jake shouted, “there is a plane here, we can fly Carlos to the doctor! Tell them to find the pilot.

“There is an airplane there, who does it belong to, can we use it?” Enrique asked. “Yes, yes there is a plane, it belongs to the two drunken Gringos that I told you of. They came in from fishing with Phillipe a few hours ago”.

“Find them, find them now and we will get them to take Carlos to the doctor” Enrique shouted.

Jake ran on over to the plane and started to check it out. It was a very nice plane with plenty of room inside. It had nearly full tanks of fuel too. Jake ran back and got the men to bring the truck around. He opened the back door and removed the last row of seats. This made enough room to slide Carlos into the plane on his side. He helped Enrique into the passenger seat and sliding him over placed his broken leg on the other seat.

“Where is the Pilot, we need to git going” Jake asked. A man came running up and gasping for breath told them, “the Americanos are drunk, they drank all day fishing and now they are useless.

Jake understood enough of what was said to grasp the situation, “Damn” he mumbled to himself, I can fly this thing if you know the way” he said to Enrique. “If you can drive the plane, I can show you the way” Enrique replied.

Jake checked the seat belts on Carlos and Enrique, then quickly checked the fuel and oil. He climbed into the pilot’s seat and reached for the starter. “Shit, no key” he said. Just then two men loomed up beside the plane. Jake looked at them and saw they were Americans, “good the pilot is here, he can fly us” he thought.

Jake opened the door and started to step out when the bigger of the two men grabbed his arm and jerked him from the plane. Jake hit the ground on his face and chest, he lay stunned for a second then saw the big man draw back his foot to kick him.

“Goddam dirty mesican, tryin to steal my plane, I’m gonna teach you some manners” Jake rolled away as the big man’s kick came at him. When he missed the man fell flat on his back. The other man grabbed Jake by the shirt and dragged him to his feet. Jake blocked the blow aimed at his face and tried to explain, “We weren’t stealing it, we need to take these men to the doctor. We tried to get you to fly us but” Boom! The man finally slipped a hand free and hit Jake right in the mouth. The first man had rolled over and regained his feet. He looked blearily around, spotted Jake being held by his friend and charged like a bull.

“Oh bullshit” Jake said, he spun around in the grip of the second man, stomped on the instep of his foot and smashed the back of his head into the man’s nose. The man let go of Jake just as the big man got to him. Jake grabbed the big man’s neck and shoving down raised his knee into the man’s face. The big man raised up on his toes and crashed over onto his back. Jake spun to face the second man but he was sitting on the ground holding his hands to his face while blood poured from his broken nose.

Jake reached down to the big man and felt in his pockets, he found a set of keys and turning to the Mexican men who had helped him with Carlos said. Take them back to their room, put some ice on his nose and when this one wakes up tell him I will bring his plane back as soon as I can. They helped the second man to his feet and none to gently, dragged the big one away. As soon as they were clear Jake hit the starter.

“I hope I can fly this damn thing” Jake said to himself. He was a good pilot in his own plane but the piper cub was a lot smaller and a lot more simple than what he now sat in. He looked around as he taxied out and spotted a windsock. The runway was easy to find it was right in front of him. Three thousand feet of graded sand and dirt. While he taxied to the south end he studied the controls. He looked for a flap handle and finally spotted an electric switch that controlled flaps. He knew what the prop control was for and figured that the rest would come to him as needed.

Reaching the end of the strip he swung the plane around and eased the throttle in. The plane surged ahead, much stronger than he was used to. He held it straight with the rudder pedals and waited for the wings to start to lift. At about sixty knots he eased back on the yoke and the Cessna rose into the air. Once airborne the Cessna felt better, the tricycle gear had been foreign to him but the flying was more familiar. As soon as he was stable and climbing well he shouted at Enrique “Where do we go from here”.

“North, we must go north, up the coast past our village and many miles more” he said.

It was growing dark and Jake knew that there would be no dusk such as there was in Alaska, here it went from daylight to darkness in just a few minutes.

“There is your village” Jake shouted to Enrique. “So soon” Enrique said, he had not thought of the speed of the plane and still figured travel time by boat or by the bad roads. “It grows dark Jake, can you fly in the dark?”
“Yes, I can fly in the dark OK,” he did not say that he was not sure he could land in the dark. He knew better than to ask Enrique about landing lights or radio. Enrique had never been more than fifty miles from his village in his entire life.

Jake had the plane trimmed out level so took a moment to check for charts, he found a chart and a small flashlight in a pocket of his seat. It was folded to show the area they were in and clearly showed LaPaz as well. He located the radio frequency and tuned that in. Jake rough gauged the distance and figured he had only a little time left to get ready.

Jake picked up the microphone and called “LaPaz tower, LaPaz tower come in.” There was no response. He tried once again and was about to give up when a voice came in. “This is LaPaz tower, state who is calling please”. Jake didn’t know the call numbers of this plane so he just said, “LaPaz tower this is an emergency medical flight coming from Palmas de Cortez, I need runway lights and an ambulance”.

“Medical flight, LaPaz tower, it is not legal to fly VFR at night, you may not land without a flight plan”

“LaPaz tower, I am in the air now and I am coming into LaPaz so file me a flight plan” Jake told the controller.

“Medical flight, LaPaz tower, I cannot give you permission, do not land here, it is not legal.”

“Mister I’m coming in right now and I’m going to land or crash but I’m coming in so turn on the damn runway lights or I might hit the tower.”

Jake could see the white sand along the curve of the bay, he knew from his brief look at the chart that LaPaz lay on the south side of the bay so he started to descend. He was down to two thousand feet and staring into the inky blackness below. He could see the white sand and the breaking waves but could see no features at all inland.

Jake was about to despair when he saw the double string of blue lights come on just ahead and a little to the west. He eased the plane over to line up with the lights and pulled back on the throttle. The heavy plane began to drop much faster than Jake’s cub did. Jake gave it a touch more power and slowed the decent.

“We’re almost there Enrique” Jake hollered. When he got no answer he looked back and saw that Enrique had finally passed out from his injuries. “Well, hell’s bells” Jake thought “I’m all alone now ain’t I”. The old saying that he had picked up from Old Man Horton made him smile a little. “I guess I ain’t quite all alone after all.” Jake said to himself as he thought of all the people who had helped him at one time or another.

Jake had not done any night flight for a long time and wouldn’t do it now if he didn’t have to. He knew that a man’s depth perception was way off in the dark and that you could hit awful hard when you thought you were still way off the ground. Jake set up a 200 foot per minute decent and aimed to land well past the beginning of the lights. Just then the radio came on again.

“Medical flight, LaPaz tower, cleared to land, altimeter setting 29.95” “Roger LaPaz tower, cleared to land” Jake responded. He adjusted the altimeter and knowing the airport had to be at sea level he had six hundred feet to go. Jake pushed the flap button and reset the trim, he checked his decent and added power. Now Jake turned on the landing lights and could see the runway below. He kept his eyes fixed way out in front of him so he would not get confused by the reflection of the landing light on the runway. Jake just held the plane on a line right between the rows of blue lights and maintained the 200-foot per minute decent until the tires thumped on the ground. He quickly pulled off the throttle, flipped the flap switch off and pushed the brakes.

Jake was looking for the taxiway when a police vehicle pulled up in front of him blocking his way. Jake shut down the plane and got out to be met by two officers with huge revolvers pointed at his face. They started screaming at him to turn around and lean against the plane. One of the officers frisked him while the other kept the gun pointed at him.
“Where is the ambulance” Jake asked them. “Where is the doctor?” Jake was getting more and more angry as the two officers ignored his questions and continued to push him around.

Enrique woke up when the plane touched down and moaned at the pain in his leg. When he heard the commotion with Jake and the two cops he shouted at them to stop being stupid pigs and get the doctor.

Soon the two cops and Enrique were shouting and cursing at each other and Jake had about run out of patience. Jake was about to tackle both of them, steal their car and head for the hospital when another car showed up. This one had a small, dapper man in it that jumped out and immediately silenced the two officers. “Are you Jake” he asked in very good English.

“Yes, I’m Jake, can you help us please”. “Do you have a man named Carlos Diego with you and is he injured” the small man asked politely. “Yes Carlos and his brother Enrique, they are both hurt and Carlos will die if we don’t get to a doctor soon” Jake explained.

“Do not worry Senor, the ambulance will be here very shortly and we will take care of everything. I have been sent by Don Jose' Ortega and have been instructed to help you in any way I can. Please excuse me for one moment.

The two cops had been standing there looking very surly until the small man turned to them. He spoke with quiet intensity, in Spanish and the two began to look very worried and sick. When he was done speaking one of them took off at a dead run and the other jumped into his car and roared off. The first had been gone only a few seconds when the sound of a motor was heard and he came back driving a small tow tractor as fast as it would go. Without a word he dropped to his knees and attached a tow bar to the plane and very gently pulled it away. Jake followed the plane and the small man got into his car and followed Jake.

The plane was parked near a gate in the fence and the cop hustled over to open the gate. Jake could hear a siren coming fast and then it was there. Gently and quickly Carlos was lifted out of the plane and placed on a gurney. Then Enrique was helped from the plane and into the ambulance, Jake started to go too and the small man said, “there is not room for you sir, you may ride with me and we will follow them”.

The officer in the car was waiting at the first intersection and led off to run interference
for them. Jake rode in the car and for the first time in hours was able to relax for a moment. “Thank you for the help sir, I was in a lot of trouble back there. How did you know who we were and that we were coming in?”

“I have been friends with Don Jose' for many years and when he called me I came as fast as I could. I had to make calls to set up the ambulance and to alert the hospital or I would have been there sooner and avoided that unpleasantness. Don Jose' had received a radio linked call from Palmas de Cortez. Enrique had given them his name and how to contact him. When they told him what had happened and that you were on your way he called me and asked me to assist you. He thinks very highly of you sir, he also seemed to think that you might kill someone if you ran into delays. I think perhaps he was right on that count, you seemed quite ready to take on two armed men with your bare hands and the owners of the plane will not feel well for some time.

Jake thought it best to just keep quiet about that sort of thing, so he asked, “Is it a good hospital, will they be able to save Carlos?”

“That I do not know sir, it is a good hospital and they will do what can be done, we will see to that.”

There was no way to get word to Carlos’ family, Jake supposed someone might have run a boat up the coast and told them of the accident but there was no radio or telephone any closer.


The hospital was small but clean and they took Carlos straight into surgery, Enrique was taken into another room where his injuries were treated. Jake and the small man, whose name was Pablo Gutierez waited for word on Carlos. In moments a nurse came by and Pablo questioned her. “She says that Carlos needs blood right away, they are trying to type and match him to get some on the way here.” “Tell her that he is type O-negative, the same as me. He gave me blood before and now I can give to him.” Pablo told the nurse and she took Jake by the arm and led him swiftly away.

Had he not been unconscious at the time Jake would have recognized that the situation was nearly identical to the time ten years before. Only then Jake had been undergoing surgery and Carlos had been giving blood. Jake watched silently as the nurse placed the needle in his arm. Then as the thick, hot blood ran out through a tube, into a big jar and then through a tube into Carlos.

Carlos’ lips were blue, his eyelids looked bruised and his skin was pale. As Jake watched Carlos regained some color, his lips were less blue. The doctor repeated the same words that the other doctor had used ten years earlier, “take all that you dare from him, we need all we can get or this man will die.” Jake watched until his vision got funny and the nurse said “that’s it, we can take no more.” Jake had another needle and tube in his other arm, from this they gave him fluids to replace the lost blood.

“You will be weak and dizzy for a while, you should drink fruit juice and remain quiet” the nurse told him as she led him slowly back to the waiting room.

“I need to get word to Carlos’ family Pablo, but I don’t have any idea how to do it” Jake said. “There is a radio at Palmas and I will have someone from there go and tell them, I just would like to have some news for them first” Pablo responded. “As soon as we know I will arrange it. Now you should rest, I will wake you if there is any news”

Hours later a doctor came out and spoke to them, “Carlos is alive, I don’t know how or why, the spear missed his heart by a fraction of an inch and actually pushed his aorta aside as it went in. His right lung was punctured and his spine was bruised. The bill of the fish split his breastbone going in and broke two ribs where it came out. Leaving the bill in place and keeping him on his side saved his life. The next few days will tell the tale, infection is the biggest problem now but he is a strong man and god willing he will live.”

Jake woke up with a start, he was laying on a bench in the hospital waiting room and couldn’t figure out where he was or why he was there. When he sat up the pain of all his sore muscles and bruises brought the memory back with a vengeance. Jake moaned and tried to stand up. He was leaning against the wall, holding his head when the nurse came in.

“No, no Senor, you must lie down, you must rest” she eased him back down onto the bench. “How is my friend, how is Carlos”? Jake asked her. “He lives, that one is very strong.”

“And Enrique? How is Enrique? She looked perplexed. “The one with the broken leg” Jake told her. “Ah, yes, I did not know his name. I will ask, can I get you anything?” “I’m very thirsty” Jake said, “could I have some water”. “Yes, I will bring some, now please rest quietly and I will be right back.”

The nurse returned in just a few minutes and handed Jake a tall glass of water, she also had a big glass of fruit juice and some coffee. Jake drank half the water in one gulp. “Slowly Senor, drink slowly or you may be sick, here take some aspirin it will help with the soreness. I want you to drink all the water and the juice, then you may have the coffee.”

“Nurses are the same wherever you go” Jake thought to himself, “bossy”. He drank the water, then took a sip of the coffee just out of orneriness and then drank all the juice. He was just starting again on the coffee when the nurse came back pushing Enrique in a wheelchair.

“Jake, are you alright?” Enrique said. “Me, are you all right? You’re the one with the broken leg” Jake replied. “This, this is nothing, you look like you have been run over by a bull. You should be strong like us Mexicans” Enrique said with a grin. Then more seriously he asked, “how is Carlos? They say he lives but tell me nothing more.”

“I don’t know Enrique, that is all they have told me too. How did all this happen, I never heard of a fish attacking someone before”. “ No Jake, the fish did not attack us, when it felt the bite of the hook it jumped ahead as fast as it could. It is just bad luck that it leaped in the air when we were too close. It does not happen very often and I have never seen a man stabbed like Carlos before”.

“Yeah, Carlos was explaining to me about why you run the boat away from the fish as fast as possible. He was just starting to explain about fish jumping into the boat when the marlin hooked up. It all happened so fast that he couldn’t even duck down. I would have never believed something like this if I hadn’t been there”.

Jake and Enrique talked for a while longer and then lapsed into silence. After a couple of hours the small, dapper man from the night before came bustling into the waiting room. “Ah, Jake, Enrique, good day, how do you feel this morning? You do not look like you have rested at all. And you, Enrique, I did not meet with you last night, my name is Pablo and I am here to help you in any way I can”.

The small man was so full of energy and so sincere that Jake and Enrique could not help but feel better. He perched on the edge of his chair like a bird and looked expectantly at them.

“Pablo, we have not been able to find out anything about Carlos this morning” Jake said. “I spoke with the surgeon just before I came in here. Carlos is doing as well as can be hoped at this time. He has not wakened yet but his heart is strong and his breathing is good. I also asked about you Enrique, and they say that you can leave the hospital anytime you like. I contacted the managers at Palmas de Cortez and they have sent a boat to your village to tell your family what has happened. Carlos’ wife and yours Enrique, will be brought to the resort and will wait there to hear from you. The people at the resort said that they would dig a trench around your boat and re-float it. They said that it is not damaged and they will watch it until you return.”

Enrique and Jake just stared at the small man who had accomplished all the things in moments that they had been trying to do all morning. Pablo merely sat there, tidy and composed looking at them.

“Pablo, thank you for what you have done, I don’t know how you were able to accomplish all that in so short a time. I cannot thank you enough, we are deeply in your debt”.

“No, no not at all Enrique, I am most pleased to be able to help in some small way. It allows me to perform a service for Don Jose'. You see, I come from a village very much like yours. Don Jose' took me to Mexico City when I was a young boy and paid for me to go to school. His gift has allowed me to help my family and to do things I had only dreamed of. To be able to help him in this small way has been my honor.”

“Jake, the two American fishermen who loaned you their airplane would like you to feel free to use it to transport family if you need to. They said to keep it for as long as you need it. They are being well taken care of at the resort and wish to apologize for their actions yesterday.” Pablo smiled and winked at Jake.

“How did you fix that”, Jake asked. “I figured that I would be going to jail or at least get beat up when I took it back to them. That big fella didn’t seem the type to be real understanding about a broken nose.”

“Oh I had two lovely young ladies go down and explain the entire situation to them, they could have a very good time and enjoy the hospitality of the resort and the ladies, or they could have a discussion with several very large men with machetes. They wisely chose the ladies and will cause no problems. Jake, I suggest that you and Enrique come with me now, we will get some good food and then check you into a hotel. There you can get some rest. The hospital will contact me immediately if there is any change in Carlos’ condition. If you feel up to it in the morning Jake, you can fly Enrique back to the resort and pick up Maria.”

Jake thought about it for a minute and just couldn’t come up with any good reason to not do as Pablo suggested. The gentleman had taken care of everything in one smooth stroke. They checked Enrique out of the hospital and wheeled him out to Pablo’s car. From now on he could get along on crutches. Pablo drove them to a local restaurant where they ate like they had been starved for a week. When Pablo dropped them at a nice motel Jake and Enrique were very tired, but much better than they would have been in the hospital.

The next morning Jake felt much better, he still had sore muscles but his head was clear and his vision was sharp again. Enrique was learning to use his crutches and was able to get around much better. After a late breakfast Pablo drove them to the airport. The plane had been fueled and tied safely down. The same two police officers were on hand when they drove up but this time they were all smiles and helpful attitudes.

“When you return, Jake, the officers will call me and I will come to pick you up. Then we will check on Carlos and take you back to your hotel.”

“Pablo, you don’t need to do that” Jake said, “I can get a taxi or something, you have done so much for us and you must have business of your own to take care of.” “Jake, you wound me deeply” the little man said with his hand pressed over his heart. “I must assist you in this affair, it is a matter of honor. Surely you would not have me dishonored would you? Besides I have not had an excuse to get out of the office for years and I am enjoying myself immensely.”

Jake had finally learned that it was futile to argue with the little demon so he just smiled and shook Pablo’s hand.

Jake was much more comfortable with the plane this time and it was full daylight. He took off, climbed out and headed south. When they landed Maria and Margarita were waiting for them. Enrique was taken back to Punta Tibaron by boat where he had lots of family to help out and Jake, Maria and Margarita headed back to LaPaz. It was the first time that either one of the ladies had been in a plane and they stared wide eyed at the ground speeding by below them. Jake pointed out their home as they flew over. They did not talk much, it was to noisy in the plane and later they just didn’t know what to say to each other. Maria embraced Jake and then placing her hand on his cheek softly said “Gracias”.

Now Jake felt just awful about what had happened to Carlos, the fishing trip had been for him and he felt like it was all his fault that the accident had happened. While they waited for Pablo to get to the airport Margarita slipped her hand into his and stood beside him. Jake didn’t know what to do so he just held her hand and kept quiet.

Moments later they heard the chirp of tires and the sound of an engine being pushed hard. Pablo came screeching around the corner and slid to a stop. The dapper little man was dressed in a fine suit, a Panama hat and racing gloves. Pablo leaped out of the car, bowed to the ladies, kissed their hands and ushered them into the car. Before they knew what was going on they were charging down the road at breakneck speed.

“Carlos has awakened” Pablo chortled before Jake had a chance to ask. They called just a few minutes ago and said that he woke up, looked around and said “Maria, Jake, and I’m hungry”. Jake laughed, Maria wept and when he looked at her Margarita kissed him!