Things had been fairly calm around Vella La Cava or as calm as things could be in the midst of a war. However, that was about to change and several events were going to snowball into organized chaos for the pilots of Marine fighter squadron, VMF-214, the Black Sheep.

"Pappy, we have a problem," Casey said upon entering his tent.

Major Greg "Pappy" Boyington looked up from studying some reconnaissance photos taken over Kolombangara earlier that morning.

"Casey, for the last time, if it's about those 24 cases of scotch that we're getting from the crew of that Navy destroyer based out of Guam, I told you all that they will be delivered sometime today, so go back to the Sheep Pen and tell everyone to be patient."

"No, it's not that," Casey was silent for a moment trying to find the words to express what even he was having a hard time believing himself.

"I think maybe you ought to come over to the Sheep Pen and see for yourself," he said finally.

Curious as to what was going on, that Casey couldn't tell him, Greg got up and followed him outside accompanied, as usual, by his white bull terrier, Meatball. Entering the Sheep Pen he was surprised and a little puzzled to find the other Black Sheep intently looking into a basket that was on one of the tables. Hearing him and Casey enter, they immediately looked up and the expressions on their faces clearly indicated that they were up to something, which, of course, for them was normal.

"The question was," Greg said to himself. "What were they up to and how much trouble was it going to make for him?"

Walking over to the basket he looked inside and blinked wondering if he needed to put in for medical leave as it appeared he was looking at a very tiny, very cute, and very sound asleep Asian-American baby girl wrapped in a pink blanket. A tiny hand curled against her rosebud mouth and dark eyelashes framed her ivory pink cheeks.

"Is that what I think it is?" He asked slowly.

"If you think it's a baby then yeah," Jim Gutterman replied sarcastically.

Greg looked up and sighed.

"That's a relief, for a minute I thought I was losing my mind." Then he added. "Now could someone tell me what is going on here and I better not hear that one of you is a new father."

Casey spoke up.

"TJ and I found her while we were fishing this afternoon. We heard this noise and thought it was some kind of animal, so we went to investigate and after looking through the jungle a few feet we discovered this basket with the baby inside."

"No sign of anyone around?" Greg asked relieved that he didn't have a paternity issue on his hands.

Casey shook his head.

"We looked around and called out to see if anyone was nearby or could hear us, but we didn't see anyone and no one answered so we brought her here and then I came to get you."

"Well," Greg thought."This really screwed things up nicely."

They had to worry about Colonel Lard dropping in unexpectedly as he had not irritated them with his presence in sometime, which meant he could show up at anytime and for any reason. Not to mention the fact that since they were in the middle of a war and they were a Marine fighter squadron there was the constant threat of the island being bombed, by the Japanese in general and by Harachi in particular, although in the later case it was more of a nuisance rather than an actual threat, as Greg and Harachi had developed a love/hate friendship of sorts. They loved to act as though they hated each other, but so far neither one had actually gone and tried kill the other. Of course, there was a first time for everything. Then there was always the chance that they'd be shot down during a mission and be seriously injured, killed, or taken prisoner. Now, they had the added problem of what to do with a baby.

"Yes, things were definitely going to be peachy around here," Greg thought.

"What are we going to do?" TJ asked as if reading his mind.

Greg sat down at one of the tables, laid his head on his arms, and sighed. This was something that had never been covered in any training manual that he had ever read. He felt someone place a hand on his shoulder and he looked up into the concerned faces of his men.

"I'm okay," he assured them. "I was just a little overwhelmed by this new turn of events, but I think I may know how to handle the situation."

Then seeing their relieved looks he proceeded to tell them that after they made an afternoon patrol over The Slot at 1500 he wanted TJ and Casey to make another search of the area where they had been fishing and see if they could locate anything that might indicate who had left the baby and where they might have gone. Meanwhile, Anderson was to go to the other side of the island and see if one of the nurses could stop by to make sure that the baby was okay. Everyone else was to keep out of trouble as much as possible since he was going to be busy for the next few hours with reports and paperwork and didn't want to be disturbed. Greg really hated reports and paperwork and he had put off these particular ones to the point that they needed to be completed and sent in to Colonel Lard ASAP or he was going to be in for it.

Several hours later, Anderson pulled back the mosquito netting covering his door.

"Pappy, are you very busy?"

"I'm just finishing up this paperwork, is there something wrong that I should know about?"

"No," Anderson said as he entered and Greg indicated for him to sit down on a nearby chair. "Major Suzette McIntyre said someone will be here sometime tomorrow to help with our situation," he told him. Then seeing Greg's strange look explained, "I couldn't go into a lot of detail since Colonel Lard and General Moore were at the hospital for a meeting Dr. Pendleton, so I just told her that you wanted to talk to a nurse about a private situation."

"Good thinking, Bob, hopefully that won't raise their curiosity enough that they decide to stop by tomorrow and see what's going on." Then to himself added. "And hopefully Suzette doesn't think we've got a social disease epidemic on our hands."

Of course that was the least of my worries. I had been expecting a shipment of parts, brand new, factory sealed parts. These parts had, according to Washington, been supposed to arrive over a month ago, yet there was still no sign of them and, in the meantime, we were doing our best to keep the planes in the air by whatever means available, including duct tape.

The next morning, Greg was trying to straighten up his desk and Meatball was napping beside the baby's basket when Bragg and Gutterman ran into his tent.

"Don't you guys know how to knock and besides the baby is probably scared to death with all the noise you're making," Greg said looking at them sternly.

"Sorry," they said in unison and the baby, as if to prove Greg wrong, just blew a drool bubble and cooed at Meatball who was, wide awake and looking into her basket, watching her, since he had apparently made it his responsibility to keep a close eye on her.

"Now is there something you two wanted to tell me?"

The two of them suddenly remembered why they had rushed into Greg's tent in the first place.

"Yeah, there's a really hot looking nurse outside wanting to speak to you," Bragg said. Then with a mischievous smirk made an off color comment about why Greg had requested one of the nurses stop by.

"Don't I wish that were the case," Greg thought to himself before replying. "No, Suzette told Anderson yesterday that one of the nurses would be over to check the baby that Casey and TJ found to be sure she's okay. Then I'm going to contact Sister Mary Elizabeth at the orphanage and see if she has room to take her in, at least until there's information out that someone's looking for her."

The two of them nodded and then Gutterman asked. "Do you want us to go ahead and send her in here?"

"Yeah, and then tell everyone else that there's going to be a meeting in the Sheep Pen at 1900, anyone who doesn't show up will have to answer to me since what I have to say pertains to the next few days flight schedule."

The two of them ran back outside and a few minutes later Suzette entered.

"I didn't expect you to personally come out here," he said turning around and seeing her standing in the doorway.

Suzette sat her bag on the desk and Greg shooed Meatball out the door. The dog gave him a pathetic look before running off in the direction of the Sheep Pen.

"Well, when 2nd Lt. Anderson said you needed to talk to someone about a private matter and since I had just completed a lecture series with my nurse's on the prevention and treatment of social disease among our enlisted men. I thought maybe it would be best for me to see you myself."

Seeing where she was looking and realizing what she was inferring Greg felt the room suddenly growing warm, not to mention that he himself was beginning to feel hot as well.

"Suzette that is not what I needed to talk to someone about. I need..."

Before he could continue the baby, who had been sleeping in her basket on his cot, began to cry and Suzette looked from him to the basket.

"Did I just hear a baby?" She asked.

Greg went over and picked up the baby who snuggled against him and immediately quieted down with a soft sigh.

"This is what I needed to talk to someone about."

Suzette looked at him with a very questioning expression.

"No," he continued. "She's not mine nor is she any of the other Black Sheep's."

He then went on to explain about TJ and Casey finding her a few days earlier.

"I just want to make sure that she's not sick or anything before I contact Sister Mary Elizabeth to see if there's room for her at the orphanage."

Suzette nodded.

"I had extra training in pediatric nursing during my last year of nursing school. I had hoped to be working in the pediatric ward of a hospital or for a general practitioner, but then this stupid war occurred and anyone with nurse's training was encouraged to enlist and well, as you can see, this is how things turned out."

"So," he asked several minutes later.

Suzette finished making some notes and then handed the baby back to him.

"As far as I can tell she's in very good health, about a month old, I'd say she weighs about 10 pounds, although without an infant scale I can't be more accurate. The only thing I can find wrong with her is that she has a slight case of Candida dermatitis."

Greg looked at her concerned.

"What exactly is that and is it something I'm going to have to worry about the guys catching?"

"Commonly called diaper rash," she said grinning and then added. "I have some A&D ointment in my bag that I can give you to put on each time you change her diaper. I also would recommend letting her lay in the sun without her diaper for about 30 minutes each morning and that should help to clear it up and keep it from recurring."

Greg nodded. "What can you do about getting us some extra clothes and other things for her? There were two cans of powdered formula, that looked as though they came from a missions care package, and a bottle in the basket when Casey and TJ found her and one of those is already gone. We could probably use at least another box of cloth diapers, as well."

Suzette thought for a few moments.

"I'll see what I can do. But, to be honest, I'd contact Sister Mary Elizabeth as soon as possible. If Colonel Lard finds out about her you're going to be in a lot of trouble."

"It wouldn't be the first time," he replied.

"Here are my notes from her examination for you to give to Sister Mary Elizabeth and I'll see what I can do about getting formula, diapers, and few extra clothes."

"Thanks Suzette."

"You're welcome and, Greg, I'm serious about you contacting Sister Mary Elizabeth as soon as possible. You know yourself that Colonel Lard wants to see you and the Black Sheep broken up and this would be just one more thing he could use to justify it."

Greg just nodded and lightly brushed a kiss across her lips.

"Thanks for the warning, but I know how to handle Colonel Lard and it will be a cold day in hell before he sees the Black Sheep broken up as a squadron."

Suzette just looked at him not certain what to say to that.

"I'm supposed to be on floor duty in 45 minutes, so I'd better get back to the hospital, but I'll let you know if I'm able to get what you asked for," she said returning his kiss before picking up her things and heading out the door.

I knew that Suzette was right about getting in contact with Sister Mary Elizabeth about the baby before Colonel Lard showed up and the shit really hit the fan. However, for reasons I couldn't explain I knew that it was going to be harder to give the baby up than I had thought.

As he stepped outside with the baby the other Black Sheep stopped their baseball game and ran over to him.

"So, what's going on?" TJ asked.

"Yeah, Pappy, what did you find out about the baby?" French added.

Greg motioned for them to be quiet.

"The only thing wrong with her is that she has a mild case of Candida dermatitis," he told them.

The expressions on their faces were priceless as they stared at him in disbelief.

"It's not contagious, is it?" Anderson asked.

"Its diaper rash," Greg replied, which caused a sigh of relief to spread through the group.

"Suzette's told me what to do to clear it up and how to prevent it in the future. Now then, there's a signup sheet in the Sheep Pen, decide what day you want and put your name down. Casey, I want you to come with me and see if you can't get in contact with Sister Mary Elizabeth by radio. I want to find out how soon she can take the baby in."

"Say, Greg, what are we signing up for?" Boyle asked.

"You'll find out at tonight's briefing," Greg told him.

It took a few tries before Casey was able to get a connection with the orphanage, but eventually he was able to make contact and turned things over to Greg.

"Sister Mary Elizabeth, this is Major Greg Boyington with VMF-214 on Vella La Cava. What's that? ...Oh I'm fine...and you?... Good, good...Listen, a couple of my pilots were fishing the other day and they found a basket with an approximately one month old Asian-American baby girl inside, hidden in some vegetation. We can't seem to locate anyone who knows where she came from and I just had Major Suzette McIntyre from the hospital, on the other side of the island, check her out. She's in good health except for a mild case of diaper rash and I was wondering if there was any way you could take her in?"

Greg was silent for a few minutes as he listened to Sister Mary Elizabeth. Casey didn't think that from the look on his face it was good news.

"I see," he said finally. "Thank you and let me know if things change sooner."

"Well that's nice."

"What?" Casey asked.

"It's going to be awhile before the orphanage will have room to take her in since they currently have more children now than they can handle thanks to this wonderful little war we are currently in the middle of."

Later that evening, when everyone was gathered in the Sheep Pen for the briefing Greg had a hard time getting them to settle down and be quiet since they seemed more interested in talking about the new nurses assigned to the hospital rather than paying attention to him.

"Okay, listen up," he said sternly once he had their attention. "As soon as you're dismissed its lights out no staying in here drinking and no sneaking out to meet the nurses down at the beach."

His gaze swept over them with a look that said anyone who disobeyed his order would be in real trouble. That statement, as he had imagined it would be, was met with less than enthusiastic comments.

"We've got a lot going on this week and we need to be alert and as sober as possible. I can't afford for one of you meatheads to do something stupid and get shot up, end up in the hospital and out of action for several weeks, or worse get killed because you were drunk or had your mind on making out with one of the nurses."

"What's going on?" French asked and several of the others began questioning him as well.

Greg held up his hand signaling them to be quiet.

"If you'll shut up I'm going to tell you." Then indicating a map he had put up behind the bar he began to point out various locations in the vicinity. "Tomorrow at 0600 I want the usual morning patrol of the entire perimeter of The Slot."

This news was met with confused looks.

"I'm moving it up an hour because there have been reports of some activity going on near Kolombangara. I have my suspicions, from the reconnaissance photos that were taken the other day, that there's some construction going on and I want it hit and hit hard enough that we send a clear message to the Japs that it will be a waste of time and materials for them to even think about rebuilding once we're through," he said making a large circle on the map indicating the area he was talking about. "I want us in the air no later than 0800, so as soon as we get back from patrol get refueled and be ready to take off again when I say."

"Then," he continued. "Tuesday, same thing at 0600 the usual morning patrol routine. Then after that we're going to divide up. I'm leading the first team and we're going to head towards Choiseul, there's been two Navy destroyers that have been hit in the last 24 hours and I want to send a message to those rice balls that it would be a pretty good idea for them to leave the area and stay away, far, far, away if they know what's good for them. Gutterman is going to lead the second team and see if they can't get some clear pictures of the airstrip and type of buildings on Munda. Then, after we go over those we're going to bomb the crap out of everything. I want the airstrip, planes, oil tanks, anything that can be hit and hit hard bombed. If Casey can get the film developed and I get a chance to look it over plan on being in the air by 0700 on Wednesday to put the screws to them."

"What's he trying to do, kill the Japanese and us too? That's a week's worth of missions in three days," Gutterman muttered under his breath.

Greg heard him and grinned before continuing.

"Wednesday afternoon, if at all possible, but definitely Thursday, we are going to go over every single plane. I want you to write down everything you can find wrong with each plane and photograph every part that has something wrong with it, if possible, to show what you are talking about. Then on a separate sheet of paper I want you to write your name, rank, serial number, what squadron your with, and every single detail about your plane including damage sustained while in combat or on patrol and the date and location of where the damage occurred, if you can remember it."

"What's the point in going to all this trouble?" Bragg asked.

"The point," Greg answered. "Is that I am damn sick and tired of those big shots in Washington promising me parts and then I never see them. So, I am going to mail all of this, pictures, descriptions, who flies what plane, etc. to Washington to show them what I'm talking about. I figure if those bureaucrats can see for themselves what we've got to work with then maybe they'll get their asses in gear and get us what we need to get those planes out there in halfway decent shape. Questions?"

Boyle raised his hand.

"Say, Pappy, what makes you so sure those big shots in Washington will break down and send us the parts. They might just take a look at the pictures and descriptions, decide that our planes aren't worth fixing and since on any given day it's a miracle that we have the 15 planes needed to keep us together, they would say that it's all the evidence they need to break us up as a squadron and send us who knows where."

None of the others knew it, but that thought had crossed my mind several times since I had discussed the plan with Hutch. What he knew, and of course none of the others did, was that I had a backup plan in mind that would guarantee the Black Sheep stayed together no matter what.

"Hopefully, it won't come to that, but if it does don't worry there's no way they're going to break us up as long as I'm around."

Several cries of "That's telling them." and "Let 'em have it, Pappy," could be heard and he waited until things had quieted down before continuing.

"One last thing, I contacted Sister Mary Elizabeth and at the moment there is no possible way she can take the baby in. So it looks like she's going to be around for awhile, the way things look now. I don't think we can keep calling her it or the baby so we need to decide on a name for her."

There was quite a bit of discussion after that as everyone wanted to name her after their mother, sister, grandmother, great, great aunt, favorite teacher, first girlfriend in grade school, the elderly next door neighbor who always had a plate of their favorite just baked cookies for them when they were growing up, or another special female they fondly remembered. Finally, Greg had a list of about 20 or so names and after much discussion and elimination they narrowed that list down to eight.

"Okay," Greg instructed. "I want each of you to pick two of these eight names and write them on a piece of paper and hand that in to me."

The next few minutes were quiet with the exception of an occasional coo or giggle from the baby, who was in her basket on the floor between TJ and Casey, as everyone tried to decide which two names to choose. At last, all the papers were handed in and Greg spread them out on the bar looking them over. Meatball got up, went outside, and came back a few minutes later with a stick which after he lay down began to chew on.

"All right," Greg said finally. "It looks as if we've decided to name her Emily Grace."

Meatball stopped chewing on the stick, thumped his tail on the ground, and barked happily, obviously pleased with the name as well.

Just then Greg remembered the signup sheet that he had mentioned earlier.

"And one more thing Suzette told me that we should let Emily sunbathe on her tummy, on a towel, without her diaper, for about 30 minutes each morning to help clear up and prevent her diaper rash from reoccurring. The signup sheet I mentioned earlier is over here on the wall, so all of you need to write your name by what day you want to sit with her while she sunbathes. Of course, this won't excuse you from patrol duty. So, that means you will sit with her, on your chosen day, as soon as we get back from that," he told them. "Dismissed and remember what I said about lights out."

Despite having gotten to bed at a decent hour, for once, the Black Sheep were half asleep as they climbed into their planes for the morning patrol over The Slot. Greg had checked the weather report and it was going to be an uneventful patrol, weather-wise, they might face a few clouds near New Georgia, but they could drop down to 18,000 feet and take care of that matter, if they needed to. The morning patrol went off without incident, the only thing in sight was the USS Detroit and after changing frequencies Greg was able to make contact with them. There was some good natured bantering between them as well as a few comments made in regard to the new nurses at the hospital. Finally, Greg was able to get to the real reason for contacting them and after much bargaining back and forth he was able to make a deal that the Black Sheep would leave the new nurses alone for a week in exchange for four cases of bourbon, eight cases of scotch, six cases of whiskey, a case of rum, and twelve cases of beer, as well as a box of 50 assorted cuts of steak, from the shipment that Admiral Willoughby had ordered to be served at a dinner honoring some dignitaries from England who were going to arriving in a few weeks. The fact that they had to literally keep their hands off the newly arrived nurses for a week didn't sit too well with the Black Sheep, but since they were getting steaks and liquor out of the deal that helped to make up for the inconvenience to some extent.

A few minutes later, they were once again heading back towards Kolumbangara and the USS Detroit was soon nothing more than a speck in the distance.

"From this point forward and until I say otherwise I want no radio contact, whatsoever, use hand signals only if you need to communicate with each other since we don't know for certain what they've got going on down there. You all know what to look for, so once we see it bomb the hell out of it."

"Got it Greg," Anderson replied.

"Roger that Pappy," French seconded.

And the others responded likewise.

They flew in silence, then just over Kolombangara, Boyle thought he saw something going on down below them and, as they dropped in altitude, the airstrip and other buildings shown in the photographs taken earlier were clearly visible. A few seconds later the construction in progress was reduced to a dark burning crater as the four fuel tanks exploded in a hellacious fireball consuming the planes and other buildings in the process as the Black Sheep dropped 500 pound bombs on them. When they were several hundred miles from the sight Greg resumed radio contact.

"Great job everyone, that's going to send them a pretty strong message that we're not here to play games, this is war and we're serious about winning."

Then for the next few minutes there was nonstop talking as they discussed the mission and congratulated each other on its success. Suddenly, Anderson saw something and it definitely was not what he wanted nor hoped to see. Eight Zeros were closing in on them from behind at 3 o'clock.

"We've got trouble eight Zeros on our tails at 3 o'clock," he yelled into the radio.

Suddenly, everything was quiet as the Black Sheep ceased their conversation and concentrated on the situation at hand as the eight Zeros closed in. One of them made the mistake of thinking that he had encountered an easy target not realizing who he was up against. For his mistake he was given a direct and permanent trip to visit his ancestors as a well placed shot by Anderson to his fuel tank sent the Zero exploding into a million pieces, the burning metal falling to the ocean below like the remnants of July 4th fireworks. Though not in quite so spectacular fashion French and Casey also added to their confirmed kills. Three of the four remaining Zeros, not liking the odds they were up against, turned and headed back in the direction they had come from. The last one, however, was going to honor the memory of his fallen pilots and bring down an enemy plane or two. He got behind TJ and stuck to him like glue to paper despite TJ's attempts to shake him off by any means possible.

"Hey, I could use some help over here," TJ said into the radio trying to keep calm.

"I'm on my way," Bragg affirmed.

"Same here," Boyle replied.

"Pappy, you want us to go after those other three Zeros?" French asked.

At the moment Greg was more concerned with Boyle, TJ, and Bragg as the pilot of that Zero was either unconcerned with who he was up against, insane, or both and it could quickly come to a point where all of them were going to be needed to get the three of them out of trouble.

"Let 'em go we've got bigger problems with this rice ball," he said.

Just then Gutterman fired a shot striking the underside of the plane. The Zero spiraled toward the ocean breaking up as it hit the water before sinking like a stone.

"You okay TJ," Greg asked.

"I'm fine, the plane's got a cracked canopy and there's definitely some exterior damage where I got hit, but nothing that Hutch should have trouble taking care of."

Boyle and French confirmed that their planes were in the same shape.

"We shouldn't have any trouble making it back then," Greg said relieved.

I couldn't believe that we had gotten out of that without losing even one plane or life. They say God looks after fools and drunks and in our case it could be said to be the literal truth.

Arriving back on Vella La Cava the Black Sheep found everything quiet. Hutch was sitting against a tree cleaning some spark plugs while Emily was asleep in her basket with Meatball lying beside her basket sleeping as well.

As soon as the planes had landed Greg walked over and sat down beside Hutch.

"Did they actually find the time to send us some parts?" He asked indicating the box of spark plugs.

"You kidding, I found four boxes of these back in that old supply shed. They're all in need of a good cleaning, but I think we might be able to get some use out of them."

Greg suddenly got a bemused look on his face.

"What?" Hutch asked.

"Do you realize those rice balls probably left them when they vacated this island? I'd like to see the looks on those big shots in Washington's faces if they ever found out we've been reduced to using parts meant for enemy planes just to keep ours in the air."

"If they'll even work," Hutch replied.

Greg picked up one of the plugs that Hutch had finished cleaning and looked at it.

"They might, I've got some paperwork to finish up and then we can switch the plugs from plane with these and I'll fly out a little ways and see what happens."

"Fine by me, a couple of the nurses brought two boxes and put them on your cot. They said to tell you that they're from Suzette."

"It's probably some things that I asked her try to get Emily, so I'll head over and see what she was able to send over," he replied.

As he picked up Emily's basket Meatball awoke and barked in greeting. Afraid that he'd awaken her, Greg whispered for him to be quiet. Meatball looked at Emily and seeing that she was still asleep glanced at Greg as if to say, "What are you worried about she's sound asleep?" before following him across the camp.

At Greg's tent, Meatball made himself comfortable on the cot the minute Greg had set the two boxes on the floor.

"Hey leave room for Emily," he told him gently pushing him aside so he could get her basket off the floor. Then he proceeded to see what was in the boxes. Opening the first one he found an envelope with a note inside.

This was the best I could do,

I know it's not much, but

hopefully you can try to request

any other supplies you need for

Emily and maybe Colonel Lard

will sign off on the request without

checking it.

Love,

Suzette

"There's not a snowball's chance in hell of that happening," Greg said to himself.

But, at least Suzette had managed to get a few of the things he needed. Looking through the box he found a couple of baby blankets, about two dozen cloth diapers, a couple baby bottles, a rattle, some picture books, a cloth doll, and a yellow duck. The second box contained two cases of powdered formula and some little shirts and nightgowns as well as a book on baby care.

"Well, at least we've got a few more things for you," Greg said to Emily before he picked up the book and began reading.

It was later that afternoon and most of the Black Sheep were either down at the beach with the nurses or playing cards in the Sheep Pen. Emily was with Casey and French who had gone with Penelope and Claire for a walk along the beach. This, with them watching Emily, made it easier for Greg and Hutch to check out the spark plugs that he had found in the maintenance shed.

"We'll just check out about 12 of them in my plane and then the others can each check out 12 in their planes until we've gone through all the boxes."

Hutch nodded.

"I've already switched one out on your plane so take off whenever you're ready.

Greg took off and flew out over the water for a few miles along the same path as the morning patrol with no problems.

"That one was okay," he told Hutch as they switched out that plug for another one.

After about the third time flying out Casey, French, Penelope, and Claire all noticed the plane.

"Who is that?" Claire asked.

Casey looked up at the plane circling around.

"It's Pappy, but I have no idea why he keeps taking off and landing like that."

"Do you think he's in some sort of trouble?" Claire asked concerned.

French looked at the plane again.

"Nah, but if the girls want we can head back and make sure."

Emily, who was getting sleepy, let out an angry yowl.

"I think that answers that question plus Claire and I have night duty at the hospital so we probably should be getting back," Penelope replied.

After Penelope and Claire were safely at the hospital, Casey, French, and Emily returned to camp. Casey took Emily to his tent for a nap and French went to look for Greg. He found him and Hutch standing next to his plane talking and walked over to them.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Greg pointed at the box of spark plugs.

"Just testing these out, Hutch found them in that old supply shed and is cleaning them up. We've check out 12 in my plane and they all work. So, each of you guys will check out 12 in your planes. There's four boxes total and if they all work that will be one less thing to worry about, as far as parts are concerned, for awhile."

"I need to get those cameras mounted before tomorrow. Where do you want them?" Hutch asked.

Greg thought for a few moments.

"French, TJ, Boyle, and Gutterman are going to be the second team, so they'll need them on their planes," he replied.

The rest of the afternoon passed fairly quietly, the quiet interrupted only by Meatball who was barking at a couple of small monkeys that were chasing each other through the trees near the camp. Greg was in the Sheep Pen reading when Anderson came in and sat down across from him.

"Interesting book?" he asked.

"Well, to a certain extent," Greg replied. Everything You Need To Know About Caring For Your New Baby. It was in one of the boxes that Suzette sent over. I'm going make it required reading for each of you as well."

"What?" Anderson couldn't believe what Greg had just said.

"You heard me until Sister Mary Elizabeth can take her in Emily is our responsibility and we're all going to do whatever it takes to make sure she's well cared for, including reading a manual on baby care."

"Who gets to read it after you?" Anderson asked.

"Since you seem so anxious," Greg replied. "You do."