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I want to thank all the people that have helped me edit and critique this story. They are Angel O'Hare, Stacy Miller, Karen Page, Robi, Paula Dillon and especially Maddy Bell for allowing me to join her universe and giving me permission to write in it.

Based on the story Gaby, Book # 4 - Once Upon A Time In America By Maddy Bell

All Characters portrayed in the story are copywrited to Maddy Bell for her Gaby series found at Maddybell.com

Scene 3

The Arrival:

The gentleman saw me coming, and stood up, I saw that Ally took the window seat and she wanted to stay there so I let her. I sat down in the middle seat. And the Gentleman sat down, and I said, “Thank you sir.”

He said, “Your welcome sweetheart.”

I just looked up and smiled at him. It definitely is a lot nicer being a girl, people treat you so differently and nice. I just sighed and turned my attention back to Ally. She asked, “Did you find anything out?”

I just looked at her and wondered if I should tell her what I found out. I decided it isn't good to talk here about the subject and I told her, “I'll fill you in later, it isn't good to talk about it now,” as I slightly nodded to the man next to me.

Ally understood what I was saying and she said, “Ok I understand, I'll talk with you later.” I smiled.

We gazed out of the window for a while. I was thinking how cruel Mrs. Bond could be to her family, to insist that Drew and Jules could never see her again, it was just so hard. What happened to her to change her like this, I wonder? It's just so hard to think a parent could be that way. I continued to contemplate what I'd heard.

Miss C showed up a short time later and asked us, “Is everything ok with you girls?”

We both smiled and said, “Yes Miss.”

She smiled at us and moved on to see some of the other students.

The stewardess dropped off the two forms we had to fill out. She said to us, “If you girls need help filling them out, just call me. I'll show you what you need to do. Do either of you have a pen?”

We both said, “No we don't” She dug out some pens and gave one to each of us.

We started looking over the forms and read some of the questions. Some of the questions are:

Do you have any fruits, vegetables or dairy products in your possession, Yes/No?

Do you have more than $2000.00 in your possession, Yes/No?

Do you have any alcohol or other substances in your possession, Yes/No?

Did you buy more than $500.00 worth of goods while outside of the USA, Yes/No?

On the immigration form was the following:

Are you a citizen of the USA, Yes/No?

Will you be working in the USA, Yes/No?

Are you immigrating to the USA, Yes/No?

Do you have a Visa, Yes/No?

Are you just visiting the USA, Yes/No?

What is the purpose of your visit?

Where will you be staying?

Etc., etc.

You get the picture. We were able to answer all of the questions except the one on where we will be staying, I hope Mr. P or Miss C know that question.

The stewardess came on the PA and announced,

Bong! “May I have your attention please? We are presently thirty minutes out from Dulles International Airport. We will be around to collect the cups and drinks shortly. Please look around the area and make sure you have all of your personal possessions, and stow them in either the overhead compartment, or under your seat in front of you. Put your tray table up in an upright and locked position. Raise your seats to an upright and locked position, and insure your seatbelts are on. Thank you.”

We collected our stuff from the seat in front of us, and I asked the gentleman next to us, “Could you get our bags down please so that we may put our stuff away?”

He smiled “Sure girls I can do that for you.”

He got our bags and gave them to us and we stuffed our stuff into them. We then put the bags under the seat in front of us.

I said, “Thank you sir, you have been a big help.”

He smiled and said, “You're both welcome,” as he sat back down and buckled up his seat belt.

We fastened our seatbelts.

Ally was looking out the window and saw land under us, it really looked surreal, from up here you look down and you couldn't tell there are people down there. You can tell there is civilization down there for the smoke and the pollution that was evident. The long highways looked like the canals they showed us on Mars. If you looked close you could tell there was some traffic on them but was very difficult to see from this height.

The Captain came on and filled us in on the progress the plane was making and said,

Bong! “This is the Captain speaking. We are about fifteen minutes out from the airport and we will start our decent shortly. The local weather is sunny with a scattering of clouds, and the present temperature is 1 degree Celsius, 34 degrees Fahrenheit. We should arrive right on time. Thank You.”

It's still cold, warmer than when we left, but it's still cooler than home.

I felt that we were starting our decent and dropping in altitude.

As we were coming down, I noticed that a pressure was building up on my ears, and it started to get painful. I tried, unsuccessfully, to pop my ears by pushing my hands over them. The gentleman in the seat next to me got my attention and told me, “Pinch your nose closed, and then blow hard into your nose. This will open the Eustachian tube to your ear.”

I did as he told me and felt a pop in my ears. That relieved the pressure, oh did that feel better. I had to do this several times during the descent, but it sure took care of the pain. I saw Ally was doing the same thing.

The lower we got, the more we saw of the road systems, and the cars on them. The area we were flying over got denser with buildings and what looked like businesses, like shopping centers. It was hard to believe the size of the parking lots around these areas, they were huge. We could see another plane next to us coming in at the same time, about half mile off. It was kind of neat; it made us feel like we were in a race. The landing gear opened up and the plane shuddered, I saw that there where these things that extended from the wings that seemed to make the wings longer and the noise started to go up. I was starting to get nervous, and I heard the captain tell the crew,

Bong! “Flight attendants please take your seats, we will be landing shortly.”

It almost looked like we were going to land on top of buildings they seemed so close.

I finally saw a fence and it looked like we were just a few feet off of the ground. The plane did a loud bang that startled me and I gripped the arms of the seat very tightly. I realized the landing gear had hit the runway. The nose of the plane, which was higher than the rest of the plane, came down and it too made a noise and a gentle thud. Then I heard the engines rev up. Startled, I wondered what was going on, when I realized these things came out of the engine and directed the jet blast towards the front of the plane. This had the effect of pushing my body into the seat in front of me. If it was not for the seat belt, I think I would have slipped off of the seat and slammed into the one in front of me. The plane was braking, and slowing down rapidly. When we almost came to a stop, the plane turned and went down one of the taxiways towards the terminal.

The Captain came on the PA and said,

Bong! “This is the Captain speaking. Welcome to Dulles International Airport. The local time is 3:00PM Eastern Standard Time. The weather is sunny, partly cloudy, with a temperature of 1 degree Celsius, 34 degrees Fahrenheit. Please remain in your seats and keep your seatbelts buckled until we have arrived at the gate and come to a complete stop. Thank you for flying British Midland.”

Ally and I both were looking out the window to see all of the planes and the approaching terminal.

As we arrived at the gate my heart was still pounding from the landing, which I found out later, was a normal landing for this type of plane. When we finally came to a stop, we heard the Captain come on,

Bong! “Flight attendants please prepare for our arrival.”

Then the seat belt lights went off, and I heard everyone releasing their seat belts. It seemed like it was utter chaos, everyone seemed to get up at once and went for the overhead compartments. The compartments were coming down all over the plane. The Gentleman looked at us and said, “Have a pleasant journey ladies, I hope you both have a lot of fun.”

We smiled and said, “Thank you for all of your help”

He said, “It was a pleasure.”

He got up and opened our overhead compartment, and handed down our coats.

We put on our coats, and took our bags, and waited until we could get out of our row and into the aisle. We moved relatively quickly out into the terminal, where we met with the others. We were waiting for everyone in our group to appear before we proceeded to go down the terminal towards baggage claim and customs. Mr. Pillings took the lead and Miss C followed behind us and we marched down the terminal to claim our bags. It seemed to take forever to get to baggage claim. It was a madhouse in the airport; people were everywhere.

When we found our carousel we had to wait about fifteen minutes before our bags finally arrived. Mr. Pillings then told us to stay together and form two queues for customs, one would follow Miss C, and the other would follow Mr. Pillings.

When we got to the customs area we had to wait behind a queue line which was maybe about 5 feet from the customs desk. Mr. Pillings asked what we needed to do at the customs desk and told us all to have our passports, and the forms we'd filled out on the plane. We should approach the desk one at a time, and answer the questions they would ask.

Ally and I were getting nervous. I could see Drew and Maddy were also nervous and looked over at us and grinned with a weak smile. Several kids went before us and there seemed to be no problems, no one had to open their suitcase. They just had to answer some silly questions.

When it was my turn, the customs man said, “Please put your bags on the table, and may I see your passport and forms please?”

I handed the passport and forms to the man. “Have you anything to declare?” he asked.

I said “No.”

“Purpose of visit?” he asked again.

I said nervously, “I'm a foreign exchange student sir.”

“Where will you be residing?” He asked.

“In the Grottoes, in Virginia sir.” I responded.

He stamped the passport and put his initials in it. “How many bags have you got with you?” he asked.

“Just the one beside my hand luggage sir.” I responded.

Then he looked at me kind of funny but didn't say anything then said, “Welcome to the United States Mr. Morgan, enjoy your stay.” And he smiled at me returning my passport.

I said, “Thank you very much sir,” and gave a feeble smile back at him while I picked up my luggage and moved on catching Mr. Pillings up.

That was a harrowing experience. I turned just in time to see the custom's woman, in the other chute, looking Drew over carefully. A small smile came on her face, and then heard her say, “Welcome to the United States Mr. Bond, I hope you enjoy your stay.”

He joined us and we both looked at each other and grinned with relief.

Mr. Pilling looked at us and said. “Did you two have any problems?”

We both replied, “No sir.”

He smiled and then said, “Well Gaby, and Mfanwy, are you two girls going to be alright?”

We responded with, “Yes sir no problem what so ever.”

“I'm glad to hear that girls.” Mr. Pillings responded

We were surprised he called us that in front of the older kids. Did he do that for a reason? Is there something going on we should know about? The other kids had a puzzled look on their faces but I saw them shrug their shoulders, and went back to their conversation.

I wonder if Mr. Pillings was setting us up, so we wouldn't be questioned when we were in the cheer group? Drew and I just looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders also.

When the entire group made it through customs, Mr. Pillings and Miss C told us to follow them, heading towards the departure doors of the airport lobby.

Mr. P called us to attention, “Ok Ladies and Gentlemen, listen up! I'm going to make a phone call. I want everyone to stay together until I get back.”

Mr. P walked off towards the telephones across the way while I turned and talked with Ally, Bernie and Maddy.

I noticed Miss C went over to talk with Drew, while he was quietly sitting on his suitcase looking out the window at the traffic. Miss C was talking with him for a bit, then handed him her mobile phone, and Drew made a call. I noticed his smile changed after a bit and he slowly handed the phone back to Miss C. He did not look as happy as when he got the phone. I wonder what that was all about?

“Ok ladies and gentlemen!” Mr. Pilling intoned as he rejoined us, “I've just spoken to Miss Bell, she'll be here with our transport in about twenty minutes so I suggest you all use the facilities and then we'll go over to the pick up area. I know it's quite warm in here but it's cold outside so you will need coats. Questions?”

“Have we got time to eat?” one of the older girls asked.

“Not here Justine, we'll stop on the motorway, somewhere.”

“Interstate Sir.” Bernie put in, getting a few giggles.

“Thank you Bernadette, Interstate. If that's it, be back here in ten minutes”

Leaving Mr. Pilling in charge of our luggage, we all headed off to the conveniences.

All of the girls, Gaby, Miss C, and me all went to the ladies loo.

We got to the loo, but before we could enter Miss C stated, “Before all of the girls go into the loo, could I have a small talk with the Sherlock Foresters first, the rest may continue in?” Jules and the other girls continued on into the loo, “Mr. Pillings and I've decided we would be calling Drew and Rhod, Gaby and Mfanwy, to keep the others from guessing it's Drew and Rhod that are here. We decided to do this since both of them have to be girls for the cheer competition. We feel it would be safer for them, then letting those who do not know, from believing two boys are dressing as girls. We don't want to cause problems for them. You both look like girls as you are right now, so that is to your advantage. Drew or Rhod if you have a problem with this please tell me now?”

I looked at Drew, and he looked at me, and I said, “It's ok with me Miss C, but won't this cause problems with the hosts?”

“We will cross that bridge when we come to it, alright? Drew?” Miss C asked.

We looked at each other, and I sort of looked at Drew with pleading eyes, and he let out a sigh and said, “I guess I'll go along with it, as long as Mfanwy will be there for me also?” Looking at me.

I smiled and said, “No problem Gaby, I'll be here for the duration, if we don't have any problems with the host families.”

Miss C smiled and hugged us and said “Right! Now you both look like girls, and I know you two will behave, and the other girls here know and support you also. You girls go and do what you must in the loo and we will meet outside of the loo to walk back.”

I smiled and Drew looked puzzled but accepted the situation. The other girls cheered Drew on, and went in with us to the loo.

It was closer to half an hour before Miss Bell did finally arrive with our transport. I don't know quite what I was expecting but it certainly wasn't the bright yellow thing that pulled up. I hope it's more comfortable than it looks!

“John! Fran!”

“Hi Jess” Miss C called back as we started wheeling our trolleys to what looked like a mini version of one of those American school buses you see in the films.

“Hi kids, sorry we weren't here to meet you but there was a big accident on the interstate, traffic stacked for miles!”

The guy driving the bus came over to join our huddle.

“You planning on loading up or standing here, freezing our Asses off?”

“Sorry guys, this impatient lump is George Wentworth”

“Nice to meet you George, John Pilling” Mr. P said.

“Well I guessed you weren't the lady Jessica's been going on about all the way up here.” George turned and took Miss C's hand and kissed it.

Well of course that hardly went unnoticed by ten teenagers, Miss C blushed, certain elements of our party made comments, none of which seemed to faze Mr. Wentworth.

“Now come on George, let's get these folks on the bus.” Miss Bell broke the moment.

“Sure Jess, come on kids, get them cases off those carts and put them inside, they should all go through the back door of the bus and can be stacked there,” he opened the back door and we started passing cases up.

“Get yourselves on board.” Miss Bell instructed, “We'll leave as soon as all your bags are on board.”

I got on the bus and found a seat. There was very little cushioning in the seats. We have to travel one hundred and fifty miles in this? Oh I hope my bottom was going to hold up.

I saw Drew getting on the bus and he came back and sat next to me.

Drew asked, “How far is it?”

“Too far! I think about one hundred and fifty miles.” I said. “This is going to be a long trip.”

“You're not kidding.” Drew stated.

Miss Bell closed the door behind her and addressed us.

“Well, welcome to America everyone, it's good to see you all again. Mr. Pilling mentioned that y'all needed to eat. So as George wants to clear DC before rush hour, we'll stop at a truck stop on the interstate. Okay with you guys?”

“How long Miss? I'm famished.” Justine asked.

“George?”

“Bout an hour, hour ten.” he offered.

“Okay lets hit the road!”

I wanted to ask Drew what the phone call was all about, but it was to noisy to chat.

I noticed we were on the wrong side of the road, and the steering wheel was also on the wrong side of the vehicle. This felt strange. After we got on the interstate, I began to feel more comfortable and the heat on the bus was such I needed to take off my coat. I saw Drew put his coat under his bottom, and I thought that was a good idea, so I did the same. I enjoyed looking out the window and seeing the countryside. It's amazing all the different type of cars and trucks on the road. I also saw what looked like busses but I guess they were privately owned, and looked like mobile homes. Wow, were they big. Drew seemed to be happy again, must be the scenery has distracted him.

George pulled off the Interstate and parked us by the entrance to the café bit, of the truck stop.

“Okay kids, we'll get some food in here. We will pick up the tab but don't go eating too much; there'll be food waiting in the Grottoes later. Let's go eat!” Miss Bell enthused.

To be Continued

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