The Jaguar Star (Tales of the Were Jaguar Island #4) - Bianca D'Arc Page 0,53

and Katrina were closest to the cockpit and the small galley, the young girl who had helped Katrina find her seat and stow her luggage came to them first. She brought a tray filled with a selection of sandwiches and had a rolling cart with different choices of juice and snack items. Ren introduced her, demonstrating his familiarity with the plane and its crew.

“Sissy, this is Kat,” he said, smiling at the girl, who had to be in her teens.

“You’re playing Maid Marian,” Sissy said. “I can’t wait to see the movie.”

Katrina was touched by the girl’s enthusiasm and smiled back. “Neither can I,” she admitted. “It all still feels kind of unreal.”

“I bet. Uncle Ren let me visit him on the set during his last film shoot, and it was so cool. It almost made me want to work with these guys, but I like flying too much to change course now,” Sissy added. “My family is teaching me to fly, and one day, I’ll be working with my sister and brother, who are in the cockpit right now.”

“Now, that is truly cool,” Katrina told the girl. “Flying a plane takes a lot of skill and talent, from what I’ve heard. And, I suspect, a lot of guts.”

Sissy shrugged. “I grew up around planes,” she said nonchalantly. “It’s in my blood, my folks say.”

The girl moved her little cart to the next group and served drinks before pulling out another giant platter of sandwiches from the lower portion of the cart. She left two platters with Franny and the gang, as well as a whole bottle of juice and cups with ice before moving on to the couple seated behind Katrina.

“Uncle Ren?” Katrina asked, one eyebrow raised as she smiled at him.

Ren had already demolished half of a giant roast beef sandwich. He swallowed before answering as Katrina chose a small egg salad sandwich for herself from the platter.

“Sissy’s mother is my sister, Rowena,” he admitted. “Her husband, Mike, was a commercial pilot for one of the big carriers, but he’s employed by Mark’s company now, as are my sister and their kids. They all fly, though Ro and Mike tend to stay in the office these days while their offspring roam the skies on behalf of Pepard Industries.”

“That’s really impressive,” Katrina replied, feeling the truth of her words. Flying was something she’d always found fascinating. “Do you know how to fly, too?” she asked impulsively.

“Actually, I do. I keep my license current, but I don’t get as many cockpit hours as the rest of my immediate family these days,” he told her.

“Too busy making movies,” she said, nodding as she smiled.

“Something like that,” he agreed. “Speaking of Hollywood, Sully is already on the island. I know you wanted to meet her.”

“I can’t believe I’m going to meet Sullivan Lane,” Katrina gushed, feeling excitement fill her at the prospect of meeting one of her favorite actresses.

Ren’s famously green eyes flared with amusement. “She and her husband are building on to their home, and Shelly, Mark’s wife, is designing it for them. She’s an architect,” he added. “From what I understand, Mark and Shelly are hosting an informal reception at the mansion when we arrive. You can meet everybody there.”

The flight wasn’t a long one. There had been no wait time at the airport as there always was with commercial flights. They’d simply shown up and boarded the jet, which had taken off shortly thereafter. Katrina was amazed at how rich folk travelled. There seemed to be no hassle, and everything happened on a custom timetable.

Ren was eating his second sandwich when Sissy came back to tell them all that they’d be landing in a half-hour and that she was beginning the process of stowing things for landing. It didn’t take long for them to get on the ground, and Katrina watched out the window the whole way down.

The island, as seen from the air, was stunning. A tropical paradise of green in a clear blue ocean. White sandy beach could be seen in spots, but mostly, the island looked like a big mountain—which she knew was a dormant volcano—that rose sharply from the sea. The only inviting part, where a few boats bobbed in the water and a long landing strip could be seen, was on the side of the island they were approaching.

The pilots skillfully brought the craft down and landed with hardly a bump on an impossibly narrow strip of runway that was unlike anything Katrina had