by Jodi Thomas
Katherine would have liked to ask more, but Miss Willingham drained her cup, indicating tea was at an end and so was the conversation. All the way back to the women’s dormitory, Katherine tried to figure out how she could make use of what Miss Willingham had said to help her interest a man enough to take her up in an airplane. Finally, she decided she’d try to reverse that technique: she would promise the man anything to get what she wanted.
Sarah was waiting when Katherine reached their tiny room. She sat by the window in the only chair. The girls had chosen the room not for its size but because it had the dorm’s largest window. Rising, Sarah placed her book on the dresser. “Did Miss Willingham give us Saturday night off?”
“Yes!” Katherine’s excitement was so contagious that even Sarah grinned.
The girls spent the next day planning what they would wear and making up a code system so that they could talk to each other secretly with men around. Patting your forehead with a scarf meant, Help me get away from this man. Coughing three times within a minute meant, I’m ready to go if you are. And most important, saying “It’s a lovely night” meant, See you back at the dorm; I want to be alone with this man.
They made up a few more but kept getting them mixed up and decided after an hour of laughter to limit their code to three.
When Saturday night finally arrived, they strolled along the street just at dusk still rehearsing their code. The evening was warm for fall with little wind, but each girl carried her wool cape for the walk home. Sarah’s dress of heavy satin was far more practical for the cool later hours of the evening. Close-fitting, with a princess line and a narrow skirt, the garment was slightly shorter in front to show her new suede shoes. The girls had spent hours sewing to make her dress look like a picture Sarah had seen in Vanity Fair magazine.
Luxuriant auburn hair cascaded over Katherine’s shoulders, setting off her cream-colored silk dress. She’d designed its elegant overskirt, which was higher on the left than on the right. Though the neckline was square and the bodice plainly cut, creamy heliotrope chiffon and embroidery ornamented the sleeves and hem. The rich reddish color gave the dress a stylish quality and made Katherine feel rich and important, even though this was her only dress other than her uniforms.
Several girls from the school walked in front of them. Katherine didn’t miss the stares from passing men, first at the other student nurses, then more lingeringly toward her. She knew hers was a bolder beauty than Sarah’s. Katherine had been catching men’s glances since her tall frame had rounded out when she was fifteen. Sarah, with her black hair and petite figure, had a quieter beauty that grew with each meeting.
“Now, remember,” Katherine coached, “we’re going to meet a birdman tonight.”
“I know, I know, Kat. And when you meet one, I’m to go home with the other girls so you’ll be alone and he’ll walk you back to the dorm.” Sarah shook her head. “I don’t like this plan much, having some strange man walk you home.”
“What could happen? We only live a mile away, and all the streets are well lit. I’ll be fine.”
They turned the comer onto Market Street and moved excitedly toward the music and noise. “Look, Sarah, O’Grady’s is only another block.”
Everyone this side of the Ohio seemed to be dancing at O’Grady’s tonight. The building was little more than a barn with a dance floor almost a hundred feet wide. An orchestra of sorts played from a bandstand on one side. A bar opened up off the other end. Sarah had been harsh to call the place a saloon. In the summer months families brought picnics and sat on the grass next to the open doors near the bandstand. Couples young and old twirled around the polished wooden floor while lovers strolled out back by the creek to watch the moon and sway to a waltz.
Single men stood along the bar, with few women in their midst. Occasional laughter rumbled from the gaming tables in the back, but for the most part everyone listened to the music. Katherine and Sarah had walked by the place many a night, but this would be their first time to venture inside. Yet even the building seemed to welcome them with its wide open doors and intoxicating blend of sawdust and ladies’ perfume.
As they entered, Katherine grabbed Sarah’s hand for an instant. “With me?”
“Together,” Sarah whispered.
Katherine barely heard Sarah’s words. She became lost in the magic before her. A huge chandelier twirled above them, spilling light like tiny liquid diamonds on the dancers. Everyone was laughing happily as if the room were enchanted and blessed with only joy.
Finding a small table near the band, Katherine sized up each man’s potential. Some were too fat to be birdmen; others were too old or too young. She’d never seen a pilot up close, but something told her she’d know one by his stance or maybe by the wild look of adventure in his eyes.
Soon men were asking both girls to dance. Whenever they returned to the table Katherine would shake her head at Sarah, indicating she hadn’t found her pilot yet. The young men usually asked Sarah to dance next. When a man returned for another dance with Katherine, she always declined as she waited for a new partner and her pilot.
Finally the band took a break and Katherine jumped to her feet with nervous energy. “Let’s go outside, Sarah. The dancing has made me warm.”
Sarah nodded and followed. “Maybe the nurse was wrong when she said the pilots come here. We’ve danced with half the men in the hall and haven’t talked to a birdman yet.”
“Well, we’ll have to dance with the other half, too, because I’m not leaving until I’ve asked every man in the place if he’s a pilot,” Katherine insisted.
“It’s a shame we’re not looking for a dancer. They are surely just as rare. I haven’t come across one tonight.” Sarah laughed. “My feet are killing me. If one more farmer steps on my toes I’ll…”
“You’ll what?” Katherine giggled just at the thought of gentle little Sarah taking a swing at one of these Ohio farmers.
Sarah couldn’t keep from laughing as Katherine painted a picture of Sarah’s revenge on her next partner.
The crisp night air and the laughter were refreshing as the girls strolled around to the side of O’Grady’s and joined a small crowd of people.
“What’s going on?” Katherine asked a boy in plaid knickers at the edge of the group. “Is it a fight?”
“No, ma’am, it’s a group of them birdmen. They’re betting on who can balance on a wheel axle longest with chickens dangling off a board on his shoulders. I heard one say he’d give a hundred dollars to the winner.”
At last, she thought as she circled the group of spectators until she found a place where she could see. A young man stood, his legs wide apart, on a long narrow beam balanced over a wheel axle. Across his shoulders he carried another thin board with a live chicken tied from either end. The youth rocked back and forth, trying to keep his balance as the crowd encouraged him and the chickens flapped. An older man with a cigar clenched between his teeth sat on a stump staring at his pocket watch and counting out the seconds.
The youth fell, sprawling into the dirt. A huge man with a bushy black mustache grabbed the board with the chickens and yelled, “Good try, Taylor! Twenty-seven seconds just may be the record. Who’ll be next?” He looked at a lean fellow with his cap set far back atop sandy hair. “How about you, Masters? You feel up to a little ride or are you still nursing that ankle from the last landing you made?”
“Me leg be fine, Bart, but I’m not really interested in ye games.” The tall man’s speech carried a flavoring of a Scottish heritage. As he turned to leave the circle, his mahogany-brown gaze caught Katherine’s stare. He stopped and studied her as if trying to place her in time. A slow easy smile spread across his tan face, and she knew he was the one she’d seen tumble from the plane two mornings ago.
Within this tall man’s eyes Katherine saw adventure, excitement, and a wildness unlike any she’d seen in another. He was a fighter, by the muscular grace of his movements, and maybe a lover, by the rakish tilt of his
hat, but never a bystander. Even with his back to the man he’d called Bart, Katherine could tell that Masters was eager to test his skill in any game. To her shock he winked at her boldly. She smiled suddenly, knowing he was baiting Bart.
“All right, Cody!” Bart yelled above the noise of the crowd. “Would you be interested if we doubled the bet?”
Cody Masters turned slowly back to the huge man. “I might be.”
Bart laughed. “I thought two hundred might get your eyes off the redhead.” Bart raised his hand to his forehead as if tipping an invisible hat to Katherine. “Though you are a looker, Red.”
Katherine felt the blood rise to her cheeks. If there was one thing she hated, it was being called Red. She pushed her way through the crowd and stepped in front of the rock-hard mountain called Bart. Though his expression was cold and hard, the man looked no more than thirty at the most. He smiled, lifting only one side of his mustache and reminding Katherine of a barn cat that had just spied a nest of mice. “My name’s Katherine McMiller, sir. Not Red.”
Bart stepped back and made a wide sweep with his large hand in silent apology. His stance seemed to tell Katherine he’d seen a great deal of life and found little worth remembering.
Katherine pointed a slender finger at his face. “Is this contest open to anyone or only half-witted birdmen?”
Bart’s mouth dropped open in shock. He tried to collect himself. “This ain’t a game for girls, little lady.”
Cody moved beside Katherine. He towered a head over her, as few men did. “Now wait a wee minute, Bart. I heard ye say a hundred dollars to anyone who can balance the beam. You made no mention of male or female.”
Bart turned to Katherine. “Look, miss, I don’t want to hurt your feelings, but this isn’t a place for a lady. Why don’t you run along and bat those green eyes at some young pup on the dance floor and leave the betting to the men?”
Katherine didn’t budge and Cody put his arm around her waist. “I’ll tell ye what, Bart. I’ll bet we can both stand on the beam for more than thirty seconds, but it will cost ye three hundred dollars.”
“I’ll take that fool’s bet.” Bart laughed, his mustache spreading across his face.
Before Katherine could say a word, Cody swung her up onto the center of the beam that crossed the axle. “All you have to do is stand perfectly still and hold on to me. I’ll do the balancing. Are you game?” The slight Scottish burr seemed to vanish when he whispered.
Katherine smiled down at his handsome face as she planted her feet solidly on the board. She loved the thrill of the game almost as much as she loved the look in his eyes. Excitement throbbed through her, and she knew standing still would probably be impossible. But this was the pilot she’d been looking for all evening, and she wouldn’t give up her dream easily.
Lifting the board with a chicken tied to either end onto his broad shoulders, Cody spread his arms out to balance himself. Slowly he climbed up onto the beam with Katherine. Two men held the beam steady as he faced her, his feet on either side of hers. His lean body was molded against her as he whispered in her ear, “Put your arms around my neck and sway with me. Remember, don’t try to balance, just bend when I bend.”
Katherine nodded, too frightened and excited to speak. His slender body was pressed against her from leg to shoulder. She nestled her head into his chest and tried to stand perfectly still. She’d never been so close to a man. His touch blended with the masculine smell of soap and tweed. She turned her head ever so slightly so her cheek brushed his jawline. The chill of the night air had vanished, and Katherine felt suddenly warm.
“Ready. Start the clock,” Cody yelled as the men let go of the beam’s ends.
Closing her eyes, Katherine concentrated on the man counting off the seconds. She could feel Cody swaying first one direction, then another, as the beam rolled along the axle and the chickens squawked from each end of the board over his shoulders. Though the ground was only a few feet below, it seemed distant as the beam underneath her feet rolled back and forth.
“Twenty-eight, twenty-nine, thirty!” yelled the timekeeper.
She felt Cody take a long breath and throw the board off his shoulders. He stepped off the beam and he swung her around to the ground. “You can let go now, lassie, and open your eyes to being a hundred and fifty dollars richer.” He gave her a promising look that had nothing to do with money.
Staring up at Cody’s expression, she was fascinated by the twinkle of fire she saw in his eyes. Though he was merely standing beside her now, the feel of his lean body remained imprinted upon her senses.
Bart moved forward, digging in his pocket. “Well, Red, you cost me a week’s pay.” The ease with which he handed her the money told her that he placed little value on wealth or women.
“Maybe that will teach you never to call people by their hair color.”
Bart laughed. “Got a fiery temper to go with that fiery hair, do you?”
She started to reply, but people rushed forward to congratulate them on their winnings.
Searching the crowd for Sarah, Katherine found her near the back, talking to the young man who had first tried the balancing game. Sarah waved to Katherine and took the young man’s arm, then moved with him toward the dance floor as the band began to play.
Cody pulled Katherine in the opposite direction. “Why don’t we take a walk by the creek and cool off before dancing?”
The music, the excitement, the look in his eyes, swirled together in her mind, making the night suddenly magic. “And what makes you think I’ll dance with you, sir? I don’t even know you.”
Cody bowed before her. “My name’s Cody Masters. And I think you’ll dance with me because we’ve already held each other very close. So close”—his whispered words brushed her ear—“I felt your heart beating against my chest.” He slid his arm around her waist and pulled her against his side. “Tell me, my beautiful lady, does it always pound so madly, or am I the first to know that the fire in those smoldering green eyes of yours also burns passionately between your breasts?”
Katherine felt her cheeks flush and was thankful for the shadows. Never in her life had anyone talked to her like this, and she had known him for only a few minutes. She decided to change the subject before she ventured too deep into unknown waters. “Tell me, Cody Masters, why does your Scottish burr grow so thick for the crowd and vanish so easily when you whisper?”
“Would you believe the passion in me is from my English mother and the gambler in me is from my Scottish father?”
Katherine laughed. “No. Try again.”
Cody shrugged and threaded his fingers through hers. His casual action sent a warm tingle up Katherine’s arm as they walked farther and farther from O’Grady’s lights. “In truth, the crowds like to have a means of identifying each pilot. We’ve all picked up a few accents to use when we hit a town. The more people feel they know us, the more they’ll care enough to pay a dollar to see us fly. Bart has a huge frame anyone in a crowd can recognize and a French accent he can use that’ll make you believe he’s never before been more than a hundred miles from Paris in his life. Cal Rodgers, the timekeeper tonight, has that cigar that never leaves his mouth, even when he’s in the air. I needed something, and the accents come easy because my parents really were English and Scottish. How about your folks? I’ll bet one was Irish.”
“I wouldn’t know.” Katherine could feel her muscles tightening, but she forced indifference into her tone. “I never knew my mother, and I think I was about four when my father gave me to some people called the Wards. They ran a cannery upstate.” She wanted to stop, but once the story started it always seemed to flow to the present.
“The Wards were horrible people who only cared about making money,” she continued. “I hated them and their filthy cannery, so when I was six, I ran away. After I’d spent months on the streets, the authorities caught me and sent me to an orphans’ farm. I ran away from there when I was twelve and made it here to the Mamie Willingh
am School of Nursing. I’ll graduate just before Christmas.”
Pulling away from Cody, she hugged herself as she walked by the stream. The music was now a waltz and seemed to float far into the velvet darkness. “Now you know my life story.” She was angry at herself for having told him so much about her past. Why hadn’t she just said she grew up on a farm? She’d probably never see him again once he took her flying, so there was no reason for him to know that much about her.
Suddenly she felt Cody’s jacket slide gently over her shoulders. “It’s cold out here by the water this time of year.” He placed his arm around her, and they were both silent as they listened to the sounds of evening. The moonlight rippled over the water and touched the far bank in a thin silver ribbon.
Katherine relaxed and thought how much she could like this man, with his outrageous way of life. “What’s it like to fly, Cody?”
He moved closer behind her before he spoke. His voice brushed her hair lightly; his words excited her soul. “It’s like nothing else in the world. You’re a bird flying higher and higher. The earth grows smaller beneath you, and so does the reality of it. All the problems—hunger, war, unhappiness, loneliness—disappear as you float toward the clouds.” His arms encircled her waist, and he drew her against his lean frame.
“An old woman came up to me in the last town and offered me a hundred dollars to fly her directly to heaven so she wouldn’t have to die. Everyone around us laughed, but when you’re up there with the clouds, you swear you really are closer to the pearly gates.” His hands moved slowly over the silk of her dress.
“What about the danger?” Katherine was totally lost in his ramblings.
“When you’re flying, you’re fully alive. I know men who go all day, all week, without remembering anything that happened to them or how they felt. When you’re in the air, every minute seems like an hour. You’ll never forget any of it. If I die tomorrow, I will have lived more lifetimes than most old men, because for a while every part of me, every cell, has been alive.”
