by Jodi Thomas
Katherine looked around their neat little room. “We did all right, didn’t we?”
“We did fine,” Sarah agreed. “As long as we stick together, there’s nothing we can’t do.”
“Forever and ever, no matter what,” Kat whispered, knowing she’d never lose her friend.
“Forever and ever,” Sarah echoed, remembering the day they’d bound their lives together in blood. “Now tell me how you snagged a birdman.”
* * *
Bart tapped on Cody’s door as he passed his room. Before he’d found the key to his own room across the hall, Cody poked his head out.
Cody’s easy smile gave Bart no clue to what he’d planned for the morning. “Yeah?” Cody raised an eyebrow at Bart. “Need some advice about women, old man?”
Bart snorted like an ill-tempered bull. “Not from you, kid, but I do need to talk, if you’ve got a minute.”
“Is it serious?”
Bart nodded.
Cody disappeared, then returned with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a half-empty glass in the other. “I’m ready.”
Bart opened his door and stepped aside to allow Cody to enter his room. He didn’t miss the minor sidestep in Cody’s walk, telling Bart his friend had already had more than enough to drink,
Cody turned and offered Bart the bottle. “Better drink up. I’m way ahead of you, partner.”
Bart took the bottle and set it atop a cluttered dresser. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this far into your cups. Is this some newly acquired vice, or are you celebrating having made a fool’s promise to a redhead tonight?”
Cody sat down on Bart’s newspaper-cluttered bed. “You still reading this hometown newspaper from upstate New York?”
“Every week.” Bart knew Cody was stalling, but he had time. “It makes me feel like I’ve got a home field.”
Lifting one of the papers, Cody tried to focus on the small print. “Did you ever live in this place?”
Bart retrieved a glass from the washstand and poured himself a splash of whiskey. “No, but my younger brothers went to live there after my folks died.”
Cody rolled his glass between his open palms. “What about you?”
Bart drained his drink. “I was smack dab in the middle of eleven kids. All those older than me were able to take care of themselves when my father was killed in an accident. Within months, I watched my mother grow old and wither away. After her funeral, all the aunts and uncles got together and argued over who’d take the younger ones. My dad’s sister in New York City wanted the three little girls, and an uncle with a farm upstate wanted the three boys, but no one bid for me. You would have thought I was damaged merchandise or something. Even then I was big for my age and uglier than a mud-covered toad.”
Cody grinned. “Lucky for you, you never outgrew that look.”
Bart laughed. He had no illusions about his looks, and somehow Cody’s honest comments always made him feel better. He’d far rather fend off honesty than false flattery.
Cody interrupted his thoughts. “So what happened when they split up the brood? Where’d you go?”
“Nothing happened.” Bart looked out his window into the darkness. “I overheard them talking about what a burden I’d be, a boy big enough to eat a man’s portion but not old enough to pull his own weight. Folks think it’s real charitable to take in orphans if they’re little and cute, but nobody seemed to feel that way about a lumbering thirteen-year-old who could hardly walk without tripping over his own feet. So I told them both I was going with the other and lit out on my own.”
Cody took another drink of his whiskey wishing he was either sober enough to say something to ease his friend’s pain or drunk enough that it didn’t matter.
“I learned a lot real fast that first year.” Bart sat in the room’s only chair. “It didn’t take me long to figure out that not all people are what they seem. For a while I even gave up speaking to anyone and just roamed around stealing what I needed to eat. I learned to be satisfied with my own company. Eventually I figured out that if you’re willing to flirt with death—be it in a boxing ring, on a racetrack, or in the air—people will pay to see you.”
“So why the hometown newspapers?”
Bart shrugged. “It gives me a tie to somewhere. A man’s got to feel like he’s from someplace other than the streets. I’ve read it for so many years now, I feel like I know the people.”
“Ever been there?” Cody had lost all interest in drinking.
“No, but someday I might drop in. I saw my uncle’s obituary a few years ago and figure my brothers have scattered by now.”
Cody crossed his arms behind his head and leaned against the headboard. “I would have liked to have brothers. Maybe my mother would have been distracted enough to ease up on me.”
“Babied you, did she?”
“Not me.” Cody laughed. “She babied the furniture. I was like a stray dog they had to keep and were afraid if they turned away for a moment I’d wet on something. I could almost hear her sighing with relief when I left home. I think she likes the idea that I fly. How much damage can I do to the sky?”
“Speaking of damage, what about your promise to take Red up tomorrow?”
Cody sat up and ran his fingers deep into his hair. “I must have been in a tailspin. Even if I’m lucky enough to fly without killing her, Wright will have my head if he finds out I took someone joyriding.”
Bart stared at him for a long time. He thought of yelling at him, but he knew Cody understood the danger as well as he did. Besides, he’d learned tonight that a woman could make a man do something he hadn’t planned on doing. He figured women were born with some extra power. Hell, they could even make him think he was kind when he knew he didn’t give a damn about anyone in the world but himself.
Suddenly Bart almost felt sorry for Cody, and in a strange way he felt lucky for having caught the same illness. “Well, pardner, we’d better make sure you fly a clean flight and don’t get caught in the morning.”
Cody met Bart’s serious stare, and a bond of friendship formed between the two men. An eternal bond that said, No matter what happens, I’m with you.
Five
DAWN RIBBONED THE chilly November sky as Katherine and Sarah crept out the side door of their aging three-story dormitory and hurried toward the shadowy outline of a car waiting down the road. The bare oak branches swished near the darkened corners of the building as a breeze seemed to push both girls back into the protective shelter of the stone walls.
“This is crazy, Kat. We haven’t had three hours’ sleep.” Sarah pulled her collar up around her ears. “I’m beginning to see why we’re assigned to the state mental hospital for our first duty. If Miss Willingham catches us out this early—”
“We’ll have time to sleep when we get back. We don’t have to be on duty until midafternoon, so Miss Willingham will never know.” Katherine laughed excitedly. “Besides this doesn’t seem any crazier than you staying out half the night.”
“I was with Bart,” Sarah explained for what seemed like the hundredth time. “I wasn’t going up in the clouds aboard an overgrown kite.”
Katherine pulled her hip-length cotton coat closed around her. She’d wanted to wear her warm nurse’s cape, but feared it might be too bulky. “Going out with Bart and going flying with Cody are in the same den of fright, if you ask me. I’m not finished with our discussion about your choice of men.” They were almost to the car. Katherine lowered her voice. “Bart Rome is as wild as a March wind, Sarah. He’s no good for you. I can feel it all the way to my bones.”
“Yes, Mother.” Sarah’s reply bore no resentment, though she frowned at Katherine’s uncharacteristic meddling. “Lucky for me he offered to give us a ride or you’d probably never let me see him again.”
Katherine lightly slapped Sarah’s arm. “All right, I may be interfering, but at least I have sense enough to bring you along as a chaperon when I go to meet Cody Masters.” She couldn’t help rememberin
g his last words—that she should be willing to pay anything for a plane ride. With Sarah and Bart along, Katherine felt she would be safe enough. The only time they would be alone was in the plane, and then he’d have his hands on the controls. Katherine felt a warmth brush her cheeks even though the morning air was freezing. Cody Masters was like fire. Being around him made her feel warm and wonderful, but she knew if she stepped too close she might get burned.
“Morning, ladies.” Bart’s low voice met them through the shadows. He straightened his huge bulk and stood at attention as they neared. He held the car door open. The automobile had been freshly washed so that even the Firestone labels on the wheels shone as white as when the tires were new. Even Bart’s long cream-colored duster looked as if it had just been laundered.
Katherine climbed into the back seat and watched the gentle way Bart helped Sarah. His face seemed full of kindness until he looked up and saw Katherine watching him. “So you talked Cody into taking you flying, Red.”
“He was the only one of you birdmen who looked as if he might have sense enough to fly,” Katherine snapped. “And don’t call me Red!”
Bart started the engine and climbed in beside Sarah. He hadn’t spoken to her, but Katherine didn’t miss the touching way he reached over and patted Sarah’s gloved hand before putting the car in gear.
“I can’t say I think much of taking people joyriding,” Bart yelled above the roar. “If you get up there and start screaming and jerking around, it will be the death of you both.” He paused. “Cody is too good a friend to lose.” His last words left little doubt about the lack of value he placed on Katherine.
Katherine hated his condescending tone. “I don’t plan on getting us killed. I wonder if it’s my being a passenger or the fact that I’m a woman that bothers you.”
“Both,” Bart answered honestly. “Women don’t have any business flying. You should stay home and have little redheaded babies.”
Katherine might have exploded in anger if Sarah hadn’t started laughing, making her realize Bart was baiting her.
“Just remember when you’re up there that the first person to die in an airplane was a passenger,” Bart mumbled.
Katherine remembered the headlines when a Lieutenant Selfridge was killed while riding with Orville Wright. They were on a test flight to persuade the army to buy planes at Fort Myer, Virginia. “That was three years ago.” She tried to sound confident. “Planes have come a long way since then.”
“Yeah, a long way,” Bart answered. “We’re testing the final model of a plane called the Wright B. The army is planning to buy several. I’m not too crazy about it. The pilot has to sit on the wing to fly the thing, but it may be the best plane yet.
“I remember my first air show last year over in France,” Bart continued as he drove. “Every pilot and every plane that could get off the ground was there. We flew for a solid week, and not a man got hurt. The people of Reims called it ‘aviator’s luck.’ They all thought pilots lived charmed lives. But this year I’ve already counted thirty-two men who’ve been killed.”
Katherine huddled down in the seat for warmth, wishing she could close out all Bart was saying to her. “I just want to go up once before the fad is over,” she said as she fought a shudder she knew was from his words and not from the cold air.
“It’s not a fad.” Bart sounded definite. “The army has a hundred uses planned for airplanes, and there’s big money out there in showing off to crowds. I can even see, in a few years, planes carrying mail on a regular basis.”
“And passengers?” Katherine added.
“I doubt it. There aren’t that many people who want to risk life and limb just to get where they’re going a few minutes faster. No, the money will be in performing. The Wright brothers have a team of air-show pilots touring the country now. Sometimes I wonder if crowds come out to watch us fly or to see us crash, ’cause we surely do both.”
Katherine was silent for a moment. “You think I should reconsider?” she finally asked.
Bart shook his head. “I’m a firm believer in letting what’s gonna happen happen. I guess if you’ve got your heart set on flying, there isn’t anything I can say that will stop you.”
“Thanks.” Katherine was starting to like him just a little. “You’re right. This is something I have to try, and I don’t plan to stop until I’ve seen the thing through.”
Bart nodded his understanding but added, “Well, take care of yourself. I’m kind of getting used to you, Red.” Bart pulled the car to a stop beside a Model A Ford pickup at the top of the test sight. “’Course, if flying excites you, you’re hanging around with the right folks.”
Katherine looked up and saw Cody Masters getting out of the cab of the truck. His lean body was clad in tight brown pants and a leather coat with a chocolate-colored fur collar turned up against the morning chill. He looked dashing in his polished knee-high boots and creamy white scarf. Katherine watched his every movement as he walked toward them. His hands were shoved deep in his pockets, and his sandy hair caught the first touch of sunlight. She thought once more she could love this man, for he was her image of a hero, but when he drew nearer, she saw that his eyes looked cold and remote.
“Ready to fly under the rainbow and touch the stars, Katherine?” Cody opened her door.
“Ready,” she answered, climbing out of the car. The old trousers she’d found in the charity bin at the hospital flapped around her legs in the cold breeze. If it hadn’t been for the belt, they’d have fallen down. Her blouse was simple, without ruffles, and she’d braided her hair in a long plait. Her light jacket had been meant for summer evenings, not fall mornings.
“I didn’t think you’d have a suitable jacket, so I borrowed this from young Taylor.” Cody pitched a leather jacket to her.
“Thanks.” Katherine pulled off her cotton coat and slipped into the jacket. The excitement of what she was about to do was drumming in her ears. In a few minutes she would be above the earth, one of the few people in the world ever to have left the ground. She wasn’t going to allow Cody’s mood to put a damper on her spirits. Not even the fear of what payment he might demand later could stop the adrenaline from rushing through her veins like a wildfire in a hay barn.
“Katherine,” Sarah said, “are you sure?”
“I’m sure.” Katherine winked as she looked into Sarah’s worried eyes. “I’ll be fine; I promise.”
Without another moment’s hesitation, Katherine accepted Cody’s offered hand and they hurried down the hill. She knew that if she waited any longer she might back out, and Katherine would never allow herself to be a quitter.
Glancing back, she saw Sarah and Bart leaning against the car talking. Sarah was smiling shyly at Bart, and Katherine wondered if it wasn’t already too late to change her friend’s mind about that man. There was something between Sarah and Bart—maybe a shared secret, a common dream, or an invisible bond that sometimes formed between two people the first time they met. Katherine felt somehow left out and a little envious.
Cody pulled her faster down the rocky hill. “We’ll only have an hour before the others start to get here, so we have to hurry. We’re lucky the Stardust Twins are in Denver.”
“The who?” Katherine managed to say as she hurried beside Cody.
“Hoxsey and Johnstone, the Stardust Twins.” He slowed a little but continued holding Katherine’s hand as they hurried down the uneven slope. “I know you thought I must be the Wrights’ star pilot after seeing me crash the other morning, but in truth I’m only a beginner compared to Hoxsey and Johnstone.”
“They’re the best?”
Cody laughed. “Thinking of changing your mind about flying with me?” He stopped as they reached level ground. “Well, you’re out of luck, because both men are in Denver at an air show, which puts them out of your grasp as well as Wilbur Wright’s control. He gets raving mad every time a report comes in on how they almost splattered themselves across half a mile. Wilbur hates the way the
y compete to thrill the crowds. He’s even threatened to fire them both, but threats lose their vigor when you’re half a country away.”
“If you’re trying to frighten me, it won’t work. Bart’s already tried.” Katherine lifted her chin.
“I’m not. I said if you were willing to pay any price, I’d take you up this morning.” Cody looked away, and his voice took on a cold formality. “The wind is just right at dawn. I’ll fly a clean flight for you, Katherine. No tricks, but I expect payment when the show’s over.”
Katherine looked toward the planes, not wanting to think about what payment he’d ask. One biplane was uncovered and had been pulled out away from the others. A little man in dirty overalls hovered over the engine. He looked like a brown weasel slithering around a woodpile.
He glanced up as they neared and smiled a quick toothless grin. “About time you got here, Cody, no?”
Cody pulled Katherine in front of him. “Katherine, I’d like you to meet the best mechanic in Ohio, Wheeler DeJon.”
The little man tipped his head back so he could study her through his glasses. He smelled of castor oil, and his words were flavored with a French accent. “So this is the passenger, no?” He looked her up and down as boldly as a rich old maid examines a suitor. “I’ve been pouring a little oil on the engine, and she’s ready to fly.”
Katherine was glad the smelly man didn’t seem to want to shake hands with her. His hands were black with dirt and oil.
Wheeler rubbed his stubbly chin with a dirty rag. “Cody tells me you no more want to be a land hugger, mademoiselle. Once you go up in this machine, you are joining a new club and you will never be the same.”
“I’m ready,” Katherine answered. She fought the urge to back away from the mechanic. He frightened her. Something in his eyes. A touch of insanity? Or was it a touch of genius? Or both?
Wheeler dropped to his knees and scooped up a handful of dirt. Cody’s firm grip on Katherine’s fingers kept her from backing away as the mechanic stood and moved closer to her. “I never let anyone go up before I first brush some of mother earth on them for good luck.” He spread his dirt-filled hand over her shoulder, then turned and did the same to Cody.
