Sadie, who had radiated confidence around Mattie and the other women, seemed quieter now, less sure of herself. “Right, um, Miss Jones mentioned, uh, that you were. She said to tell you if you, um, asked that she said we could take a look around. I’m, uh, Miss Sadie Lenhart, and this is Miss McAdams.”
“Oh yes, Miss Jones did mention that guests might be stopping by,” Mr.Berkley said kindly—perhaps a littletookindly—as if he was tryingtoo hard to be welcoming. “Would you like me to explain how it all works? I shall try to use words that you can comprehend.”
“Oh, no bother.” Mattie gave a wave of her hand, just like she’d seen Vera do. “Miss Lenhart seems well versed in this machine.”
“Well, if you are certain.” Mr.Berkley dragged out the last word, indicating that he definitely doubted Sadie’s capabilities.
Mattie glanced over at Sadie, who seemed to have clammed up entirely. Mattie, however, had no problems defending her new friend. “We are positive.”
Unconvinced and seemingly slightly put out, Mr.Berkley gestured toward a smaller, movable generator system that Mattie recognized from trade journal articles. “Would you not wish to know more about this booster, which is—”
“Used to increase and decrease voltage, as designed by Dr.O’Dillon Mailloux,” Mattie answered. “For example, it can help give an extra boost to the longer feeder wires. Due to the vertical construction of Fete Castle, I would think this advance is rather useful.”
Mr.Berkley cleared his throat, obviously not expectingthatresponse. Beside Mattie, Sadie restraightened. She even took a small step toward the engineer. When she spoke, her voice was back to its normal strength. “Yes. And the booster is also used to charge the batteries and to make sure that not too much amperage is sent through the circuits, which could damage the light fixtures.”
The man at least appeared contrite instead of digging a trench around his notion that females couldn’t understand electricity. “I shall leave you two to your explorations, then. Just be careful not to touch anything.”
“We’re not foolhardy enough to tamper with our host’s power system,” Mattie promised, although part of her wanted to deliver a flippant answer about how she planned on playing with all the controls embedded in the marvelously complex marble switchboard.
After dipping his head in acknowledgment, Mr.Berkley crossed his hands behind his back and finally retreated. As soon as he disappeared into another room, Sadie exhaled a whoosh of air. “Thanks. I normally get tongue tied around strangers, especially men. There’s just something about the troupe that Vera put together that puts me at ease.”
“Me too,” Mattie admitted, surprised by how fiercely she agreed with Sadie’s statement.
“You know a lot about currents.” Sadie walked over to the massive switchboard and stared up at the contraption that controlled so many facets of the castle towering above them.
“So do you,” Mattie pointed out as she moved to stand shoulder to shoulder with Sadie. “Electricity fascinates me. Radio waves as well.”
“Me too!” Sadie agreed. “That and the technology behind moving pictures. Not just the projectors and the film, but the special effects too. Lily goes for the gowns, the jewelry, and the romantic leading men, but I’m all for the fan-created waves, the fake blood, and the monsters.”
“I have to admit I watch for the stories, the momentary escape from reality,” Mattie said.
“Lily wants to go to California someday and make it big in the movies. All that glitz doesn’t tempt me, but sometimes the technology does. It’s sort of like being a modern-day wizard, don’t you think?”
“Radio is like that for me. How it can carry voices and music over incredible distances, through the air to boot! I have an...” Mattie drifted off, catching herself. She didn’t know if she should reveal to this woman her dream of making airplanes safer by using radio signals.
“Do you have some sort of advancement in mind?” Sadie’s voice crackled with an excitement that mirrored Mattie’s own. And Mattie couldn’t help but share just a little. After all, the entire concept wasn’t a novel idea.
“I don’t know what exactly, but it seems with radio growing so much, especially in the last year, that there is some way to take advantage of it to improve airplane safety, especially when it comes to soloflights, night flying, and the Airmail Service. I’ve thought about working with radio communication, but the technology just isn’t developed enough to use in planes. Transmitters are too big, and receivers are too finicky for a pilot to operate without a navigator.”
Sadie thoughtfully tapped her finger against her lips. “When I have a problem trying to find a solution, it is normally that I’m overcomplicating it.”
“Do you see a way to simplify my plans so that I wouldn’t have to develop more compact transmitters?” Mattie asked as she turned back to the generator.
“Maybe start with what technology is available, and figure out what to do with it,” Sadie suggested.
A spark like lightning flashed through Mattie. Sadie was right. There was elegance in simplicity, and it was best to always start at the beginning of things. “You’re brilliant, Sadie! Instead of trying to work backward from a dream product, I need to look at the realities of what is availablenow. Just like when I tinker with a motor—I start with the materials that I have on hand.”
“Precisely!” Sadie said. “That’s how I do it!”
They shared a grin then, in the bowels of the castle, the machinery whumping behind them, the smell of grease permeating the air. This was a world Mattie enjoyed, and for the first time, she’d found a female friend with whom to share it.
Chapter Six
A reasonable observer needs only to glance at the photograph of Miss Lily Lenhart caught in the steam from an unscrewed radiator cap to fully comprehend the perils of petticoat flyers. Women with their delicate sensibilities and even more delicate constitutions are not meant to handle dangerous machinery even on the ground. It is clear that they should not be attempting to take to the skies in our modern mechanical beasts of the air. Anyone who attends a Flying Flapper performance is only encouraging travesty... and certain tragedy.
—Benjamin Pringle,Chicago Advance Leader
Chaos. Leo had entered pure chaos.
