But she had no time to rejoice at the sign of life. An ominous popping sound heralded a new lethal peril. Instantly, Mattie threw her body over Leo’s. Only a handful of yards from the wreckage, she could feel the blistering heat from the explosion blast over her skin. Pieces of the plane rained down on her, followed by a shower of sandy dirt and clumps of grass. Cradling Leo’s head beneath her chest, she prayed that no smoldering embers would land on any of them.
Suddenly, hands urged her up, and she and the Fabin crewmen all worked to carry Leo. Finally, they moved him out of the range of the fire. After sinking to her knees once again, Mattie gently brushed her fingers against Leo’s cheek. Oil and blood mixed, making it impossible for her to examine the extent of his injuries.
Somehow, against all odds, his left hand fluttered upward, trying to grasp at the strap of his goggles. Mattie gently loosened the fabric and eased off the oil-coated lenses. Startling blue irises with a starburst pattern greeted her. His eyes swam with silent pain, and his hand trembled as he cupped her cheek. When he spoke, he could only huff out one agonized word at a time.
“You. Okay?”
Mattie’s tears broke loose then. She, the girl who never cried, started to sob uncontrollably. Leo was worried abouther. She wasn’t the one who had just plummeted from the sky... although she shouldhave been. Guilt pushed its serrated edges through the terror and agony already ripping through her.Shewas the one who was supposed to have been in the cockpit.Shewas the one who had insisted on flying an unknown aircraft on a moment’s notice.Shewas the one who hadn’t listened to Leo... yethewas the one who lay battered upon the ground.
“Mattie?” Her name sounded even fainter on Leo’s lips, but still it vibrated with concern.
“I’m fine, Leo,” she managed to blubber out. “I owe that to you. Thank you.”
A faint smile touched his split lip. Then his eyes—those brilliant, shining eyes—fluttered shut, and his fingers dropped limply to his sides.
A little cry escaped Mattie as she frantically felt for a pulse in his wrist. It was there. Remarkably steady and strong. Just like Leo.
“I love you,” Mattie gasped out in case some part of him could make out her words. “I’m so sorry. I should’ve listened.”
He gave no outward response, but somehow Mattie knew he’d heard. And there, sitting in the dirt, clasping Leo’s motionless hand, she felt a truth explode in her chest. She had been willing to sacrifice her own life to prove woman aviators could fly as well as any man, but not Leo’s life. Never Leo’s.
“The ambulance is here.” Carrie touched Mattie’s shoulder gently.
Mattie glanced up to find Vera leading two men in their direction. The sight of the long black car made bile rise up, and the air was expelled almost violently from her body.
“That... that’s a hearse.” Mattie’s lips felt so numb that she had to work to make them cooperate.
“It’s a combination vehicle,” Carrie assured her. “The town is too small for a separate ambulance service, so the local funeral home provides transportation.”
“I don’t want him to go into a hearse.” Mattie wasn’t thinking; she could only feel.
Carrie squeezed her arm. “It is the safest and quickest way to get him to the hospital.”
The truth of her friend’s calmly spoken words finally sank through Mattie’s instinctual reaction. Sucking in her breath, she gave a resolute nod as the men quickly began to put Leo’s right leg into a traction splint. When the two morticians lifted Leo into the back of their converted ambulance, Mattie followed.
“May I ride with him?”
“Are you his wife?” one of the men asked, his eyes kind, his smile even more so. Yet still his words sliced. How could Mattie describe her relationship with Leo? They had made no promises, no lasting declarations. She might have even fractured the fragile foundations of their love with her rejection of any assistance from him. They had been sweethearts for certain, butsweetheartsdidn’t even begin to describe the depth of their connection, a connection she had overlooked and misunderstood for so long.
“Mattie is Leo’s fiancée,” Aida declared without hesitation.
“He’d want her by his side,” Carrie added firmly.
“Well, climb on in, then, Miss,” the sympathetic man told Mattie. “It’ll be tight, but we’ll find room for you.”
As she sat inside the hearse, clinging once again to Leo’s hand, she heard Aida instruct the drivers to take Leo to Our Lady Hospital, where Aida’s former college classmate worked as a surgeon. The morticians agreed without argument. During their travels through Aida’s home state, Mattie had learned that in California, Aida’s connections and influence were even greater than Vera’s.
The kindly mortician stayed in the back with Mattie and Leo as his partner drove down the straight stretch of highway. Even all the worry and fear she felt couldn’t completely stifle Mattie’s pilot instincts. A distant part of her noticed how the driver moved the vehicle quickly yet still relatively smoothly. Despite her earlier hesitation about transporting Leo in a hearse, Carrie was right. It was the best option.
When they arrived at the hospital, Leo was whisked away. A nurse quickly checked over Mattie for any injuries that she might have sustained during the explosion. When the woman found only slight bruising on Mattie’s back, she ushered Mattie into a simple yet comfortably appointed waiting room. Wooden chairs and benches offered a place to sit, but Mattie couldn’t. Luckily, at this hour, no one else occupied the area, giving her the freedom to pace. She had just completed her tenth circuit when her friends hurried through the entrance.
They all enfolded her into a hug, and she clung to them. For a long while, no one spoke. They seemed to understand that Mattie needed their silent support. Talking would come. But not now. Not yet.
Somehow, Mattie found herself on the bench, wedged between Vera and Aida, while the rest of the Flying Flappers gathered around. Alice’s husband, John, had gone back to the inn with the children and Ruby, where he was waiting for any news.
“Aida and I will deal with Fabin Flyer and the police,” Vera told Mattie softly. “It will be easy enough to convince them that Leo was trying to expose sabotage. Something was clearly wrong with the engine. When no one listened to Leo, he did everything possible to protect the spectators.”
Mattie nodded, unable to speak. Her throat had grown so tight a part of her wondered if it was possible for a human trachea to collapse from sheer emotional pain. Vera and then Aida patted her on the back.
