“Charm does not work on me, Will. You ought to know that. Now, one of you better fess up. I haven’t got all day. I have a race to win. Now, what has gotten into you all?”
She stared at them. They stared back. She just stared harder and leaned slightly forward at the waist. They shuffled their feet. She did not. She remained firm and unwavering.
Otto broke first. “Leo.”
At the coughed-out single word, Jake lightly smacked Otto on the back of his head, causing his cap to flop over his eyes.
“Hey!” Otto protested.
“You weren’t supposed to say anything.” Will nudged the middle brother with his elbow.
“Leo what?” Mattie ground out, ready to lose patience with her siblings. She had been away from their chaos for too long, and she found that her tolerance for it had diminished.
“Leo called them,” her father supplied.
“Leo?” Mattie asked. He didn’t like to speak in person, let alone on the telephone.
“Read us the riot act, he did,” Will said.
“Not you too!” Jake knocked Will’s hat forward as well.
“Otto already gabbed!” Will protested.
“Would someone please calmly and rationally explain what happened?” Mattie’s voice broke through their bickering.
Jake gave a defeated sigh. “Leo has been sending all of us news clippings of your accomplishments.”
Mattie’s heart took off like a scout plane—strong, fast, and sure. “He has?”
Will nodded as he carefully adjusted his hat. If there had been a mirror available, he definitely would have looked into it. “Like clockwork.”
“I posted the articles on a pegboard in my office,” her father told her proudly. “I’ve read every word. When I talked to your brothers on the phone, I made sure that they had too.”
“After Leo’s crash in California, he telephoned all of us.” Otto’s pale skin flushed a bit at the memory. “He told us we’d better come out here—”
“And threatened us with our lives if we didn’t support you,” Will added.
“And you’re listening to him?” Mattie asked, disbelief warring with the warmth filling her at the images of Leo secretly mailing the news pieces to her family and of her father proudly tacking the articles up.
“Well, he might have admitted that he took on the more dangerous stunts so we wouldn’t get hurt.” Looking surprisingly embarrassed, Jake rubbed his jaw. “Something about a vow he made to Alfred after his death.”
Mattie hadn’t thought her insides could get softer, but they did. Leo really had become her champion—and in the best way possible. He was allowing her to live her dream.
“We all got as mad as heck.” Will tugged his forelock, messing up both his carefully arranged hat and greased-back hair.
“Until Leo pointed out we were doing the same to you. He said that all the frustration we were feeling, you had to deal with fourfold.” Jake twisted his lips ruefully.
“It got us all to thinking,” Otto said. “Then Pa gave us a lecture.”
“Which they finally listened to.” Her father made a weary production of sighing, but he sent her a cheerful wink.
“So none of you are going to try to talk me out of this?” Mattie glanced among her three siblings and her father. They all shook their heads in affirmation, their expressions surprisingly solemn.
“We’re just here to cheer you on,” Jake promised, and then he exchanged a significant look with his brothers, “and to give you something.”
“What something?” Mattie asked suspiciously as Otto began to root around in a knapsack.
“We realized that part of the reason we were stopping you from flying is because we all felt like we couldn’t lose you after what happened to Alfred,” Otto answered as he pulled out a familiar leather helmet and goggles. At the sight of her twin’s old gear, Mattie pressed her hand to her mouth.
