“It would be foolish, as Daddy said, and you might make it worse.”
She let out a sigh. “I feel helpless.”
I wrapped my arm through hers. “Don’t worry. I’ll make the cross-country flight, and then Mama and Daddy will never have to worry about money again.”
She squeezed my arm and smiled at me.
Behind her, Luc was gaining altitude as the five thousand spectators seemed to hold their breath with me. As soon as he reached three thousand feet, he would point the plane toward the earth and cut the engine—then, at the last possible second,he would restart the engine and pull up on the throttle and glide safely to land.
If the engine failed to start ... there was no possibility of surviving.
I didn’t know why he did it, but it was the thing everyone had come to the air meet to see. The manager of the event, Bill Willard, had paid Luc an enormous amount of money for his appearance here today.
“I know it’s not done until I hear the crowd cheer,” Grace said as she looked down at our entwined arms. “Then I know it’s safe to look up.”
We stood next to my new Blériot aeroplane. It had just arrived from France three days before I left New York to come to Boston. I had taken it up a few times but hadn’t tested it as much as I would like before debuting it in public.
Tomorrow I would try for the speed record, which came with a thousand-dollar purse and would help pay for the new aeroplane. I wanted to test-fly it a few more times to get familiar with the course before then. I had asked Grace to come up with me, but since she’d refused, I asked Mr. Willard if he wanted to come, and he had agreed.
“You are missing out on the greatest experience of your life,” I told Grace. “Will you ever let me take you up?”
“I really have no desire.” She shook her head. “I’m not a fan of heights as it is—but add seventy-mile-an-hour speed and unpredictable wind, and I am not interested.”
I shrugged as I watched Luc reach his final altitude and then turn his Blériot nose-down. The aeroplane began to buzz toward the earth, gaining speed. There was always a split second when I was afraid thatthistime he wouldn’t make it.
I held Grace’s arm tight—but then, at the very last second, Luc’s plane pulled up and glided to safety.
The crowd roared with approval, and Grace lifted her gaze. Relief was written all over her face.
This was the third air meet she had attended with me this summer. She’d been busy with theNew York Globeand was working on a piece about the women’s suffrage movement, headed by Alva Belmont. When she attended air meets, I tried to avoid bringing her and Luc together. I wasn’t sure why, because they seemed to be getting along better, but it was easier this way.
As for Luc, we saw each other often. He continued to be kind and friendly, but our relationship remained the same. I told myself he didn’t want to distract me with romance while I had such a big flight on the horizon. I needed to remain focused on the cross-country journey, and he needed to be my business manager—and nothing else. I hoped and prayed that when we got to California, things would change.
Luc stepped out of his aeroplane to the wild cheers of the crowd. The noise was deafening—and made me grin for him. He waved at the audience and then jogged toward the hangar where Grace and I had been watching.
The moment he saw us, his steps slowed. Was it because of Grace? She had only arrived half an hour ago, so he didn’t know she was here. I had invited her to watch me break the speed record—and because it felt strange to be in Massachusetts without her. We were not far from Salem Village, though it was now called Danvers. Part of me wanted to visit to see what had changed and what had stayed the same since 1692. The other part of me wanted nothing to do with the town.
“Bonjour,” Luc said as he continued toward us. He took off the canvas jacket that all the aviators wore to protect their clothes from the castor oil, revealing a simple dark blue suit coat with matching trousers underneath. The suit made his eyes look bluer than normal. Beneath the coat, he wore a white collared shirt, and on his dark hair was a flat cap worn backwards. He had taken off his flying goggles, and they dangled from his long fingers. His movements were so smooth and even, as if he had mastery over every action he took.
“Hello,” Grace and I said at the same time.
“I did not know you were coming,” he said to Grace, something gentle yet eager in his gaze.
She glanced at me and then looked back at Luc. “Hope wanted me to watch her break the speed record tomorrow.”
“Oui.” He nodded. “She will make history again.”
“I am going up for a test flight soon,” I said to Luc, drawing his attention back to me. “How is the air?”
He pulled his gaze away from my sister. “It is very good. How has the new monoplane handled for you?”
It was a two-seater, since I planned to make extra money taking passengers up with me. I wasn’t used to having the added weight of another person in the aeroplane, but it was easy enough to maneuver. “I love it.”
“Très bien.” He smiled and then looked toward the hangar where they were wheeling in his aeroplane. “I must go. The mechanics need to speak to me.” He returned his focus to Grace. “Are you staying in Boston?”
“Yes, at the Copley Square Hotel.”
“Perhaps we can have supper there.” He looked at me. “The three of us, of course. Just like old times.”
