Clover held her breath. The next seconds seemed like hours. The aircraft looked small in the distance now but she discerned it descending, lower and lower. From where Clover stood it looked as if the tail end touched down first and she realised his wisdom and foresight in fitting a tail wheel. Then the narrow bicycle wheels made contact with the ground and the whole assembly seemed to shake and flop about as it came to a halt over the rough field.
She breathed a sigh of relief. ‘He’s done it!’ she yelled, ecstatic at Ned’s success. She turned to Tom Doubleday and Julian, jumping up and down with excitement. ‘He’s done it. Did you see that? He’s done it.’
‘That was pretty impressive,’ Julian declared. ‘Wait till our readers hear about this. Ned Brisco will be a hero. He was in the air about fifteen seconds by my reckoning.’
‘What d’you reckon that is in terms of distance?’ Tom asked.
‘Gettin’ on for two hundred yards,’ Amos estimated. ‘At least. We can easy pace it out. Come on, Clover, we should be getting down there to him. We’ll have to congratulate him.’
‘Yes, we’d better.’ She turned to Tom Doubleday as Amos went back to fetch the horse and cart. ‘I’d best get down there,’ she said apologetically.
‘Do you mind if I come with you?’ he suggested. ‘Maybe we could walk down together.’
Clover smiled happily. ‘All right.’ Her elation all at once took on a new perspective. ‘Would you like me to carry something for you? Your case, maybe?’
‘Thanks.’ He handed her the case that contained his plates. ‘It’s not too heavy, is it?’
‘Not at all,’ she said and they began the steep descent down Rough Hill.
‘That was quite a spectacle,’ Tom said, ‘seeing man and machine fly. Quite a spectacle. Something I’ll never forget. Something to tell my grandchildren about.’
‘Quite a spectacle,’ Clover agreed. ‘I’m so pleased he succeeded. He’s worked ever so hard for it, you wouldn’t believe. He lives and breathes this aviation lark.’
‘But you obviously share some of his enthusiasm?’
‘Oh, I do. Because he would never allow it to beat him. He’s read everything about what the Wright Brothers have done and wanted to prove to himself that he could do it as well. He knew he could. You have to admire such determination, such faith. I suppose his enthusiasm has rubbed off on me a little bit.’
‘So how long have you been courting, Clover?’
‘Oh, we’re not courting, Tom.’ She looked at him earnestly and almost tripped over a tuft of grass.
‘You’re not? But I got the impression from your stepsister that you were.’
Clover shook her head and, with her fingers, brushed aside her hair that was blowing about her face. ‘I don’t know what Ramona’s told you about me and Ned, but we’re definitely not courting. We’re only friends. Good friends, but only friends.’
She could see Ned scrambling out of his glider that looked like a small toy from here. He walked round to the rear of the craft, fiddled with the tail and checked the tail wheel.
‘Well she seems to think you’re courting, Clover.’
‘No, she doesn’t, Tom,’ she answered decisively. ‘She knows very well that Ned is only a friend. She knows very well we’re not courting.’
‘So why would she…?’
Clover looked at him and saw a flicker of realisation in his eyes.
He caught her look and smiled dismissively. ‘So, what’s the next step for Ned as regards aviation?’
‘For Ned? Oh, powered flight, he reckons. Obviously, he’s going to need an engine.’
‘Well there are plenty of firms locally who make engines. He could use a motor car engine, I daresay.’
‘I don’t think they’re suitable,’ she replied. ‘Too heavy and not enough power – so he says. The other problem is that he pays for all this out of his own pocket. The reason he asked the newspaper to come and report it was so that he might get some factory owner interested enough to sponsor him somehow and contribute to the costs.’
‘Good idea. I hope he succeeds in that as well. It would be a crying shame if the project had to stop through lack of money.’
‘It would,’ Clover agreed. ‘Ned has a dream. He wants to develop these machines – these aeroplanes – enough to carry freight and even passengers. He wants to start his own factory building them.’
‘Well, what a dream, eh, Clover?’
She looked at him and smiled. ‘I know. What a dream. You have to admire it. But he sees such potential.’
After a few seconds pause, Tom said, ‘Can I ask you something, Clover?’
‘Yes,’ she said. ‘Ask away.’
‘I can see you’re very attached to Ned but…well, if you’re not courting, may I ask if I could take you out tonight?’
She thought he would hear the sudden pounding of her heart and she was sure she must have coloured crimson, but she smiled delightedly, wide-eyed. ‘Oh, I’d love to. But what about Ramona?’
‘Ramona?’ he queried, a puzzled look clouding his handsome face.
‘Yes. She won’t be very pleased.’
‘I don’t understand. What’s she got to do with it?’
‘Well…’ She uttered a little laugh of embarrassment. ‘Aren’t you and Ramona supposed to be—?’
Tom laughed out loud. ‘Me and Ramona? Has she told you that?’
‘No, she’s said nothing. I just got the impression that…You always seem very close, Tom. Heads together in the taproom…you know?’
He laughed again. ‘Well, it’s an illusion, Clover. There’s nothing between Ramona and me.’
‘I’m sorry, Tom. I really was under the impression.’ She smiled, embarrassed but so relieved. She was relieved on two counts; one, that he and Ramona were not courting and two, that he was therefore not being two-timed on account of Sammy.
‘Oh, Ramona’s always very bright and friendly. I like her. And she’s a fine looking girl. I flatter myself to believe that if I asked her out she would accept. But you’re the one I’ve always set my cap at, Clover. Why else d’you think I’ve been calling so regularly at the Jolly Collier? To see you. Trouble is, you’ve been so elusive. You kept hiding yourself away.’
She laughed and her eyes lit up like bright blue crystals. ‘Only because I didn’t want you to see me all scruffy.’ Then she was stumped for words again.
‘You look good in anything, Clover.’ He paused, certain she would savour the compliment. ‘So can I call for you at, say, eight o’ clock?’
‘Yes, eight o’ clock would suit well. What shall we do, though?’
‘I don’t know yet. Go for a walk maybe? This weather seems very settled. It should be a pleasant enough evening.’
‘All right.’ She smiled and there was a skip in her step now.
Julian, the Dudley Herald reporter, had tagged along with Amos who was leading the horse and cart carefully down the steep slope. They remained a good sixty yards or so behind Clover and Tom and Amos furnished him with a few background details that he would be able to use in his story. Eventually they all reached the grinning Ned, who could scarcely contain his joy. He’d inspected the aircraft and declared it free of damage.
‘Tonight,