Storming: A Dieselpunk Adventure Read Online Free

where you want to be right now. A bad marriage and a dead wife—that’s not something any of us want to come back to.”
    That history was long, long over. But Hitch’s stomach still rolled over on itself.
    “Something must have been out there, because something sure hit your engine, I’ll grant you that. But it was dark and you were going fast.” A grin pulled at the corner of Earl’s mouth. “Faster than you’ve ever gone before in this heap. You got the jitters? Fine. Maybe you were even sleepy. We pulled some mighty long hours trying to get here on time.”
    Had he been drifting off? Hitch thought back. What had he been thinking about before the parachutes appeared in front of him? He’d had a lot on his mind, that was sure. If he hadn’t needed to be in Livingstone’s competition so badly, coming back home would have been way down on his list of priorities. With any luck, he wouldn’t run into too many folks he knew from before. Most of them—including Celia’s sister and his own brother—wouldn’t be too excited to see him. And there were a few he wasn’t too excited about seeing himself—mainly Sheriff Bill Campbell.
    That’s what he’d been thinking. No dozing about it.
    And then it happened, in a blur of adrenaline. His memory wasn’t giving him too many clear pictures, just general blasts of color. But he was sure. You didn’t just imagine a girl in a ball gown plummeting out of the night sky.
    He rubbed his hand through the short ends of his curly hair. “If I say I’m sure, I don’t suppose that’ll get you to stop looking at me like I belong in the nuthouse?”
    Earl snorted. “That ain’t likely any day of the week. Not the way you fly.”
    Hitch looked at the plane, then back at Earl. “Can you fix it?”
    “’Course I can fix it.”
    “Can you fix it in time ?”
    Earl put on his grumpy face. “Why is it always up to me to work the miracles around here?”
    “Because you’re the only smart one of the bunch.”
    “You know I’m going to need some money for supplies.”
    “Money I haven’t got.” Hitch chewed his lip. “Maybe somebody in town will have a quickie odd job. Or... I could sell something.”
    “And what have you got that’s worth selling?”
    He mentally rooted through his rucksack. “My old Colt .45 maybe. It’s still in good shape. Somebody might give me more than a couple bucks for it.”
    “Better hope so.” Earl hesitated. “And maybe we can take Rick’s car and drive out to the lake, see if we can find any traces of these folks. You’re pretty sure they’re not hurt?”
    “Yeah, I’m sure. They walked off just fine. They didn’t much want to meet up with me.” And he didn’t blame them. “I just can’t quite figure where they came from.”
    Earl clicked off his flashlight. “Same place all jumpers jump from. No mystery there.”
    Hitch stayed where he was and looked up at the moon. Seemed like the old girl was winking at him. Might it be she knew something they didn’t? What secrets did she hold within all that silence?

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Three
    WALTER LIKED THE early mornings, especially in the summer—with the full moon still hovering near the horizon, on its way to setting. It nestled, white as a heifer’s face, against the blinding blue of the morning sky. He craned his head back.
    Maybe there’d be a real live airplane up there today too. The posters for the big show had been plastered all over town for weeks. His insides jigged at just the thought of it. He couldn’t help a grin, and he pulled in a deep breath.
    There was something about the air at this time of day, all shiny with the mist rising off the dew-speckled cornfields. Even in a bad drought, everything smelled wet and alive. This late in the summer, the cornfields should have been towering far over his head—they should have been up over even Papa Byron’s or Deputy Griff’s heads. But thanks to the dry weather, the corn was barely taller than his four