Free Amelia Earhart: Lady Lindy by Ann Hood Page B

Forever,’” the man said to no one in particular.
    â€œWho’s the March King?” Maisie asked him.
    The man seemed surprised someone had heard him.
    â€œOh, pardon me for marveling out loud. But I can’t help myself. It’s all so . . . so marvelous!”
    He held out two cold bottles of Dr Pepper.
    â€œHave you had this yet?” he asked Maisie and Felix.
    And even though their mother warned them to never ever take something from a stranger, the heat of the day and the fact that they’d had nothing to eat or drink in almost forever made them both eagerly accept the cold sodas.
    â€œIsn’t it delicious?” the man asked, awestruck. “Cherry soda! It goes especially well with hot dogs. I’d read about hot dogs, of course, but here there are hot dogs everywhere!”
    â€œThere are?” Maisie asked, glancing around hungrily.
    â€œWhy, you haven’t tasted one yet?” the man said. “We must remedy that. Right over there that cart is selling hot dogs!”
    Maisie and Felix followed the man and happily let him buy them each a hot dog. Somehow, Felix thought, this man was going to lead them to Charles Lindbergh.
    â€œYesterday,” the man continued as if Maisie and Felix were old friends, “I heard Scott Joplin play ‘The Entertainer’ in there. And now, today, John Philip Sousa. It was worth every penny to come here. Every single penny.”
    He added under his breath, “Despite what my father-in-law had to say about it.”
    â€œDid you come here from Minnesota?” Felix asked.
    But the man shook his head. “Atchison, Kansas,” he said. “You two?”
    â€œNewport, Rhode Island,” Felix told him, half expecting a reaction to this information.
    The man let out a low, impressed whistle, and Felix brightened. Now the connection to Lindbergh might somehow become clear.
    But all the man said was, “That’s quite far!”
    After she finished her hot dog in three quick bites, Maisie stopped paying attention to the man. The sight of cascading water across from Festival Hall had caught her interest and she began to walk toward it, Felix hurrying to catch up with her.
    â€œIt’s beautiful,” Maisie murmured as she stared out at a lagoon filled with gondolas, swan boats, and dragon boats all decked out with flowers and flags.
    â€œThe Grand Basin,” the man said.
    Why in the world had he followed them over here? Maisie wondered.
    â€œAt night it’s lit with more than twenty thousand lights,” he continued, his voice filled with awe.
    â€œYou aren’t Mr. Lindbergh by any chance,” Felix blurted. “Are you?”
    The man shook his head. “You’re looking for this Lindbergh fellow, are you?”
    â€œI think so,” Felix said.
    â€œIf he’s performing—” the man began, but he got interrupted by a woman rushing up to him.
    â€œWell, there you are,” the woman scolded.
    Maisie looked up into a vaguely familiar face. Where had she seen this woman before?
    â€œDaddy,” a little girl eating an enormous cone of cotton candy said. “Taste this!”
    That little girl, Maisie realized, was the freckle-faced kid from before, the one with the ice-cream cone.
    The girl’s mother recognized Maisie, too.
    â€œLet’s go see Lincoln’s log cabin, Sam,” she said to her husband. “The girls have been asking all afternoon.”
    Her husband let some cotton candy dissolve on his tongue, his eyes rolling heavenward as he did and a small moan of pleasure escaped his lips.
    â€œWhat is this sugary delight?” he asked.
    â€œCotton candy,” Felix told him.
    â€œCotton? Candy?” the man said, obviously displeased by the name.
    Meelie scowled at Felix.
    â€œNo it isn’t,” she said with a small stomp of her foot. “It’s fairy floss, Daddy.”
    Her father grinned. “Yes! Yes,