unreal.
He waited for the others to come up before calling, 'Switch off.
We can't go on in this. the engine oil will be thin as water, and
we'll ruin all the bearings if we try.
We'll wait for it to cool a little.' Thankfully, they climbed from the
cars and crawled into the shade of the chassis where they lay panting
like dogs. Jake went down the line with a five-gallon tin of
blood-warm. water and gave them each as much as they could drink
before collapsing on the blanket beside Vicky.
'It's too hot to walk back to my own car,' he explained, and she took
it with good grace, merely nodding and closing one more button of her
half-open blouse.
Jake wet his handkerchief from the water can and offered it to her.
Gratefully, she wiped her neck and face and sighed with pleasure.
'It's too hot to sleep,' she murmured. 'Entertain me, Jake.'
'Well now!' he grinned, and she laughed.
'I said it's too hot. Let's talk.'
'About 'About you. Tell me about you what part of Texas are you
from?'
'All of it. Wherever my pa could find work.'
'What did he do?
'Wrangled cattle, and rode rodeo.'
'Sounds fun.' Jake shrugged.
'I preferred machines to horses.'
'Then?'
'There was this war, and they needed mechanics to drive tanks.'
'Afterwards? Why didn't you go home?'
'Pa was dead a steer fell on him, and it wasn't worth the journey to go
collect his old saddle and blanket.' They were silent for a while,
just lying and riding the solid waves of heat that came off the
earth.
'Tell me about your dream, Jake,' she said at last.
'My dream?'
'Everybody has a dream.' He smiled ruefully.. 'I've got a dream-' he
hesitated, 'there is this idea of mine. It's an engine, the Barton
engine.
It's all there.' He tapped his forehead. 'All I need is the money to
build it. For ten years, I've tried to get it together.
Nearly had it a couple of times.'
'After this trip, you will have it,' she suggested.
'Perhaps.' He shook his head. 'I've been too sure too many times to
make any bets, though.'
'Tell me about the engine,' she said and he talked quietly but eagerly
for ten minutes.
It was a new design, a lightweight, economical design. 'It would drive
anything, water pump, saw mill, motorcycle, that sort of thing.'
He was intent, happy, she saw. 'I'd only need a small workshop to
begin with, some place back west I've thought about Fort Worth-' he
stopped himself, and glanced at her. 'Sorry, I was running on a
bit.'
