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couldn’t wait to take his tale to Grandpa Jim and the Crafter cousins. Such a successful combination of science and magic was rare even in their family history.
    “The storm should be closer,” called Franklin. The silhouette of his kite could be seen only at each lightning flicker.
    “It is close. They’re just waiting for me,” said the elemental. “That silly old coot. I’ll almost miss him. Tell him that for me.”
    “Mr. Franklin,” called Andrew as the elemental walked toward the naked man now starting to shiver in the rain and wind. “He wants you to know he’ll miss you.”
    Franklin turned to face him, face bemused in the lantern light. “Miss me? He will?”
    “But not much,” said the elemental. It took one more step forward, and now it and Franklin stood in the same place, almost in the same body. The clouds seemed to split open, a fork of lightning as crooked as the Devil’s tongue raced across the sky directly toward the tiny dark diamond of the kite.
    The results were almost instantaneous: the kite exploded, a ball of light flashed skyward from where Franklin stood, and a boom of thunder flattened all four people to the ground.
    Andrew sat up in the now-pouring rain. His chest felt bruised and his ears rang. It took a moment to orient himself. Then he saw that Calliope lay nearby. He crawled to her. Her eyes were closed, but she was still breathing. Andrew gasped her name and gathered her to him. He rocked her for what seemed forever. Then he felt her stir and heard her say,
    “Did you see that lightning!”
    “Yes, sweetheart, I saw it. Are you all right? Can you stand?”
    “Of course I can.” Calliope’s tone was indignant. But when she stood, she wobbled and had to hold onto Andrew for balance.
    “Mr. Franklin, Mr. Franklin.” Peter Martin knelt beside the old man. He’d covered Franklin with his own jacket. “Can you hear me, sir? Wake up. Wake up.”
    Andrew and Calliope staggered over. “Is he injured?” said Andrew. There were no burns or marks on Franklin’s body.
    “I feel fine,” said Franklin, opening his eyes then. He looked around at them and smiled. “What a capital adventure!”
    In the light of the lantern, his face looked calmer, wiser. And what was more, the look he gave Calliope was grandfatherly, Andrew realized. That gleam was finally gone from his eye.
    * * *
    The crowd of young men around Calliope at the Green Dragon Inn the next day was as thick as ever. They must know she’ll be leaving to meet her sweetheart in Virginia, thought Andrew. The realization that he might burst into tears at her departure both frightened and amazed him. She was his little sister, he kept telling himself. Put these feelings away .
    She came over to Andrew sitting by himself with a chilled mug of cider. “It took two baths to wash the mud and twigs from my hair,” she said. “Remember when we used to do Indian dances in the rain?”
    “Yes.” She was wearing dark crimson and looked very beautiful. He didn’t want to prolong the inevitable. “You’ll be leaving right away with your message for Billy?”
    “No, not right away.” Her eyes slid away from his. “I may stay here awhile longer. Or maybe travel back to Boston with you to see my family.”
    “But what about Billy?”
    Calliope gave him a confused look. “I wrote Janine the good news. She should be the one to tell him anyway; they’re planning to marry.”
    Andrew gaped. “Janine, your cousin?”
    “Yes.”
    “Your Virginia cousin?”
    “Yes. Andrew, what are you going on about? Is it that you don’t want me to travel with you back to Boston?”
    “Of course I want you—” Emboldened, he took a breath and babbled. “I want you to go with me to Europe, Calliope, to Italy, to meet my friend Count Volta. I’m certain we’ll make headway with our experiments now with what I’ve learned. Will you come?”
    To his amazement, Calliope put her hands to her face and burst into tears. When he put a