"If it can be fixed, George can fix it," Buck added. "Just keep plenty of cold water handy. He always works up a sweat and a dry throat."
George Jackson waited for an opening, to politely speak to one of the men who was neatly dressed in tan trousers and a checkered sport shirt.
Watching from a distance, Barbara thought the man Jackson talked to was about thirty. He was tall and huskily built, had thick sandy hair, and she thought he was quite good-looking.
They both looked her way and Jackson said a few more words to his boss. She thought Ken Knowland was probably wondering why she needed a mechanic. After saying something to the men he was talking with, Knowland began walking toward her. Jackson followed a few feet behind.
Knowland introduced himself to Barbara, offering his hand. They shook as she told him who she was.
"It really wasn't necessary for George to ask if he could do some work for you on Sundays," Knowland said in a casual manner. But Barbara sensed it had been good that Jackson had. "He's the best mechanic I've ever had. He'll get your planes in the air in no time. He tells me you're planning on putting on air shows. Come see the ones I stage. Tomorrow?"
She thanked him, but said she had a full day of work ahead of her at her airport the next day.
"You ever done any barnstorming?" Knowland asked, as if the idea was improbable.
"No, but I've flown with a man who did. I intend to learn.
Know anyone who can teach me?"
"I would, but like you, I'm too busy running my own airport. George here, though. He's done lots of barnstorming. You were in a Flying Circus, too, weren't you?"
Barbara was excited. She had seen several Flying Circuses back in the Midwest. They were still popular after their heyday following the Great War. Daredevil pilots would re-enact wartime dogfights and astound the crowds with their aerobatics.
"Did all that, before I got myself busted up too much. Now I stay on the ground, mostly. I can teach how, though, if I have to."
"They only serve lemonade and soda in the armory," Knowland said to Barbara. "Shall we all go somewhere for something else? My treat."
Barbara was almost disappointed that Edna said it was past hers and Buck's bedtime. She was rather intrigued by the young airport owner, and liked his looks. He had a small mustache and she thought it was becoming, a little full and not pencil-thin which she did not like.