CHAPTER NINE

In the hippodrome, Kyniska sat in the cockpit of Amelia Earhart’s plane. She grabbed the control stick, shoving it left and right, forward and back.

“Gently, please!” Amelia pleaded. She was crouching behind Kyniska. “It’s the stick. You use it to move the plane up and down. Pushing it forward causes the nose to dip, and you pull it back to climb.”

Kyniska yanked it back. “It’s not working.”

“It also tips the wings,” Amelia explained. “The pedals work the rudder.”

Kyniska rested her sandals on the pedals.

“You use your feet to move the nose left and right,” Amelia said. “These are your instruments,” she said, pointing to the panel of dials. “They show your airspeed, height above the ground, engine temperature, oil pressure—everything you need to know.”

“I like it,” Kyniska said. “I’ll take it.”

Amelia laughed.

Kyniska wasn’t joking.

“But, I …” Amelia began. “It’s mine. I bought it.”

“Yes, and for some reason you chose to crash it into my chariot driver. Do you have any idea how long we have been training for this race?”

“Sorry. How long?”

“Years,” Kyniska said. “No woman has ever won an Olympic event. None has ever dared to compete! But I, Kyniska, Princess of Sparta—I am going to be the first winner!”

“But wasn’t that other fellow going to drive?” Amelia asked.

“What of it?” Kyniska sneered. “Everyone knows it is the owner of the chariot who is considered the champion. It is the owner who wins immortal fame and glory!” She continued in a softer voice. “This has always been my dream. Since I was a young girl, I have loved games and sports, any sort of competition.”

“Me too!”

“I bred these horses myself,” Kyniska said. “Trained them, day after day. I have the greatest team, the finest chariot. I have the greatest driver—or I did, before you broke his leg.”

“I think it’s just a bad bruise,” Amelia said.

“He is in no condition to compete.”

“No, that’s true. How can I make it up to you?”

“You can’t.” Kyniska shook her head. “And so dies my dream, here, on the plains of Olympia.”

They sat in silence.

“What if …” Amelia began. “What if I were to be your driver?”

You?” Kyniska scoffed. “What do you know of chariot racing?”

“Not much,” Amelia admitted. “But I grew up around horses. You could show me.”

Kyniska moved the airplane’s control stick back and forth. “Well, if you can handle this flying chariot …”

“Exactly!” Amelia cried. “It will be an adventure! What could go wrong?”

“Many, many things,” Kyniska said, smiling for the first time since she’d met Amelia Earhart. “Come, I will show you!”