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News of the rainmaker’s arrival spread fast, and far. Liberal folk turned out in great numbers to watch the demonstration that afternoon.

Everyone was desperate for this man to live up to their expectations, for his equipment to work and bring the rain.

From prayers and dances to old farming superstitions, they’d tried everything since nature had abandoned them.

The sight of snakes killed and hung belly-up on barbed-wire fences turned Emily’s stomach inside out.

She was as eager as the next person to see what Leonardo could do.

The level of excitement and anticipation climbed, until the gathered crowd were on the cusp of impatience, when a voice appeared, as if from nowhere.

“Good people of Kansas!”

A gasp rippled through the crowd as everyone turned to see where the booming voice was coming from. The makeshift stage in front remained empty.

“You have suffered long enough!” the voice continued. “Together, we will bring the rain back to your farms!”

Henry glanced at Emily, a tired smile on his face. Dorothy gripped Emily’s hand, a little afraid of the booming voice.

Behind Emily, Hank Miller couldn’t hide his delight. “Should see the equipment he has, Henry. Sure looks like a man who knows what he’s doing.”

Emily looped her arm through Henry’s. “You really think he can make it rain?”

“I guess nobody can know for sure, but I believe God loves a trier, Em. And Lord knows we’ve tried. Let’s see what he has to offer in those canisters and contraptions of his.”

Cheers and applause mingled with the chatter of anticipation and expectation until a bright flash of light and a fizzing crackle drew everyone’s attention to the stage. Leonardo had appeared, his arms spread wide in grateful acceptance of the enthusiastic applause.

The scruffy clothes he’d worn earlier had been replaced by a smart pair of green serge pants and a matching waistcoat worn over a crisp white shirt.

His hair had been brushed and slicked back.

He’d even shaved. All that remained of the homeless wanderer Emily had found in the barn earlier were the scruffy boots and striped socks.

This was the bombastic showman she remembered, the great orator and performer she’d watched so many times and whom Annie had been enchanted by.

He addressed the crowd, thanking them for the warm welcome and assuring them he was the best precipitation conjugator across the Great Plains. He turned to his left then and held out his hand.

“And now, meet the Daring Darling of the Skies! The Antipodean Earhart! The Wonderful Woman from Aus. Miss Adelaide Watson!”

Adelaide jumped onto the stage beside him, beaming in an elegant two-piece aviation suit of loose slacks and a zip top with 99s stitched onto the breast pocket. She looked every inch of Amelia Earhart or Amy Johnson.

Dorothy squealed. “Look, Auntie Em! It’s Miss Adelaide!”

“Yes, dear. It is.” Emily tugged self-consciously at a loose thread on the cuff of her old prairie dress and ran a hand over the straggly hairs that had fallen loose from the bun at the nape of her neck. The practical style aged her, but it was too hot to let her hair hang loose.

“With my sophisticated techniques and equipment,” Leo continued, “and ably assisted by the wonderful Miss Watson here, we will blast the clouds apart and bring rain by the bucketful!”

Emily looked on, partly fascinated but still highly skeptical as Leonardo performed an impressive demonstration of his chemical concoctions, sending colored smoke into the air as glass tubes and jars full of liquids fizzed and sputtered.

“When this same chemical reaction is absorbed by the atmosphere, the rain will come,” he announced with absolute certainty.

He was certainly persuasive. Everyone was enraptured. Emily was sure they would have believed him if he’d said his concoctions could make an elephant appear.

“And now, the pièce de résistance!” For the final part of his demonstration, he sent a balloon skyward, a small timed explosive device attached to it. When it reached a certain altitude, he detonated it, sending a mighty crack and boom rippling across the sky above. Everyone gasped and clapped.

“If you’re really a magic man, make yourself disappear!” Pieter Anderssen called out, earning himself a sharp reprimand from his mother.

Dorothy giggled and held her hand to her mouth.

Leo wasn’t concerned. “The young boy demands that I disappear!” he said. “How can I bear to disappoint him?”

The crowd responded with oohs and aahs.

As if rehearsed, Adelaide sprang into action, passing Leo several items—matches, a thermos of hot water, a canister.

Emily stretched onto her tiptoes to see better.

After a moment or two, Adelaide set off firecrackers that fizzed and flashed.

Emily squinted against the bright lights, shielding her eyes as a great cloud of smoke formed and then cleared, and all that was left on the stage was a pair of scruffy boots and striped socks.

Pieter jumped up and down and clapped his hands. “He did it! He really did disappear!”

It was quite the display. Mr.Stregone had impressed them all.

Bar one.

While the smoke had obscured the crowd’s view, Emily had seen him scurrying beneath the cloth that covered the stage. He was nothing but a fraud, a well-rehearsed circus showman, hiding beneath old tomato crates.

—

Emily had presumed Leonardo would get on with his precipitation conjugation right away, but he said it was important to wait until conditions were optimal to launch his chemical explosions.

She hoped it wouldn’t be much longer. Every day that Leo remained with them, the greater the chance of something being said that would place her in a difficult situation.

And the longer they waited for the rain, the worse the dusters seemed to become.

More and more rolled in every day, sending them all scurrying inside with damp cloths over their noses and mouths while newspapers and rags were stuffed uselessly against the windows and doors. It was relentless. Unbearable.

Emily hardly let Leo out of her sight as he helped Henry with tasks around the farm.

It was good to see Henry take an interest in things again as he talked about the record harvests of their early years and what they’d hoped the future would bring.

He showed Leo his ledgers where he’d carefully recorded the yields they’d once brought in and the high prices they’d secured.

He told him about the tornado that had destroyed their first home, and the financial crash that had followed, and the influx of farmers that had seen millions of acres of prairie torn up and sent prices spiraling because of record grain yields.

Emily didn’t like Henry being so open about everything, but she left him to it while quietly watching and listening.

“You’ve had the bad luck,” Leo said. “You didn’t have family to help?”

“I’m too stubborn and proud,” Henry said with a sorry shake of his head. “Not that there would have been anything to help us with. Turns out our family were no better off than we were.”

Leo seemed surprised. “The crash spread far,” he said, but his attention seemed to have wandered.

While Emily watched Henry and Leo carefully, it was Leo’s interactions with Dorothy that she observed most closely.

He was pleasant with the child, patient and encouraging as he taught her how to juggle two apples, then three at a time. Emily felt the sting of envy as she watched the easy way between the two of them, remembering her own faltering attempts to connect with Dorothy over an apple.

“He has her mesmerized with his clever tricks and potions,” Henry said as the two of them watched the eager pupil and her enigmatic teacher.

With Toto as an audience, Dorothy practiced the tricks until she got them right, earning an enthusiastic “Brava, bella Dorothy! Brava!” from Leo.

“That man could charm a snake,” Emily said. “And Dorothy should be doing chores, never mind learning silly tricks.”

“You don’t like him much, do you?” Henry placed an arm around her shoulder. “Ever the protective sister.”

The feel of Henry’s touch was fortifying, even though the reference to Annie pained her. She’d been so anxious since Leo’s arrival, doubtful of his true motives and always on edge in case he or Dorothy said something that revealed more than she’d already shared with Henry.

“I just wish he would get on with what he came here to do,” she said. “That’s all.”

“I’m not especially keen on him myself, to be honest. Bit too showy for my liking. You can tell he used to be a circus performer. But he’s charming, that’s for sure.”

Their attention was diverted by Dorothy calling to them.

“Look, Uncle Henry! Auntie Em! This one’s my favorite trick,” she cried, before turning back to Leonardo. “I always asked you to perform this one, didn’t I, Mr.Stregone!”

Henry glanced at Emily. “Always? Whatever does she mean?”

Emily stiffened. For a moment, she couldn’t find the words to respond. She looked on silently as Leonardo made a ball appear to float along the edge of a silk handkerchief.

“I presume Annie took Dorothy to the circus,” she said, eventually. “She must have seen him perform the trick there. Either that or she’s imagining things again.”

Henry seemed placated. “Most probably! Anyway, like the man or not, if he can do what he says he can, I’m sure we can tolerate him a little while longer.” He pulled Emily closer to him. “This won’t last forever, Em. Hang in there.”

She knew he was talking about the drought, but her thoughts were elsewhere.