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face. “Don’t forget! Safety has no quitting time.” From the corner of my eye, I saw Dad brush a cog off his sleeve, shaking his head at Fedora’s puns—or at his defective son.
    If Sarah Jane was watching from some hidden spot, I hoped she hadn’t witnessed my latest bit of damage— that she hadn’t guessed yet that I was an undeniable danger to metallic, mechanical, man-made things.
    Everyone cheered as Fish and Mellie kissed at last. Everyone but me. The cheers set off a frenzied swirl of color. Hundreds of butterflies rose into the air around the couple in a Technicolor tornado, then scattered and split the scene, all orchestrated by Uncle Autry like some insect rodeo air show. The towering birch trees began to creak and groan, bending and swaying as Fish blasted the glade with a happy, rumbustious storm.
    Women clutched their skirts. Men grabbed their neckties. I squinted against the wind but couldn’t even raise a hand to shield my eyes.
    â€œLet’s hope this is the worst the boy lets his love-struck bluster get,” Great-aunt Jules harrumphed as she lost her flowery hat to the wind. “I’d hate to see young Fisher damage these fine birches. Trees like these don’t grow up overnight, you know. Not since we lost the last Beacham with any talent.”
    Another gust of wind carried a cloud of dust and grit in our direction. Great-aunt Jules began to sniff and snort, pressing a round finger beneath her nose to keep herself from sneezing.
    â€œLands! Don’t get me going!” she exclaimed, holding her breath. “If I start sneezing now, I might send myself back in time to the last wedding on this ranch. It would take me forever to catch back up!” Aunt Jules jumped back in time twenty minutes every time she sneezed, making me wish for a jumbo jar of pepper. I’d happily send her back in time—back to the days of the dinosaurs.
    The wind settled as soon as Fish and Mellie swept down the path toward the barn, where the real party was about to start. Looking pleased to see his younger brother hitched and happy, Rocket Beaumont strode with the rest of the family between the rows of chairs, moving electrons in his wake and giving everyone sitting or standing near him a hair-raising moment.
    No one could forget that Rocket was electric. When he was seventeen, Rocket triggered serious power outages and mondo mayhem after a car accident put the Beaumonts’ poppa—my uncle Abram—in the hospital. A year later, Rocket decided he’d be better off at the ranch.
    People chatted and laughed as they followed the newlyweds down the hill. Fedora took off at a run, eager to retrieve her helmet; she’d been hopping mad when Mom made her take it off for the ceremony. My parents quickly sidestepped Great-aunt Jules. Mom and Dad must have assumed that I was right behind them as they followed the others down the path. But I was still caught.
    Not going anywhere.
    And, unlike my cousin Rocket, who’d been here eight years already, the only place I wanted to go was home.

Chapter 5
    â€œS HE PUT A PIN IN YOU, then forgot you were stuck, didn’t she.” A man’s voice came from somewhere beyond my limited field of vision. I scowled, but the man chuckled softly, moving closer. When Uncle Autry sat down next to me, leaning one arm against the chairs in front of us so I could see him better, I relaxed.
    â€œHow did you guess?” I muttered, feeling my face grow hot.
    â€œI didn’t have to guess, Ledge,” my uncle continued. “Dinah’s been my sister a lot longer than she’s been your mother. And she did the exact same thing to me plenty. I must’ve spent half the fourth grade stuck like an ant in tree sap back when your mom first got her savvy.” Autry O’Connell was younger than both his sisters, my mom and my aunt, Jenny Beaumont, but his face was lined from years in the Wyoming wind and weather,