My heart began to thud. I could stand it no more. I broke away from the crowd and ran toward Aidan. He didn’t see me until I was beside him.

“Delia?” he said. “What are you doing here?”

I pointed behind me. “The entire town is here. Is it true, Aidan? Did you find oil?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know yet. I don’t want to get my hopes up. Hans is looking at the samples now.”

He pushed Lily toward me. “Here, take her. I couldn’t leave her in the hotel alone, but it’s not safe for her here. You either.”

He glanced over at the crowds and groaned. “I hate to disappoint them all, Delia.”

I had never seen Aidan like this. Usually so confident, he now had the air of a defeated man.

“You have to understand, Delia. An oil find in this area would change all their fortunes. If there’s oil here, there’s bound to be more nearby. And—”

He didn’t finish his sentence. Hans came running toward us, waving his short arms. I had never seen the dignified man in such a state, and I started to laugh at how comical he looked. But I stopped.

“Aidan, fräulein, it is true. The samples prove it. Gott im Himmel. We have found oil.”

Aidan paled and stiffened. I gasped aloud, and Lily let go of me and clapped her hands.

“We don’t think it’s a deep pool that could give us a gusher, but if it’s wide enough, it could flow for years.”

Suddenly, Hans stopped talking. He turned around and looked back at the well. A tremor had begun to shake the ground. I thought it might be an earthquake and I clung to Aidan’s arm. Then a sound, like an animal’s growl, rumbled near the well. It grew louder and louder until it was almost deafening. Aidan pushed me back roughly.

“Get away,” he shouted.

I ran with Lily to the edge of the field, while Aidan and Hans raced toward the well. When I looked back the derrick had begun to shake violently, sending shards of metal everywhere. As it did so, the roughnecks leaped off the plank, and site workers started running in all directions. Hans and Aidan stood as if paralyzed. The onlookers watched and waited. Then, without warning, a widening column of black liquid thundered out of the well with an ear-splitting roar. As it rose into the sky, silhouetted against the setting sun, the crowd murmured in awe as if witnessing a miracle.