The professor climbed into the ornithopter and activated a lever. The machine hopped twice, then caught the sea breeze with a mighty flap.
The samurai watched as the mechanical owl spiraled up and over the bay, then flapped its way back to San Francisco. Hoshi gathered up the boat’s anchor and pushed it out into water, then climbed in. He raised the sail and tacked the boat back across the Golden Gate.
<<>>
Larissa dreamed. In the dream, she ran with the doll called Lyssa Crimson. Her cousin Alethea ran by her side. Larissa stopped in her tracks, moved the doll’s arm as though it reached down to the top of its socks. Then she brought its hand forward with a great kerzap! Alethea’s cheeks turned pink as she laughed at the silly sound.
“And that’s how Lyssa stopped the desperate cattle rustlers with her remarkable new invention, the smallest and most powerful lightning gun she had made,” said Larissa.
Alethea reached out and took the doll. “That’s silly,” she said. “Pretty girls do not round up bad guys and they don’t hide guns in their garters that go kerzap.”
This time it was Larissa’s turn to laugh. She knelt down beside Alethea. “All girls are pretty and they can do absolutely anything they want.”
“Mrs. Hall down the road isn’t pretty. She has a crooked nose and a wart right here.” Alethea scrunched up her face and pointed to her cheek.
“But wasn’t she right there helping Mr. Jenkins when he got his wagon mired down in the mud during the last rain?” Larissa poked Alethea’s nose, making her giggle again. “She helped when the important men from town didn’t want to get their hands dirty. To me, that’s beautiful.”
Alethea hugged her doll close. “I think you’re beautiful, Larissa.” She took extra time to make certain she pronounced her cousin’s name correctly. “Even more beautiful than Lyssa here.”
Larissa reached out to collect her cousin into a hug. As she did, the ground shifted. A fissure opened up and Alethea fell away. Larissa jumped after her cousin. Instead of catching her, instead of hitting the bottom, she awoke with a tear in her eye.
Muted light eased its way around the curtains of the Pullman car. Larissa sat up slowly, remembering she was on the train heading down the California coast. Professor Maravilla and Hoshi had arrived at the Presidio reporting that Ramon, Fatemeh and Billy had disappeared. She could go north after them, but the lightning wolves didn’t hold enough fuel for an extended chase. If she went on horseback, they’d likely disappear in the Sierras or Oregon Territory long before she caught up with them. It was best if she went back to Fort Bliss and watched for signs of them settling down. Then she could find them, talk to them, and figure out what best to do.
Someone knocked on her bedroom door. “Just a minute.”
Larissa climbed down from the berth and opened the door just a crack, revealing Professor Maravilla. “There were two telegrams of interest in the catcher pouch the train grabbed as we passed San Luis Obispo.” He held one aloft. “The Edison Company is interested in funding my experiments with the ornithopters, perhaps adapting the engines from steam to electromagnetic power. Such an advancement would have clear potential for the lightning wolves as well.”
“That sounds a little like working for the military.” Larissa blinked, trying to clear the cobwebs from her mind. “How did they even find you?”
“The telegram’s been forwarded through several stations. I’m guessing the army helped them out.”
“Are you willing to work for them?” Her gaze narrowed.
“I’m willing to think about it,” he said. “After our adventures, I’ve learned that darkness comes in all forms from many different places. All we can do is stand firm and fight it the best way we can. If Edison can help me do that, I’m willing to help them.” He gave a faint smile, then blushed. “I didn’t drag you out of bed to talk about me.” He passed a second slip of paper through the door. “This telegram was addressed to you.”
She took it from the professor and muttered thanks. A month ago, she would have been delighted to hear the news about the funding. She was still pleased for the professor, but it didn’t mean as much to her now that she had her own responsibilities.
The second telegram was unsigned and contained one sentence. “The owls are flying to Estancia.”
Larissa smiled. Returning to El Paso was the right answer after all. Ramon, Fatemeh, and Billy were heading to a spot two days’ ride to the north of her destination.
<<>>
The train stopped in Mesilla and Hoshi said his good-byes to Larissa, Maravilla, Harris, and Lorenzo. Lorenzo and Larissa promised he would get payment within the week for all his help. After all, he had completed the mission the colonel sent him on. Bresnahan met justice, and though destroyed, the lightning gun was accounted for.
Hoshi saddled his horse and rode back to the farm. How long had he been gone? He tried to count the days. It really hadn’t been that many. Even so, he was sure the mayordomo would have forgotten to water every day. Even if he had, weeds probably encroached and choked the plants.
As he reached the farm, he was surprised to see the chilies had sprouted, tall and strong. Even more surprising, there were no weeds. The field was in fine shape. His brow furrowed as he approached the house and saw someone sitting in a chair on the porch with his feet on the railing.
Billy McCarty tipped his hat back on his head. “I thought you were never going to get here. That army train must have been traveling real slow.”
“You’re a wanted man, Billy.”
“All my hard work making sure the crop is tended and that’s how you treat me?”
Hoshi dismounted and wrapped his horse’s reins around the porch rail. “I was worried about you. You disappeared. By the code of Bushido, you should have come back and explained yourself.”
“I had a higher calling,” said Billy. “I had to get Ramon and Fatemeh back to Estancia for their wedding.” He lowered his hat. “Now that you’re back, I need to get back there and help them get everything set up.” He stepped off the porch with a wave. He took a few steps toward the barn, then looked back. “I almost forgot. You’re invited.”
“After all the trouble I’ve been through,” said Hoshi, “I would hope so. Saddle your horse and let’s go. It’s a long ride to Estancia.”
Epilogue:
Fatemeh and Ramon
Ramon “Búho” Morales sat in his room, reading the front page of the newspaper, trying not to think about the permanence of the vows he was about to take. Sure, he had taken oaths when he first became a deputy, then a sheriff, but a person could quit those jobs and walk away. A sheriff could decide whether or not to stand for reelection, but the way he was raised, marriage was permanent until one party or the other died.
The paper’s headline declared “America and Russia Have Entered Peace Talks.” Glancing through the article, Ramon learned that Russia was reluctant to give back all the territory it had gained. At the same time, controlling that territory would be difficult and the Ottoman Turks had made an incursion in Russia’s west. The Russians needed soldiers to defend their homeland. Ramon had no doubt that the American territory seized by the Russians was difficult to control because they no longer had Legion to help make people compliant.
Ramon’s thoughts drifted to the strange alien being. Would it just sit back and observe or would it find a way to help without interfering too much? Even after his recent experience, he didn’t find it much easier to understand the alien than he had when Fatemeh told him about her encounter. The experience of meeting Legion and talking to it was so dreamlike he had difficulty thinking of it as anything but a dream.
More real was a stack of responses from the universities he had written to. Several were interested in having him as a student as long he could raise the required tuition fees. Ramon would look into that when he returned from his honeymoon.
Ramon’s cousin, Eduardo Morales, opened the door. “You going to sit there reading the paper all day, or you
going to finish getting ready?”
Ramon laughed nervously as he folded the paper. “Things have been such a whirlwind the last few weeks, I haven’t really had a chance to think this whole thing through...”
“What is there to think about, cuz?”
Ramon looked out the window.
“When you make a decision, does it matter to you what she thinks?” asked Eduardo.
Ramon nodded.
“Is she there for you when you’re in trouble?”
Ramon remembered how she led a team of Professor Maravilla’s ornithopters to stop the Russian airships and rescue him. He considered how she risked herself to rescue him from the midst of Russian-occupied Sausalito. “Absolutely.”
“Are you there for her when she’s in trouble?”
He remembered rescuing her from a mob in Socorro. Then a sensation like ice formed in his gut. “I left her on the dock at the Presidio as soldiers approached.”
“Why did you do that? Why were you even there?”
“Because she wanted to heal the country by finding out why the Russian invasion continued even after we had destroyed the airships over Denver.”
Eduardo glanced over at the paper. “And you succeeded, didn’t you?”
Ramon shrugged. “We at least made it possible for healing to begin.”
“That’s what most good healers do. The body has to heal itself.” Eduardo sat back and smiled. “Do you think about her every waking moment that your mind isn’t occupied elsewhere?”
Now Ramon shifted uncomfortably under his cousin’s gaze. “Um...not really.”
Eduardo slapped his cousin on the shoulder and laughed. “Me neither.”
Ramon leaned forward menacingly. “I’m glad you don’t think about Fatemeh that way.”
“Hey, I’ve got my own wife to think about.” Eduardo stood and retrieved a deep blue cravat and handed it to Ramon.
Ramon tied it once, wasn’t satisfied, untied it, then tied it again. He started to untie it once more. “It looks fine.” Eduardo handed Ramon a purple waistcoat. Once Ramon put that on, he donned a dark gray tailcoat.
“I think you look good enough to get married,” said Eduardo.
Ramon looked in the mirror, ran a brush through his hair one more time, then hooked his thumbs under his jacket’s lapels and admired himself. “I do look pretty good, don’t I?”
Before he could reach for the comb again, Eduardo ushered him out of the house. Neighbors from all around Estancia had brought wooden folding chairs and set them up. The morning was beautiful. A few clouds formed on the Manzano Mountains, indicating monsoon season approached. A slight breeze kept the weather from being too hot. Even so, sweat beaded on Ramon’s forehead.
He looked around at the crowd gathered. Eduardo’s wife, Alicia sat up near the front. Billy McCarty and Luther Duncan sat next to a Japanese man in fine robes he didn’t recognize. No matter, they all seemed to be friends. Luther’s arm was still in a sling and it was unclear he’d ever use it again. Despite that, he looked well and relatively happy.
Larissa Crimson sat next to Professor Maravilla and Colonel Johnson. The colonel wore his finest dress blues and the professor wore a fine new red waistcoat and black cravat, reminding him of a proud, red robin. Larissa, as normal, wore not a spot of red, but did sport a tailored black jacket. On the lapel was a silver shield. Even from the distance, he recognized a United States Marshal’s badge.
As he looked around the crowd, he was pleased to see so many friends and neighbors. Mr. and Mrs. Castillo who ran a boarding house in Mesilla were there as well as Sergeants Lorenzo and Harris. He even saw friends from Socorro—Ray Hillerman, who replaced him as sheriff and Mrs. Gilson who ran the rooming house where he had lived. Standing at the front of the crowd was Father Esteban, the parish priest of San Miguel in Socorro.
“I think it’s time to begin,” said Sofia Morales from the door of her house.
She stepped aside and Fatemeh appeared. She wore a dress of brilliant azul that brought out the green in her eyes. The blue shade honored the adage, “If you wear blue, your marriage is true.” Ramon’s mother had tailored the dress to fit Fatemeh’s form without needing a corset. Although a corset revealed a woman’s figure and a veil hid it, Fatemeh felt they were much the same. Both were ways to make a woman conform to a man’s ideal image. The dress was cut with a high waistline as was fashionable and had a small bustle to fill it out and give it a little more shape.
Ramon’s breath caught. She held out her arm and he took it.
Eduardo took up an accordion and played as stately a tune as possible.
The entire audience stood. Fatemeh and Ramon walked down the aisle together. She would have it no other way. They were equals under Bahá’í teaching. She was not a prize to be won by some man waiting at the altar.
Father Esteban took out a piece of paper and read a Bahá’í wedding prayer Fatemeh translated. He stumbled over a few words, but Ramon hardly noticed. He found it difficult to hear because of the sound of blood rushing in his head. Father Esteban then made the sign of the cross and said a prayer in Latin. He reached behind him to a rough, wooden table, dipped the host in a goblet of wine and gave it to Ramon, but not to Fatemeh.
As Ramon took the Holy Communion, he closed his eyes and became aware of a rumble of hooves. He tensed, fearing a band of outlaws come to rob the wedding party.
When he opened his eyes to look, Father Esteban said, “Is there anyone here who objects to the union of this man and this woman?”
Riders approached, firing guns skyward, causing most of those at the wedding to drop to the ground. Many reached for their own side arms. Ramon whirled around. The leader reared his horse and let out a hardy laugh. He wore a tailcoat and a brilliant blue waistcoat with denim trousers. On his head was a peaked naval cap. “Are we late?” called Captain Onofre Cisneros of the pirate ship Tiburón.
“Just a little,” called Fatemeh. “Tend your horses and find seats.”
The ceremony paused for a few minutes while those in the audience resumed their seats and discussed the new arrivals. Onofre Cisneros and his band of buccaneers took their horses to the water trough and then joined the others in the seats. Once the group was settled, Father Esteban repeated the question. “Is there anyone here who objects to the union of this man and this woman?”
“You already asked that,” called out Eduardo. “Let’s move on!”
The crowd broke out in laughter. Father Esteban held out his hands, attempting to calm the crowd. He had Ramon and Fatemeh take hands. “Repeat after me. We will all, verily, abide by the Will of God.”
Ramon and Fatemeh repeated the Bahá’í wedding vows.
“I now declare you husband and wife.”
With those words, the pirates jumped up, whooping and hollering. The rest of the crowd joined in as Ramon and Fatemeh embraced, exchanging a passionate kiss.
After that, things became even more of a blur for Ramon. Eduardo handed him a glass of beer. Platters of food prepared by Sofia Morales and the Castillos appeared. Ramon and Fatemeh joined in a dance while Eduardo played. After the first song, one of the pirates took the accordion from Eduardo and played a lively tune while Eduardo and Alicia joined in the dancing.
Breathless, Ramon and Fatemeh whirled away from the other dancers. Fatemeh tapped Ramon on the shoulder and inclined her head toward the house. There, Larissa leaned against the wall, her arms folded. Seeing the couple away from the other dancers she stepped forward. She hugged both of them, saying, “Congratulations.” Then she stepped back. “I don’t want to spoil this fine day, but I do have a warrant for your arrest.”
Just then, Onofre Cisneros appeared. “Don’t you know? That’s why we’re here.”
Larissa’s eyebrows came together. “What?”
“We’re here to kidnap the happy couple.”
“Kidnap them? What?” Larissa shook her head.
“We’re going to give them a honeymoon in the South Pacific,” said Ca
ptain Cisneros. “You won’t have a chance to arrest them!”
At that point, Ramon noticed that a crowd had gathered around them. Billy and Luther stepped forward together. “You can take both of us in,” said Billy. “We’ll do our best to answer questions.” He turned to Ramon. “Consider it our wedding present to you for all you’ve done.” He cast a glance back at the Japanese man who folded his arms and nodded approval.
“We’ll be lucky if we don’t end up facing prison terms when we return,” laughed Ramon.
“That’s why Luther Duncan is going, too,” said Billy. “We need someone who can put a few words together.”
Larissa looked over to Colonel Johnson. “Well, the army wasn’t too happy about Mr. Duncan disappearing either. He’s named in the warrant, too.”
“All right. Now that that’s settled, will you join me for a dance?” Billy held his hand out to Larissa.
The accordion player kicked up another song while Billy and Larissa started the next dance. Soon others joined in.
Ramon looked over at Fatemeh. “A voyage to the South Pacific?”
“It took a while to find the good captain, but I thought it would be fun,” said Fatemeh. “It’s just what we need.”
He bent down and kissed her again.
The party continued on into the afternoon. As clouds started forming overhead, the platters of food were cleared. Eduardo and Alicia appeared with Ramon and Fatemeh’s horses, their saddlebags all packed for a new adventure. The pirates climbed onto their horses and Ramon and Fatemeh followed them down the road. As they passed the gate, a burrowing owl on a nearby fencepost danced from one leg to another and bobbed its head. Fatemeh gave it a few chirping whistles. A lightning bolt struck near the Manzanos and the owl flew from its perch.
Ramon gazed into Fatemeh’s eyes and thought he was the luckiest man alive.
-The End-
About the Author
David Lee Summers became a steampunk in 1987 when he used a nineteenth century telescope on Nantucket to examine the evolution of distant pulsating stars. Since that time he has published eight novels and numerous short stories and poems spanning a wide range of the imagination. Owl Dance is the first of the Clockwork Legion series. His other novels include The Solar Sea and Vampires of the Scarlet Order.
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