There was no avoiding them, so I snatched up one of the many wooden pails lined up and down the boardwalk and hurried over to the well. The women looked me up and down in the same way that they always had. I heard a few of them muttering unkind words under their breath, but none made a move to stop me. To them, I was a streetwalker. I was a miscreant, a rogue, possibly even a prostitute. It probably didn’t help that my leathers were stained with coal and my body was bruised from the overseer’s beatings. I suppose it didn’t help that I still had Rutherford’s slave collar around my throat, either. I hadn’t bothered trying to get the thing off yet. I’d heard stories, and I knew it would take the work of an accomplished locksmith or at least a blacksmith with a delicate touch. I didn’t have the slightest idea where to find either one.
I felt cold stares on my back as I lowered the bucket into the well and then cranked the pulley to retrieve it. As I poured the water into the pail, I heard quiet murmuring and snickering sounds behind my back. I lifted my pail, turning to leave, and found myself standing face to face with a hard-faced shrew in her early thirties. She was large, slightly taller than I was and a good fifty pounds heavier, and she had an icy look in her eyes.
“What’ve we got here, girls?” she said. Her voice was unnaturally high-pitched for a woman of her size. “Vangars sendin’ their whores out for water now?”
A few of the other women laughed, the rest just stared at me with ice-cold glares. I turned aside to walk past her, but the woman reached out and caught me by the arm. “Where you think you’re goin’? We don’t share water with Vangar whores ‘round here.”
I looked up into her face and then over her shoulder at the others. They were glaring, sneering. They’d already decided I was beaten. After all, how could a small thing like me stand up to that shrew? Or the rest of them for that matter… there were at least twenty of them.
“Take your hand off me,” I said, twisting away. She tightened her grip, wrenching my arm so that the pail spilled half its contents. I pulled back, but her left hand flashed out, brandishing a dagger that she’d hidden under her bodice.
“Drop that pail, whore,” she said, aiming the blade at my rib cage.
“That’s enough,” I said. I jerked forward, pulling her into me. I gave her a solid head-butt, slamming my forehead right into the bridge of her nose. She stumbled back, startled, and a shriek escaped her lips. She released the bucket and dropped the dagger as both hands went to her face. Blood gushed out between her fingers.
I dropped the pail, locking my hand into a fist and raised it as if to strike her. She jumped back, tripping over the edge of the boardwalk, and landed hard on her rump. I threw my glance back and forth and saw that nobody else was moving. I retrieved the dagger and examined it, appreciating the balance and craftsmanship. It wasn’t half-bad. I was tempted to keep it. I raised my eyes to glower at the rest of the group.
“Anybody else?” I said with a crooked smile. They averted their eyes.
With practiced efficiency, I spun around and threw the dagger at the bucket dangling over the well. It pierced the slats, embedding itself right up to the hilt. The rope made a creaking sound as the bucket swayed back and forth. I smiled. I turned back to face the shrew and she flinched as I reached out to take her pail of water. I snatched it up and left without another word.
I ducked into a nearby alley and made my way back to the boneshaker, checking frequently to be sure I wasn’t followed. As I reached the bridge, I realized that time had gotten away from me. Thanks to the scene at the well, it was now dark and I was behind schedule. I was lucky that Crow hadn’t made his move yet. That thought set me to worrying that perhaps he had failed in his task; that he had been caught, or something else had gone wrong.
I hurried to fill the boiler on the boneshaker. I cranked up the pressure valve. While I waited for it to build up steam, I pushed the boneshaker out from under the bridge, leaving it just barely concealed in the shadows at the edge of the bushes. As luck would have it, a sentinel appeared while I was waiting.
I was sitting on the boneshaker with my eyes on the pressure gauge when I heard the familiar kachunk-kachunk and the sound of whirring of gears coming down the street. The sentinel was a hundred yards away. For the moment, he seemed completely unaware of me. I knelt down against the handlebars, trying to cover as much of the shiny reflective metal as I could. I bit my lower lip, praying he’d move on to the next street.
Naturally, he turned to face me and started walking. I glanced at the gauge, moving slowly so as not to attract his attention. Halfway, I thought. Crow’s vial was working nicely, but it still wasn’t fast enough. I needed another minute at least. I held my breath, my right hand slowly going to my revolver.
The sentinel strode forward, turning his head slowly from side to side as he walked. He passed an alley, pausing momentarily to look inside. Finding nothing of interest, he moved on. Then, twenty yards ahead, he sensed something. He froze in the middle of the street and pulled his gaze away from the surrounding buildings. Slowly, deliberately, he looked straight at me.
He doesn’t see me, I thought. Not yet.
Perhaps I was right, but he certainly saw something. Was it a reflection of light? Was it the odd shape of the boneshaker against the shadowy backdrop of the bushes? Was it me?
A chill crawled up and down my spine as he stood there motionless, his gaze moving back and forth over me. I froze, not even daring to breathe as my heart thudded in my chest. Just a few more seconds…
The sentinel fixed his gaze on me and started walking. I knew I was out of luck. My hand closed on the grip of my revolver. I was prepared to do whatever I must to get around that sentinel. Crow was counting on me, and so were a hundred others.
I heard a whooshing sound overhead and raised my gaze to see Crow slicing through the sky over the city. The noise caught the sentinel’s attention, too. He twisted his upper body, turning to catch a glimpse of the source of that noise. His hands flexed into fists as he saw Crow. The sentinel broke into a run down the street, his gaze bouncing back and forth between Crow and the road ahead. I relaxed my grip and sat upright, checking the pressure gauge one last time. Then I revved up the throttle, slammed the boneshaker into gear, and burst onto the street in an explosion of leaves and thundering exhaust.
The sound of the boneshaker’s engine filled my ears, echoing back and forth between the tall stone and brick buildings, almost as noisy as the old combustion engine had been. I purposely revved the throttle, not just because the wind felt so good on my face, but because I wanted to achieve that smooth, flawless ride I had experienced before. Unfortunately, I had to make a turn, and then another and another. There was no way to achieve open throttle inside the city. Not outside Main Street, anyway.
I clenched my teeth to keep them from rattling out of my head as I zigzagged towards the north end of the city. I caught glimpses here and there of the sentinel on parallel streets. I had taken a different route on purpose, but I still managed to capture his attention. I didn’t want to get cornered so I revved up the engine and took a side street, coming out just ahead of him.
The sentinel put on a burst of speed as he recognized me, but I had an advantage in navigating the city’s tight corners. I had brakes. With very little practice, I had become quite adept at slowing just enough to skid around the corners without stopping. I rounded a tight curve and gunned the throttle on the way out, breaking into a wide open sprint. The distance between us grew. Then the sentinel found his pace and started gaining on me.
Every time the sentinel began to close the distance between us, I took a sharp corner and put him another twenty yards back. No matter how he tried, he couldn’t catch me. As I climbed the hill towards the palace, I saw Crow circling in the sky overhead. The Vangars had opened fire on him with everything they had, but their firearms weren’t accurate enough to be a real threat. Crow swooped through the air making circles and figure eights, twisting, dropping into a freefall only to recover just beyo
nd their reach. His movement was so unpredictable that I could hardly even follow him with my eyes.
I took Crow’s playfulness as a good sign. His goal had been to deliver all the ammunition that he could carry to the rebels. The fact that he was toying with the Vangars must have meant that he’d accomplished his mission.
I gunned the throttle as I roared up the hill, deliberately making a spectacle of myself. Crow noticed me right away. He gave me a wave and then flew over my head, flying back towards the center of the city. I hit the brakes and skidded sideways; pausing for just a moment to make sure the Vangars got a good look at me.
I was several seconds ahead of the sentinel that had been chasing me, so I sat there for a moment, revving the throttle. The Vangars had overturned several steamwagons to use as protection from the rebels. Off to the side, I saw Overseer Rutherford’s fancy gilded steamcoach idling at the edge of a building. I revved the throttle a couple more times, making sure he noticed me. Sure enough, Rutherford’s face appeared in the window and he instantly started screaming.
The sentinel that had been chasing me flew around the corner at just that moment. He ran right past me. He reached out for me as he flew by, but he was going too fast. I ducked as he flew past, and his momentum carried him into the side of one of the wagons.
I laughed. I hammered the boneshaker into gear and tore off down the street. I didn’t need to look back to know they were after me. Every single one of them. At least I had succeeded in taking the heat off the rebels. Now I just had to stay alive.
Chapter 11
I was more confident this time as I led the sentinels on a high-speed chase down the winding streets of Avenston. I’d been there before. I knew my machine in a way now that made it almost an extension of my own body. I could feel it moving into the curves, could feel the drag of the air around me and the momentum of the boneshaker’s weight. I could almost sense the bumps and waves in the road before I could even see them, as if I could reach out and touch the earth itself with my mind.
This is why my mother flies, I thought. This is what she feels.
That was an encouraging thought. It made me want to go even faster. I tightened the throttle and flew towards Main Street, thoughts of my first escape fresh in my memory. I already knew the best way out of the city. I just had to do it again. As I flew around a corner and accelerated into Main, I felt the street go smooth under my tires.
Waves of adrenaline washed over me and I felt a surge of satisfaction. For a few brief seconds I forgot about the sentinels and everything else, and allowed the moment to take me. Then I glanced ahead and realized that the sentinels had cut off my path. My heart skipped a beat as I saw three of them gathering at the city gate. I glanced over my shoulder and saw half a dozen more converging on the street behind me. I was trapped.
I threw my gaze left and right, searching for an escape. A few streets opened up to the west, but I couldn’t go that way. That would lead me right back to the palace, and right into the arms of the Vangars. There were no streets to the east. The north end of Main was a solid wall of bakeries, butchers, and storefronts. All I had was a straight shot, right into those sentinels.
I set my jaw, my left hand snaking around to grab my revolver as I gripped the throttle in my right. I raised my weapon, glanced down the sights, and fired. My first shot was high, setting off a spark as it ricocheted off the gate ten feet over their heads. That gave the sentinels a warning. They spread out and dropped to all fours, making themselves harder targets.
I fired another round and then a third, hoping that if nothing else I could keep them scattered enough to break through. That was silly, though. I knew in my heart that I’d never get past them. The sentinels were too fast, and too well protected in their suits of heavy steel armor. All they had to do was jump in front of me, and I’d be dead.
A shadow flew overhead and Crow appeared in my vision. He must have been watching me from above. I frowned, wondering if he was trying to draw their attention. As Crow approached the gates, I saw something fall. Something small and dark against the blackness of the sky… Kaboom!
A cannon charge hit the road, right in the midst of the three sentinels. The explosion sent two of them flying backwards across the street. The one on the right hit the window of a store and disappeared inside with a crash. The other smashed into the side of a brick wall and went halfway through.
The explosion knocked the third sentinel off his feet, but he quickly recovered. Rather than waiting for another attack, he leapt into action. He dropped to all fours and rushed me.
I knew immediately that I was in trouble. Crow couldn’t help me now. He couldn’t throw another bomb for fear of hurting me. I couldn’t fire at the sentinel without fear of shooting Crow. I jammed the revolver into my belt and hit the throttle.
Cobblestones shattered as the sentinel pounced and then rebounded into the air. He split the distance between us in one great leap. I hit the brakes, skidding sideways as I tried to avoid him. I was going too fast for such a maneuver, and the streets were still slick from the rain. The Boneshaker’s rear wheel slid forward and the entire machine went down.
I managed to pull my leg out from under the boneshaker as it hit the ground. Half a second slower and it would have been a meat grinder. I balanced precariously on top of the machine, hanging on for dear life as it skidded sideways down the street, sparks fountaining up around me.
The sentinel leapt into the air and landed safely behind me. I scanned the street, looking for somewhere I might leap to safety. As I was searching, the handlebars caught a cobblestone. The momentum threw the boneshaker into the air, and me along with it. As I somersaulted into the sky, I tried to push away from the machine. If it landed on top of me, I knew it would probably kill me.
I managed get clear of the boneshaker but I couldn’t recover before I hit the ground. I landed on my side, my left leg twisting underneath me. I felt my ribs cracking, driving the breath from my lungs. I rolled, bouncing jarringly across the stones as the boneshaker hit the street ahead of me. The sound of grinding metal and hissing steam filled my ears.
Something caught the cobblestones again, a handlebar or piece of pipe, and the boneshaker flipped end over end. It finished spectacularly by smashing into the city wall with a groaning sound. I rolled to a stop just a few feet away.
My breath came in brief, painful gasps. I couldn’t seem to suck air into my lungs. I tasted blood on my lips and knew that something inside me had been damaged. I had broken bones. At least my ribs, but maybe more.
It should have been painful but it wasn’t. Instead, a strange, tingling warmth had washed over me. I clawed at the ground, trying to suck air into my lungs, but it wouldn’t come. My eyes went wide with terror as I heard faint gurgling sounds in my chest. A shadow fell over me. I glanced up and saw Crow’s face looking down. He reached out to touch me and darkness closed in. I lost consciousness.
I came to briefly, but I couldn’t make sense of anything. My body was warm but the wind on my face was cold. I felt like I was floating. As my eyes rolled back in my head, I caught a glimpse of stars. My last receding thought was that somehow the boneshaker had survived the crash, and that I was riding it out across the plains. That of course, was nonsense.
When I next awoke, I was lying on Analyn’s cot. I pushed myself upright, fighting the thudding pain in my ribs, and saw Analyn sitting in her rocker by the fire. “What happened?” I said, though I could have put it together myself if I’d been thinking clearly.
“You were nearly killed.”
I glanced around the cave. “Where’s Crow?”
“He left. He went to make sure the sentinels didn’t catch up with the others.”
“How long ago did he leave?”
“Half an hour.”
I closed my eyes, trying to think clearly. Crow had saved me from the clutches of the sentinels and then flown directly to the ruins of Anora. He had healed me. I was fairly certain that I would have been dead if not for
him. I wondered how much time that had taken. I wondered how fast he had traveled, and how far the sentinels were behind him. I had seen them run on the open plains. I knew how fast they were capable of running.
“Crow can’t stop them alone,” I said.
“Don’t underestimate him,” she said. “He saved you, didn’t he?”
I crawled to my feet, fighting the queasy sensation in my gut. I leaned against the post next to the cot. “He saved me,” I mumbled in agreement, “but who’s gonna save him?”
“It’s not your battle anymore,” Analyn said. “The others have gone into the mountains. We can only hope they make it to Sanctuary, according to our plan. The sentinels might catch them or they might not. There’s nothing you can do about it, either way.”
“Yes there is,” I said. I walked up to the fireplace and snatched her rifle off the mantle. I blew the layer of dust away and examined it. “Where’s your ammo kit?”
“Sometimes you’re just like your mother,” Analyn said without looking up.
“Then you know you can’t stop me.”
She snorted, shaking her head. “Check the drawer by the table.”
I did, and found it there. I spread it out on the table, quickly loaded the rifle, and then filled a bag with as many charges as I could carry.
Analyn was shaking her head in frustration as I charged down the tunnel and made my way to the trap door entrance. A wave of fresh cold air hit me as I climbed out of the tunnel and found myself standing among the ruins. Brilliant starlight cascaded down over the city, casting long black shadows all around me. I leapt over the foundation of the fallen building and went running down the street toward the city gates.
I ran slowly at first, testing my body. I felt pain in my right leg and in my ribs, but not the sharp, jarring pain of an acute injury. This was the dull ache of an old wound, of an injury that’s healed, or nearly so. I treated it as such and pressed on, clutching Analyn’s long rifle as I tore through the weed-grown streets. As I approached the remnants of the city gates, I locked my eyes on the prairie, scanning ahead for any sign of life in the distance. That was when the sentinel hit me.
Blood and Steam (The Tinkerer's Daughter) Page 14