by S. S. Engle
“You’re quite high maintenance for a man you know.”
“I just don’t like getting cold.”
“I’d light the fireplace, but I wouldn’t want to alert anybody that I’m living here.”
“That’s why I got so many blankets.”
“I thought you got lost for a while.”
“You didn’t say how big that hallway closest was.”
“The blankets were all up front. How could you get lost?”
“I got turned around. There’s like a million red doors in this place. The king must have really liked the color.”
“I painted them.”
“Where’d you get all that paint?”
“It’s not paint. I used the blood of my enemies.”
“The blood…just how many people have you killed in the past two days? And please tell me I’m not next!”
“Well if you figure there’s one and a half gallons of blood per body, and count how many doors I had to cover…”
“Are you serious?!”
“No! I’m fucking with you, don’t be so gullible Luca!”
“You really had me going there.”
“I know. I should have kept you strung out a little further, but I just didn’t have it in me.”
“Thank you for having mercy on my subconscious.”
“Your welcome.”
“So…”
“So…”
“I haven’t found a good book yet. I guess I’m just too tired to look. You know what that means.”
“No, what does that mean?”
“You’re just going to have to talk me to sleep.”
“We’ve been talking. What do you want to talk about now?”
“How’d you get that scar on your face? It looks like it must have been pretty bad when it happened.”
“I made a mistake is all.”
“I’m tired but I’m going to need more than that.”
“My answers are complicated, I told you that already.”
“Fair enough, you don’t want to talk about it now.”
“I have a question for you though.”
“Go ahead.”
“The secret lies with Lydia. That’s a fairly common name. Who is she?”
“She, is actually not a woman at all.”
“She’s a ship isn’t she?”
“An airship. Your father’s actually.”
“You think my father hid his treasure on his ship?”
“No. But I think he left another clue about the treasure on the ship. But I have no idea what’s become of it. I’ve had the Dreadcranks scouring every inch of this city for two and a half years now, and nothing.”
“Maybe you weren’t looking in the right places?”
“Do you know where it is?”
“The ship? I’ve known many places where it has been. Any number of them could be where it is now. For all I know it could be scattered into furniture around the city, table legs and wall posts.”
“I hope not.”
“I didn’t mean to discourage you. I just, I know how my father thought.”
“You remind me of him.”
“You remember him?”
“Bits and pieces. I just remember he was fearless, and his ideas always seemed to pan out, no matter how unorthodox they sounded. Like you.”
6
It was the middle of the night when Luca made his move. He waited until he was sure Kassidy was deeply asleep across the table from him before he began his escape. Grabbing all the blankets earlier in the night was all part of his grand scheme. Now that he knew where Kassidy lived, he had a leg up on her. She let him willingly into her most trusted of spaces. He would not forget that. Carefully he crafted a fake body using two of the thickest blankets and covered his disguise with another mound of misshapen pillows and blankets. He stood back by the bookshelves to admire his handiwork again, making sure it was believable enough for him to make his getaway. He’d fall for it, shrugged his shoulders, and slipped out of the library. He was cautious to leave no trail behind him, so when he slunk out the back door he kept his footprints as masked as possible in the weeds and overgrowth. It was chilly at this time of night, but his adrenaline was pushing him so hard he barely noticed. The last thing he did was turn around at the bottom of the hill and look back up at the palace. He hoped this wouldn’t be his one and only chance to see it up close like this, but he had to go.
Kassidy really wanted to give Luca the benefit of the doubt that he had gotten away with something. As much as he thought he was splaying her, she was doing the same thing to him. From upstairs in the library she was peaking out through the boards, watching Luca run down the hill. She saw his one moment of hesitation as he turned around and looked back up at the palace, but it didn’t last long. Already fully dressed Kassidy just slipped her boots on and grabbed a long black hooded cloak from the closet by the back door. It helped her blend in with her shadowed surroundings as she followed Luca back to where Dreadcrank Headquarters was, or at least that’s where she was assuming he was running back to at such an odd time of night.
It was a huge complex of a building that Luca disappeared into. Locked behind a six foot tall rod iron fence with spikes running along the top was where Dreadcrank called home. A thick expanse of bushes blocked the bottom two stories from view from the street, but a front one story building had the sole accessible door Kassidy could make out. It had a large oval window she could peak through with the lights turned on only faintly.
She heard Luca talking to somebody, he was angry nobody had come for him at the jail. The other man sounded like he only held a low ranking position within the gang, and Luca didn’t stay in the room for long. Soon the light was off completely, and Kassidy was standing alone in the dark, lurking along the rod iron fence line for a weak spot. Of course there wasn’t one. She would have to improvise. She went back over to where the brush poked through the fence and found a tree sturdy enough on the other side that would hold her weight. With a few lucky jumps and some death grips she hoisted herself up atop the rod iron fence, delicately balancing herself on the top bar until she could safely jump over into the trees. With a less than graceful landing she was safely inside Dreadcrank’s property. Now all she needed was a way inside.
Her best bet was to try the front door. Luca got in, so she knew the building had to be manned by somebody inside. She knocked on the door, but nobody came to answer her. She did hear however somebody shifting around inside. He was probably fidgeting around for a weapon. Kassidy put her hand on her knife on her thigh and held it concealment. She was hoping the man inside would turn the light on, even faintly so she could figure out just what it was she had gotten herself into. But of course she had no such luck. The man swiftly opened the door, pulled Kassidy inside with a great pull of his arm and threw her on the hard, cold floor. He shut the door blocking even the moonlight now, and Kassidy found herself scrounging across the floor on her hands and knees trying to gauge just where the other man was now. He had heavy boots like Luca, and she quickly picked up his footsteps within inches of her at first. She backed up, getting herself back up on her feet with her dagger firmly in hand. A few steps later she lunged out at the man and cut him, he winced and she knew she wasn’t dealing with a great potential threat. She put her knife away now and ran for the wall, searching for some sort of light switch. She found it, and turned it on just slightly. Turning around she saw the man had dropped his police club on the floor and was sitting on the table nursing his cut. He couldn’t have been much older than eighteen. Kassidy crinkled her face up in regret.
“I’m sorry about that.”
“You cut me!”
“You threw me on the floor. It was dark. I didn’t know what I was up against.”
“Who are you?”
“I’m a friend of Luca…uh Lucky’s. I’m a friend of Lucky’s.”
“No you’re not.”
“Yes I am!”
“Lucky never brings women to
headquarters. Shoot!”
“What?”
“I shouldn’t have told you where you were.”
“It’s alright. I already knew where I was.”
“How’d you even get in here?”
“I told you, I’m a friend of Lucky’s.”
“Does he know you’re here?”
“No. And I’d like to keep it that way.”
“Then what do you want?”
“A room would be nice. I’m awfully tired.”
“We’re not a hotel.”
“What’s your name boy?”
“Jasper.”
“Well Jasper, do you think Lucky would like to hear that you gave me trouble and lied to me?”
“I’m not giving you trouble! You broke in here!”
“Are you going to give me a room or am I going to have to find one myself? I can you know, but it’d be so much faster if you just helped me.”
“Here. Take this key.”
“What does this go to?”
“Your room. It’s on the ground floor. Once you leave this building follow the hallway until it ends. Go right, then follow that hallway until it ends. It’s a room next to the…well I don’t need to tell you what’s in the room next to yours. But you can be left alone in this room. It’s just for the night right?”
“Yes. I won’t be staying here long. Just long enough.”
“Long enough?”
“I’ll be having that key now Jasper.”
Jasper threw the key at Kassidy to keep her at a safe distance. She caught it midair with a smile, because Jasper had intentionally thrown the key without warning hoping she’d have to pick it up off the floor. She was smarter than he was though, he was still young and had a lot to learn. She didn’t want to scare him, just teach him a few things about manners and protocol. She moved fast on her feet because she was sure Jasper would have alerted somebody to her presence and she was expecting some unfriendly gang members to greet her in the halls. But maybe she underestimated Jasper’s abilities, as she was met by not a single soul upon entering the main building complex of the Dreadcrank headquarters. She was a little bit disappointed. It should have been harder than this to gain access. Following Jasper’s instructions she was pleased that her key opened up a room with at least a window and a cot. That would be good enough for the night. Come morning she had business to take care of.
Kassidy’s plans were shot to hell as soon as the sun came up. Men’s voices were echoing off the concrete floors and walls. She pushed herself up against her side of the door to try and figure out just what was going on. It sounded like some sort of contest. Apparently Luca hadn’t been lying before when he mentioned four of his men had been shot down over the past month. Today, actually this morning, there was a contest being held on the grounds for the position of a sharpshooter. It was an elite and highly prized position by the sounds of it. The men were joking back and forth about how easy it was going to be for them, and how hard for some of the others. She couldn’t help but laugh to herself when she heard how the men spoke about Luca. It was good that they respected their leader so much, but they made him sound like some sort of untouchable god like creature with superhuman abilities. This she could not believe was the same man who tripped over her staircase just the night before carrying enough blankets for six people because he was worried about getting cold. She was more confident than the night before now. Daylight had brought much clarity to her current situation.
Under the protection of her cloak Kassidy tucked it in tight around her and kept it pulled closed. She knew the Dreadcranks were a male only exclusive gang, similar to the Ringers. Gangs never were meant for women. Though it seems even that had changed since she had been in Engia. Asa had created a gang just for women, the Harlots. She wanted no part of that though. The Dreadcranks were her father’s gang, her gang. If she belonged anywhere, it was right here. Her father taught her everything she knew about shooting, she knew guns inside and out. He never wanted her to be dependent on a man for her own safety. She was deeply thanking him for that now as she trolled the halls following men to the contest field in the back of the building. It was safely tucked inside the headquarters premises, walls all around stories high for total protection. You couldn’t even tell these fields existed from the streets in front. Targets had already been pinned up all over the place, guys were hanging out of windows from the top floors hanging additional targets on ropes, moveable targets. They were serious about wanting a sharpshooter.
Luca was in charge of the contest. He was standing on a platform in the center of the field, and the crowds fell silent as he spoke. He had that much respect and control over the men. Kassidy looked back and forth, and saw the look of awe in the men’s eyes beside her as Luca continued his speech and explanation of the rules. The best shooter with the most accurate shots would win the open position and rank of sharpshooter. There were guns laid out on a table in front of him for all of the contestants, all Dreadcrank issued with a marking bullet pattern in each one so they track who shot what. The first fifty to reach the table and grab a gun were in the contest. Kassidy eyed her competition, there were probably two hundred men there for the contest. Roughly only one in four would reach one of those guns. She’d been up against stiffer odds.
Luca released an air cannon and the charge for the table began. Kassidy slinked her way through the men and reached the table with ease, pulling two guns into her hands and backing away as quickly as she could. She sat down on the edge of the fields and inspected what she was dealing with. Behind her she noticed Jasper, the young man who had helped her the night before. She stood up, and carefully exposed a gun to him. He didn’t want to take it at first, but then he recognized Kassidy’s black fingerless gloves, and smiled. She spun the round around making sure she had enough bullets. Only six, it wasn’t much, so she knew only the most risky shots would get the reward she wanted. A second air cannon went off, and she threw herself on the ground as guns were goin of fin every direction. It smelled like a gunpowder factory in the windless field. After the smoke cleared and the last shots were fired she stood up, took aim at the targets flailing around on the ropes and made herself known. She fired all six across the top line of targets, they were the farthest away, and least shot at. Unfortunately jealousy was running high right now, and a man came up from behind her and managed to get her cloak off before she could stop him. The man began yelling at her but Luca saw what had happened, and sounded the final air cannon. Luca approached the growing crowd around Kassidy and pushed his way through.
“What the hell are you doing here sweetheart?”
“You never told me you needed a sharpshooter.”
“It didn’t come up. You can’t stay here.”
“Why don’t you wait until your men match the bullets to my gun. Then I want to watch you tell all these men the best sharpshooter here was me.”
“And you said I was cocky.”
“I’m not being cocky, I know I won.”
Luca gripped Kassidy by the elbow to pull her out of the crowd of men. Before he could reach her though she picked her cloak up off the ground and drug it on the ground behind her. The men were angry that Luca knew her, and just by her being there seemed to challenge his authority. She didn’t want that, she just wanted the job She wanted to earn her position in the Dreadcranks, not just get handed admission because of who her father was. Luca took Kassidy to his room on the top floor of the highest tower of headquarters. By the time they reached it and shut the door his radio was going off. The bullets to the best shots made were made by gun 1017. Kassidy threw her gun on the table and Luca saw the matching code, 1017 stamped onto the stock. He shook his head rubbed his temples with his fingers.
“Go ahead, make the call. But at least you know I was the best shot here today. I don’t expect you to do me any favors, I just needed to do this.”
“I know.”
“What?”
“I know why you did this. I was a fool for thinking
you wouldn’t have followed me. Here.”
“What’s the key for?”
“You’ll need a key to get into HQ from now on.”