Of Steel and Steam

by Pauline Creeden et al.

  Night had fully fallen. The sidewalks had been crowded earlier, but almost no one walked in the shadows of the gas lamps overhead. I swallowed. For some reason, every dark space began to look sinister, and the areas that were lit felt like small reprieve, but lonely islands as no one seemed about. We passed a few windows and found people inside their warm, cozy homes. Jealousy found its way up my throat along with the fear. What if we didn't find the Bobbie or the thief? What if we missed the last train to Northumberland? It would be as if we truly were orphans living on the street. Mother would never let me go shopping again. I wished they hadn't made me bring Edward, but as I felt the warmth of his hand in mine, I was thankful for his presence. It grounded me and kept me from the panic that wanted to overwhelm.

  As we neared the train station, the snow began to fall in earnest. A train whistled as it arrived and screeched along the tracks. Puffs of smoke billowed from the stack on the engine. A porter announced. "Due to the weather, this is the last train heading out tonight. It leaves in twenty minutes."

  My knees buckled, and I barely caught myself from falling. "Twenty minutes?"

  Blackness crowded the sides of my vision, but then Edward tugged on my hand when it loosened its grip on his. "We need to hurry, Jenna. We need to find the Bobbie."

  He was right. I couldn't be overcome with the vapors, as my mother tended to do. I needed to let this focus me. We had to find that Bobbie now and hope that he had caught the thief and found my billfold.

  We both picked up our pace. Then something else the porter had said struck me. "Due to the weather," he'd said. The trains wouldn't stop for flurries or light snow like they'd had so far. Was a blizzard coming? Without money, we'd not only be stuck here in town, but it was worse if the weather turned. Where would we stay? We couldn't even pay for a night at the inn.

  Just as we passed the train station, we ran into a Bobbie, but it wasn't the same Bobbie who'd gone after the thief. This one was old enough to be my uncle, his rotund belly making him look nearly like Father Christmas. I stopped next to him anyway as he was talking to a woman with a package under her arm.

  We waited for the conversation to end, but I couldn't help but tap my feet with impatience. We needed to hurry. Finally, when the woman finished and started on toward the train, the Bobbie looked down at Edward and me. "What can I help you children with?"

  "Sir, about two hours ago, my brother and I had a bag stolen from us by a young man on the street. A Bobbie nearby saw and started after the thief. He told us to wait for him in front of the bakery, but we need to hurry, as they just called the last train at the station."

  The Bobbie scratched his chin. "There's nothing I can do about that without more information. I hadn't heard or seen another Bobbie out today in the area. What did he look like?"

  I swallowed.

  Honestly, I hadn't looked at him very hard. "He had blue eyes, maybe about the same height as you, and not much older than me... maybe even the same age."

  The Bobbie frowned, deep grooves lining his brow. "I'm sorry miss, but we've got no Bobbie on the force anywhere near your age. The youngest still could possibly be your father."

  I blinked at him.

  "But he had a nightstick and wore a uniform shirt like yours," Edward said, his voice taking on a distinctive whine.

  The Bobbie shook his head. "I'm sorry but I think you may have been canoodled."

  My jaw dropped. The man we thought was a Bobbie had been in cahoots with the hooligan who stole my bag? Was that really possible? Then Edward and I had stood in front of the bakery waiting for him to return for two hours just so he could make a getaway? The blood drained from my face and the temperature outside seem to drop by several more degrees.

  Edward tugged on my coat. "Jenna! Answer me."

  "What?" I snapped out of it, realizing that he must have said my name several times.

  "The train Jenna. It's getting ready to leave. They said five minutes."

  I prepared to beg the Bobbie to help us with fare for the train, just so we could make it home, but when I turned about, he was gone.

  "Where did the Bobbie go?"

  "He left while you were in a daze. I thought you were going to have the vapors like Mum gets sometimes."

  "No. This can't be happening." I grabbed hold of Edward's hand and rushed toward the train station. No one stood in line at the ticket window, and when I rushed there, the window had already closed and the seller was gone. Tears stung the backs of my eyes. We rushed toward the train, but the whistle blew, and it had already begun to pull out of the station.

  "No, no, no." Suddenly it felt as though my whole world was falling apart.

  "Jenna, I'm cold."

  Cold, hungry, tired. Defeated. I collapsed onto the cobblestones a moment.

  This couldn't be happening.

  "What are we going to do now?" he asked.

  His words slapped me with reality. I had no time to fall apart. I needed to do something. Right now. I couldn't wait for Mum or Dad to come to my rescue. They weren't coming. Not today. And I couldn't give up on myself, because Edward needed me. I swiped the tears that were already crystalizing on my cheeks.

  I stood and took his mittened hand again. "We'll go talk to someone at the inn. Maybe we can get a room for the night. I can clean or do dishes or something if I have to."

  "I can tinker something if it needs fixed," Edward offered.

  I nodded and rubbed the top of his head. My brother was a genius with machines and mechanical parts. It was true. If someone had something that needed fixing, he was likely able to take care of the issue. Pulling his jacket tighter, I buttoned the top button so that his neck was protected from the wind. Then I marched forward. We'd find the nearest inn and talk to the manager. It was our only option.

  But not a single inn had its doors open.

  The snow lightened, but my breath still clung to my face in a cloud. The breeze blew through the now empty streets. Although we passed a few houses which had lights in the window and families inside, I felt guilty when I even thought about knocking on the door of a home and asking for help. What if the families thought we were homeless vagrants, like the man at the bakery who had dropped the cogs?

  "I'm hungry," Edward said, and his teeth began to chatter.

  This wasn't a time for pride. We needed help, or we'd die. We passed by the same bakery we'd stood in front of earlier. We continued walking and I promised myself, the next time I saw a house that looked occupied, I'd go ahead and knock on the door. The thought of it made my heart race with anxiety, but I had no choice. I couldn't let Edward get hurt because of pride.

  Or maybe we would find the Bobbie station. I had no idea where it might be.

  "Blast!" a deep male voice rumbled. "It has to be here somewhere."

  I looked up and caught sight of a lone man on the street. His hair stuck out wildly in all directions as he ran his hands through it and kicked through a snow drift with his foot. He looked out of place in his brown suit and no heavy coat on.

  Edward tugged on my hand. "He looks like he needs help."

  I frowned. I knew what Edward wanted, but how could we possibly help the man when we needed help ourselves.

  "We should help him," Edward was giving me no way out. "If you see someone in trouble, you should help them."

  I swallowed. He was right anyway. He quoted what our mother had said over and over again. She reminded us that even angels might present themselves as someone in need from time to time. And boy, we needed a blessing right now. I stepped closer to the man. "Excuse me, sir. Do you need some help?"

  The man's gaze slid over me and Edward before his frown deepened. "I don't have any money, children. Please move along."

  I flinched as though his words had physically struck me. Anger warmed my cheeks. "We are not asking for money, sir. We are asking if we might assist you."

  The man stood up straighter and folded his arms over his chest. His mustache looked familiar, and suddenly I realized t
hat it was the same man who'd come out of the bakery and assumed Edward and I were beggar children. His sour expression remained unchanged. "How could two children possibly--"

  "Are you looking for these, sir?" Edward held up the bag of cogs that he had found earlier. Apparently, Edward had also recognized the man.

  The man's eyes went wide, and he snatched the bag from Edwards hands. "You thieves. You stole them, didn't you!"

  The anger I had building up burst in my chest, and words spilled out of my mouth unbidden. "We are not thieves. Neither are we beggars, despite our appearance. You dropped your cogs. My brother picked them up and now we are returning them to you. If we were thieves, would we have shown you the item we stole and asked if they were yours? No. Stop jumping to conclusions about who we are and pay attention. Then perhaps you wouldn't be out here looking for something you dropped and blaming others for their loss."

  The gentleman flinched and looked properly cowed. "You're right. I'm sorry that I accused you of something you didn't do. I'm afraid I've been having a hard, long day. This snow is perfect for my experiment, and yet I wasn't able to finish the preparations without these cogs."

  "Are you a tinkerer, sir?" Edward asked, his eyes sparkling, the cold forgotten.

  A smile tugged at the man's lips. "I started as a tinkerer, young man, but now I fancy myself a full-time inventor."

  Edward's mouth went agape.

  The man's smile grew. "Now, I thank you both so much for finding my cogs. I should be able to complete my experiment. It's dreadful out here tonight. If you are not beggars, what are you both doing upon the street?"

  I should have expected that question, and been prepared for an answer, but I wasn't. The man's instant turnaround in attitude had taken me by surprise, and my anger had not yet subsided.

  "We ran into a bit of trouble, sir," Edward started for me.

  It woke me up. "Yes. We were in town shopping for a Christmas present for our mother. But a snatcher stole our shopping bag as we were on the way to the train station. To make matters worse, I had left my billfold in the bag, like an idiot."

  The man's brow furrowed. "Did you not find a Bobbie?"

  I groaned. "What we thought was a Bobbie came to our aid right away. He told us to wait in front of the baker's shop until he returned. We waited for over two hours, and then found another Bobbie who told us that the first one we found wasn't real. It seemed we'd been taken by a grifter. Without money or prospects of any kind, we ended up missing the last train."

  The snow continued to fall around us, landing in the man's hair. He scratched his chin and then gave a fierce shiver. "All right then. It's much too cold to stay out here further to converse. I must get inside."

  Disappointment pulled down at my shoulders as the man turned on his heel and started walking away.

  Then he stopped suddenly and peered over his shoulder at us. "Are you not coming?"

  Edward and I blinked at each other. With a smile, we both rushed his direction. "We're coming. Thank you, sir."

  We followed the man to one of the shops down the street from the bakery that had a sign overhead saying, "Odds and Ends." After the man unlocked the front door, he stepped to the side and allowed us both to enter ahead of him. The heat washed over us like a wave and for the first time in what felt like a thousand hours, I began to feel human again. My skin prickled in the warmth.

  The gentleman hung his suit jacket on the coat rack beside the door. "Feel free to remove your outerwear and place it here. My daughter should be upstairs making supper. I'll let her know we have guests."

  My mouth watered at the thought of eating. I helped Edward with his jacket, as his wide eyes surveyed the shop we were in. Clocks and mechanisms surrounded us on shelves, standing on the floor and scattered across counter tops. And in the corner, a sheet laid over top a taller, wider object, that Edward was particularly drawn to. The gentleman headed toward the spiral staircase at the back of the shop.

  "This way, children. My humble abode lies upstairs. Follow me."

  As we drew closer to the top of the stairs, the scents flowed down toward us of chicken and onions and other root vegetables. My stomach growled in response. Edward grabbed hold of my hand and squeezed it. I peered down at him and found him also wide-eyed and excited about the food that lay ahead of us.

  The man opened the door at the top of the stairs and the smells hit us full force as well as the sounds. A red-headed young woman, a few years older than me, bustled about the kitchen and stopped when she found the three of us standing in the doorway. She blinked. "What have we here, Papa?"

  He cleared his throat. "These two helped me locate the missing cogs and have found themselves in a delicate situation. I invited them for dinner, and they shall help with my experiment after."

  She lifted a brow at him and then studied my brother and me a bit. "And their names are?"

  Her father blinked. "Umm... well."

  I stepped forward. "I'm Jenna, and this is my brother, Edward."

  "Very nice. I'm sure that my father forgot introductions entirely. I am Margret. And my father is Simon Cogsworth. You may call him Cog—it's his preferred moniker."

  "Cog? How fizzy is that?" Edward exclaimed.

  I lifted an eyebrow at him. "Fizzy?"

  A blush rose to my little brother's cheeks. "Incredible."

  I shook my head and then looked back at Margret. "We thank you both for your generous hospitality. It's nice to be warmed by a fire and to have a good meal."

  "No trouble." Margaret turned about and grabbed two more bowls from the cupboard. "If you'll help me serve, we will have supper ready momentarily."

  I stepped into the kitchen and helped the redhead serve out bowls of a dumpling and chicken soup as well as slices of the fresh bread Mr. Cog had procured at the bakery earlier that afternoon. We sat down to eat and said a moment of grace before partaking in the repast. It took all my control not to tuck in with too much vigor and forget my table manners. Edward must have felt the same but did nothing that would have made our mother scold him for being uncouth. Once finished with our dinner, I helped Margret in the kitchen while Edward and Mr. Cog went downstairs to work on the experiment.

  "My father tends to get tunnel vision when working on projects. When I sent him out to get bread from the bakery this afternoon, he took to task well, but apparently had some of his work with him in his pocket. That's how he ended up dropping the bag of parts that he had with him earlier. He does this sort of thing more often than not. He's dreadfully forgetful." Margret had a cheery voice and made the work they had to get done go by quickly.

  Then we heard a general cheer from downstairs.

  "Margret! Come quickly. I've made a breakthrough!" Mr. Cog shouted from the bottom of the spiral staircase.

  With a smile on her face, she started that direction, gesturing for me to follow. When we landed downstairs within the shop, the giant silver sail met my eyes. It had been covered with the sheet earlier, so we were not able to see it.

  "We've done it. Edward's small hands helped me get into the tight area I'd had a hard time reaching, and now the Cogsworth Sledge is complete. I believe that this will revolutionize winter travel. It will make it so that travel during harsh weather is finally possible, even when airships and trains have called an end to their routes due to such conditions."

  Edward smiled up at me, a bit of grease smudged on his cheek. I pulled him closer to me and removed his handkerchief from his pocket so that I could swipe the smudge on his face. His eyes practically sparkled. "I put in the last gear box that makes the ratio such that when the sledge captures the wind, it allows it to move even faster than the wind blowing in the sail."

  "Shh," Mr. Cog shushed him. "Do not go telling the inventor's secrets. You never know when you might be talking to a spy."

  Edward's smile slipped to a frown. "But my sister isn't a spy."

  "That you know of..." Mr. Cog said playfully.

  My brother's quick wit helped him cat
ch on to the gentleman's ruse. "Well, if she is a spy, it would be on my behalf, and you already shared the information with me."

  Mr. Cog feigned shock and slipped into the mask of someone taken aback. "What a grievous error I have made. I guess I'll have to swear you to secrecy then." He raised a hand up with four fingers extended and placed his other hand over his heart. "Do you swear to keep the experiment you see today a secret to carry with you until your last breath? If you do, I'll let you be one of the first to ride on its maiden voyage."

  Edward's eyes widened and then he placed his hand over his heart. "It shall remain a secret until my last breath. Do I really get to ride on its maiden voyage?"

  A spark lit in Mr. Cog's eyes. "Yes, child. You and your sister. You both said that you'd missed the last train due to the weather, well, this sledge has been built specifically for the purpose of traversing the land under these perfect conditions."

  Outside the wind blew harder against the windows and the snow swirled about and danced in rhythm with the wind.

  "Are you sure it's safe, father? You've had yet to test it."

  "My dear Margret, ever the voice of reason. Of course, it safe. I may not have tested it in its full, complete form, but on other occasions, I have tested prototypes. Because of those experiments, I installed safety belts to counteract the sledge's inertia. There is enough seating for four people if you'd like to come as well?"

  Her eyes went wide as she shook her head. "No, thank you. I'll keep my feet upon the ground."

  He nodded as though he expected her denial. "Leaving your sense of adventure with your dad again?"

  "Adventure is a fine thing, but I believe I enjoy comfort more. It seems that in order to have an adventure, one is required to leave comfort behind." She sighed. "I'd much rather not."

  "As expected." Mr. Cog shrugged and then clapped his hands together and collapsed the sail. "Now, help me, young adventurer. Let us move this sledge out of doors and get it prepared for our journey."