Secrets (The Steamship Chronicles Book 1)

by Margaret McGaffey Fisk

  Nat couldn’t have been more surprised had a whale leapt on board just then and asked for passage. Here he’d been right with the crew in thinking the captain paid little attention to the goings on of the ship when he should have known better. A professor used to observation could not help but notice the life aboard their small ship.

  “They know it’s not your fault,” he blurted. “They like you.”

  The captain shook his head. “Oh, I’m sure they tolerate me well enough. Not like any of us have a choice in the matter. But it’s you I was asking about. I want to be able to give a good report to your mother, who just might take it upon herself to journey down to Dover for a sight of her boy.” He stopped talking to stare at the ceiling for a long while before frowning. “Though I suppose that can’t happen since I’ll be posting a letter to her when we land, and we’re not staying longer than it takes to resupply and get our orders.” He shrugged. “No matter. I still need to know what to tell her.”

  Nat gave a genuine smile as he said, “Mister Trupt seems to like me, and the men don’t tease me more than is to be expected.”

  “And what of Mister Garth? You expressed an interest in the steam engine when you first came aboard, did you not?”

  With the threat of a letter to his mother looming, Nat thought discretion might serve him better than a complaint against the grumpy engineer. “I haven’t had much time for that yet, Captain. Mister Trupt says I have much to learn.”

  “Ah, Mister Trupt. He would say something like that and expect you to apprentice for a year per task or some such strict ruling. Now there’s a true sailor in the old style. He used to be on wind vessels, don’t you know? And weren’t those the days. At the wind’s will and with no knowledge of where we’d end up. Drifting across the world itself to discover what lay on the other side. Now I was never the first to go, mind you, nor did I venture as far from civilization as some are attempting, but still, the people could be so different you’d never imagine we were the same species. Some still doubt that to be the case, but I say you must look beyond the skin and see what makes us brothers.”

  The captain’s probing had come to an end. Nat settled in for a very different experience than when he listened to Jenson or the other sailors. Between one breath and the next, a story became a lecture, teaching him all about places he’d never go because the people Professor Paderwatch so adored had little to trade and even less interest in what the civilized world could offer.

  His blessing came in the late hour, because not far into another grand teaching, a yawn broke through the captain’s speech.

  “Well now, that’s enough for one night. We should reach land early tomorrow, and there’s much to be done…as I already said, didn’t I? Go on with you. I’m for my bunk and you should be too.”

  Nat didn’t wait for a second command. He slipped out the door and headed for his hammock, the captain’s lectures better even than a sleeping drought for putting the head down and sending it off into dreamland.

  8

  Henry came for Sam before the sun rose the next day, but she was already dressed.

  Strain drew lines in his face, and she feared the worst, but he offered a weak smile. “Lily’s up and about today, preparing for the trip. If we leave now, there might be time to go for a little shopping before your ship sails at noon. With the steam carriage, it’s only a few hours from here, or so the coachman tells me.

  He paused to share a moment of delight at the amazing speed, a connection with Sam that had only grown since the time she transformed his grandfather’s watch into a mechanical man.

  Any other would have been horrified. Not Henry.

  The grin her thought provoked soon faded, and Sam turned away, unwilling to let him see the loneliness on her face. She had only a little while before they would be off, and then a few short hours before leaving them behind forever. Surely she could keep her mourning to herself.

  They headed downstairs for a quick breakfast composed of the last of Cook’s pastries. The cook was still off helping her own family, and Kate showed little ability and less inclination.

  Lily didn’t come down to eat, taking a tray in her room instead.

  “This is hard for her,” Henry said. “She wants what’s best for you, but she’ll miss you horribly.”

  Sam agreed in silence, hearing the part he didn’t say as much as what he did.

  Lily stayed up there to conserve her strength before doing one last act for Sam. Only once the ship sailed would Lily give herself permission to rest and heal. Her sister had always been that way, making sure everyone and everything else was taken care of before looking to herself.

  In no time at all, Henry and Sam stood on the circular driveway with her trunk and one other left empty in anticipation of the purchases still to be made.

  The coachman seemed nice as he handed her belongings up to the luggage rack on the roof. “A grand adventure for a young lady. Preparing for your coming out, are you?”

  “Something like that,” Henry said, stepping in to the rescue.

  The coachman had as little to do with proper position as Cook, though whether that came from the equipage he drove or his cheerful nature she had no way to know.

  Sam took an instant liking to him, especially when, once the luggage was stowed, he took Henry on a tour of his vehicle and did not comment as she tagged along.

  “It has an elaborate suspension system to compensate for the roughness of the road at such speeds, and you’ll notice the iron on the wheels is extra thick. I suspect we’ll be replacing that a time or two in the coming months. I’ve a spare wheel in the back should we run into trouble unexpectedly.”

  Sam joined Henry in admiring the craftsmanship, but all the while she could feel the generator and engine within. It lay as though sleeping, aether gathered around like a pillow over its workings.

  “Shouldn’t we be going?”

  Lily’s arrival, late as it might be, offered a welcome distraction. Sam counted on her sister’s presence to keep the siren call of the mechanism quiet.

  Henry rushed up the entryway steps to help his wife down. Once she moved into the light, though, Sam could see just how pale and shaky Lily appeared.

  She rushed to take her sister’s other side, ignoring a feeble hand wave intended to dissuade her.

  But before Sam could reach Lily, her sister stumbled.

  Henry held on as best he could, but still Lily sank to the stone steps, sweat glistening on her forehead and cheeks despite a layer of powder.

  “I’m fine. We have to go.”

  Sam had to lean in to hear her sister’s words. She sent a stricken look to Henry. How could she pretend not to notice this?

  “Help me with her,” Henry said, his voice deeper even than usual. “We need to get Lily back inside.”

  This time her sister didn’t protest.

  Sam hoped she recognized the futility rather than lacked the strength.

  With Lily stretched out on the sofa in the receiving room, Henry looked to the clock, winced, and declared, “We need to go now.”

  Sam balked, a scowl settling over her features. “You’re not leaving Lily like this, are you?” She remembered her decision to make her departure as easy on her sister as possible, and Lily needed Henry more than Sam did in this moment.

  Henry stared down at his wife, clearly torn between love and duty. When he straightened, Sam drew in a breath to argue, but his words took the wind from her.

  “You’re right. I cannot leave her now. There’s nothing for it. The carriage is already borrowed, and the tide waits for no one. Kate will have to go.”

  The lady’s maid, who’d come in to check on her mistress, cried out at the same time as Sam, but with greater vehemence.

  “I will not be locked up in a contraption with the likes of her, especially not a mechanical one,” Kate pronounced. “It’s bad enough you ask me to live on an estate where an unrestrained Natural roams. The girl is dangerous, no matter how much you’re swe
et on her.”

  Lily dissolved into another bout of coughing so loud and pronounced it brought all conversation to a halt.

  The maid ran to Lily’s side, bringing with her the bowl of water and damp cloths she’d carried in. “Now see what you’ve done,” she said, glaring at Sam. “What the likes of her did to deserve the likes of you is beyond me.”

  “Enough.” Though he didn’t raise his voice, the command in Henry’s tone froze both of them. “She is my sister as much as Lily’s now, and I will not have you speak to Samantha in this way. You can go pack your bags and move back into your father’s cottage. Mister Simmons will find something appropriate for you to do in the fields.”

  “What?”

  Again both Sam and Kate spoke as one, but Sam kept talking.

  “Henry, you can’t. Lily needs her, and I’m going.” Sam crossed to the door. “It won’t be a problem any longer. She’s only spiteful to me.”

  If anything, his scowl deepened. “How long has this been going on? I knew you didn’t fare well together, but this is more.”

  Sam shrugged. She hadn’t kept the extent of it from him on purpose, but Lily leaned on her maid especially in recent years. “It isn’t that bad.”

  “Bad enough you don’t want to share a carriage with her.”

  Sam waved off the argument. “The coachman knows where to go, doesn’t he? It’s not like she’ll be much use anyway.”

  Kate harrumphed at that, but Henry shook his head. “You can’t go wandering across the country unaccompanied, Samantha. It’s not proper.”

  Despite the stress of Lily’s collapse, and the carriage waiting for her outside, Sam burst into laughter, perhaps a bit stronger than necessary.

  “Proper should not matter in this,” she managed when she could catch a breath. “Where I’m to go, I’ll be unaccompanied always.” The words sobered her, but still Sam continued, “Really, there’s no point in arguing. I refuse to spend that much time trapped with her, and you can’t force both of us. You’ll just look silly chasing two young women around a carriage. The moment you go after the other, the first of us will just get out.”

  Henry looked like he would protest then the strength went out of him on a sigh. “If you’re sure you’ll be all right on your own, there’s no time for anything else and nothing more to say.”

  She could see the gratitude in his eyes as he left to speak with the coachman, but Lily wore a stricken expression, even more pronounced against her pallor.

  Sam rushed to her sister’s side, ignoring Kate’s presence. “It’ll be better this way, I promise. You’ll rest up, and when you’re feeling more like yourself, Henry can take you on a grand tour of the Continent. Who’s to question if you make a stop wherever this haven is to be found to rest your horses. Promise me you will.”

  Lily gave a slow nod, her lips curving in a vain attempt at a smile.

  Sam smiled broad enough for the both of them, pulling her sister into a gentle hug. The contact only made her more aware of how frail Lily had grown, but she swallowed hard and made sure none of her thoughts showed when she stepped away.

  Henry came through the doorway, Sam’s cloak over one arm. “I explained to the driver, and he encourages you to hurry. The carriage is fast, but it takes a bit to get up to full speed. If you run into trouble on the way, having a little extra time might be for the best.”

  Sam ran to him and hugged her brother-in-law as tight as she could. “You take care of my sister,” she commanded against his starched shirt. “Make her well.”

  Henry tugged Sam away only so he could meet her eye to eye. “Everything in my power I will do for Lily. She holds my heart as well as your own. I swear I’ll help her through this, and then we’ll take that trip you asked of her.”

  Startled, she glanced over at her sister, who had lapsed into slumber. When she looked back, Henry smiled. “I overheard you as I came in. It sounds like the perfect thing to do, but we’ll wait a bit, for Lily to heal and you to settle in. Now let me hand you up into the carriage and you’d best be off.”

  It took little time for him to wrap the cloak around her and give her a letter of introduction to his man of business.

  Before Sam realized it, she’d descended the steps and climbed into the carriage next to the burbling engine.

  Henry leaned in the door and thrust a small leather wallet into her hand. “It’s not much, pocket change really, but it’s enough to get yourself something to eat if there’s time. My man of business will meet you at the port. You have only to show him my letter. He has your papers along with drafts from my bank. Everything you need to make the journey comfortable. I know this wasn’t how you expected to start out, or what your sister and I wanted for you, but you’re a smart girl. Just listen to what my man tells you, and you’ll be on the ship and on your way without trouble. Take care of yourself, Samantha.”

  He didn’t wait for a reply, a lucky choice as Sam didn’t think she could have forced words past the tightness in her throat. Instead, she tucked the wallet into her cloak pocket next to the letter and settled onto the cushioned seat.

  “Hold on tight, Miss Samantha,” the coachman called down from his perch. “It can be a little rough going on until she catches her stride.”

  Sam gripped the leather strap hanging next to the door with one hand and pulled the curtain back with the other. “I’m set.”

  She hardly had time to prepare before the carriage lurched into motion, nothing like the horse-drawn conveyances she’d been in before. With the rumble of iron-rimmed wheels against cobblestone then gravel, she raced toward her future, leaving Lily, Henry, and the estate that had become her home behind her faster than Sam would have thought possible.

  9

  Morning came with the welcome sight of the port in front of them. Sailors gathered against the rail, those not already sent to take in the sailcloth so they could steam their way in as though they’d used it the whole way. Appearances, as Mister Trupt would have said, were everything.

  Nat watched the puffs of man-made clouds drifting from their smokestack instead of the port, his back resting against the wooden bar.

  The captain hadn’t been wrong about his fascination with the engine, but so far the engineer had shown no sign of softening toward him in particular, though Mister Garth was adamant about needing no help from anyone. If for that aspect alone, Nat sometimes wondered if he should have tried for a position on the tracks, but those were hard to come by and less likely to bring in a real income. Besides, the rails went to the same place every time. A ship could go anywhere.

  “There you are, Mister Bowden. You missed breakfast.” Captain Paderwatch strolled across the deck, as much at ease as he’d ever seemed on land. His sea legs brought no shame down on his head for all that other aspects of his captaincy might.

  Nat raised the pie Jenson had made from the remaining potatoes, scraps of meat, and the last of the flour. “Just doing my part to clear the hold.”

  “Indeed.” The captain barked a laugh. “You are well suited at that. No matter how much goes down your gullet, not a bit sticks to those bones of yours. Maybe it’s best your mother doesn’t come after all. She’ll think I’m feeding you only water and hard tack.”

  Glancing around to make sure none of the others overheard the captain’s comment, Nat stuffed the pie in front of his face in a failed attempt to hide a flush. “No, sir. She’d never think such a thing of you. Mother’s nothing but grateful you took me on.”

  Nat failed to duck the hand Captain Paderwatch put out to muss his hair, a habit developed when he’d been much younger and one he kept hoping the professor would put behind them.

  “She’s a worrier, your mother, but she raised a fine son.”

  This time Nat’s embarrassment came from a different source, but he turned to stare at the approaching dock anyway, still not wanting the crew to see him color up like a naive lad, as they’d called him two years before when he joined them. “We’re almost to the port, Capt
ain. Only two days behind schedule.”

  A grunt came from beside him as the captain folded his arms on the rail as well. “We wouldn’t be that if our engine had a lick of the strength in other ships. It sits poorly with me how we’re always tagging in at the end of the line.”

  Nat twisted to look at the captain then, provoking another laugh.

  “You think I’m above such things just because I spend my time with books? Let me share a bit of wisdom I’ve learned in my journeys. It doesn’t matter how far you travel, or what language is spoken at the other end. No one likes to come in last every time. It cuts the heart out of a man, and that’s something you never want, not for yourself or for those in your command.”

  Nat could see the truth in those words, and he’d heard the evidence himself from the lips of the crew even if he hadn’t traveled as far afield as the professor in his youth. “But what can we do about it, sir? It’s not like the Company has any plans to upgrade this old boat. It’s clear enough they’ll keep her stumbling around until she can’t go any further then let her sink under the waves.”

  Captain Paderwatch sighed. “You have a good eye for detail, and the ability to put the pieces together all too well. There’s nothing we can expect from the Company, but even though late, we’ve got a bit of a balance from my side of the hold. I’ve been thinking on this a while now.”

  Nat nodded as though he could follow the captain’s thought, but besides knowing they had no hope, there wasn’t much to go on.

  “I want you to go into port with Mister Garth today. See if you can’t use some of that eye to get us a better deal on the parts Kyle needs to shore up our flagging engine.”

  “I don’t need no help, especially not from the likes of him. Book-learned. Still wet behind the ears he is.”