Steampunk Carnival (Steam World Book 1)

by Cassandra Leuthold

  Katya knew the real drama unfolded behind the coaster where the workers accessed the engine. She crept past the Beast, numerous patrons pausing to watch the activity before moving on to working attractions. Mr. Warden strode from his office toward the Beast faster than Katya had ever seen him move. Mr. Lieber kept in step beside him with a plainly dressed security man on his other side.

  “What happened?” Mr. Warden bellowed at the ride operator studying the engine hatch.

  “I don’t know. It just blew.”

  Mr. Warden shoved the man out of the way. “What do you mean you don’t know? Do you know how much money this makes in a night? It’s second only to the wheel. Where’s maintenance? They’d better be on their way.”

  “Security went for them.”

  Mr. Warden turned toward the maintenance office, meeting Katya’s gaze in the process. He returned her watchful stare for several seconds before shifting to greet the maintenance man hurrying toward him.

  “Can you fix it?” Mr. Warden barked before maintenance had even reached the engine.

  “Let me have a look, sir.” The maintenance man stepped past Mr. Warden, lowering his tool box to the ground. He examined the engine parts with thickly gloved fingers and heavy-lidded eyes. His drab, dark brown clothes turned him into part of the machine, he stood so close to it. “Here’s the problem, Mr. Warden. This valve right here leading up from the boiler.”

  Katya stretched her neck for a better view but could not see past the posts to what the man was indicating. She relaxed a little at the hope the incident was over.

  “Can you fix it?” Mr. Warden repeated.

  After half a minute, the man answered, “No. I’m not sure I can. I could look at what tools I have.”

  “Tools!” Mr. Warden exploded. He adjusted his jacket and lowered his voice. “I expect this machine up and running by the time we open tomorrow, or you are never stepping foot on these grounds again. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, sir. I’ll just get more tools.”

  “Get your tools,” Mr. Warden growled amidst the sounds of the running coasters.

  The man slunk away toward the maintenance building. Mr. Warden led Mr. Lieber and the plain security back to his office. Katya couldn’t see where the ride operator had gone, likely around the front of the coaster to help the other man appease the disappointed crowd.

  Katya almost walked away, the spectacle of danger and argument completed. An unexpected figure passed beneath the giant coaster to the broken engine, rekindling Katya’s interest. The bearded game runner spent more than a minute there, his cream-colored suit with pale blue embroidered smoke wafting over it standing out against the dark metal and wood. He returned to his stall by the time maintenance returned holding a few extra wrenches in his hands. Katya strolled on, continuing her rounds. As she passed the Beast’s engine, she heard the last words she expected from the maintenance man.

  “It’s fixed.”

  Katya stopped and stared at him.

  The man glanced around, as confused as she was but much more enthusiastic. He toggled a few levers and swiped his finger over a hole where a bolt might have been.

  “It’s been fixed?” Katya called to him.

  The man nodded and tested the sturdiness of a vertical pipe. “The valve’s working. I’ll have the rest of it fortified by tomorrow.”

  Katya doubled her pace, avoiding eye contact with the game runner as she passed his stall. He explained the rules to his customers as if he had never left the booth, as if he understood nothing more complicated than its game. She swept straight across to the food stall and the opening at its back. She grabbed Magdalene’s arm, making the light change jump in her hand.

  Magdalene barely held her composure. “What are you doing?” she asked.

  “We have to talk.” Katya pulled on her arm.

  “We’re very busy.” Magdalene managed to pass the change to the first person in line.

  Katya forced a wide smile for the customers. “We’ll be right back.”

  Katya dragged Magdalene out of the stall. Irina cussed loudly under her breath in Russian, but Katya moved on, steering Magdalene past the harmonica-playing contest on the side stage to the vibrating end of the El. Its cars whizzed down the track above them, curving back the same direction they’d come from.

  “You’re going to get us fired,” Magdalene insisted.

  Katya stuck her head close to Magdalene’s. “The game runner just fixed the Beast.”

  “What?”

  “The Beast. Steam pressure broke a valve or something. Maintenance wasn’t sure he could fix it. He was gone for one minute, and I swear, the game runner fixed it before he got back.”

  “Who are we talking about?”

  Katya hesitated. “I don’t know his name. He’s the one everyone calls the Mick.”

  “I don’t know his name, either,” Magdalene admitted regretfully.

  “I thought you knew everybody.”

  “Not him. Nobody knows him.”

  Katya pulled back a few inches to look Magdalene in the eye. “Everybody knows one thing: he’s a game runner. That’s all. How can he fix the Beast when maintenance can’t?”

  “Maybe he had access to the notebook you found. He could’ve stolen it from Mr. Warden and thrown it out when he was done.”

  “Everybody’s a crook around here.” Katya folded her arms and recalled the only clear memory she had of the game runner, watching him chase down the bear-stealing boy. He seemed too gentle and conscientious to steal Mr. Warden’s private papers and leave them in a garbage bin. “What do you think he could’ve gained by learning about the rides? Do you think he’d rather work with them than the games?”

  “I don’t know. Mr. Warden seems more the type to take what he wants.”

  “He hasn’t taken me,” Katya grumbled.

  Magdalene grabbed hold of Katya’s arm, shocking her with the firm, sudden grasp. “Who would know these machines better than anybody?”

  Katya searched her face, too dumbfounded to pull away. “Mr. Warden.”

  “Not a name. Who?”

  “The person who invented the carnival.”

  “What if that person wasn’t Mr. Warden?”

  Katya pointed halfway across the carnival to the game stall. “You think that haggard man who spends his nights talking people into spending their hard-earned money to try to win stuffed toys and trinkets invented this carnival?”

  Magdalene raised a hand in defeat. “Then you tell me how he knew what to do.”

  Katya remained silent, trying to find another explanation.

  “I think he started the notebook, and it ended up in Mr. Warden’s hands one way or another. Mr. Warden built the carnival, knowing it wasn’t his. It explains why there are two kinds of marks in that book. The original pencil, and Mr. Warden’s fountain pen.”

  “Why would the game runner come here?”

  “How could he stay away? If he imagined all this, of course he’d be here. He might’ve sent those death threats to Mr. Warden.”

  Katya shook her head. “I don’t know, Mags. He seems so nice.”

  “Even the nicest of men would be driven mad by something like this. If he created all this, he’s a genius, and he deserves the fortune Mr. Warden’s been amassing from it.”

  “Maybe he gave the notebook to Mr. Warden. Maybe he’s a silent partner.”

  “Silence and the Steampunk Carnival don’t go together, Kat. If he were a partner to Mr. Warden, somebody would know about it. He’d be doing what Mr. Lieber’s doing, wearing a nice suit and sitting around the office while the rest of us work for our money.”

  Katya could not argue with Magdalene anymore. Her head spun from the suggestion that the biggest scandal at the carnival was its very existence.

  Magdalene took Katya’s hand between hers. “Do you agree we should talk to him about the notebook?”

  Katya stared at her, petrified. “Mr. Warden?”

  “No, the game runn
er.”

  “Do you really think he’d talk to us?”

  “Let me do the talking. I’ll figure out exactly what to say.”

  Chapter Nine

  Katya escorted the last of the patrons past the ticket booth and waved to them as they meandered through the gates. The plainly dressed security had already disappeared from the grounds. Katya busied herself until Magdalene finished cleaning up the food stall. She rounded the entire carnival, offering her services to every employee she saw except the bearded game runner. Katya ended up in the other food stall, scrubbing browned and blackened sausage bits from the bottom of a cast iron skillet. She kept an eye on the game runner while he closed up his stall, arranging the toys and souvenirs so they sat straight and welcoming on the shelves.

  The game runner exited his stall, pausing to look over his work. Katya’s panicked heart shook her ribs with its pounding. If he left the carnival, she and Magdalene would have to wait even longer to talk to him. She wiped the skillet dry and set it on the counter. She hurried out of the stall and approached the game runner before he could disappear.

  “Excuse me,” she said breathlessly.

  The game runner tipped his hat, lowering his eyes with self-consciousness. “What can I do for you, Miss Romanova?”

  Katya started. “How do you know my name?”

  “Everyone knows who you are, miss.”

  By the game runner’s tone, Katya assumed he meant this as a casual compliment more than a jab at her reputation. “I’m afraid I don’t know yours.”

  The game runner offered a small, wry smile. “You don’t need to.”

  Katya gestured to the game stall. “I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind showing me the way the game works. Do you have time?”

  “Of course.” The game runner walked over to the stall. He did not sound as accommodating as he was trying to be, but Katya could not let it bother her.

  Katya glanced at the far food stall. Magdalene was still there beside Irina and the Englishman.

  The game runner lifted several glass bottles from underneath the counter and arranged them on the table below the prize shelves. “You’re sure you haven’t played this before?”

  “Never.”

  The game runner held out several painted wooden rings. “It’s simple. You stand behind that counter there and try to toss the rings so they land around the tops of the bottles.”

  Katya leaned toward him. “No, how does it really work? I know the games are rigged. I’m just not sure how.”

  The game runner pursed his lips ruefully and lifted three more wooden rings from underneath the counter. “Some of the rings are a little smaller.” He held the second set out near the ones in Katya’s hand. She might not have noticed the difference if she did not see them side by side. “These are sized to barely fit over the mouths of the bottles. Even a direct hit would be hard to catch around them.”

  The game runner ducked down and rose with a third set of rings. “The ones I gave you are the normal ones. These are sized a little bigger so it’s easier for certain people to win a prize.”

  “What sorts of people?”

  “I can’t give them to children very often. If they all start winning prizes, people will get suspicious. Mr. Warden’s very strict about that.”

  The rule seemed to pain him to say it, but Katya could not tell if it was the name or the restriction that stuck in his throat.

  The game runner flipped the rings over in his hands. “I usually give them to a parent or sometimes the man in a young couple so he can win a prize for his lady.”

  “That’s very kind of you.”

  The game runner shrugged. “More suggestions from Mr. Warden.”

  Katya studied the game runner. She had never stood this close to him before or paid him this much attention. He was younger than his beard and the unruly hair escaping his hat made him look from a distance. Katya realized she had mistaken him for five or ten years older. Whether he was younger or older than Mr. Warden, she could not guess.

  “Do you want to play?” he asked.

  Katya nodded. The game runner stepped aside, and Katya bought Magdalene’s plan a few more minutes. She edged up as close to the counter as she could.

  The game runner smirked good-naturedly. “I can’t let you lean over the counter.”

  Katya inched back. “What’s the point in rules if the whole game is rigged?” She tossed the rings one at a time, each ring bouncing off the bottles before she tried the next one with no success. “I’m a horrible aim, aren’t I?”

  “Try these.” The game runner offered her the larger set of rings.

  “Do these really work?” Katya made sure she was not bowing over the counter and tossed the first ring. It danced around one of the bottles’ lips before diving to the side. Katya whooped with delight and steadied herself before she tried again. The ring landed around one of the bottles on the right. “It only took me five tries.”

  “Some people never get it.”

  Katya handed the final ring to the game runner. “How do you keep all the rings straight?”

  “It takes a practiced eye for slight variations in diameter.” The game runner collected the rings from the ground, the table, and the bottle’s neck. He put them away under the counter. “There are several sets down here. Sometimes a customer asks for another set if he thinks the ones he has are rigged. I have to give him another identical set, or he’ll know they are.” The game runner stored the bottles away.

  “You haven’t worked here the whole time the carnival’s been open, have you?” Katya asked, trying to remember.

  “No, miss. It was open a few months before I came here.”

  “Do you know what happened to the man you replaced?”

  The game runner adjusted the fit of his hat. “I don’t know exactly. I offered to work dirt cheap because I needed the job, and within a few days, there was this opening for me.”

  Katya stopped herself from asking more questions. She sighed gratefully as Magdalene breezed up to her side.

  “Good evening, Miss Harvey,” the game runner greeted her.

  “Good evening.” Magdalene brushed sweaty curls back from her forehead. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine, miss. And you?”

  “Fine, thank you. I’m glad you’re still here. We wanted to talk to you.”

  The game runner raised his eyebrows, but he did not look completely surprised. “Oh? What about?”

  “We found something we think might belong to you. We found a notebook full of plans for the carnival.”

  The game runner’s mouth dropped open, his composed facade breaking quickly. He wiped his sleeve at his forehead. “You found the journal.”

  “So it’s yours?”

  The game runner motioned with his hand for her to keep her voice down. “We can’t talk about this here. Would you be willing to meet with me?”

  Magdalene nodded.

  “Do you know the church St. John the Evangelist? They’ve been leaving their doors open to the homeless at night. We can talk in there.”

  “Yes. Mr. Davies will take us.”

  “Thank you.” In a desperate whisper, the game runner added, “You don’t have it with you, do you?”

  “No, I’m sorry. We’ve kept it hidden. It’s safe with us.”

  “It’s better that way, at least for now.” The game runner stepped out of his stall. “I’ll take the streetcar. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

  “We’ll wait for you.”

  Katya and Magdalene walked away. When they passed the Beast and saw the carnival carriage waiting for them outside the gates, they moved a little faster. Magdalene sidled up alongside Mr. Davies and gestured for him to lean down to her. Katya climbed up into the carriage with Irina and the charwoman. Irina looked her over sharply, and Katya pretended not to mind.

  Mr. Davies uttered a quiet, “Yes, miss,” and Magdalene claimed the empty seat next to Katya.

  Mr. Davies drove them into town, stra
ight up Madison Avenue toward the city’s circular heart. Katya tapped her foot impatiently to the striking of the horse’s hooves. Mr. Davies stopped to let Irina and the charwoman off at their homes in the western neighborhoods before changing his route and turning east down Washington Street. The carriage turned again when it reached Circle Park and slowed to resting outside the twin towers flanking the gothic facade of St. John’s Church.

  Katya and Magdalene descended to the sidewalk.

  Mr. Davies slid to the near end of his seat. “Are you sure you want to be here at this time of the morning?”

  Magdalene considered the church, her expression pensive. Katya could see the concern in her eyes. “We’re waiting for someone. We won’t be alone very long.”

  “You’re meeting a man, Miss Harvey?”

  “Not for the reason you think. Do you think I would?”

  Mr. Davies’ bunched shoulders relaxed. “No. Please be careful, ladies.”

  “We will,” they chimed in together.

  Reluctantly, Mr. Davies returned to the center of his seat and flipped the horse’s reins. He rode away down Tennessee Street.

  Katya listened to the retreating carriage and night sounds of animals prowling the maze of nearby allies. “Do you think we’re safe?”

  “We have no choice.” Magdalene studied the church’s architecture, a large round window high in the center above an impressive, peaked doorway. “I’m sure we’re fine. Just be quiet until the game runner gets here.”

  Katya nodded. “I wish I wasn’t dressed so well.”

  “You could take your jacket off.”

  “Not at this hour.”

  Magdalene walked up to the church and reached for the door handle. Katya stayed close behind her, and they slipped into the front hall. Except for occasional rustling in the next room, the church sat still and silent. Katya and Magdalene crept forward toward the sanctuary, the largest room Katya had ever seen. Even in the dim light of a few lamps, she could see the ceiling arching up two or three stories to curve over their heads. At least two dozen rows of pews stretched out in front of them before the dais. The rustling continued from some of the pews as people shifted positions, their heads, elbows, and feet occasionally knocking against the wood.