Gears of Brass

by Jordan Elizabeth

  Redyn tapped her fingernails against her wolf’s skull. “Thank you, Alexxin. A trip like that would be… perfect.”

  id-leap, my bare foot caught something solid. My stomach jolted as I went into free fall in the dark down the berm. Holding back the scream that threatened to tear out my lungs, my hands flailed to find something to break my fall. The rushing wind muffled the shouts in the distance behind me. My long auburn hair fell from its band and whipped around my face, getting caught in my armpit and jerking my head back.

  My head smacked the earth with a sick thunk. Bright specks of light winked behind my closed lids. My hearing enhancement gear rattled and clanked. Curling into a ball, I fought through the pain to get a breath of air, praying the cogs hadn’t come loose.

  I couldn’t stop running. Not even for this. Rocks dug into my back as I rolled over. A dust cloud swirled around my body, coating my silk ivory nightgown and turning it yellow. Taking shallow breaths, I checked the glowing green calibration watch placed beneath the skin on my right forearm. The gears whizzed and clicked, displaying my vitals in colored lines.

  If I didn’t get some water soon, my clockwork heart would stall. I’d been running all night, but the Burker Boys had hover steamers. Unlike me, those things ran on a gallon of water and could coast for hundreds of miles.

  I got to my knees, taking a few gulps of fresh air as the dirt settled. My hair fell like a tangled curtain around my face. I’d reached the end of the dead expanse that surrounded the resort. A thick pine forest stretched out in front of me. I swiped my hand across my nose, wishing I could smell the green of the trees. Eyes burning, I swallowed hard, feeling the incision in my throat where they’d cut out my sinus enhancer. I would never be able to smell my exotic perfumes again. All that money my father invested in my Clinket upgrades to keep disease from ravaging my body would be wasted if I died from lack of water.

  I stumbled past the first line of dense trunks, taking it slow, so I didn’t run out of steam. Sharp pine needles pierced the soles of my bleeding feet. Within moments, the darkness engulfed me. I wish I was home. I’d have my servants warm my bedding and bring me a cup of peach tea.

  “Lana?”

  I froze as Ollie’s voice cut through the trees. What flesh and muscle remained of my heart clenched into a tight ball. I used to swoon when my name came from those lips. I felt my way behind a thick trunk, pushing my toes slowly through the layers of dead needles, so I wouldn’t make a sound. Rough bark and soggy moss brushed against my bare shoulders.

  “Come out, my lovely. This isn’t what you think.” Ollie’s voice lowered as he began speaking to someone with him.

  I tilted my head, straining the loose cogs in my head. Click, click, whirl. The clanking gears were so loud in my ears I feared they would find me in moments.

  I sucked a breath through my teeth as I whipped back into place. My head smashed into the trunk and my hair snagged in the rough bark causing a few strands to part with my scalp. This was supposed to be a romantic weekend. A time for Ollie to spoil me like a treasured pet before we were wed. What a fool I’d been.

  “Lana dear, you’re ill.” My stomach churned from the sick joy oozing from Ollie’s voice. “The good Doctor Burk is trying to help you get well.” In my mind, I could see Ollie’s thin, flat lips twisting into a sadistic grin. Butterflies would make me giddy whenever those lips brushed my hand. Now, I had to hold back the fear and vomit.

  I wasn’t ill. Not anymore. Ollie was the soiled one; he was working with the ghoulish Burker Boys. I should have recognized the Burkers the moment I set foot in the posh “retreat.” Their wanted pictures had been plastered in every upscale shop window for over a year.

  “Lana? It’s Doctor Burk,” his snake-like voice slithered through the pines around me. “We need you to come back to the facility. Your fiancé’s heart is breaking.”

  I scanned the darkness of the forest ahead. If I could see through the trees, I might stand a chance of surviving.

  A cold, solid hand clamped over my mouth. My legs kicked out, connecting with a pair of well-muscled legs. I tried to scream, but the enormous hand covering my mouth pressed tighter.

  “Shh,” a male voice whispered in my ear.

  I fought harder, throwing my shoulders against a broad chest. Images of the bodies I woke up next to flashed through my head. Dissected upper-class socialites lay on steel tables with their chest’s flayed open, their upgrades torn from their empty cavities.

  “They won’t enter the forest if they believe you’ve traveled far.” Warm breath blew across my cheek. “Look.” He removed his hand from my mouth and nudged my waist.

  I peered around the tree. Torches paced the edge of the forest. The hum from the hover steamers grew in pitch as I focused in. The owners of the orange flames mounted their crafts and drifted up along the tree line.

  I shivered, hugging my arms to my chest. “Who are you?” After everything I’d been through, I didn’t know who I could trust.

  “A friend.” I could feel him lean in closer to my face, but the darkness kept his features a mystery. “I hope.”

  He pried my hand from my upper arm with a gentle tug. “This way. Take care to tread lightly. We don’t want them to come back.”

  I took a hesitant step, not sure if I should follow, but knowing death awaited if I stayed.

  As the sun crept up, the gloom remained in the forest, turning everything a deep green. Even the air itself seemed to bleed jade. I chanced quick glances to the man on my right. Tall, stocky, shoulder length light brown hair hung in mats. He had a strong, square jaw and a crooked nose. No doubt he was a scoundrel who’d been in a fight or two. Not the type of individual my kind mingled with. Yellow pallor hinted he was unwell. His tan, leather trousers had holes in the knees as did his jacket. He must be a beggar. A shudder rolled from the base of my spine to my ears. Hairsprings! What have I gotten myself into now?

  I panted as my scruffy savior led me into a small clearing. Bright yellow sunlight streamed over wildflowers of such vibrant colors, I gasped. In the city, flowers like these couldn’t grow—not with the smoke choking the life out of the air. Bold reds, delicate pinks, and wisps of cloud blue crowded the clearing. I’d bet my nicest corset they smelled as wonderful as they looked.

  “Excuse me?” I turned, then dropped my eyes from his face, heat creeping up my neck. I can’t believe I owed a debt to a filthy vagrant. If my friends back home found out, not only about Ollie, but of me associating with trash like this, I’d never be able to show my face at another gathering. “You haven’t given your name, sir.” I forced myself to be polite. What I really wanted was to demand water, even if it was unladylike. Seemed silly to worry about being proper as I was covered in filth, standing in front of a tramp in my night dress. Improper was the last thing I should consider.

  He brushed his hair behind his shoulder and extended a meaty hand covered in black grime. “My apologies, Miss.” A broad grin stretched his rugged face. “August Flin.”

  I gave my hand, expecting him to treat me like the lady I was. Instead he gave it a jarring shake. I yanked my limb back and scowled. “Flin? As in Harold Flin’s son from the engineering empire?” I met his eyes and gulped. Dark brown irises ringed with purple bags. He didn’t look as charming now as he had in the society magazines.

  “The one and only.” He reached for his belt and removed a tin canteen. “You must be parched after the night’s activities.” He unscrewed the shiny lid, took a loud slurp, and offered it to me after wiping his mouth across his sleeve.

  I wanted to snatch the container from his hands and cram the water down my throat. My heart gave a painful lurch as I held my head high and slowly accepted the offer. I tucked my ratted hair behind my ears and tried for a polite, dignified sip. But as soon as the cool liquid touched my chapped lips, I began gulping so fast, water trickled from the corners of my mouth. My eyes closed as I enjoyed every drop. I could feel the water travel through the network of tubes that woul
d carry it to the mechanics most in need.

  “Thank you,” I huffed, handing him the empty canteen. “You’ve been missing for seven months. What are you doing out here in the country?” I softened my voice and straightened my posture. August Flin was the most eligible bachelor in society. Any girl who wanted to be anyone was after him.

  “It’ll be best to explain while we walk.” He fastened the canteen to his belt and strolled past me. I used the seconds before following him to lick the corners of my mouth, catching as many escaping drops as I could.

  The soft petals of the flowers brushed along my bare calves as we crossed the clearing. Though I couldn’t smell them, I felt their velvet petals kissing my skin.

  “I expect your experience was quite similar to mine,” he said, holding a branch high so I could pass under. “The retreat my betrothed insisted we visit is, in fact, a butcher shop where the Burkers, and a select few, harvest the well-off for their steamworks. They then sell the hardware on the black market to the poor at a discounted bargain. I’ve learned the bodies are used for an assortment of medical experimentations.”

  My hand fluttered to my mouth. “Experiments of what sort?” I couldn’t fathom what use a corpse would be. Springs and needles! I’d almost become one of those bodies! And what use did the simpletons have of Clinkets? It’s not like they had any real use in society. If anything, they were a drain on assets and an eyesore on the street corners. Covered in rags, lice jumping from their scalps, they begged for scraps from passersby. Not a one seemed to want to earn an honest pay.

  “The morphing of man and beast.” He stopped so suddenly I walked into his back. His large hands shot out to steady me, but I took a step away. Giving him the impression I’m easy wouldn’t help gain the affections that win a ring. “It’s too delicate a subject for a lady. However, I know that sewer rat fiancé of yours, as well as mine, are Flushers. They integrate themselves into upper society to lure those of us with mechanical works to the Burkers’ shop.”

  “We must go to the authorities!” I’d give almost anything to see Ollie pay for what he’d done, but I could never afford the blow to my reputation. I’d be laughed at, then shunned for being so stupid.

  His humorless laugh filled the air. “We are hundreds of miles from civilization. We haven’t a horseless carriage, nor any mode of transportation. How do you propose we reach the city without discovery?”

  He may have saved my life, but there was no need for him to treat me with such disrespect.

  “Your tone is—”

  “Bringing in another high class brat, August?” a shrill voice asked from a clump of bushes to our right. I jumped, my heart grinding and clanking from the adrenaline burst.

  “Welcome to Cast Away Cove.” August parted the bushes to reveal a gypsy camp.

  Lean-tos built from dense branches curved around in a crude half-circle. A makeshift fire pit sat in the middle where a woman rotated a hare on a spit. Her clothing was ragged as was everyone I saw. I counted six, all looking like the world had ended. Maybe it had.

  “Well, well, if it isn’t the famous Lana Clinket,” that same piercing voice said from behind me.

  I spun to face a glower on a short blonde girl less than four inches from my nose. I had no idea who this girl was. Nothing about her struck me as significant. In every way, she was less than ordinary. Unremarkable features on a plain face with a large, flat forehead. Eyes spaced too far apart bore into me with distinct loathing. She was so short the gray shirt she wore brushed the ground. It must have been a man’s shirt, worn and full of holes.

  “Sorry,” I ground out, teeth clenched. “I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you before, for you address me as so.” I held my head high and looked down my nose at her. She didn’t speak as if she came from good stock. She had that lilt to her voice that suggested lower class trash. Servants.

  “Mattie!” August brushed her aside and pointed to the fire pit and the toiling woman. “Go help Elizabeth prepare supper.”

  “In the middle of nowhere, and you still think I’m your maid,” she snorted and limped away, kicking the dirt with one worn boot. It was then that I realized she had a wooden leg that appeared to have been crafted from these very trees.

  “Is it true?” The dark orbs of August’s eyes held me, excitement pouring off him like waves on the ocean. “You’re Lana Clinket?”

  “And if I am?” I wrapped my arms around my middle. To be dressed like a dirty harlot with a group of a half a dozen people watching me made my skin crawl. I’d never felt so exposed in my life.

  “It’s nice to know who I deal with, Miss Clinket.” August led me to his lean-to. “I have to check some snare traps. Inside, you should be able to find something a bit more durable and modest. I will return briefly.” He gave me a hard look, gauging if I would run off into the woods like a loon, I supposed.

  I sat in August’s lean-to, riffling through a peculiar assortment of clothing, trying to find something suitable. Fine, well-made garments spilled out of a canvas sack, some with dark set-in stains. No children were here, yet, I held in my hands britches too small for a man. There were a few formal dresses that were even odder. A familiar cream colored silk floated through my fingers.

  The gears in my ear whizzed for no reason. I tapped my right temple a few times. I’d need to get my hands on a looking glass and some tools to fix the malfunction before long.

  “Them dresses not grand enough for you?” Mattie gloated with her hands on her hips in front of the lean-to.

  My eyes darted to her wooden stump of a leg. I was used to seeing cripples and the sick, but they were all rich and came from good breeding. My father dedicated his life to curing disease and ailments for the elite. This girl was not from good social standing and was undeserving of my pity.

  “Does your master know you’ve wandered from your tasks?” I dropped my eyes back to the gown in my hands, my brain spinning from realization.

  “You ain’t so high and mighty no more. You’re stuck here in this hell likes the rest of us.” Her grating voice dug itself into my skull.

  “This is mine.” I stood, holding the dress against my filthy night clothes. “I wore this on the coach here with Ollie.” I marched to her, the dress held tight in my shaking fist. “How does this come to be here?” I had to calm myself before I started screaming like a wench. I blew air through my nose like my father would when he’d dealt with inferior people.

  Her blue eyes twinkled with malice. “You ain’t got a clue, do you?” She giggled, relishing my unease. “Them’s the clothes of the dead from that fancy resort. August sneaks back there every few days to scavenge for goods. We wear what we pick till they rot off our backs. Nones of us likes wearing corpse garbs.”

  I shook my head, not wanting to hear another word from her vile mouth.

  “Oh, yes. After they finish with them bodies, they toss their clothes into a big rubbish pile on the grounds.” Mattie pulled at the hem. I didn’t want her running her filthy hands on my dress. I tugged it out of her grasp. “If you look right, you’ll see blood stains. Some got stains from the bowels releasing when they died.”

  “Why are you so cruel?” Tears pooled in my eyes, blurring my vision. It couldn’t be true. This was too heinous.

  Mattie pinched my bare arm and I jerked away with a short scream. “You and your lot of stuck-up rich folk is responsible for this. August thought I was somes sort of charity case when the diabetes ate at my leg. Thanks to him and your father, I might as well be dead. No man will takes me now.” She made a guttural hacking sound in the back of her throat, then spat in my face. I froze, shaking with rage and disgust, not knowing what to do. The warm phlegm dribbled over my left eye.My hand whipped through the air and collided with her cheek. My fingers sizzled with pain.

  Mattie cradled her reddening face. “You’lls regret that,” she said and limped away. Once, my maid laced my corset too tight. I had her flogged in the stables. I wished I could have Mattie whi
pped. Maybe August would put her in her place when he came back.

  I used my silk dress to wipe the slime from my face. A heave made it past my empty stomach and I belched a burning gas.

  “Are you alright, Lana dear?” Elizabeth shuffled next to me. “She’s a complicated one.”

  Elizabeth was older than my seventeen years by at least fifteen from what her crow’s feet showed. Her long, brown hair must have been shiny once, but now was a dull mousy color. Out of habit, I brushed the loose auburn strands behind my ears and felt a few twigs. What a mess I must be.

  “What did they take from you and August?” Out of everyone here, she and August were the only ones without visible deformities.

  When she smiled, it stretched to her ears. “Nothing I can’t live without.” Elizabeth pointed to August’s lean-to and the pile of clothes. “Best find something, dear. They’re not all pretty, but they’re clean.”

  When I neared the opening, I turned back.. “You wouldn’t happen to have a looking glass and small tools? I have some loose gears.”

  “There’s a leather pouch next to his pallet. That should do…” Her eyes darted away, but the smile never left her face. “Well, now, August. That didn’t take you long.”

  August strolled into camp with three fat rabbits swinging from the tie on his belt.

  “Is all well?” He looked to Mattie and his lips pulled down before shifting to me. “Could you not find something more suitable?” He tossed the rabbits to the ground.

  I bit my bottom lip and trudged into the lean-to, embarrassed to have disappointed him. I grabbed the first pair of trousers I thought would fit my slim waist, praying some poor man didn’t die wearing them. My hands quivered at the thought of wearing dead peoples’ clothing. I had been forced into a revolting reality. I changed into dark green trousers and a tan men’s blouse that buttoned just below my throat.