Steel Kisses

by Laura Strickland

  He might do something good instead—spend his time and money to help others, like this child. Did no one in the city speak for the likes of her?

  Part of his answer to that came when Liam returned with Clara’s friend, Mrs. Collwys, in tow. A tiny woman, Mrs. Collwys—a Negress—was married to a lawyer who often fought for the rights of the disadvantaged in the city.

  She came in softly, carrying a garment in her hands, and Reynold, who’d only met her once or twice, backed off from his charge.

  “Let me see.” Her dark eyes filled with compassion. She smoothed Honey’s hair back from her face and performed a gentle inspection before glancing at Liam, who’d followed her in.

  “Shocking. You were right to bring me. I’ll report this to Theodore. Seems that place needs to be investigated.” She turned a gaze swimming with tears on Reynold. “Did you see anything else there?”

  “Just—the place didn’t look right. Dirty and shabby. There was no—no…” He sought to express his impression. “No kindness.”

  “A scathing indictment, when it comes to children,” Mrs. Collwys declared. “Not enough kindness most places in this city, if you ask me. Though people are trying.”

  Liam said in his acerbic, Irish way, “Easier to be cruel, isn’t it? And cheaper. Not but there are some good people, like your husband. And Jamie Kilter. Topaz Gideon, too, for that matter.”

  Reynold’s ears perked up. He’d seen Mrs. Gideon at the tavern. Who could forget?

  Mrs. Collwys brushed a tear off her cheek and shook out the garment over her arm, which proved to be a frilly pink dress. “I was afraid this might be too small, but it will fit her all right.” She looked at Reynold. “Would you like to stay and help me with her?”

  “Very much, ma’am. I tried, but I can’t do anything with her hair.”

  “Do we know her name?”

  “I forgot to ask. I’ve been calling her Honey.”

  “A fine name. We’ll prepare her together, then, to go home.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  “I need to borrow some money.” Reynold dropped the words in Vern’s ear as he stood waiting for him to deal with the lock on the cab yard down on Ellicott Street. Vern, a magician with any lock, applied himself to this one with a wire. He paused to give Reynold a sour look in the starlight.

  “Ain’t you bringing in enough, doing this? Holy hell, boy!”

  “Yeah, but it’s not coming fast enough. You’ve been taking in money hand over fist, Vern. I’m just asking you to advance me some.”

  “Why should I take that kind of risk?”

  “No risk, at least no more than we take every time we do this. I’ll pay you back out of future jobs.”

  “And if you decide to walk away from this or—worse—get caught?”

  “I won’t.”

  Vern grunted. His long, lugubrious face twisted in a scowl. “Anyway, not all the money you’ve seen me raking in belongs to me. There are others take a cut.”

  “Others?”

  “I’ve been paying off some coppers. Why do you think we even got near this place?”

  Reynold thought about it. He had no head for business—even crooked business—and had to take Vern’s word for it.

  “Maybe,” he murmured, “I could borrow the money from a loan shark.”

  “You don’t want to go there, boy.”

  “But…”

  “Believe me, you do not. Wind up with two broken legs, or in the river. Stick to what you know how to do—which is drive cabs fast. You have the delivery address for this one in your head?”

  “Yeah, but…”

  “Then for God’s sake shut up.”

  Vern worked on the gate for several minutes; the lock clicked. He glared at Reynold.

  “What you say you need the money for? Women?”

  “Not strictly speaking.”

  “You addicted to it, Rey?”

  “No. I just—if you could lend me an extra twenty, I’d be in your debt.”

  “You sure as hell would. Here.” Vern scrabbled in his pocket. “Call it an advance, like you said. Just don’t go getting arrested.”

  “I won’t.”

  ****

  “May I tell you something?”

  Lily spoke very softly, the words meant for Reynold alone. She tipped them into his ear, and he turned his head on the pillow so he could see her eyes.

  They lay cuddled together as close as they could get in her big bed. Lily had already pleasured him twice and hoped to again before the chime sounded. But first she had to—she sought for the word—confide.

  “If you like.”

  He had his arm around her, and his fingers clasped her hand. The heat in Lily’s boiler flared, and all her inner workings hummed. She felt…

  Happy.

  She had hoped and hoped for him to return. Each time she was called to collect a client, she told herself it would be him. And then, this night, it was.

  “Yes, I would like to tell you. One of the other girls here, Chastity, has made plans to escape. She has asked me to go with her.”

  “What?” He moved in the bed, the better to stare at her, and disturbed the fragile quiet. “Another girl like you, do you mean?”

  “An automaton, yes,” Lily agreed carefully. “Not living.”

  “I don’t think you can say that. You’re alive.”

  “I am not. I have no heart that beats, not like you.” She captured his hand and placed the palm on her naked breast. “Feel.”

  “I know that. But…”

  “I can feel your heart beating when you are inside me. It is the most—most wonderful of things.”

  “Lily.” He kissed her, and his fingers moved over her skin in the softest caress. She brushed his cheek and stored away the feeling of rough stubble with her other memories.

  “Is an escape possible?” he whispered when the kiss ended.

  “I do not know. No one has ever tried.”

  “But you want to escape?”

  “Yes, oh, yes. Chastity dared to suggest it first. She is very strong. I admire her.”

  “And she’s your friend?”

  “Yes.”

  He seemed to think about it. “Aren’t all the doors guarded?”

  “Yes.”

  “They don’t want people—people who don’t pay—getting in. But it works for keeping you in, too.”

  “Yes.”

  “And whoever’s in charge—”

  “Dr. Landry. Dr. Landry is always in charge. She owns us. She created us. She built us. She holds all power.”

  “How is that?”

  This part she did not like to tell. It made her too different from him, too unhuman. But she did not want to keep secrets from Rey.

  “She can shut us off.”

  “Eh?”

  “I have a switch somewhere on my body.”

  “Where?”

  “I am not certain. That information was not included in my intelligence, and I have not been able to learn. I have seen models shut off. Dr. Landry reached inside the clothing, in back. It cannot be anywhere in the open where a client could trip it by accident.”

  “I guess not.”

  “That precludes a lot. Clients touch us everywhere. Nothing is denied.”

  He swallowed and stiffened. “I don’t like that. No wonder you want to leave.”

  “Yes.”

  “If she shuts you off, can you be started up again?”

  “Oh, yes, but I do not know how.”

  “Let me look for the switch.”

  Trusting him completely, she did not hesitate.

  Very gently he turned her on her side. His hands moved over her back carefully, felt around her waist and buttocks, even reached between them.

  “Not there,” she whispered. “Clients…”

  “I don’t want to know. Ah—what’s this?”

  His fingers brushed her left side, just below the armpit, stroked ever so delicately. “I think there’s a…flap. The switch mi
ght be inside.”

  “Look and see.”

  “Are you sure? I mean, it seems like…like intruding.”

  “I have to know.”

  She lay perfectly still while his fingers moved. An instant later he gulped. “There’s a button. Must be it. I can…can see your frame.”

  She turned swiftly back into his arms. “I am sorry, Rey. Sorry I am not human. That I am so different from you.”

  “It doesn’t matter, Lily.”

  She stared into his eyes, searching for lies. “But when we are together it must be easy to forget what I am. When you see my—my frame—it is not possible to forget.”

  “Hush. Don’t get upset.” He drew her against his shoulder, stroked her hair and cheek, held her tightly once more. “Listen, Lily, I’m not very good with words—never have been. I’m not very smart, either. Sasha never stops telling me how stupid I am.”

  “Who is Sasha?” A former lover?

  “Fellow I work with—not very nice. But he doesn’t matter now. What I’m trying to say is that none of that means anything now. When I’m with you—well, it changes everything. And you are who you are.”

  “An automaton.”

  “Not just that. You’ve become a person—at least to me.”

  “But you saw what’s inside me. You saw exactly what I am.”

  He caught her face between his hands and gazed into her eyes. “Doesn’t matter, Lily. I think I’m falling in love with you.”

  “Love? What is love?”

  “Jesus, sweetheart, that’s a big question. This Dr. Landry didn’t give you that knowledge either?”

  “No.”

  “It’s an emotion. Like happiness. Or hate.”

  “Hate I do understand. I hate some of the clients, like the one who bit me. I…I think I hate Dr. Landry.”

  “Love is the opposite. It means you want to be with someone all the time; you care for her and think about her. Need her.”

  Lily shut her eyes for an instant, the better to tuck away this important information, saving it like something precious, and felt it change her.

  A leap in understanding.

  When she opened her eyes again, Reynold seemed to swim before her vision—his handsome face looking concerned, the thick thatch of brown hair, lips half parted.

  As precious to her as what he’d just imparted.

  “And, Rey, you think you feel this emotion toward me?”

  “Yes, Lily. Yes. I’ve fallen for you hard.”

  “Fallen?”

  “Tumbled, unable to stop myself.”

  “Would you wish to stop yourself?”

  “Well, I don’t know. It’s hard to get in and see you. You wouldn’t believe the things I’ve been doing to earn the money.”

  “I see.”

  “And there’s the fact that you say this Dr. Landry owns you. It’s not as if we can ever be together.”

  “Together?”

  “Out in the world, living as man and wife.”

  “You told me you do not have a wife.”

  “Not yet. When I do, I’d like her to be you.”

  Surprise momentarily froze all Lily’s thought processes. “A human cannot marry an automaton.”

  “He can.”

  “I am too other.”

  “Have you ever heard of the Irish Squad?”

  “No.”

  “It’s a division of the Buffalo police force all made up of automatons very much like you. I’ve seen some, and you can’t tell at a glance they’re not human. And I heard one of them recently married a human woman.”

  “This is so?”

  “It is.”

  “Then I will escape from this place and marry you.”

  A smile crossed his face, lighting his brown eyes and putting pleasing lines in his cheeks. “Just like that, eh?”

  “Meaning?”

  “So easy.”

  “It will not be easy, Rey. But I will risk everything, even being shut off, to be with you.”

  “Maybe I can help. When do you and Chastity plan to leave?”

  “I cannot say. We must finish preparing the things we will need and await a distraction, some way to keep attention away from the exits.”

  “Listen to me. When you get off the tram in the morning, I’ll be watching. Look over by the gate that closes off the alley on the west side of the street. When you’re ready to break out, give me a signal.”

  “What kind of signal?”

  “Reach up and adjust your hat. Only if you have all your things gathered, that is.”

  “But I cannot tell when a distraction may occur.”

  “That’s all right. I’ll wait near the door and watch for you.”

  “Not the front door. It is too visible.”

  “Is there a back door?”

  “Yes. There is an alley at the rear of the Crystal Palace.”

  “You signal me, and I will watch for you there. I may have access to a steamcab and will be able to get you away.”

  “An ally on the outside will be most helpful. I will tell Chastity.”

  “Tell her. And try to act soon. I do not think I will be able to come here and see you again.”

  “I want to tell you, Rey—I love you also.”

  He kissed her and drew her beneath him. “I hope we have time before the chime sounds…”

  “We have time.” She would defy the rule of the chime if she had to, in order to feel him inside her again. She would defy the guards and Dr. Landry, take the risk of being shut off, if it meant she could feel his heart beat through her as he held her close.

  Just as if it beat for both of them.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “A word, Liam, if you can spare the time.”

  The voice came from the shop door and Liam, looking up from the coffin he polished, grimaced. Halfway through a busy morning, and Reynold had been pressed into service in the shop, sanding the new mahogany boards.

  In the corner, Sasha worked fitting trim, and at the bench Pete polished brass with his good hand. An all-men-on-deck kind of morning.

  Now Brendan Fagan—a foremost member of the Buffalo Police force and a good friend of Liam’s—came strolling in, chasing all other thoughts from Reynold’s head.

  A police officer here? Why? Had Fagan come for him?

  He fastened his gaze on Fagan and stopped working. Though the police frequently patrolled this area, they rarely stopped in. This couldn’t be good for him.

  Fagan shook Liam’s hand and swept the room with impossibly bright blue eyes. Reynold’s throat went dry.

  “Been a while, Brendan,” Liam said. “What brings you in?”

  Yeah, what?

  “Hear there’s a new member of the McMahon clan.”

  “There is, yes.” When in the company of other Irishmen, Liam’s brogue thickened. “A wee lass, in fact. We’ve named her Grainne.”

  “Congratulations. Everyone doing well? Clara?”

  “She is—they both are. I’m blessed.” Liam said it as if he meant it.

  “My felicitations to your wife. Please give her my best.”

  “I will.”

  Had the big Irishman stopped in just for that purpose? Perhaps so. Reynold began to relax before Fagan spoke again.

  “Wanted to mention something else while I’m here, Liam. Have you heard about these steamcab thefts?”

  “I have, aye.” Liam leaned on the workbench. “The damnedest thing.”

  “So it is. Six stolen so far.”

  “For what purpose?”

  “We figure they’re being taken somewhere and broken down for parts. Certainly not being resold as is. But there are a lot of valuable components—precious metals, gears—the boilers alone come dear.”

  “Any leads?”

  Reynold stiffened, listening hard.

  “A few.” Did Fagan’s eyes move back to Reynold before returning to Liam’s face? “These criminals can’t move through the city without leaving traces. We’re going about sniff
ing out clues. We’re also speaking to business owners, asking them to keep an eye out. Since you’re a main player in this neighborhood, I thought I’d be dropping a word in your ear.”

  “Aye, though you understand most of my customers are pretty quiet.”

  Now Fagan grinned. “But you and I know sometimes the dead have a lot to say.”

  “Right-ho. I and the boys will be on alert. Aye, lads?”

  “Anything suspicious,” Fagan reiterated, “anything at all, you give us a holler.”

  “I will that,” Liam agreed. “For if they’ll steal steamcabs, what’s to keep them from stealing coffins?”

  ****

  Lily exited the tram among the newly-increased number of her sisters, and paused to look toward the metal gate that fronted the alley across the way. Now that she knew Rey watched for her, she couldn’t help looking for him each morning. Sometimes that glimpse sustained her through the whole of her day—and evening.

  This particular morning, which was already hot as a blast furnace, she caught sight of his hands first, gripping the bars, and then his shadowy form.

  He watched for her.

  She mattered to someone.

  Why she, a mere machine not worthy of the name human, should matter to this man with his big, gentle hands and kind eyes, she did not know. She’d pondered it to the best extent of her limited intelligence and could not come up with a reason.

  He’d said he loved her. He might as well claim to love the tram car from which she’d just descended. But she wanted to believe him.

  She wanted it to be true.

  His fingers clutched the rails, and he leaned forward; she caught a glimpse of his face and the tumbled, brown hair.

  “Move,” ordered one of the automaton guards. Dr. Landry had increased their number to three since they now had more charges. The new one appeared to have no sense of self and reported the slightest infraction back to Dr. Landry.

  Yet Lily paused one precious moment more and, still looking at Rey, quite deliberately straightened her hat.

  He lifted himself against the gate and very nearly climbed up the bars; he saw.

  She went on her way obediently then, afraid to linger longer. On Chastity’s heels she trotted down the street and through the wide front door of the Crystal Palace.

  This day might have begun like all the others. It would end differently—she would end it either in freedom or shut off. One seemed as impossible to contemplate as the other.