“We’ll be back before you know it.” I unwrapped the leather case around the telescope, slipped the lenses into the pouch, and put it in my bag.
“Alexander, leave your bag here.” The baron pointed at me, and I knew what he meant: leave the Heart behind. I knew I should. I knew there was a chance we could get captured even if we were careful. But maybe the Amethyst Heart would signal to the others. For a moment, I didn’t move. I didn’t want to leave it. I glanced at Genevieve and then at the baron who held my gaze. Then I pulled the strap off my shoulder, dropped the bag in the airskiff, and Genevieve and I ran off into the night.
Stars tried to twinkle through the haze, but even the Milk Way, which should have arced over us like a river glittering in the heavens, was obscured by the blanket over the sky. The lights from the Vimana illuminated the scar in the ground, burning as bright as day. Beyond this glow, darkness, deeper than any other blackness I’d seen—or felt—surrounded their camp. It allowed us to get very close without being seen. We snuck up to the far side of the small canyon. The edge lay in shadow and peering into this place, we could see the Knights of the Golden Circle.
Hendrix walked from one side to the other looking at odd markings and pictographs on the trees and canyon walls. “Find the double J.”
The soldiers fanned out and scoured the entire place. After several minutes two soldiers called out and waved their hands. “General, over here!”
Hendrix strode over and ran his hand along the deep groves of a back-to-back double J. It looked like an anchor with two swooping curls and a single vertical line. Hendrix raised an odd contraption, two disks with holes in them connected by a series of gears. He stood in front of the carving, sighting through the holes as he turned the two disks.
“The heart is over on that tree, and the lightning bolt is on the rock. Check it.”
Soldiers moved to the two locations the General pointed out. One at the tree raised his hand, and then the other one at the rock, pointed and lifted his arm. Hendrix walked over to each spot and used the contraption to sight again. He adjusted the disks each time as if dialing in on some location. He had the soldiers pull ropes from the three locations until they all crisscrossed over a center point.
Hendrix pointed at the spot marked by the ropes, and said, “Begin digging here!”
I looked at Genevieve wondering what they were looking for, but she shrugged and we continued watching as his soldiers dug a hole, several feet deep. Their shovels thumped against something metal. Hendrix ran over, shoving the soldiers out of his way. He jumped into the hole, his mechanical arm switched from the hand to the rifle and he fired several shots. Then he bent over and stood up a minute later with a gold bar glimmering in the flood lights.
The soldiers cheered, and the rest of the Inner Circle walked over. Hendrix climbed out and handed the gold to Antiocus. “I present the last of the Confederate States of America’s Treasury. Hidden by one of the Knights of the Golden Circle, a Bushwacker from the Confederate Army in Missouri. There’s another cache of gold bars just like it in Danville, Virginia. When I said money was no problem, I meant it!”
The soldiers kept digging and pulling metal chests out of the hole. They opened each one to reveal stacks upon stacks of gold bars and coins.
Genevieve turned to me and put her hand on my shoulder. She motioned for us to retreat, and we slipped away from the edge and back into the shadows.”
We moved slowly until we were too far away to heard, and then I said, “There’s something familiar about all of this. We need to tell your father.”
“Let’s go,” she said and took off running with me close on her heels. When we got back, he lay quietly in the airskiff. We jumped in and Genevieve sat next to her father, putting her hand to his forehead, “Gold,” she said.
“Lots of gold,” I added. “Chests full of gold bars and coins. Said it was the Confederate treasury.”
“We knew they had caches all over the south.” The baron shook his head, “This means they’ll be able to double the size of their army for the final battle.”
“I remember!” I pushed the hair off my forehead. “Danville. When the Confederacy was ending, Jefferson Davis sent the entire treasury out west so the Union wouldn’t get the money. He hoped to rebuild. But in Danville, much of it was stolen, and never recovered. My father’s office mate at Princeton was obsessed with the Civil War.”
The baron nodded. “The Knights of the Golden Circle probably stole the money so they could resurrect the Confederacy at a later date.”
Genevieve said as she bundled her father, “Hendrix talked about resurrecting Emperor Burr’s America.”
“I heard him say that, too, but America never had an Emperor.” I sat behind the controls of the airskiff and we lifted silently into the sky.
“Head east,” the baron said as he struggled to keep his eyes open, “we need to make contact with the Knights Templar.”
CHAPTER 46
THE MASONS
We flew the rest of the night, and in the morning, passed over the biggest river I’d seen since India, and later over the tops of green-forested mountains, which were barely mountains compared to the Himalayas. It was late the following day when we flew into the nation’s capital, Washington D.C.
I’d never been to the capital. I’d seen the crowded streets of New York and Boston, but Washington D.C. perched on the banks of the Potomac River looked spacious, with wide streets dotted with impressive stone buildings that gleamed white against the hazy, still-orange sky.
There hadn’t been a blue canopy above us since the volcano exploded, and the ominous burning sky gave me the creeps. I knew a final battle loomed on the horizon. In fact, it soared toward us in a metal castle. With the world on fire, we appeared to be stepping onto a stage, one set for the end game. My only question was Would we end the Golden Circle once and for all or fail to stop their diabolical plans?
Looking over at the baron, I was worried. He didn’t look good, and needed a doctor as soon as possible. Hopefully, here in Washington D. C. we could get him one. Genevieve sat beside him, as she’d been doing since we left Hendrix.
“Where do I go?” I asked looking down at the city.
“A temple north of the White House, Scottish...” the baron mumbled.
“Just like Athens,” I said. “A Templar base lay north of the Acropolis.”
I spotted the White House, the gleaming white building in the center of the city. Before it, the towering Washington Monument remained unfinished, the top lying beneath scaffolding. I turned north and used the roads to guide me.
“What am I looking for?” I asked.
I couldn’t hear the baron, but Genevieve turned to me and said, “Look for a compass and square.” She looked perplexed as her brow scrunched up, but then she lit up. “Masons. Look for a Masonic Lodge.”
Looking ahead, I saw a building marked with a compass and square in the brickwork. “Get ready for landing,” I said, looking for the perfect spot. But there wasn’t one. The street was crowded with people and carriages, and too many trees lined the road. “Maybe a crash landing.”
Genevieve snapped a hard look at me, but then held onto her father. As we descended lower, people’s faces turned skyward and horses reared and bolted. Apparently, no one had tried landing an airskiff on the streets of the capital before.
“LOOK OUT BELOW!” I bellowed as I clipped a wingsail on an oak tree. The struts crumpled like toothpicks and we spun completely around. I vented the hydrogen and we dropped right in front of the lodge. Two horses pulling a carriage neighed and reared, bolting around us, causing the carriage to tilt onto two wheels. The passengers inside yelped and the driver cursed as the horses galloped down the street.
Grand Master Sinclair ran out of the lodge and stopped at the top of the steps as several soldiers rushed past him, surrounding us with rifles raised. I lifted my hands in surrender, while Genevieve helped her father up, and called out in a commanding voice, “Baron Kensi
ngton needs assistance.” She pointed to two soldiers. “Help me get him inside the lodge.”
They turned to Sinclair who nodded as he leaned on his cane. Then the two soldiers stepped over to the airship and helped the baron out. Rodin landed on Genevieve’s shoulder as she moved alongside her father. I grabbed my bag, slung it across my shoulders, and climbed out.
“Take him to my Quarters,” Sinclair said to the soldiers as they swept past us.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“We got a message from the Sparrowhawk, and we’ve been expecting you. Or at least hoping you’d arrive.” Sinclair held out his hand, and I shook it. “Welcome to Washington D.C. though I have to say, we expected the Sparrowhawk.”
“We were separated back in China.” I was about to ask if he’d heard anymore from them, but I remembered the Vimana, and asked, “The Golden Circle is right behind us. They may be here by morning.”
“My spies have located them in Danville, Virginia.” Sinclair said.
“More treasure.” I paused and looked back at the White House. “They’re getting the rest of the Confederate Treasury.”
“Come, let’s get you inside. The Golden Circle most likely has spies watching our every move.”
I nodded and followed him into the lodge as soldiers of the Templar Order grabbed the airskiff and dragged it out of the street.
As the door closed, Sinclair turned to me, “You certainly know how to make an entrance.” He patted my back and led me from the foyer into a spacious meeting hall with a long table running down the center of the room. Each side was lined with chairs while paintings and symbols of the Masons decorated the walls. A man with dark hair, chiseled jaw, and a long bushy mustache stood about halfway down the table. He stood under the symbol of an eye in a pyramid, and had the same pin on his lapel. As he extended his hand to me, I saw his watch had the same symbol, and a thirty-three below it.
“Mister Armitage, I’ve heard a great deal about you.”
“Thanks, but who are you?”
“My name is James Revere. I’m a Freemason and in charge of this Lodge.”
“Revere, as in the Midnight Ride?”
“Yes, my ancestor was one of the several brave souls who famously warned everyone that the Redcoats were coming.”
“Fascinating.” I paused, “Can your members be trusted?”
“Of course.” He looked a little annoyed by my question.
“I thought I could trust the Knights Templar, but since we discovered one of them has been a traitor for years, I’m a bit more cautious now.”
Shock flashed across Sinclair’s face. “You discovered the mole! Who?”
“Lord Marbury,” Venom spewed as I said his name.
“Marbury!” Sinclair grabbed his chest as if he was having a heart attack. “I can’t believe it!”
“He’s with them now and on his way here. He’s been working with them since they captured him.”
“But that was years ago!” Sinclair leaned on his cane. He forced each breath out. “What is their plan then?”
I paused. I looked at both men, and wasn’t certain if I should tell them. I didn’t know if I could trust them, but I wouldn’t be able to stop the Knights of the Golden Circle if I didn’t tell them. A sweet but stern voice from behind me said, “Tell them, Alexander. We do not have much time.”
Genevieve came and stood beside me. Sinclair nodded at her, and Mr. Revere stared at her, but mostly at the dragon on her shoulder.
“They’re coming in a Vimana, protected by a Dragonship. They’ve got hundreds of armors and they plan to take over Washington D.C. and resurrect Emperor Burr’s grand vision of America.”
Sinclair shook his head and sank down into a chair. “But America’s never had an Emperor.”
“No, but there was a man who tried.” Revere stroked his mustache. “Aaron Burr. After the duel when he shot and killed Alexander Hamilton, his political career was over. He would never be considered for the presidency. He fled south, declared himself Emperor of America, and tried to establish a dynasty there. Obviously that didn’t pan out too well for him.”
“Gentlemen, the biggest danger is that the Iron Horsemen are powered by the Hearts of the Horsemen, and the Golden Circle has enough metal to roll over any army we can gather.”
“Oh, don’t count us out yet, m’boy,” Sinclair said in his Scottish drawl. “I brought the Black Knight, and the other Iron Armors with me when I crossed the Atlantic.”
“Really?” Genevieve and I said in union.
“More than that, the Tinkerer came too, and he’s been working on something new. I think you two will be pleased.”
I smiled, turned to Genevieve, and placed my arm around her shoulders. “Maybe we have a chance, after all.”
A familiar voice caused me to spin around toward the door. “There’s more, Alexander. I finished translating all the texts, and I think we have a way defeat them.”
My father walked into the room as if we’d just seen each other over breakfast. He pushed his glasses back up onto the bridge of his nose and looked at me with a wide smile on his face. I stood, too stunned to move. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me close. I paused, but then gripped him tight.
After a few awkward moments, he pushed me back, holding me at arm’s length, looking me up and down. “It’s good to see you, son.” He took his glasses off and wiped his eyes. “I think you’ve grown. I’ve been—”
“I’ve thought a lot about you, too. But we’ll have to save reunions for later.”
Genevieve stepped up and embraced my father, and Rodin rubbed his head through my father’s hair. “It is so good to see you,” she said softly. “It’s nice to be reunited.”
Sinclair stood, leaning on his cane. “Indeed. We’ve all been very worried.”
My father pulled away from Genevieve. “Come, let’s go see the Tinkerer, and I’ll tell you both what I’ve learned.”
CHAPTER 47
THE TINKERER AND HIM
My father, Genevieve, Rodin, and I climbed into a carriage and were whisked north to a sprawling house on the outskirts of the city. We didn’t go inside but walked around back to a large workshop. I heard a hammer pounding and grinding on metal as we approached. The smell of oil and iron filled the air. The large doors on the side of the shed lay open, and framed within, was a large bellied man wearing half a suit and an apron on top. When he turned to us, I saw goggles with various lenses on the end of articulated brass arms. They enlarged his pupils, which looked like shiny marbles.
His face lit up, even if it was hard to see under his bushy black mustache, still curled and waxed at the ends. Thick stubble covered his face. The ring of hair around his head, as well as the top of his bald head, was covered in metal shavings, wood dust, and smudged grease. He looked like he hadn’t left his shop in a week or more.
He exited the shed, his gait pulled to one side by the brace on his right knee. I ran over and hugged him.
“Tinkerer! I have missed you.”
He squeezed me in a bear hug, lifting me off the ground, and in a thick Scottish drawl said, “Alexander! It is so good to see you! I’ve missed you, too.”
He turned to Genevieve and bear hugged her so that only a squeaky “Hello Tinkerer,” wheezed out of her.
He set her back down and bowed slightly. “Genevieve, I mean milady, it’s so good to know you’re safe. This one,” he said pointing to me, “promised he’d find you. And he did!”
She smiled and leaned in close to Tinkerer. “Yes, but I actually had to rescue him.”
The Tinkerer burst out laughing. “That sounds like our Alexander.”
I laughed, too. A warmth swept over me, being around familiar faces, people I’d come to call friends, but hadn’t seen in months. However, as much as I wanted to rejoice and hear everyone’s stories, I knew we didn’t have time. Not with the Vimana and Dragonship heading our way. “So Tinkerer, is the Black Knight here?”
His smil
e grew even bigger. “Oh, come my friend.” He motioned us into the shed. The center of the Tinkerer’s workshop was packed with tools and chunks of metal, but the walls were still covered in the scythes, hoes, plows, and other tools that showed its original purpose.
“I knew we weren’t done in Africa. Knew it, I did. So I went right to work, put my brain to the problem, and came up with some true goodies.”
The Tinkerer walked to the back of this shed and whipped off a tarp. The blackened iron armor underneath sent a jolt through me. The Black Knight looked brand new, and I instantly spotted the improvements. More armor plating around the midsection. A reinforced shield. Two cannon lay behind the shield, and more weapons had been attached to the arms. The huge sword was still slung across the back. I felt like I was being reunited with an old friend.
I ran my hand along the machine. “He’s...” The words choked up in my heart. “I... Black Knight... we’re back.”
The Tinkerer clapped his hands. “I’m so glad you like it. I also made several changes inside. No longer a prototype, it’s a proper armor now.” He turned to Genevieve, “I fixed the Bronze Knight, too, milady. I may have even made a few feminine touches on the inside. No reason you can’t have a little comfort in the middle of battle.” He whipped the tarp off the Bronze Knight which gleamed in the fading light.
She ran over and touched the arm of her armor. The large, bronze shield was emblazed with her family’s crest. Her fingers wound through the intricate design, and she wiped a tear from her eye. “Thank you, Tinkerer. On behalf of my father, I thank you as well.”
“I’ve been working on a new one, too I just have the body finished. I still need to get it ready, but the Iron Templar, and Iron Zulu are here, too.”
“Wait, who’s going to pilot the Iron Zulu?” I looked at the Tinkerer and then at my father. “It would be wrong for anyone but Owethu to use it.”
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