Rebel Mechanics

by Shanna Swendson

Colin once again played conductor, helping the ladies onto the bus with a tip of his bowler hat. Once we were all on board, the engine moved more sedately than it had on that fateful trip my first day in the city, perhaps because of its greater load and perhaps because they didn’t want to attract trouble.

  While we journeyed farther downtown, Colin lectured us on the plan, shouting to make himself heard over the chugging of the engine. “Give the soldiers no reason to feel threatened by you, no excuse to fire on you. Only the girls and children are to approach the soldiers. We don’t want any bloodshed today, and they won’t either. Is that understood?” As soon as everyone had acknowledged him, Colin grinned broadly and led us in a rousing chorus of “Yankee Doodle.”

  The engine stopped on a lower block of the Bowery, and Alec sounded the steam whistle. Children playing on the sidewalks stopped their games, and adults conversing or haggling turned to stare. Others gradually emerged from the tenement buildings and alleys to gawk at the great machine. I’d expected them to be awestruck, as I had been on my first encounter with it, but they looked at the engine, the buses, and us with suspicion, if not outright hostility. While some of the smaller children cowered behind their mothers’ skirts, the older ones moved closer to the engine, and without the boyish enthusiasm Rollo would have shown. To them, we seemed to be unwelcome invaders.

  “Don’t look now, but I believe we’re surrounded,” Colin muttered.

  I knew then that none of us had planned for the real trouble we’d face in this endeavor.

  IN WHICH WE FACE YOUNG CRIMINALS AND TRAITORS

  “They know why we’re here, don’t they?” I asked Lizzie.

  “I told a few people, and I thought they’d spread the word,” she replied without taking her eyes off the crowd surrounding us. “They’re here, so they must know, right?”

  “Whether they want us to be here is another story,” Colin said.

  Alec tapped on the front window, and Colin opened it. “I suppose we should do this,” Alec said, sounding less sure of himself now. He’d talked bravely about facing down the British troops, but the slum children were something different entirely.

  I had pictured proud, sad-eyed people dressed in meticulously maintained rags who would weep with gratitude for our generosity. These people’s rags were filthy and unkempt. Their eyes were neither sad nor proud. A few looked sullen, others blank. Many of the adults—and some of the children—appeared to be intoxicated, even at that hour on a Sunday morning. They probably didn’t know or care about the struggles between the Mechanics and the British because they’d come out the same, either way. They were no more likely to use machinery than magic.

  Colin straightened his hat, took a deep breath, and stood in the doorway. “All children are invited to join us on a magnificent excursion, at no cost to you!” he shouted. “Take a ride on our steam-driven omnibus for a picnic on the Battery, where you’ll see amazing machines in action!”

  Somebody threw a rock at the engine, narrowly missing the driver but hitting the machine with an echoing clang. “Hey!” Alec shouted, then he pulled a lever, sending a burst of steam billowing into the air. That drove the troublemakers back.

  A few children stepped up, and some of the parents gave their children a hard shove toward the buses, but most still hung back. Other parents grabbed their children and held them close or pushed them into doorways. “We’ll return them,” Colin blurted, sounding affronted. A few more children edged forward, but we still didn’t have enough to fill both buses. “We have sweets!” Colin shouted in desperation, and a mob of children materialized as if from thin air to rush, shouting, toward us.

  Colin instinctively jumped away from the door. “We appear to be under attack,” he said wryly. Putting on his conductor persona, he said with a welcoming grin, “Right this way, ladies and gentlemen, one at a time.” But the children, who had likely never ridden any conveyance with a conductor, nearly trampled him in their eagerness to find the sweets.

  When we had everyone on board, there were so many children that the smaller ones had to sit in the bigger ones’ laps, and there were even a couple of older boys riding on the engine. Finally, with one last great blast of the whistle, we were off. We’d barely gone three blocks before the children were out of their seats, running up and down the aisle. The bus threatened to tip over when a particularly interesting sight on one side brought all of them over to see it.

  Colin rushed up the aisle to push children back into their seats. “Stay down!” he shouted. A few of the children appeared properly cowed, but the rest ignored him entirely. It took him, Lizzie, and me several minutes to get everyone down again because no sooner had we seated one child than another got up.

  To distract the children, Colin attempted to start a sing-along, but the children didn’t know any of his songs. “You’re a great bunch of Philistines, you are,” he grumbled good-naturedly. “Well, it’s high time you got some culture.” He proceeded to teach them his version of “Yankee Doodle,” and the children must have liked mocking the magisters because eventually they joined in the chorus.

  We reached the Battery, and the stone walls of the fort came into view. It had been built to protect the harbor, but now it served more as a reminder of British might on colonial shores. As if to mitigate that impression, the Battery next to the fort was open as a public park when it wasn’t being used for military ceremonies.

  There was no sign of the military outside the gates of the fort, but other Mechanics were already there in force. The calliope, which was on wheels and had its own engine, sat in the park playing merrily. Nearby, a steam engine smaller than Bessie was hitched to a wagon loaded with hay. Some of the devices from the exposition were there, including miniature trains and airships.

  When the bus stopped, it took all of Colin’s effort to make the children get off one at a time. Once they were off, he took a red handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped his face. “Bringing this lot here might count as an act of war,” he said with a rueful grin. “The soldiers’ll barricade themselves in the fort if they know what’s good for ’em.”

  Alec jumped down from the engine and pushed his goggles back on his forehead. “Do you feel better about what we’re doing here now?” he asked me.

  “I was worried about the soldiers,” I said, eyeing the children at play. “Now I have to agree with Colin. The soldiers may be the least of our worries.”

  Alec put a protective arm around me. “Don’t worry, I’ll keep you safe from the hooligans.”

  “Verity, this isn’t a romantic outing for two,” Lizzie called, and I stepped guiltily away from Alec before going to help carry out the baskets for the picnic. We soon had to call in reinforcements because it took several guards to keep children from stealing food while we readied the picnic. As skinny as these children were, I suspected some of them hadn’t eaten in days.

  Rather than fight off the children until after they’d done some of the activities, we decided to serve lunch right away, handing out one apple and one sandwich to each child. They pressed toward us en masse, and it took all the Mechanics to guide the unruly boys into something resembling a line.

  I was too busy serving food to pay much attention to the children, but one boy gave me pause. “I’ve already given you a sandwich,” I told him.

  “You ain’t never,” he said.

  “I recognize you,” I insisted. His hair was redder than Colin’s, so he stood out.

  “That was my twin brother.”

  “Wearing the same clothes?”

  “Ma makes us dress alike.”

  “With the same stains?”

  “We get into the same trouble.”

  “With crumbs on your shirt?”

  “Oh, fudge!” he said, kicking at the ground before he stepped out of the line.

  I couldn’t help but laugh, and from the looks of him, I knew he could use a good meal or three. “Once everyone’s eaten, you can get seconds if there’s anything left,” I assured him. Whe
n everyone had been served, I brought him the largest sandwich left in the basket and another apple, and from his reaction you’d have thought I’d handed him the crown jewels. “I thought you were just sayin’ that,” he said. “I never thought you’d really give me more.”

  “See, good things come when you have good manners,” I said, but he was too busy devouring the sandwich to notice. He shoved the apple into his pocket and ran off to join the others.

  Once the children’s bellies were full, the Mechanics had better luck interesting them in the machines. Lizzie and I caught our breath from serving lunch while we watched the children play. “When should we distribute the s-w-e-e-t-s?” I asked, hoping no children in earshot were literate enough to understand the spelling.

  “Not until the end of the day. That’s the only leverage we’ve got over these hellions,” she said, brushing a stray strand of hair off her forehead.

  I spent the next hour or so rushing from one commotion to another, as did every other member of our group. When I saw that the miniature model train wasn’t running, it turned out that the red-haired “twin” had taken the engine apart to see how it worked while the Mechanic in charge of it was breaking up a fight between two other boys. I reached down and grabbed his arm. “If you’re so interested in engines, you may as well be put to work.” I jerked him to his feet. “Come on.” I then dragged him over to the hayride. “Alec!” I shouted, waving my free hand at him. When he jumped off the engine and came over, I said, “You should apprentice this one.”

  Alec glared at the boy. “What’s your name?”

  “Mick.”

  “You like engines?”

  “Well enough.”

  “Are you in school?”

  Mick laughed. “What do you think?”

  “Do you have a job?”

  The boy shrugged. “Sometimes.”

  “Let’s see what you can do.” He shoved the boy toward the engine pulling the hayride, calling out, “Put this one to work on the tender.” Then he turned back to me with a shy smile. I wondered if he was remembering our kiss from the night before the way I was. “Are you enjoying yourself, Verity?”

  “I’m not sure ‘enjoying’ is the right word. But it appears you were right. The British are staying in the fort and leaving us alone.”

  “Of course I was right.” He raised an eyebrow. “I can’t believe you doubted me.”

  “I won’t do it again,” I promised.

  “It’s time you had some fun, too,” he said, and before I realized what was happening, he’d caught me around the waist and boosted me up into the hay wagon, then he jumped on board and sat next to me with his arm around my shoulders. I leaned against him and laughed when one of the boys threw a handful of hay at him. Then I yelped when I got a faceful of hay, and it was Alec’s turn to laugh. To get him back for laughing, I pushed him into the hay, but he pulled me with him, so I fell face-to-face on top of him. Suddenly, we weren’t laughing anymore. I wasn’t sure who started the kiss, but I pulled back hastily when the boys’ catcalls reminded me where I was.

  With the steam engine so close by, the shouts of the children, and the sound of all the other machines and the calliope music, I didn’t notice the drumbeats at first. Eventually, I became aware of a steady rhythm slowly growing louder and louder. I turned to see that the gates of the fort had opened, and rank upon rank of red-coated soldiers were coming out, heading straight into the park, their weapons resting against their shoulders.

  “On second thought, I might not be so sure of your infallibility,” I said, tugging Alec’s sleeve.

  Alec turned to see the soldiers and went pale beneath the layer of soot and dust on his face. He jumped off the hay wagon and reached up to help me down. “Go,” he said, giving me a slight shove. “Make sure everyone else knows.”

  I ran to where Lizzie was dancing in a circle with a group of girls. Behind me, I heard the hayride’s engine stop as Alec shouted to the other men to help him get Bessie stoked up and ready to go. “Lizzie!” I called out as I ran, but she’d already noticed the soldiers.

  “This doesn’t mean anything,” she said when I was close enough to speak. “We should continue what we’re doing. We have a right to be here.”

  The soldiers didn’t seem to see it the same way. They marched inexorably forward, even though there were children directly ahead of them. Surely they wouldn’t trample the children, I thought, and then sighed in relief when the commander called the soldiers to a halt just before they reached them. The children, oblivious to any potential danger, cheered their approach. They thought the bright red coats, shiny brass buttons, and glistening rifle barrels were all great fun.

  The soldiers did an about-face and marched in the opposite direction, then turned smartly and marched back and forth. The children cheered their every move, running alongside them. Some formed into their own ranks and mimicked the soldiers’ maneuvers. I glanced back to Alec and saw that he and the others had completed preparations to transport the children home. Now they leaned against Bessie and chatted as though they didn’t have a care in the world.

  A man on a white horse came out of the fort and approached the drilling soldiers. He wore a uniform resplendent with gold braid and medals, and when he drew near enough, I recognized the general. I immediately turned away from him. “What is it, Verity?” Lizzie asked.

  “It’s General Montgomery, the one I overheard.”

  “We can’t let him recognize you. Go back to Alec.” I started to run, but she called, “No! Don’t act like you’re fleeing.” I had to force myself to walk at a normal pace as I headed toward Alec and the machines.

  I must have looked terrified, for Alec pulled me close in a comforting embrace. “There’s no trouble,” he assured me. “They obviously don’t want violence.”

  “And I don’t want the general to recognize me.”

  He moved to block me from the general’s view. “No, we’d lose you as a spy.”

  “I might also lose my job,” I snapped.

  “Oh.” He hesitated a moment, then said, “Well, that goes without saying, of course.” I shouldn’t have been surprised that the cause was his highest priority, but it still stung that my well-being was an afterthought.

  From the shadow of the steam engine, we watched the soldiers drill for their appreciative audience of children. “The little traitors!” Alec remarked. “We bring them here and feed them, and they cheer for the British.”

  “I don’t think they care about your politics,” I said.

  “They should. We’re their only chance to be free.”

  “How much difference would freedom make for them, though?”

  He looked at me in astonishment. “It’s the first step. Without the magisters, things will be fairer for everyone.”

  So far, the soldiers seemed to be avoiding trouble. They were merely putting on a show. After a few more drills, they closed ranks and faced the park exit. The general raised his saber over his head and shouted an order before riding forward. The soldiers marched out of the park, heading uptown on Broadway.

  Alec looked down at me with a grin. “So it appears I’m still infallible. They’re more interested in showing their might throughout the city than in confronting us.” When I didn’t respond, he hugged me tighter. “Let’s go look at those airship models. I want to see how the electric battery is working.”

  I let him lead me over to where a group of boys watched the miniature airships race, but my mind wasn’t easy. I’d heard the way the general and the governor had talked, and I was fairly certain we hadn’t yet seen the full show of force.

  The boys watching the airship races suddenly began shouting and waving, and I saw a cluster of oblong shapes heading through the air toward us from the fort on Governor’s Island, across the harbor. “Airships!” the boys cried out, and they stood gaping as the shapes grew larger. It wasn’t long before the first ship had tethered at the West Battery fort near us. The boys cheered and ran to get a closer vie
w, apparently thinking this was just another mechanical demonstration.

  Soon, all the children had noticed the airships and were running to see them. I couldn’t blame them for running. The ships were magnificent. It was incredible to imagine that something so large could fly.

  The gangplank on the lead ship lowered, and red-coated soldiers marched down it in tight formation. In an odd burst of premonition, I knew what would happen next, but I didn’t have the chance to cry out a warning.

  IN WHICH THINGS DO NOT GO ACCORDING TO PLAN

  The soldiers saw a ragged, unruly horde rushing at them and reacted instinctively, before they could tell that it was only a mass of children wanting to see the amazing magical airships. Two soldiers in the front rank fired into the crowd, and soon the cries of joy turned into screams of terror. The children turned and ran away, only to collide with those coming from behind who didn’t yet know what had happened. In all the confusion, the soldiers still didn’t realize these were merely children rather than a mob of assailants, and they continued firing.

  I sagged against Alec in horror, whispering, “No!”

  He pushed me upright, grabbed me by the shoulders, looked me in the eye, and said, “Verity! Get the children on the bus, now!”

  I pulled myself together and hurried to collect the children who hadn’t rushed toward the airships. Alec ran to Bessie while Lizzie and the other girls confronted the soldiers.

  “Hold your fire!” I heard an officer shouting above the tumult.

  “These are children! How dare you fire on children! They just wanted to see the airships!” Lizzie screeched at the top of her lungs.

  There were other shouts and cries, and I glanced over my shoulder to see that some of the boys were throwing rocks and clumps of dirt at the soldiers. That made it nearly impossible for the officer to calm his troops, who must have felt like they truly were under attack. I lunged for the hand of a child running toward the commotion. When the child tried to pull away from me, I said, “Let’s go to the bus. There’s candy on the bus.” I raised my voice and shouted, “There’s candy on the bus! Come with me if you want some!”