Sabine slipped an arm around Cliff, leaning on his shoulder. “Give her a few more years and she’s going to run Kinsley Metals.”
“I know.” Lola was good with machines. She had a knack not only for dismantling them but for fixing them. He probably should have left the broken clothing rack to her in the first place. His British business of buying estates from impoverished nobility then sorting and selling the contents didn’t suit her nearly as well as the Chicago scrap metalworks. He loved both equally. He would never tire of salvaging discarded machines. Finding peculiar devices, valuable art, or interesting books in dusty English attics was his own personal treasure hunt.
Max grabbed another screwdriver from the tool chest and jabbed at the broken machine, watching his big sister and copying her. Ilse chose a wrench and wrapped it around a hopelessly rusted bolt. Cliff and Sabine left them to play, turning to examine the artwork she’d brought in.
“It’s hideous,” she said. “I doubt anyone will want it.”
Cliff cringed. “Yikes. Is that a dog? Or a… fox, maybe?”
“I’m more concerned with why her arm is twisted in an entirely unnatural position and yet she’s smiling. This is why I’m glad you’ve always hired photographers for our family portraits. If we look bad, it’s our own fault.”
Cliff gently touched a section of one portrait where the paint was flaking off. A chunk cracked and fell away, revealing part of another image underneath. “We can have it looked at, just in case it was painted over something more valuable. Otherwise, you’re right, no one will want it. Also the frame is rotting. We may as well remove that and dispose of it now.”
Sabine grabbed a section of the frame and ripped it apart with her bare hands, grinning. “Destruction is fun. It was wise of me to find a husband who makes a living at this. Prevents me going back to piracy. So far.”
“Well, that and the fact that it’s difficult to fit a grand piano on an airship. I can’t imagine you giving up your music lessons.”
“I could take up a more pirate-worthy instrument. The fife, perhaps.”
“Too shrill.” He pried apart one corner of the frame. It broke so easily he wondered if the wood had already been rotten when the frame was made. “You could sing sea shanties.”
“Swift may our dirigible fly,” she sang in a high, clear voice. “O’er valleys low and mountains high.”
Cliff added his baritone into the mix. “Someday when the treasure is mine, I’ll take my love and go.”
He began to launch into the first verse when Sabine seized his arm. “Wait! Don’t move.”
Cliff froze. “What?”
She reached across the painting and plucked something from the underside of the piece of frame Cliff held. “Someone was hiding papers in this awful piece of art.”
Cliff tossed the wood aside and moved close to Sabine as she carefully unfolded the paper. It was yellowed and dry and it crackled as she opened it.
“Hoo-boy,” he breathed. “Is that what I think it is?”
The children dropped their tools, rushing over to view the discovery.
“Definitely a treasure map,” Sabine declared. “And this symbol in the corner matches what’s on the cover of that strange old atlas we found in the library.”
Cliff wrapped an arm around his wife, letting his fingers slide across the slight bump of her belly. “Are you feeling up for some adventure?”
“I’m a pirate. I can handle anything.”
“What do you say to a family holiday?”
She turned to kiss him, then beckoned to the children to join their embrace. “We’ll probably find nothing. But it’s the journey that matters. I’ll never turn down an adventure alongside my own personal treasures. Let’s go.”
Cliff kissed her once more. “Aye, aye, Captain.”
Sea Shanty
Chorus:
Swift may our dirigible fly,
O’er valleys low and mountains high.
Someday, when the treasure is mine,
I’ll take my love and go.
Verses:
The strange, old duke had finally died.
The search for an heir ranged far and wide.
They combed the American countryside,
To a man in Chicago.
The dukedom was awash with debt.
The new duke said, “This is what I get?
I’ll find a way to get out of it yet.
Though how I do not know.”
His neighbor was a pirate lass,
With an airship, swords, and lots of sass.
He turned to her for help. Alas!
He feared she would say no.
She thought for a time, then said, “You see,
I’ll help you fake your death and flee.
But pirates never work for free,
So a debt to me you’ll owe.”
“I seek a treasure beyond compare.
Come help me find it, if you dare.”
The duke looked at the pirate fair
And said, “All right, let’s go.”
So duke and pirate off they flew,
But their treasure hunt may find friendship too.
And even lead to a love that’s true.
If fate declares it so.
Potions and Passions
The Earl on the Train
Book 0.5
https://books2read.com/TheEarlontheTrain
How to Seduce a Spy
Book 1
https://books2read.com/HowtoSeduceaSpy
Mishaps & Mistletoe
A Holiday Novella
Book 1.5
https://books2read.com/MishapsAndMistletoe
Not a Mourning Person
Book 2
https://books2read.com/NotaMourningPerson
Once a Rake, Always a Rogue
Book 3
https://books2read.com/OnceARake
Sass and Steam
Love is in the Airship
Book 0.5
https://books2read.com/LoveisintheAirship
A Shot to the Heart
Book 0.75
https://books2read.com/AShotToTheHeart
Eden's Voice
Book 1
https://books2read.com/edensvoice
What Are You Doing New Year's Eve?
A Holiday Novella
Book 1.5
https://books2read.com/WAYDNYE
Priceless
Book 2
https://books2read.com/b/Priceless-SassAndSteam
Arcane Tales
The Scoundrel's New Con
Book 1
https://amzn.to/33260yh
The Spinster's Swindle
Book 2
Coming Fall 2021
Other Books
Mating Habits
Book 1
https://books2read.com/MatingHabits
Idle Nature
Book 2
https://books2read.com/IdleNature
Available at your favorite online retailer.
www.catsteinbooks.com
About the Author
Award-winning author Catherine Stein believes that everyone deserves love and that Happily Ever After has the power to help, to heal, and to comfort. She writes sassy, sexy romance set during the Victorian and Edwardian eras. Her stories are full of action, adventure, magic, and fantastic technologies.
Catherine lives in Michigan with her husband and three rambunctious kids. She loves steampunk and Oxford commas, and can often be found dressed in Renaissance festival clothing, drinking copious amounts of tea.
Visit Catherine online at
www.catsteinbooks.com
and join her VIP mailing list for a free short story.
Follow her on Twitter @catsteinbooks,
or like her page on Facebook @catsteinbooks.
A Note from the Author
Thank you so much for reading.
If you enjoyed the book and are so inclined, I would love for you to leave a review. Happy readers make
an author’s day!
I love hearing from readers, so feel free to contact me on social media, or email:
[email protected]
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