Several thoughts came and went as Liberty tried to absorb the idea that she might indeed be this kid’s sister. It was hard to decide whether or not this was good news. To know she wasn’t alone filled her with hope, but discovering she might be a daughter of one of the crazed mountain men was troublesome to say the least. Was she doomed to succumb to their madness, to end up killing and eating people?
Realizing she had been silent much too long, she finally asked, “What’s your name?”
The boy met her eyes and studied her for a long time before finally answering, “Justice.”
She nodded. “Well, Justice, it looks as if you need some clothes. You seem to be about the same size as my father. I’ll go get you some of his.” She glanced back at Mender as she walked off. “You should put on some clothes too. This news is hard enough to take in without a bunch of naked men standing around my airship.”
Mender laughed and called out after her, “If I remember correctly, the first time we met you were only in your undies.”
She snorted. “Serves you right for coming aboard uninvited.”
He chuckled. “Did I say I didn’t enjoy the view?”
Chapter Ten
“I have to go back.” Liberty waited for what she felt certain would be an argument but was surprised when none came.
“Okay.” By now Mender was dressed so it was easier to meet his steady stare.
“I can’t explain it. It’s just a feeling, but I can’t go to the Forbidden Lands until I know whether or not Shatter is safe.” Liberty paced and chewed on her thumbnail. She had no idea why she was worrying about a man who in all probability was perfectly capable of taking care of himself. After all, he had been doing so for many years without anyone’s help.
“Let’s go then before it gets dark.” Mender pulled Justice out of the Captain’s chair. He took Liberty’s hat and goggles away from him and handed them to her. “When we get there, I don’t want to land the airships. We’ll go no nearer the ground than twenty feet and then tether our ships together. You can lower me using Airus’s anchor. As soon I’m down, I want you to raise it again so no one can climb aboard while I’m gone.”
She shook her head. “I should be the one to go. You’ve never met Shatter. He wouldn’t accept your help even if you offered.”
Mender tucked a finger under her chin and made her look him in the eyes. “We won’t go back then. It’s too dangerous.”
She squared her shoulders and prepared for a fight, but as she opened her mouth to argue, Justice stepped between them. “I’ll go. Shatter trusts me. He’s always been able to reason with the mountain men in the past. He doesn’t know yet that they’ve all gone completely insane, though.”
Liberty touched his arm. “What about our mother?”
Justice shook his head and avoided all eye contact. “We thought we had the perfect hiding place, so I went off to find something to eat. When I returned, our few possessions were scattered or destroyed and she was missing. I searched for three days until I found her hair and bones. Before I could leave the area some men spotted me. I ran and hid. When I saw your airships land, I took a chance and climbed aboard, hoping you wouldn’t kill me.”
He scratched his forehead. “You look like her, you know.” Sadness briefly settled over his face before he jutted out his jaw and visibly swallowed. “I like Shatter. He’s tried to help Mother and me in the past, as best he could. It’s time I did something for him.”
It was all too much to take in so Liberty focused on helping Shatter. She would think of her mother’s loss later.
The sun had almost completely set when they reached Shatter’s and the airships were in position. Liberty lowered Airus’s anchor and watched Justice climb down to the ground. His expression held a fierce determination but he was also trying hard to conceal his fear.
Mender placed a hand on her shoulder. “He would never have survived this long if he didn’t know how to take care of himself.”
Liberty kept a lookout on the port side and Mender from his perch astarboard. She had just made up her mind to lower herself to the ground to find out where he had got to when Justice came running out of the trading post. Liberty lowered the anchor and waited for him to climb aboard, but looked over the edge of the airship when she heard retching. Watching him throw up and sob made her realize more than ever how young he was.
“They’re coming!”
Liberty looked over to where Mender pointed and spotted a group of men running from the forest and down the hill toward them. She bent over and screamed to Justice, “Grab hold! I’m pulling you up!” She didn’t wait for him to answer but pushed the button to winch the anchor up. She yelled over to Mender, “Go get your ship ready!” then rushed over and increased the speed of the friction rotators. The moment she saw Justice climbing back onboard, she pulled the pressure chain.
“Hold on. This might get a little bumpy. We have down drafts coming in from over the mountain. It’s going to be a fight getting Airus back in the air.” She tried to keep her attention on the gauges and not become distracted by the terrifying sounds of screaming coming from below. They sounded much too close for comfort, and when the first spear crossed the bow, there was no longer any doubt she needed to be quicker about getting them up higher.
She pointed at Justice. “Go to my cabin.” He hesitated, as if about to refuse, so she channeled her father’s most intimidating glare and was surprised when it worked. It turned out to be a good call on her part because just seconds later a spear whizzed past where he had been standing.
Mender ran over to the rope tethering their ships. He appeared to be relieved when he saw she was unharmed. “We’ll go up faster if we aren’t tied together. I’ll meet you at six thousand feet.” He grinned before separating them. “Let the bastards get us up there.”
She couldn’t help but laugh. He really needed to stop hanging around her. His language was getting to be atrocious.
Several more spears shot over the stern before Airus finally climbed out of reach. At six thousand feet, Liberty locked the controls in place and went in to check on Justice. She found him sitting on her bed, staring at Boy. She sat next to him and patted his leg. “Are you okay?”
He wiped at the tears running down his cheeks but was unable to stop them.
“Did you see Shatter?”
Justice shuddered and stared at his feet. “They had already gotten to him. There was nothing I could do.”
Her heart went out to him so she wrapped an arm around his waist. “You’re exhausted.” She patted her bed and stood. “Use my bed and get some sleep.”
He pointed at Boy. “I don’t know if I can with him sitting over there, staring at me.”
Liberty walked over and patted Boy’s head. “You’re in good company. He’ll watch over you and keep you safe.” She headed for the door. “Get some rest and I’ll tell you about him later.”
Chapter Eleven
No one said anything, but all three stood and stared below at what was left of the city. Most of the buildings were little more than rubble, and the ones that had survived the war and time’s decay were overgrown by plant life. Even though Liberty had seen this desolation many times, she still found it a sobering sight. It boggled her mind to think there used to be so many people living in one place.
The most people she had ever seen in one gathering was less than thirty, and that was a rare sight. Distrust kept most from allowing others into their lives. Most only let her in because they needed the things she brought with her from the Forbidden Lands.
“What’s that over there?”
Liberty turned to look where Justice was pointing. “Father called them automobiles. I have no idea what they were used for, though, or why so many are in one place. Not much left of them now, just a few bits and pieces.” She perused the mountains of rubble, ranging off as far as the eye could see. “I wish Boy was here. He could tell us what everything is.”
Mender took his eyes away from the city l
ong enough to look at her. “Where to first?”
“I know a good place to anchor the airships. Father discovered a factory that made jars. There’s enough left in it to last us a lifetime. What do you think the people you trade with will need the most?”
He scratched an eyebrow. “Anything with which they can make more thrashers and tools for tilling.” He chuckled. “Truthfully, I think they make use of anything I’m able to salvage.” For the first time in days, he grinned. “What are we waiting for? I want to see everything.”
His excitement was contagious but Liberty didn’t want anyone getting hurt. “Follow me, but on the ground we stick together. No one goes off by themselves.”
Mender peered over the edge again. “Have you ever seen any people here?”
She shook her head. “No, but that doesn’t mean someone hasn’t discovered this place since the last time I was here. We can’t afford to lose our airships and get stuck here.”
Justice leaned even farther over the side, trying to get a better view, so Liberty grabbed ahold of his waistband and pulled him back until his feet were again on deck. “Why don’t you wait until we’re closer than five hundred feet?”
He grinned. “Good idea.”
Liberty couldn’t help but be charmed by the kid’s infectious grin. She had grown quite fond of her new found brother over the ten days it had taken them to reach the Forbidden Lands. However, she couldn’t but notice that he still jumped at every loud sound and had trouble sleeping for more than twenty minutes at time. She couldn’t imagine growing up afraid every second of every day, so both she and Mender had given him space and time to adjust to his new surroundings, and to them. The funny thing was, he had taken up her habit of sitting and talking to Boy, as if the robot could really hear him. She often found Justice in her cabin, polishing Boy’s metallic eyes and cleaning his glass head.
She turned to Mender. “You should go over and help Robbie. We’re not far from my usual landing spot.”
After the airships were on the ground and anchored, Liberty ran to her cabin to grab her father’s pocket pistol. For good luck she rubbed Boy’s head and then went out to meet up with Mender and Justice, to discuss their plans for the rest of the afternoon.
Mender was lowering the Airus’s ladder by the time she got back on deck. While she waited for him to finish, Liberty glanced up at an ominous black sky as she fingered her father’s pocket watch.
“Why do you keep that broken-down thing? It doesn’t even work.”
Liberty realized Mender had noticed her nervous reaction to the possibility of bad weather. She pulled the watch out and flipped it open. “It belonged to my father. It makes me feel he’s still with me. Besides, I don’t throw things away just because they don’t work the way I want them to. Sometimes just their presence is all I need.” Her thoughts turned to Boy. What if he never worked again? She would never part with him - no matter what.
Liberty closed the watch and slipped it back into her pocket. “What does it matter if the watch works or not? Time is all relative anyway. We’re born and then we die. Who needs to mark what’s in between with hours and seconds?”
He looked up at the sky when Liberty gave it another worried glance. “Do you want to wait until the storm has passed before we go down?”
She shrugged. “No. The ships are secure, and we could all use a good soaking.” Liberty nodded toward Justice. He was at that moment almost over the edge again, trying to get a better view of something that had caught his eye. “Besides, this kid’s going to break his neck if we don’t go now.”
Mender laughed. “I guess you’re right. The truth is, I’m as excited as he is, so let’s go.”
Justice scampered first down the ladder with Mender following and Liberty the last to reach the ground. She noted that the other two were a little more solemn now they were down amongst the rubble. She knew how they felt. The disquieting atmosphere was unsettling. The distant view from the airship had a way of separating you from what had happened all those years ago, during the Great War, but on the ground she felt that all the spirits of the city’s innocent victims still kept guard over the city.
She turned to the now much more sober men. “The first rule is, no one, and I mean no one, goes off by themselves. The second rule is, we leave whatever we’re doing to get back onboard before it gets dark.” Liberty glanced over her shoulder. No matter how many times she came here she could never get over the feeling that someone was watching. She turned back and made certain to make eye contact with each of them. “If you take off and get lost then you can damn well find your own way back. This isn’t the kind of place you pussyfoot around. It will get you killed in a heartbeat.”
Mender elbowed her and nodded toward Justice. “You’re scaring the boy.”
“Good.” She elbowed him back. “You should be scared too.” She pointed at the chaos around them. “Hidden amongst all of this shit is a death trap waiting for you to make the wrong move. It’s been over eight hundred years since anyone has lived here. Don’t become so fascinated with the new and unknown that you forget to watch where you’re stepping. What looks like solid ground might not be.”
Chapter Twelve
“Have you seen Justice?” Liberty set the crate of jars down and looked around the dilapidated warehouse. Most of the ceiling was now missing so she could clearly see that daylight was quickly disappearing. “Damn it to hell. How many times did I say not to wander off alone?” Her anger was all for show, so Mender wouldn’t know that Justice’s disappearance cared her half to death. What if the kid had gone off and gotten hurt? As soon as she found him, she was going to kill him.
Mender lowered his crate of odds and ends onto the ground before pushing his hair out of his eyes. He looked as exhausted and she felt. They had already made several trips, carrying crate after crate to their airships. He glanced around the enormous cavern before repeating the same question. “Where is that damn kid anyway? I swear he was right behind me just a second ago.” He looked around the darkening warehouse once more before releasing a pent-up breath. “If he’s gotten himself lost, I’m going to kill him too.”
She giggled, but sobered up quickly enough when Mender turned and glared at her. “I’m sorry. I giggle when I get nervous.”
He shook his head. “Well, what do we do? You told us we would have to find our own way back if we wandered off and got lost. Do we leave him to fend for himself tonight and come back in the morning?”
Liberty kicked her crate. “Hell, no. When did you ever start listening to anything I said anyway? You know I’m all bluster and hot air.” She waved toward the back of the warehouse. “I’ll start looking for him over there, and you go outside and see if he decided to leave without us.”
Mender clapped a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t go get yourself killed.”
She nodded. “You neither.”
They both headed off but stopped when there was a loud bang, sounding like a pile of glass jars had crashed onto the warehouse floor. Without saying a word, they ran toward it.
Because of his longer legs, Mender soon outpaced Liberty. She picked up her speed when he disappeared around a row of racks. The warehouse was now almost completely dark, not a place she wanted to be in alone. When she rounded the corner and didn’t see either of them, she stopped and listened. It took a moment to hear anything over her labored breathing, but after concentrating, she finally caught the sound of running feet. Damn the man for leaving her behind. She was now going to kill both of them when she saw them again.
Liberty took off in pursuit, hoping to either catch up with Mender or find Justice. She stopped at the end of the racks and again listened. This time she called out, “Mender! Justice! Where the hell are you two?”
“Over here!” The reply echoed around the vast space.
Liberty guessed where the voice had come from and took off running that way. She soon saw Mender up ahead, bending over and shoving crates out of the way. She stopped, though, when s
he saw a movement out of the corner of her eye.
She wheeled around but almost tripped when a man-sized shape slipped back into the shadows just a few feet away. Liberty pulled the pistol from her pocket but kept it hidden in the folds of her skirt as she inched toward where she had last seen the shape.
Mender must have noticed because he stopped. “Justice is under here! I need help getting him out.”
Liberty stared into the darkness for a moment. “I’ll be right there,” she called back, but an uneasy feeling had settled about her. She peered into the darkness again before the knowledge that her brother needed help made her slip the pistol back into her pocket and rush over to join Mender.
“Where’s Justice?”
“Right in the middle of all this mess.” He picked up another crate and threw it to one side. “Watch the glass. It’s everywhere.”
From where Liberty stood, all she could see was a bare arm. It wasn’t moving. That was enough for her to throw caution to the wind and grab the nearest object, throwing it behind her in a frenzy. It was completely dark by the time they finally reached Justice and it was impossible to see how badly hurt he was, as he was in covered in broken glass and blood.
She knelt next to him, licked the tips of two of her fingers and held them in front of his mouth. She could only just feel a whisper of breath, but at least it was there. “He’s breathing.” She looked over at Mender. “What do we do? Will we hurt him more if we try carrying him back to Airus?” Panic made it impossible for her to think clearly so she placed all her faith and hope in Mender’s hands.
He carefully wiped shards of glass away from Justice’s face and neck. “I’ve never dealt with anything like this before. I don’t know.”
A shuffling noise behind made them both turn. A gaunt man appeared from the shadows. Liberty pulled her pistol out and aimed it at him.
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