The Time Mechanic

by Victoria Bastedo

  “That’s for certain,” Stedland muttered into his glass.

  “What was that, Darling?” said his wife.

  “Nothing.”

  The door opened again and Kannikey entered. When Mars saw her he froze. Her dress was white with cream accents. It clung to her slender waist in a long line that led to her fair shoulders. Her hair, which she usually wore pinned, fell in a curling bundle against her back. The smooth skin of her cheeks, her firm chin, and those dark-blue, long-lashed eyes. He managed to unstick the muscles in his face. He felt wooden as he stepped forward, holding up the gift he’d brought her since his mind was vacant of words at the sight of her.

  “Flowers!” she said in surprise.

  “Well, of course, dear,” put in her mother. “Mars wouldn’t be a proper escort if he didn’t bring you flowers!”

  “They don’t match you for beauty,” he said, in total honesty. She lifted startled eyes and gazed into his. He could see the color touch her cheeks.

  “Thank you,” she managed. “Um… I should put these in water…”

  “Here, my love,” interjected her mother. “Let me see to them.”

  “The rose…” said Kannikey quickly as her mother took the bouquet from her. “I’d like to keep it for the evening.”

  Her mother separated out the long-stemmed white rose and handed it to her. Kannikey dropped her face to sniff the thick bloom, but Mars saw a hidden smile on her face. The thought pleased him.

  “Now that’s taken care of,” said her stepfather in an acerbic tone. “I’m wondering, Mars, what you think of the event this evening. I’m a heavy investor in Surebelow. We’re excited at the benefits our elixir will bring to Tonturin.”

  “I’ve been curious as I watched the big booth being built,” Mars replied. “I’ve heard a lot about Surebelow just lately. I’m sure tonight I’ll learn far more about the product.”

  “You’ll regret not getting in on the business opportunity earlier, I’m bound,” said Stedland. “But don’t worry; I think there’ll be a chance to invest during the event tonight.”

  “Thank you for including me in an opportunity you’re excited about, Sir.”

  Mars was having a time keeping civil, but somehow he knew that Kannikey’s stepfather, for all the faults he believed the man had, was innocent in this. The fellow really believed that Surebelow was just what he thought it was: a sound investment in a healthful new product that would return a great deal of profit.

  Mars was relieved when Shenna returned into the room, carrying the bouquet he’d brought arranged nicely in a vase.

  “There now!” she said. “The flowers should keep for days!”

  Mars nodded at her beaming expression.

  “Wonderful news,” said Stedland, his voice sarcastic. “And now, if you ladies are ready, we should get going. I can’t afford to be late.”

  They turned, and there at the door and with excellent timing, stood the butler holding their four wraps. Mars and Stedland walked forward at the same moment and collected two each from the man. The ladies came close and he and the stepfather wrapped the ladies’ shoulders in their evening cloaks to hold off the chill. He put on his own coat as Stedland did his. It felt strange to do this dance with Kannikey and these strangers and to feel the necessity of doing it all correctly. He wondered, as Stedland held up a hand and they all swept past the butler in their finery and headed for the outside door, what in the world he was doing here.

  An hour later he and Kannikey had gotten through the door of the ballroom, been introduced like lords visiting the court, and had been released to mingle amongst an elegant crowd; nibbling tidbits and trying to speak in refinement over the near-shouting company of the elite. He stumbled, felt huge as ladies’ dresses curled and brushed his legs, and wondered where he could go stand until the event was over. Kannikey excused herself and he watched her white frothy dress as she seemed to float here and there; her face bright as she greeted people. Eventually she returned to him.

  “Go get us something cool to drink,” she told him. “From those deep bowls over there, you see?”

  “Yes, Ma’am.”

  He excused himself and fit through the crowds until he reached the long banquet tables. He scooped out two portions of the red liquid into the fluted glasses and crossed the floor back to her.

  “Come along,” she said, raising her voice to be heard. “It’s allowed that young couples can stroll through the garden. The Pinafore Inn has beautiful grounds. Have you ever walked down the lanes?”

  “I never have,” he said, his voice too loud; causing several young ladies to look his way and giggle. They pushed their way outside, exiting the crowded ballroom through tall windows that opened onto a marble terrace.

  “Don’t worry,” she said. “It’ll be a while before they get around to talking about Surebelow. I’ve been to these types of events before.”

  They moved away from the glittering building and the fact that they were the only ones out walking felt good. He began to relax.

  “You seem very comfortable in this environment,” he said.

  “Well it’s not because I was born to it. I’ve had to learn or drown in it.”

  “Because your stepfather demands it of you?” he asked in a stiff voice.

  She sighed and leaned against a balustrade, sipping her drink.

  “He makes demands, it’s true,” she admitted in a slow voice. “But I suppose without his instruction I would never have adapted to this way of life.”

  “Are you saying he’s right to yell at you?”

  “Never!”

  “It sounds like you’re trying to tell me the man is correct.”

  “More like he isn’t as evil as the villains Jeremy has discovered. Stedland may be many things, but he has no plans to torture or poison people!”

  “So that makes him heroic?”

  “It makes him human.”

  Mars took her arm and turned her to face him. He shook his head.

  “Tell me, Kannikey. Explain it to me. Why do you stay where you’re unhappy?”

  She sighed again, looking down at his hand on her arm. It was placed there carefully, not to hurt. A small smile lit the edge of her lips as she stroked his hand. His heart pounded distracting him until she began to speak.

  “My stepfather is a powerful man who thinks he can control the world around him,” she said. “I saw that he was arrogant right off, even when I was only eleven years old. But I couldn’t convince my mother there was anything to be concerned about and they married so quickly. She’d only known him a month. Compared to my father, who’d always been gentle and kind, Stedland seemed to be always shouting, whether he was pleased or angry. I hated the way my mother purred at him, cajoling him until his bellowing dwindled and his anger faded. I decided to push him, in order to show my mother what was lurking under the surface. Besides, I was angry. Stedland is the most strong-willed man I’ve ever met, except perhaps, for Jeremy!”

  “That might be true,” grumbled Mars.

  “So I was difficult. I told him exactly what I thought of him as time passed. I wrote an essay about a grizzly bear in school, which the teacher read aloud to class. Everyone could tell the essay was actually about him, and the news traveled to one of the parents and then got back around to Stedland. That was the scene you saw occur in the vision, by the way. I couldn’t believe that my mother was able to calm him down after even that. I just wanted to go back, return to the simple life we’d had before in the comfortable house my father had left to us. I wanted my old school and my previous friends who were beginning to forget all about me. I didn’t understand the snobbish girls who sneered at me at the elite girl’s school Stedland insisted I attend. I’d be gone for weeks at a time, living in the dormitory, and whenever I returned home it seemed like my mother was ever deeper under Stedland’s spell. Finally I realized that my attitude wasn’t changing my mother at all and I was the only one suffering for it. I gave in and finished school and returned he
re five years ago. I was an adult at twenty-years-old and I hoped I could reason with my mother on her level. I discovered that she, in her way, was the strongest-willed person in the house. With my adult vision I was finally able to see that this was the life she wanted; that she, in a way I could never understand, could handle Stedland better than I imagined possible. My actions only brought out the worst in him. I remember that he bruised my arm once, and I had to wear a long-sleeved dress to hide it.”

  Mars felt a wash of anger, but he held it back so that Kannikey would keep talking.

  “But Mars,” she said, “he could’ve hurt me far worse… he stopped himself. He never goes on a rampage undeserved.”

  “Undeserved!” he couldn’t help but bellow.

  “Hush, yes, I know!” she exclaimed. “I’m not excusing him! I’m only saying that I found that if I didn’t try to offend, he treated me fine. It was hard, but I decided I had to let my mother choose her own fate. Stedland, for better or worse, is truly what she wants. I’ve been there for years since then, mainly because my mother and I have gotten close again differently since I became an adult. Nevertheless I planned on leaving eventually, on making a life for myself and I even dreamed of convincing my mother to let me have the house I grew up in. She still owned it, and kept it cleaned out and aired. I began saving and trying to discover what profession would suit me. And then, six months ago, I discovered something about Stedland that made me very angry. That’s when I began stealing, you see. It changed all of my plans.”

  “And what was that?”

  “I discovered that my father had left me the house. It wasn’t worth much compared to what Stedland has in the bank any day of the week. When I learned from my mother that Stedland had convinced her to sell the house out from under me…” she shook her head with a frown and when on. “He didn’t like that my mother was keeping it- as if she wanted something to fall back on if she left him. But he had no right to take my house from me. So I stole from his various shops and then resold the items. I found it so easy to do! It’s like I was born to sneak around and take things! I promise you I’ve never enjoyed it, if that helps. But I’ve almost gotten it all back. I won’t be able to buy the house I grew up in, I know that— and yet I intend to make him pay me what its worth. When I do I’m going to move and reclaim my life from the moment when my mother sidetracked it. I’ll start over, and if I have to be poor to support myself so be it. That was all I was working for until I met Jeremy, Ffip, and you.”

  He stared into her dark-blue eyes and wondered about the choices she’d made. Was she asking him to excuse her or was she expecting him to accept her as she was? He saw a perfectly shaped tear escape from one of her eyes and make a shiny trail down her cheek. He lifted his fingers and wiped it away.

  “Kannikey,” he said in a low voice. “Your thievery, it could hurt you, don’t you realize?”

  “Hurt my reputation?” she sneered. “But if it stops Stedland from pushing any more escorts I don’t like at me, I think it’s helped!”

  “It hurts your conscience.”

  She blinked and two more tears came out.

  Just then a loud tinkling was heard, announcing that the speeches for the evening’s events were about to begin. She swiped at her cheeks and sniffed.

  “Well, I have to be a thief for a little longer,” she said. “We’ve got a mission to fulfill, remember.”

  “Jeremy’s mission,” he growled.

  She took his hand and tugged.

  “Come along,” she said, leading the way back to the ballroom.

  Ten minutes later the speeches began and there was Stedland, proud as he was the one chosen to make the opening comments and to introduce Surebelow’s creators. Two men entered bowing to the crowd amidst the clapping of many hands. Mars’ face went hard and his hands clenched at his side. He recognized that one of the men was Serrin. The man looked a little pale, and he had a red slash across the side of his face, but that was the only visible mark from his encounter with Jeremy four days ago.

  The change inside Mars began subtly. It happened while Serrin and that other man, his boss as Mars came to think of him, made their speeches. Mars stood silent off to the side of the stage so Serrin couldn’t recognize him and watched them. Rage from down deep rose up to choke him.

  Serrin had poisoned Jeremy. He’d mixed the over-large dose, on purpose. Mars had tamped down his feelings days ago when he’d watched Jeremy clutch his stomach and roll; crying out in pain. He’d been furious at Jeremy for taking his dose and that’d made him forget about the years of friendship between them. But now all of a sudden those buried emotions flared open. He remembered seeing Jeremy’s white face, the clammy sweat, and the way his movements had finally stilled when Mars had thought Jeremy had passed away to join his parents. Mars would’ve been the one to have to go and inform his uncle that his beloved nephew had died without Tov being able to say goodbye to him.

  He glared at the stage. Were these two awful people planning on doing that same thing to others so they could make a lot of money somehow?

  Serrin and his slick cohort worked the elegant crowd and accepted more cheering when the speeches were done. Mars turned to Kannikey and nodded. He’d watch over her while she stole the sample of Surebelow that Serrin had held up to show the crowd. Serrin had worked in secret when he and his thug had questioned Jeremy. That meant the man must have other secrets too. If his secrets involved threatening Tonturin with horrifying poison Mars had to do something to stop him.

  Mars decided this independently from Jeremy. Nevertheless, despite all his usual good sense he intended to accompany Kannikey back home as she delivered her contraband into Jeremy’s hands.

  “Blast it,” he muttered under his breath, tagging along after the girl’s shapely form like a puppy. He hated it when Jeremy was proved right.

  Chapter Thirty (In Which Jeremy Analyzes His Next Move)

  The next morning Jeremy felt disoriented to wake up in the peaceful sunshine of an empty front room as if nothing out of the ordinary was going on in the world. He and Ffip had passed a quiet evening for the most part while they waited last night. In the end, he found, you couldn’t kiss a girl forever and not naturally want to move on to other things. Especially a girl like her, with those eyes and the small dimple ever-present over her smile, and placed there just because he was kissing her. So they’d moved to the front room. Since the settee doubled as the place where Jeremy slept it also wasn’t the perfect place to kiss the girl and control his urges. Eventually they gave it up and snuggled holding hands and speaking about their past lives. They shared a few stories from their childhood, but Jeremy was too comfortable cradled in her arms. She noted his yawns and reminded him that he’d barely arisen from his sick bed. She scolded him on his full day and excused herself with a last kiss.

  He attempted to wait up for Mars but he only had a vague memory now of the man coming in and telling him they’d been successful and Kannikey had managed to steal the bottle of Surebelow after the exhibition. Jeremy had tried to reply through his yawns. Mars shook his head and said never mind, they’d speak in the morning. There was one more thing that happened in the night which caused Jeremy concern.

  He’d been overcome with another vision. He knew this was true but seeing as how he immediately passed out asleep afterward the problem was remembering what he saw in the vision and separating it from his dreams. He sat and pondered where the visions came from and whether it would be possible to get one to play over again in his mind’s eye. Almost immediately, to his shock, his mind obliged. He understood that he had the ability to replay each one of the previous visions he’d seen if he cared to, but now he saw again the vision that’d taken him in the dead of night.

  In the vision he was riding in a carriage down the street towards a large building in the industrial part of Tonturin. Remembering his confusion when he’d tried to find the rooftop with the metal box under the roof tiles he took care to study the exact area this time so he
could find this warehouse again. The carriage stopped and he got out, and glanced over at the other person in the back of the carriage. It was the rich man he’d seen before, that Serrin had called QuRellon. They entered the warehouse through a side entrance, a locked smaller door. In the vision the late afternoon sun shone down through high warehouse windows on each side, forming a puddle of light in the center of the floor below. His eyebrows lifted in wonder at what he saw there.

  It was huge, mechanical, and majestic. Its belly had large compartments on top and underneath. Its wings were open and attached to the structure by wires and pulleys. The head of the beast was big enough to hold a few people, and indeed he could see inside the windows like eyes that there was a seat inside. And over the top of the eagle a balloon larger than any he’d ever seen. He felt sick with worry and captivated with awe at the same time as the vision released him. Ffip’s Steam Eagle was amazing.

  A short while later Jeremy was in the kitchen. He’d heard sounds of Ffip moving around from her room to the bathroom but nothing but a loud clunk from Mars’ room. Kannikey hadn’t arrived yet from her parent’s house after Mars had dropped her home last night, but now he saw through the window that she was just pulling up. She tapped at the front door while he was reaching for a spatula to stir the eggs. He opened his mouth to call entrance but Kannikey entered first. She looked bright after her late evening.

  “Good morning,” he said.

  “Hello,” Kannikey said, cool morning air coming off her.

  He reached for the potato pan.

  “So you’re cooking breakfast for us?” said Kannikey. “I didn’t even know you could cook.”

  “I lived alone for almost two years on a shop assistant’s income. It was cook or die.”

  “That doesn’t mean you can cook well,” she pointed out.

  He stopped and gave her a look. He saw that she was teasing him.

  “Well enough for the likes of you three,” he grinned, “especially Mars.”