Secrets in the Mist

by Morgan L. Busse

  “Papa,” she whispered as she slowly dozed off on the balcony.

  Bells rang across the mountaintop a couple mornings later. Cass finished off the last potato, then leaned against the side of a multistory brick house with her legs stretched toward the alley, an old apple tree hiding her appearance. It was about time she headed back down toward the border, but it was hard to leave the upper parts of Belhold. No worrying about scavengers or gangs, just beautiful homes and clean air.

  It was like a dream from which she didn’t want to wake.

  Up above, between white, fluffy clouds, was a handful of floating islands. A combination of nature and technology allowed these small landmasses to exist in the sky, the ultimate living location for the elite of the elite, and, when the islands passed overhead, a reminder to those below who really lived on top. Elegant three-story homes were built along the surface with trees and brush surrounding the edge, giving the homes some privacy.

  A wooden dock stuck out from one of the islands, and moments later, a brass-colored zipper took off, its wings buzzing as the pilot and his passengers left the sky mass to come down to the mountains below.

  Cass watched the zipper fly overhead, amazed at the contraption. It wasn’t the first flying vehicle she had seen; airships traversed the skies all the time. But never had she been so far up the mountain that she could see zippers this close by. Or the rocky undersides of the sky islands.

  She crossed her arms behind her head as she lay on the balcony and watched the zipper disappear, then focused on a sky island floating nearby. After running and living on adrenaline for the last couple of months, a sense of idleness hung over her. It felt good here, to lie in the sun, with something in her belly, and simply gaze at the sky. She lifted her hand and pinched the island between her thumb and forefinger. Once again she wondered what it would be like to live here—or there—and have nice things and food every day.

  After a couple more minutes, she finally sighed and sat up. Those kinds of thoughts were a slow poison to the soul. Her energy and thoughts were best directed toward finding her next meal. Even now, the streets nearby were growing louder as people congregated along the main thoroughfares, greeting one another with loud, boisterous voices. Better to move on before someone saw her.

  She silently made her way along the alley, then slipped over a wall into a tiny garden. Nothing was in bloom yet in the small enclosure. Just wooden-tiered boxes filled with black dirt and tiny little sprouts. A pity. What she wouldn’t give for a sweet carrot or a plump, ripe tomato. The thought of the red fruit made her mouth begin to water. The last time she had a tomato was one she stole from a hydroponics farm almost a year ago.

  The bells rang again.

  Cass looked up, confused. Were the bells some kind for call for factory workers? But that didn’t make sense. This place was much too nice for such workers. Did the upper echelon work as well? She made her way over to the wall, scrambled across, and found herself on a narrow cobblestone street.

  She jogged a couple of blocks, her now-empty knapsack gently thumping against her back. A patch of colorful light caught her eye.

  Cass paused and looked across the narrow valley of brick and whitewashed buildings, winding streets, and shadow-filled alleys to the hill on the other side.

  There, near the top of a lower mountain peak, nestled between rows and rows of slender two-story homes, stood a towering white building with multiple spires and steeples. And below those steeples and spires, along a wall of pristine white, were rows of windows made of beautiful colored glass.

  Cass gasped. The sunlight reflected off the colored panes, twinkling across the mountaintop. Who in the world lived in that house?

  The bells rang one more time.

  They were coming from that beautiful building.

  Mesmerized, Cass made her way through the back streets, down into the valley, and back up the mountainside. She couldn’t help herself. The windows were the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. Like gems glimmering amongst grey stones.

  As she drew near the massive building, the converging streets opened up into a plaza, surrounded by flowering bushes, with wide steps that led to a portico and a set of ornate double doors. Dozens of people congregated outside the building, dressed in rich silks and taffeta, sparkling jewels, and top hats.

  The air was filled with pleasant smells and the soft twitter of conversation and laughter. Who were these people, and why were they here?

  At the last ringing of the bell—yes, it was coming from the large building—the colorful crowd began to move toward the double doors.

  Cass watched from her spot in the shadows twenty feet away, careful to make sure her hat was pulled down across her forehead.

  Minutes later, after most had entered the building, a zipper came down and lightly landed in the square like a dragonfly coming to rest on a twig. In fact, the zipper and dragonfly looked alike.

  The wings came to a stop, and seconds later the side doors opened, and four young people emerged while the pilot stayed in the cockpit, goggles still over his eyes. Two men, two women, not much older than herself.

  As she gazed at the two young women—one with sleek blond hair, the other with brown ringlets—she was consciously aware of her own short stature, the sprinkling of freckles across her face, and her wild mess of reddish-gold curls.

  The shorter young man said something, and the two women giggled as they made their way around the zipper and toward the doors. The taller young man spoke to the pilot, took a step forward, then stopped. He turned and stared at Cass.

  Such an intense look.

  She twisted back around the corner and braced against the wall. Her face flushed.

  She’d seen similar looks before, condescension from the elite toward others. But that wasn’t quite it either. More like scrutiny, as if he was searching for something within her face. Was he memorizing her features so he could call over the bluecoats? Maybe he was just dismayed at the sight of a street rat.

  A second later, those thoughts were banished. Who cared what that echelon thought? She doubted they could survive one night along the border or a Purge. Even the tall, dark-haired young man.

  Cass had half a mind to run, but the young man hadn’t yet given out any warning. Curious, she glanced around the corner once more.

  As the four people trickled into the building, two men came to stand beside the double doors, shut them once the young people were inside, and took their places at the top of the staircase like sentries.

  Cass scanned the area, then looked again at the colorful windows, and all other thoughts vanished as the transparent color filled her with awe once again. Rows and rows of beautiful colored glass, each one encased in curved stone archways. If there was this much beauty on the outside, what beauty did the building hold inside?

  She wanted to see. Just one peek.

  Cass backtracked to a narrow street, then went left, staying as close to the shadows as she could as she made her way to another street that ran parallel to the beautiful structure. Another turn, and she could see the glass again.

  So shiny and beautiful.

  For as long as she could remember, she loved anything sparkly and pretty. Like a crow, her mother used to say.

  Cautiously Cass approached the white wall and studied the stone siding. There were plenty of handholds to be had with all of the jutting rims and moldings. She looked up. Yes, she could reach the farthest window.

  One glance in. That’s all she wanted. Then she would leave.

  Cass found a hold and started making her way up the side of the building as the morning sun beat down on her back. The window was ten feet above the cobblestone street and an easy climb. At the window, she paused and looked in. The glass was yellow, flowing into orange, then red, like a sunrise. The yellow tinted the inside, but she could still see.

  It wasn’t a party. In fact, it looked like no one was having any fun. Everyone was sitting on wooden benches set up in long rows that faced a platf
orm near the window where she was. On the platform stood a man in a long black robe, his hands held high.

  What in the Mist was going on in there? The crowd looked somber. Where was all the beauty? The art? Something like this glass window?

  A woman in the nearest row looked up in Cass’s direction. Seconds later, more and more heads turned her direction. Finally, the robed man did as well.

  Blazes! She should have killed that first curious longing. Now she was going to pay.

  As she began to scramble back down, a man shouted near the front of the building. Cass glanced to her left as her fingers clung to the window rim. The two men from the front doors were running her way, one shaking his fist in the air.

  “Get down from there! This is no place for your kind!”

  “Move it!” hollered the other man. “Or I’ll call the bluecoats!”

  Cass scrambled down the rest of the way just as the men reached her. As she turned to sprint off, one of the men grabbed her by the collar of her coat and jerked her back. “You filthy little rat, what are you doing here?”

  Her fingers flew up and gripped her collar in order to free her throat.

  “You don’t belong here!”

  She jerked back and out of his grasp. Coughing, she kicked out and caught the man in the shin.

  He grunted in pain and reached for his leg. “You little . . .”

  “I did nothing wrong!” Embarrassment and anger laced her words.

  “Silence, stray.” The other man tried to grab her, but she twisted around and ran.

  “Well, I never,” she heard a female voice say as she fled.

  Down one street she ran, then another, running farther and farther down the mountain until her lungs and legs burned and a sharp pain ran up her side. Cass clutched her waist and glanced back.

  Nothing. She’d lost them. That, or they’d given up.

  She slipped into an alleyway, leaned against the wall, and sucked in lungfuls of air. Her shirt fluttered around her collarbone, and she could feel a welt forming around her neck. Great, just great. At least she still had her locket. She wrapped her fingers around the jewelry.

  A few seconds later, Cass stepped away from the wall. A line of sweat had formed along her hairline. She wiped her forehead, then pushed her curls away from her face and back up into her hat. Using the side streets, she began her trek back toward the border, on the other side of Belhold. Overhead, a zipper whizzed by while a cargo dirigible lumbered across the sky.

  Only once did she look back. She could no longer see the building with the colorful glass. Perhaps that was for the best. The men were right. This was not her place. She was from the slums, an undesirable who lived along the border.

  Still, that didn’t stop the questions inside her mind. What was that place?

  It was strange. She shook her head as she crossed a street and dodged a cargocart puffing spouts of steam as it made its way up the mountains. If she was drawn toward something sparkly again, she would need stronger willpower. Temptations like that were going to kill her someday.

  Two streets later, she started her way west where Belhold’s factories were. Maybe she could find an odd job running errands for a couple of days. Last time she visited the factory district, she made enough money to last a month before a gang nearly caught her. If nothing else, it would give her a fresh start.

  The next day found her tiring easily. Two days had passed since she ate that last potato, and she hadn’t found anything since then. Water, yes. Food, no. She had been chased away from the shops along a canal, and now hunger was gnawing her raw.

  She looked at the smog covering the western side of the mountain where Belhold melded into the Steelhold district. Here airships docked and dropped off their cargo while resupplying for their next voyage. If she was lucky, there might be a ship today, one where she might sneak aboard and find food.

  She stood, wavered for a moment with her hand along the wall, then straightened up. The docks were a couple blocks away, a crisscross of steel beams and wooden walkways above belching factories. The mix of fog and smog would help hide her along the walkways, and once inside the ship, she would be free to find what she needed. Then she would look for a job.

  As she neared the docks, her heart began to plummet. No ships. Not a single one. Which meant she would have to find another way—

  Wait.

  Breaking through the low clouds, a ship began to descend toward the docks. Three winglike contraptions fluttered on either side of the main hold. A long needlelike projection proceeded from the prow with a banner waving in the wind: blue trimmed in gold. Portholes lined the lower decks.

  The ship descended more until the balloon appeared out of the clouds and smoke, attached to the deck of the ship with solid iron rings and rope as thick as her arms. The end of the balloon narrowed into what looked like the tail of a fish.

  With an ease belying its bulkiness and size, the airship slowly sank next to one of the docks, then stopped midair as its wings stilled. Ropes were thrown to the walkway as a plank was extended from the side. Sailors scurried over the ship, securing her in place.

  Cass watched it all in awe. What she wouldn’t give to live in the clouds on one of those ships, flying across the plague-infested Mist, visiting other cities, freedom in the skies. But ships like those didn’t take street rats like her, especially not girls. Not to do honest work, anyway.

  Cass stayed in the shadows. She would need to be patient. Night was the best time to climb aboard a ship, when the security was lowest. Then she would make her move.

  Daedalus was written in gold along the side.

  Cass gazed at the airship again, lit up from the surrounding factories against a darkening night sky. It was a beauty, more so than any other she had ever seen. And it wasn’t a cargo ship, it was a diving ship. She could see the cranes and pulleys used to bring items of value from the ruins of cities within the Mist back up to the ship.

  Who knew what she would find within the hold? Treasure? Gold? After all, diving ships were known for their riches. Perhaps she would nick more than food.

  As the night expanded, the sailors onboard the ship slowly disappeared, leaving a solitary guard near the plank that led onto the ship. She waited a while longer as only the brightest stars came out above, their light tainted by the smog-filled air.

  It seemed just one man guarded the ship at night. And judging from the shape of the Daedalus, the interior was probably set up like most other ships she had visited the last three years.

  Just a foot of space between the ship and the dock. She could shimmy up the side, go over the rail, and make her way in. The cargo would be in the hold below. She would have to watch for anyone around the hatch or along the deck, but she was small enough to avoid the notice of most. She made sure her hair was tucked up into her cap as her muscles tightened in readiness.

  She counted to herself and jumped the distance and clung to the side of the ship with her fingertips and toes. Then, with practiced ease, she climbed upward, using every hole she could find in the woodwork. The only sound around her was the huff of the factories below and the occasional whine of a machine.

  When her hands reached up to the deck, she carefully peered over. The sailor was still sitting in his chair, his long legs sprawled out in front of him, his head bowed as if in sleep.

  She scanned the rest of the area. Still just the one sailor so far.

  Silently she slipped onto the deck and spotted the cargo hatch halfway across. She couldn’t see inside, but that wasn’t going to stop her. She would find her way into the deepest, darkest hold to find food.

  Keeping an eye on the man and her ears open for any footsteps, Cass scurried to the hatch, gripped the side, then twisted around and lowered herself down. In the dim light, she could make out crates and barrels inside, including one beneath her hanging feet.

  She landed on the crate, then jumped off.

  For a moment she felt lightheaded as she stood in the hold. She massaged
the side of her temple where a headache was coming on from hunger. Well, soon she would have something to eat.

  She reached out and felt her way along crates as she headed toward the back of the ship. Food would most likely be stored near a staircase, making it easy to bring up to the galley.

  After a moment, she could see pale light from a staircase. There. She continued to make her way carefully forward until she reached the first barrel.

  That one scent sent her stomach gurgling and her mouth watering.

  Apples.

  A whole barrel of them.

  Before she could stop herself, she grabbed the top one and bit into it. Sweet and crunchy. It only took thirty seconds to consume the entire apple. She tossed the core, grabbed three more, put them into her knapsack, and then moved on, already feeling a little better.

  The farther she went, the easier it became to see with the trickling of light coming down from the deck above. A couple crates of biscuits, barrels of salted pork, another barrel of potatoes, and two crates of vegetables. Cass filled half her knapsack with biscuits, five potatoes, and a bunch of carrots before spotting a crate of canned milk in the back.

  Her heart sped up. An old sliver of guilt about stealing rose before she forced it away. She had to survive. Besides, they wouldn’t miss the little bit she was skimming from the supplies. She grabbed two cans of milk, stuffed them into her already bulging knapsack, and started making her way toward the stairs. She couldn’t go back up through the hatch; she didn’t have the strength to pull herself up. The stairs were her only choice. Up the stairs, across the deck, then onto the walkway.

  The first stair creaked.

  Cass froze, her fingers wrapped around the cord of her knapsack. Then, slowly, she let out a breath and carefully took another step. Halfway up, another stair creaked.

  Gales! Did someone hear?

  Heart thumping wildly in her chest, her senses spread out for any sign of life, Cass hurried the rest of the way. The doorway to the main deck lay ten feet away, past two sets of doors. Almost there—