Liberty

by Lindsay Buroker

  “Thanks.” Kali couldn’t see a thing from within the bowels of the craft, so she investigated by touch. “The engine is still here. There’s a boulder that smashed the smokestack, but I can hammer that out. I hadn’t installed the fan blades yet, so if I can unbury them, they might still be all right. The deck protected a lot of the interior. Definitely need to move these rocks and broken boards, though. Cedar?”

  “You’re not going to tell me that manual labor is on the courting list, are you?”

  “Actually, I thought I’d ask you to look for a rope. Should be in the back of the cave where I had my workbench. Doubt the bench will have survived, but you can’t crush rope, right? And I can make us a grappling hook in quick order.”

  “A grappling hook? You’re still thinking to infiltrate that airship?”

  “Of course I am. What would have changed in the last hour?” More than ever, she wanted to find Amelia and her flash gold. She ran her hands over the machinery in the compact engine room, touching the spot she had created just for the energy source.

  “Well, you found your airship,” Cedar said. “I thought you might want to spend the night cuddling with it instead.”

  Her hands did slide lovingly over everything, everything that she had been certain she had lost. The smokestack wasn’t the only thing that needed to be hammered into shape, but she didn’t mind hammering. It was better than starting everything over from scratch.

  Kali forced herself to keep the inspection brief. Besides, it would be easier to inspect once daylight returned to the cave. She wriggled out of the hatch and hopped down onto a boulder. As requested, Cedar was poking in the back with the lantern while Tadzi and Kéitlyudee helped. Warmth flowed through her, not just because she had found her airship mostly intact, but also because of their help. Especially Cedar’s. She might tease him about the courting, but she was flattered he wanted to spend time with her and that he was risking himself by staying around for her.

  “I either found the end of a rope or a dead snake,” Tadzi announced, his head dangling down behind a boulder.

  “One would be more helpful than the other.” Cedar clambered over boulders to join him.

  By the time Kali reached them, they had dug out about twenty feet of rope. She had left it in a tidy coil—she kept everything in her workshop tidy—but apparently, it had not stayed that way. She started forward to help, but the sight of a massive boulder smashed down on the boards she had used as her workshop bench made her pause and sigh. She would poke around back here, but she doubted many of her tools would be salvageable and absolutely none of the projects she had been in the middle of would have survived. Smashed cogs, springs, and pipes lay everywhere, all that remained of those projects.

  She swallowed and reminded herself that she had already found more intact here than she had expected. Feeling a little dazed, she left the others and moved to the very back of the cave, toward the secret cubby she had once dug out and booby-trapped. Even though she knew without a doubt that Amelia had blown up a block of flash gold, a delusional part of her wildly hoped that it might not have been the block from the cave. Maybe Amelia had already gotten the block from Cudgel and had believed she wouldn’t need to pinpoint Kali’s stash if she simply blew up the cave.

  Unfortunately, her hope was soon squashed. Kali pushed a boulder off the trap cubby and saw the empty hole. Even in the dim lighting, there was no mistaking the hollowness of the hole.

  “Find something?” Cedar asked.

  “My renewed determination for getting onto that ship and confronting Amelia and whoever might know where the rest of the flash gold is.”

  “Oh? What does that look like exactly?”

  “Like a rope and a grappling hook.”

  He snorted. “We’ve almost got the rope out.”

  “Are you sure it’s a rope?” Tadzi sneezed. “As dusty as it is, I’m not convinced we did not, indeed, find a dead snake.”

  “If the dead snake is fifty feet long, it can work for us,” Kali said.

  “You said you’d make a grappling hook?” Cedar asked.

  She nodded. “Yes, it won’t take long.”

  She returned to the destroyed workstation and started poking around for tools and materials she could use. Only a week earlier, she and Cedar had been trapped in a pit with snakes, and she’d made a grappling hook out of far less than she had here. She could do this. The only questions were whether Amelia would still be on the airship once she did and whether they would be able to climb up to it without being spotted.

  Kali picked up a hammer. One problem at a time.

  • • • • •

  Dark black clouds were gathering along the river, and the air was thick with humidity and mosquitoes. Though Cedar did not look forward to being drenched, heavy rain might convince the airship crew to remain below decks, making an infiltration easier. He and Kali would need all the help they could get since they had few weapons. Despite her offer to build him more, she hadn’t been able to do much with her work area smashed to pieces. He wasn’t even sure her handmade grappling hook would hold their weight. He still had his six-shooter, but he did not have much ammunition for it.

  On their way to the river, they had seen Mounties marching through town in pairs, and it had crossed his mind to accost a couple of them and take their rifles. After all, he had already been labeled a criminal. What more could they do to him than hang him?

  Despite the thought, he hadn’t seriously considered acting upon it. He hated the idea of giving up on someday clearing his name. Besides, if they made it aboard one of the airships, he could tackle whatever guards they encountered up there and grab their weapons to use.

  “Cedar?” came Kali’s whisper from farther down the river as she picked her way toward him, hugging the shadows of the bank as she advanced.

  “Here,” he responded from a niche in the bank between two stumps. He was careful to keep his voice low.

  A quarter mile upriver, the docks of town stretched into the water. A squadron of Mounties stood queued up on one of them, gripping their rifles as they glowered at the airships. The city definitely wasn’t on friendly terms with whoever was up there.

  Aside from the authorities, the streets of Dawson had been empty, most of the hotels and saloons closed up, as if the Sunday ordinance were in effect. Most of the buildings’ lights had been out, as if not to attract attention. It had made Cedar feel vulnerable as he and Kali had sneaked around, since those few people who were out would be conspicuous. All of the Mounties they had passed had been extremely alert, as they alternately watched the streets and alleys and looked toward the looming airships overhead. Cedar was surprised nobody was firing cannons and trying to drive those aircraft off, but if the American airship had disappeared, the nearest major artillery might be way downriver in Fort Selkirk. With only the constables to keep the peace, Dawson was ill-prepared to fight off an aerial attack.

  Kali crept through the shadows and hunkered down beside him. They were almost directly underneath the largest of the airships. The first large spatters of rain plopped down onto the calm surface of the river.

  “Her flying machine is still up there,” Kali said, pressing his spyglass into his hand.

  “Guess they invited her to spend the night.”

  “Or she didn’t want to risk flying her machine with the storm coming in. Either way, it bodes well for us.”

  “What’s the plan? Just find her, kidnap her, and steal her away?” Cedar grimaced, imagining tossing the wily woman over his shoulder and trying to climb down a rope that way.

  “Much as I’m open to bargaining with her and seeing how much this journal means to her, I want the flash gold more than anything. I’d like to sneak aboard and try to overhear some conversations, maybe learn where Cudgel hid it before he died.”

  “What if he didn’t tell anyone?”

  “Then I’ll be irked with his spirit.” Kali frowned toward the dock full of Mounties. “How are we going to climb up
to that ship with all of those armed men watching?”

  “They might look for shelter if the rain starts coming down hard.” Cedar rubbed his jaw, also considering the men. “I do wonder what the airships are demanding of the Mounties or of the town—or if they’ve demanded anything yet.” It was hard to imagine that those gangsters, if that was, indeed, what they were, had friendly intentions toward the townsfolk of Dawson.

  “I don’t much care. If they start shooting at each other, it’ll be easier for us to sneak aboard.”

  “What if the whole town is in danger?”

  “From just three ships?”

  “They’ve got cannons and other armament,” Cedar said. “They could do a lot of damage from up there, and the Mounties wouldn’t have a good way to retaliate.”

  “If this town doesn’t have any cannons, then that’s their fault. It’s not as if money is in short supply. There are forty-three saloons.”

  “I’d guess it’s grown up so quickly that people weren’t thinking of defenses, especially against airships. How often do they wander up into the Dominion of Canada?”

  “Quite often lately, it seems. Someone should have been considering it as a possibility.”

  “Maybe so, but it’s not the fault of the average person who lives here. If these airships attacked the Hän, would you blame them for not having defensive cannons poised around their camp?”

  It was too dark to see Kali scowl at him, but Cedar sensed the gesture. “Don’t be ridiculous,” she said.

  “But you’d want to help them if they were attacked, wouldn’t you?”

  “I’d help if I was in a position to do so,” she said, sounding wary. Yes, she probably knew what he was thinking now. “I don’t know that I feel inclined to help Dawson after they locked you up and set hounds after us.”

  “The entire town didn’t do that. Just Commissioner Steele.”

  “Then Commissioner Steele can be the hero who saves them from whatever this is.” Kali flung her hand toward the sky. “We don’t even know. Nobody has attacked anyone yet.”

  “There was cannon fire this morning.”

  “Cannon fire that we didn’t see. If they scared off the American airship, that doesn’t bother me in the least. Those are the people who came here to collect you, I remind you.”

  “I haven’t forgotten. I just—”

  A shout on the dock interrupted Cedar. A faint answering shout came from the smallest of the three black airships. It had maneuvered to float directly over the squad of Mounties. Two men stood near the railing on the deck. Lanterns burning up there provided enough illumination to see that one of them threw a rope ladder down to the dock. More shouts were exchanged, and Cedar itched to move closer. He couldn’t make out the words over the flow of the river.

  The two parties must have reached an agreement, because a single dark-clad man started down the ladder, and none of the Mounties fired. From the way they shifted uneasily and fingered their weapons, some of them wanted to.

  “Stay here,” Cedar said, even as he wondered why he told Kali things like that. She would stay or not, as she pleased. “I’ll be right back.”

  “Where are you going?” she whispered after him as he started toward the dock.

  “To listen to that meeting.”

  She made an exasperated noise, but did not try to stop him. He just hoped she wouldn’t try to go up to the other ship while the Mounties were talking. He didn’t think she would be that impulsive, when she didn’t have a weapon, but the flash gold clearly meant a lot to her. He was half-tempted to turn around, to go back and relieve her of the rope and hook to ensure she wouldn’t go up. But the man on the ladder was almost down to the dock, and Cedar wanted to hear what he had to say. Kali made some good points, and it wasn’t as if it was his responsibility to protect Dawson, but he also didn’t think he could turn his back if the situation escalated to the point that people here were being hurt or killed.

  As quiet as a cat, he glided along the dark riverbank, staying low and using the terrain for cover. When he reached the first of the docks, he went under them instead of heading up to the street where he would be more easily spotted.

  The murmur of voices grew, and he could soon pick out words. He stopped under the dock next to the one holding all of the Mounties. Many of the men carried lanterns, so he dared not get closer. As it was, he couldn’t help but feel suicidal for sneaking so close to men who likely had orders to shoot him on sight. Fortunately, the heavy clouds kept the night dark and the shadows thick. He could barely make out the black airships against the stormy backdrop now.

  The rain began to fall harder, and he strained to hear. Whoever was speaking now had a quiet voice.

  “We’ll not be cowed by your flying boats,” the man said, raising his voice to speak the words firmly. Was that Commissioner Steele?

  Cedar wasn’t surprised that he would be here, but it made him frown with renewed doubt over the wisdom of eavesdropping. Steele would definitely shoot him on sight.

  “What about the cannons on our flying boats?” another man spoke dryly. “Will they cow you? You’re a long way from serious reinforcements, Commissioner. I’m sure you’ve sent messengers for help by now, but we are here, and we will begin dropping explosives at dawn if our demands aren’t met.”

  “Nobody is giving you any gold,” another man snapped. Cedar did not recognize him, but he had white hair and a thick mustache, and wore a beaver skin hat and a suit rather than a Mountie uniform. “The banks are privately owned. Even if we wanted to acquiesce to your demands, we couldn’t. You’d have to speak to—or in your case, I imagine, threaten—individual bank owners and see what they say, though it would be a huge betrayal if they were to hand over their clients’ funds.”

  “Enough Mouthy Mayor. You get paid by the sentence? I’ll let my boss know about your stupidity.” The hoodlum from the airship turned back to the ladder, adding one last line over his shoulder. “If you’ve got a sturdy building to hide in, you might want to get to hiding.” Fearlessly putting his back to the Mounties and the mayor, the man climbed up the ladder.

  “I could shoot him before he gets to the top,” one of the Mounties muttered.

  For a moment, nobody responded, and Cedar thought the mayor or commissioner might agree to it.

  The mayor sighed and said, “No, I gave my word he’d be safe while he delivered his foul message. Besides, he’s just a minion.”

  The Mounties were stirring, so Cedar backed away from the dock he’d been crouching beneath. He picked his way back down the bank to the edge of town where he had left Kali. A rumble came from the clouds, and the rain picked up, beating the top of Cedar’s head and splashing hard against the surface of the river. A gust of wind raced down the valley, causing something out over the water to flutter. Cedar’s step faltered. That wasn’t a rope dangling down from above, was it?

  Hardly caring about stealth, he sprinted the rest of the way back to the nook where he and Kali had hidden. She was gone.

  Part 6

  The wind blew the rain sideways, and fat droplets splashed down on the deck of the airship and stung Kali’s cheeks. She hunkered with her back against the railing, the grappling hook affixed behind her. Hardly anyone was on the deck, but the one person Kali cared about was.

  Amelia, wrapped in clothing that covered most of her face as well as her body, paced in front of her flying machine, clearly waiting for someone. Kali had been watching that flying machine from below, making sure it didn’t take off while Cedar dawdled upstream. When she’d spotted Amelia walking across the deck toward it, a rush of fear had washed through her, fear that Amelia would escape minutes before Kali reached her. She’d known then that she couldn’t wait for Cedar.

  The rumble of thunder and the gusts of wind had kept anyone from hearing her grappling hook as it clanged off the hull twice before she’d managed to catch the railing with it. Climbing up the wet rope as the wind had picked up had not been easy, and she had been certai
n guards would be waiting for her at the top, but the darkness and the weather had kept anyone from noticing her. So far. Even the rain couldn’t dim the protected flames of the lanterns burning at intervals around the ship, and she wasn’t sure how she could approach Amelia without being seen. Nor did she know what she planned to do even if she could sneak up on the witch woman. Club her on the back of the head? Kali pulled out her wrench and looked bleakly at it.

  Amelia and the flying machine were out in open space on the deck, a well-lit open space. Kali did not see any sign of the flash gold, but it might already be loaded, perhaps tucked under the pilot’s seat. She drummed her fingers. She had to get Amelia out of the way and check.

  Even though most of the crew was hiding from the rain, there were still four men that she could see from her spot. Currently, they were at the opposite end of the ship, standing at the bow and looking toward the same meeting that had caught Cedar’s interest. But if Kali didn’t manage to knock out Amelia with her first blow, the men were certain to hear the sounds of a confrontation. And Kali didn’t like her odds in a face-to-face confrontation with Amelia, not when she didn’t have any defenses prepared. Her foe probably had pockets full of tools and weapons that could be used for protection—a lone woman would have been foolish to come up here without being prepared.

  Amelia rose on her tiptoes and leaned into the cockpit of her flying machine. A small shovel scraped, and Kali thought she could see the air above the vent pipe waver with heat. She gripped her wrench tighter. Amelia must be shoveling coal into her furnace, preparing to leave.

  Kali had to act now, do something. Otherwise, she would be stuck alone up here with a bunch of thugs threatening to do who knew what to the city.

  Crouching low, Kali followed the railing toward the rear of the airship, careful to only move through the lit areas when Amelia’s back was to her. She kept an eye on the men at the bow of the craft too. The meeting on the dock must have broken up, because they were stirring, no longer looking intently below.