Chainbreaker (Timekeeper)

by Tara Sim

  “I don’t care. I’m not risking Danny’s life to save my own. I promised his father that I would never put Danny in danger.”

  Cassie twisted her hands in her lap and looked at him pleadingly. “Colton, let’s just tell someone. Please. There has to be another way.”

  But he shook his head. “I will not risk his life. They want me to go to India.” He touched the small cog Big Ben had given him, secure in his pocket. “So I’ll go.”

  “What about Enfield?” Brandon demanded.

  “They’ll be safer this way. Time will start again when I come back, and then we can fix my tower.”

  “If you come back at all! The Lead should know—”

  “No!” Colton banged his fist against the wall and the entire frame shook. Brandon and Cassie jumped. “You two are the only ones I can trust right now. If you tell the Lead, or anyone else, they’ll do something to Danny. I can’t have that happen.”

  “But how would you even get to India?” Cassie demanded.

  Brandon opened his mouth, then immediately closed it. Colton stared at him, and Brandon stared back, eyes shifting in indecision. Finally, he exhaled a long breath.

  “I know a way,” Brandon admitted. “My older brother’s a copilot on a transporter airship. He’s taking some cargo and soldiers to India at the end of the week. I can ask him if he’ll smuggle you on.”

  Colton brightened at once. “Would you really? Do you promise?”

  Brandon glanced at the photograph. He scratched his jaw and sighed. “Yes, I promise. Have to keep Danny alive, right? Since he’s so awful at doing it himself.”

  Colton turned to Cassie. She blinked hard and met Colton’s gaze, fighting back tears. But as Colton watched, her expression slowly hardened into determination. “Brandon, if you tell me the flight details, I can drive Colton to your brother’s airship.”

  Colton listened as they worked it out between them, wondering if this was another of his strange visions. He was going to India. He was going to save Danny. He was going to keep his promise to Christopher Hart.

  Although Colton could read, he hadn’t had much experience in writing. He figured it would be a lot like reading, but in reverse: he would already know the words before they were put on paper.

  He sat in Danny’s room for two nights in a row, anxious about what he was going to say and how the Harts would react upon finding the note. Colton didn’t want to give himself away. There was no telling if Christopher would follow him to India, or tell the Lead.

  The words came out shaky but legible. His handwriting wasn’t as confident as Danny’s, but at least he wrote it himself, and he hadn’t needed to ask Cassie to do it for him. He wanted this message to come from him—his apology, his reasoning, everything.

  Just before dawn, he finished the note and sat back, rereading it several times to make sure it was what he wanted.

  Christofer and LaylaLeila,

  Please do not be upset with me. There is something I have to do befor I return to Enfield. I will be back when I can. PleesePlease tell no one.

  I promised that I would do nothing to hur damm damage my town or Danny. I will keep that promise. If you trust Danny, please trust me.

  Colton

  It didn’t feel nearly enough. He knew he should mention that Danny was in danger, but he couldn’t get anyone else involved.

  Feeling oddly heavy, Colton put on Danny’s clothes and the leather-covered cog holder. Big Ben’s cog still rested in his pocket. He wondered if the spirit had somehow known that Colton would be traveling and would need this extra strength.

  He still had money, but discovered more of it squirreled away in one of Danny’s drawers. With a promise to repay Danny somehow, Colton added it to his traveling bag. He chose a spare shirt and trousers, just in case something happened to the ones he wore. He also packed the notes and both photographs of Danny.

  Colton hesitated on the landing, looking at the Harts’ bedroom door. The letter sat on Danny’s desk, waiting to be found. They deserved better. But it was all he could give them for now.

  Cassie waited for him outside, the sky dim and gray in the early clutches of the morning. She gave him a sad look when he got into her auto, and they took off down the quiet London lane.

  They were mostly silent, though Cassie asked questions every now and then. “Do you have money? Do you need more? What about a map?” By the time they reached the docking station, Cassie held the steering wheel in a white-knuckled grip.

  “I don’t think this is a good idea,” she said when she’d parked. Colton could see the large airship being loaded several yards away. “I’m getting one of my bad feelings. There has to be another way.”

  He took her freckled hand in his. “Cassie, thank you for everything you’ve done. If Christopher and Leila ask you questions, pretend you don’t know anything. I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

  She drew in a deep breath that shook as she released it. She squeezed his hand gently. “Danny is lucky to have you.”

  “He’s also lucky to have friends like you and Brandon.” He looked back at the airship and found two people walking toward them. They got out of the car to meet them.

  “Colton, this is David, my brother.” Brandon gestured to the tall young man beside him. They looked similar, though David had a wider mouth and forehead. He was dressed in a blue uniform with aviator goggles hanging around his neck.

  “Crikey, s’true then,” David mumbled, looking Colton up and down.

  “He’s going to smuggle you into the cargo hold when the crew leave, before the passengers come on.”

  “I’ve never smuggled anything before, and I could lose my job if I’m caught,” David warned them. “I’m only doing this as a favor for my brother. If someone finds you, you’re on your own.”

  “I understand,” Colton said, ignoring Cassie’s growl of displeasure.

  “The loading crew looks like they’re about to take off,” David said, craning his head around to check. “Shall we?”

  Cassie pulled Colton into a sudden, brief hug. “Come back with him, Colton.”

  “I will.”

  Brandon patted his shoulder. “Good luck, mate.”

  Following David to the airship, Colton wondered if this was how Danny felt when he’d boarded his own airship: strangely alone, his excitement tempered with dread. He looked over his shoulder and waved to the others. Cassie waved back, and Brandon gave a single nod of encouragement.

  The airship loomed above them, its propellers lazily circling, the engines warming up. Colton would be in there soon, climbing toward the sky. Heading for India. Running from Enfield.

  He took out the photograph of Danny’s smiling face.

  “I’m sorry,” he said quietly. “I can’t wait for you this time.”

  Suspicious people had been seen near the clock towers in both Meerut and Lucknow. One city was east of Agra, the other south.

  “It’s clear we need multiple eyes in both locations,” Dryden said. “As much as I would like you three to stick together, I believe we need to split our forces. Perhaps Kamir—”

  “Kamir is sick,” Meena interrupted.

  “Ah, well. I’ll let you three decide among yourselves, then.” The Major left to speak with his officers.

  “I suppose Meena could go to Lucknow with Akash,” Danny ventured, but Daphne shook her head.

  “We should both be with someone who’s more familiar with the surroundings.”

  “It would be better to go with either me or Akash,” Meena agreed. “Danny, why don’t you go with Akash to Lucknow? He can take the Silver Hawk—”

  “No,” Danny said. “Absolutely not. I’m not getting back in that godforsaken plane of his.”

  Daphne sighed. “I’ll go to Lucknow. I don’t mind the plane ride.”

  Danny didn’t like the thought of Daphne and Akash alone, but he didn’t like the thought of another plane ride more. He shared a look with Meena.

  “I suppose we’ll go t
o Meerut,” she decided.

  Major Dryden came back a minute later and seemed pleased with the result. He rubbed his hands together in excitement.

  “Spiffing. Miss Richards, you’ll fly to Lucknow with an escort. Mister Hart, you and Meena will take the train up to Meerut.” Danny contained a sigh of relief. “I’ll make arrangements immediately.”

  The next morning, they assembled before Major Dryden, who outlined their journeys and named the soldiers who would attend them.

  “You two will be escorted by Captain Harris,” he told Danny and Meena. To Daphne he said, “You will have Lieutenant Crosby.”

  Danny gave Daphne a triumphant smile. She grimaced back at him.

  “This will likely take several days,” Dryden warned. “Perhaps a week or more. You will report daily on what you find. In the meantime, some of my men will be on the lookout for that rebel airship.”

  The reminder sent a shiver down Danny’s spine. At least he would be on the ground this time; the blessed, sturdy ground.

  He caught up to Daphne when they left to pack their things. The sun was bright and hot, stinging his skin despite the new tan he had developed. Daphne joined him under the shade of an awning.

  “Promise me you’ll be careful,” he said.

  She rolled her eyes heavenward. “You are not my guardian.”

  “I’m aware of that, but if you don’t recall, we were already attacked once on this assignment. In the air you’ll be at more risk. If that ship comes after you—”

  “I’m sure Akash can evade it.”

  Danny grunted. “We’ll see.”

  Daphne eyed him a moment. She was close enough that he caught the faint scent of bergamot that always seemed to cling to her. “Be safe, Danny. No running off like you did last time. You have someone important waiting for you to return home.”

  “I know.” He brushed a thumb against the cog in his pocket. “I don’t spend a moment here not thinking about it.”

  Daphne gripped his forearm, and he returned the pressure. Standing there with her, Danny marveled at the distance they had traveled together. She seemed to be thinking the same thing, and managed a small smile that he couldn’t help but mirror, as if they shared an unspoken secret. They went their separate ways to gather their things.

  Meena found him an hour later. “The major asked if we’ll be ready to leave soon.”

  “I’m ready.” He was borrowing one of the spare packs from the cantonment supply house, since carrying his trunk would be too much of a bother. He gave the pack a light kick. “I have all I need.”

  They set off to report to Captain Harris. The captain’s quarters were in a large building where bachelor soldiers resided en masse. Across the way was a similar building for officers with wives. There were no children here; British children were at home in the care of relatives and governesses. Danny and Meena passed by gardens tended to by the officers’ wives, although their stubborn attempt to cultivate British flowers went unrewarded, the foxgloves and honeysuckles wilting in the heat.

  A couple of wives sat in wicker chairs outside, lazily fanning themselves. They sent Danny and Meena disapproving looks as the pair passed.

  “They do not like seeing me with you,” Meena said. Danny heard a hint of amusement in her voice, verging on contempt. One of the older women, who had gray streaking her hair and a puckering set of wrinkles between her eyebrows, seemed to sense her hostility.

  “Quai hai,” she said loudly. An Indian servant appeared. “Bhisti, I require more water.” The servant bowed and went to fetch the pitcher.

  “They like doing that,” Meena whispered, her amusement gone. “They enjoy reminding themselves who’s in charge.”

  Meena took off her shoes before she walked into the bachelors’ compound, adding them to the sepoys’ shoes that lined the outside wall. Danny had noticed the Indians didn’t like to enter buildings with clad feet. Danny and Daphne had once asked if they were expected to follow this rule, too. Meena and Akash had simply laughed.

  Lower officers hung about in their shirtsleeves. Some smoked in a shaded compound behind the building. They glanced at Meena, but like Daphne, she ignored them.

  “This is the one,” she said, pointing to a door at the end of a hallway. Danny knocked.

  “Captain? We’re ready to leave.”

  He began to open the door, which was already ajar, but stopped immediately, frozen by what he saw. Captain Harris was inside, and clearly preoccupied.

  He held another man in his arms—the Indian sepoy, Partha.

  They were kissing.

  The soldiers looked up to find Danny and Meena standing stricken on the threshold. Captain Harris turned scarlet, and Partha pushed away from him, hiding his face in his hands.

  “Come in,” Harris whispered urgently. They stepped inside, closing the door behind them. Partha murmured to himself in his own language.

  “Oh, God.” Harris clasped his hands together pleadingly. “Please, please don’t tell anyone about this. I didn’t mean for you to see—for anyone to know—” The sepoy groaned and retreated to the corner. “Partha, stop that!”

  “Captain, it’s all right.” Danny held up his hands, as if he could physically push down the tension in the room. “Your secret is safe with me.” When Meena did not speak, he nudged her foot with his own.

  “And me,” she added in a low voice.

  Harris licked his lips nervously, his gaze flitting between the two of them. “I’m so sorry.”

  “Please, don’t be,” Danny said. “We’ll forget this ever happened.” When the captain didn’t look convinced, Danny tentatively tried to form a bridge between them. “I understand, Captain. I really do.”

  Harris met his eyes, and his own widened slightly. Danny gave him a faint nod. The man’s shoulders lowered.

  “Partha, it’s all right,” he called to the sepoy. “They won’t tell.”

  “I’ll be discharged if the major knows,” Partha whispered. He was barefoot, like Meena, and this made him look even more helpless. “I’ll be disgraced. I’ll have no family.”

  “None of that will happen,” Harris said, his voice getting stronger with each word. “We’ll be fine.” He turned to Danny with a small, sad smile. “I’ll meet you at the auto.”

  Danny and Meena walked back outside, stunned and silent. Danny could tell that this had been more of a shock for her than for him.

  He wanted to say something, but they were passing the disapproving wives again. The mechanics remained silent until they arrived at the autos, which were being loaded for the trip. A group of soldiers milled around, a mix of British and Indian.

  Harris was committing two taboos: being with another man, and being with an Indian. In London, this wouldn’t have been anything new. Here in India, the rules of living were harsher. Rules were lifeblood in the army.

  And Danny could relate all too well, just replacing “Indian” with “clock spirit.”

  Captain Harris soon joined them, looking much more like himself in his uniform, save for the faint redness of his face. Looking at Danny and Meena made those points of color bloom.

  Major Dryden wished them luck and imparted a few bits of last-minute advice. Danny, trusting Meena and Harris to remember it all, instead gazed around the yard in the hopes of seeing Daphne, but she had already left with Akash.

  Please be safe.

  As Danny and Meena were driven to the station, he kept thinking back to the terror on Harris and Partha’s faces, a reflection of the terror that had rattled his heart when his father found out about Colton and him.

  The fear that something was about to become undone.

  The station was a sea of Indian and British passengers. Almost all of them were rushing to get to their destinations or else to escape the crush of people, the air malodorous with unwashed bodies, urine, dust, and smoke. A woman’s red scarf fluttered wildly in the wind, and children running by tried to grab it before they were chased away by a man in uniform; their laughte
r escaped the roar of the crowd like birds taking flight. The homeless sat slumped against a far wall, one of them singing hoarsely for change.

  “Our train is on Platform Three,” Harris yelled above the noise, pointing to the far left.

  They squeezed past the crowd toward the steam train, which was already sending up a coil of white smoke. The train was comprised of seven carriages painted black and red. A water crane was currently attached to the top of the boiler, refilling the steam engine’s tank.

  “We’ve reserved the first carriage for you,” Harris told Danny and Meena as they hurried to the open door. “The soldiers will spread out. We don’t want anything like the airship incident.”

  Meena and Danny climbed into the carriage, where the conductor punched holes in their tickets.

  “Very happy to have you aboard,” he said in an accent that was not quite Indian, but not quite English. For that matter, his skin was lighter than the other Indians Danny had seen so far. “Please make yourselves comfortable.”

  The front carriage was small but roomy. Danny and Meena stored their packs in the wire mesh above the burgundy felt-cushioned seats.

  “We thought it would be best if you didn’t sit with the others,” Harris explained as he also stored his pack away. “In case someone’s eyes and ears wandered.”

  “Are you sitting with us, Captain?” Danny asked.

  “Just for the moment. I’ll go inspect the rest of the carriages as soon as we’re off.”

  He wants to be alone, Danny thought with sympathy. He would probably do the same, if his lover and he had just been caught. Remembering the time Cassie had done precisely that, his face grew warm.

  Danny looked out the wide window and watched the steam roll lazily toward the sky. The whistle blew, the door to the driver’s carriage opened, and two men stepped out to exchange a word with the conductor. A woman walked out after them and spotted Danny and Meena. She smiled and approached them.

  “You’ll be the ghadi wallahs, then? I’m Amala, part of the crew.”

  The woman’s skin was more or less the same shade as the conductor’s. Her dark hair hung in a heavy braid, and a blue cap was perched on her head. Her eyes were blue, her accent mostly English. Unlike Meena, who wore a pair of loose green trousers with a tunic she called a salwar kameez, the woman simply wore a pair of tan coveralls.