A Dodge, a Twist and a Tobacconist

by Sophronia Belle Lyon

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Tatiana flitted away down the lift. A few moments later Twist came down from the rooftop garden with a basket of tools unlike his usual miniature tinkering set. These were more like the ones he had used as we modified my sabre. He had been spending most of his time up on the roof, and only Tod and Sararati had been with him up there. I supposed they were working on the airship. Twist often said he enjoyed his rooftop menagerie so I supposed he was also seeking solace there. His thinning face when he could hardly afford to get thinner disturbed me, however. He rarely met people’s eyes anymore or spoke in the meetings unless he was directly spoken to. That tendency for his breathing to become short and sharp was impossible to miss as it became more and more frequent.

  “I believe the concert will be an important opportunity,” Madame Phoebe told us as we came to order. “We will all be there, Trevor will be there, and I cannot imagine Dodge’s people will be absent.”

  “I will not be there,” Oliver Twist interrupted me as I was about to tell what Spring-heeled Jack had said.

  “This is an opportunity for justice, Twist,” Zambo argued. “Perhaps Dodge himself will make an appearance. Do you not want a hand in his capture?”

  “I have other things I need to do,” Oliver snapped. “As a matter of fact, I really don’t have any time for this meeting. How much longer is it going to be?”

  I quickly shared with the company what Spring-heeled Jack had communicated to me. and Twist listlessly began to work his tablet, spreading out one of Tatiana’s snowy napkins and letting images flicker by. Happily, even listless for Twist was faster than the rest of us could hope to do this research, so we continued the meeting.

  “Wait, now,” Twist said abruptly. “I need to have a talk with my manager.”

  “What is it?” Madame Phoebe asked.

  “I was cross-checking The Mechanicals School for the Gifted alumni record and my manager Langham is on it,” Twist said. “He’s been here since the hotel first opened, very smart about the clockwork critters, and has even installed other devices -- You should see his dishwashers and silverware sorters sometime. I’d hate to lose him.”

  “Just because he has a connection with the school, does not mean he is evil,” Madame Phoebe said with a smile, touching Twist’s shoulder. “After all, you graduated from there yourself.”

  He flinched and stared at her with the oddest look. The tablet fell upon the end table beside his chair and Twist left us without another word.

  “Hate t’ see ‘im et up so bad,” Sue said. “We gotta pray harder fer th’ little doc. It was so good t’ see them souls brought in, but then Ah think a’ him carryin’ on that way, cryin’ an’ sech, an’ it hurts a body’s heart.”

  “Someone should go with him,” Kera said softly. I bolted up and ran for the lift. Kera was right behind me.

  “Where are we to find him?” she asked me as we sped downward.

  “He mentioned dishwashers and silverware,” I hazarded. “Perhaps the kitchens?”

  We had become well-known to most of the hotel staff and were allowed to pass without comment through the “Authorized Persons Only” door from the main dining room. The kitchen areas were unknown territory to us, though. We had heard that Uncle Vanya had created quite a stir when he first took up residence to make bead balls, but they had since become a coveted delicacy on the menu. We found Uncle Vanya and Tatiana, both busy and floury.

  “Yes, Oliver went by here a few moments ago,” Tatiana confirmed. “He seemed so upset. He wouldn’t even speak to me. What is wrong now?”

  “He is looking for his manager, Mr. Langham,” I explained. “Do you know where he is?”

  “I think he is down in that grotto place, getting the theater ready for the concert,” she responded.

  The Bronze Cascade’s Grotto was a large underground complex of shops and cafes as well as the theater. Somehow Twist had managed to create a system of caves in bronze, blue gaslight and amber crystal. While the upper part of the hotel was mountainous and forest-like, this place was a little eerie in its recreation of a system of very realistic caverns. But it was a popular London attraction with its waterways and gondolas carrying patrons around to the various stopping places. Kera and I got a ride to the Grotto Theatre but found all the entrances locked. A speaking device on the outside responded with a tinny voice that said, “May I help you?”

  “We are looking for Doctor Twist,” I responded. “Is this Mr. Langham?”

  “This is Langham,” the voice responded. “Who am I speaking with?”

  “Florizel, of Bohemia,” I responded.

  “Doctor Twist was here, very briefly,” the voice replied. “By the time I got to the door to let him in, he was gone.”

  “What?” As rapidly as we had followed, I was certain we had not missed Twist along the way. “May I speak with you face to face, sir?” I asked, irritated with that disembodied voice.

  “Please excuse me, sir, but there is so much to do I cannot be interrupted unless it is a real emergency. I assure you Doctor Twist is not here, and--”

  Kera whipped out her Khanda sword and said, “If you want a real interruption, I will cut my way in through this door. Think of the hours it will take to repair it! Let us in now!”

  A loud clicking and hissing ensued and the door swung open. We hurried inside and met a small, dark man hurrying toward us.

  “I am Mr. Langham.” His tone was haughty and impatient. “I normally call security to deal with threats but you are Doctor Twist’s guests. What is it you require?”

  “We require Doctor Twist’s location, immediately,” I snapped.

  “Allow me to find him for you,” Langham responded, going to the communication apparatus near the door. He pressed buttons and spoke too quietly for us to hear. “Doctor Twist is in the rooftop garden,” he informed us momentarily.

  “We just followed him down from the penthouse within the last five minutes,” I exploded. “How is that possible?”

  “He rode an observation bubble,” Langham replied with exaggerated patience and politeness. “Shall I call one for the two of you? It affords a truly striking and romantic view of London, though it is much more enjoyable at night.”

  “An observation bubble?” Langham pushed buttons and then waggled a finger at us as he wiggled himself past us out of the front door and onto the steps. A whistling noise made us look up into the mist-shrouded ceiling of the artificial cave. A ball-shaped object plummeted downward and stopped abruptly, hovering a foot or two off the ground before us. It was a golden crystal sphere with velvet cushions in the bottom. Kera reached out a hand and the surface gave way, letting her hand go inside.

  “It’s perfectly safe,” Langham said impatiently, obviously trying to be done with us. “Technically the rooftop garden is closed because Doctor Twist is doing some work up there but I know you to be his associates and I assume he would not object to you joining him there. Please step in and I will program its course to land on the roof. Usually they just rocket up, bob a little, and drop back down.”

  Kera pulled me in by the hand and I promptly upset myself in the pile of cushions. The word “Rocket?” was not altogether out of my mouth when I felt myself thrust down into the cushions. Kera pulled me back up with a squeal of delight and we held each other closely, the one pleasant part of this unreal journey.

  I saw the artificial cave walls hurtle past us. The mists hanging high in the cave were generated by a steam-powered set of gearworks that opened and closed hatches through which our glass bubble shot. This experience was worse than flying the stealth glider. At least I had exercised a modicum of control over that unwieldy vessel. We burst out of a tube into the open air, climbing so fast I couldn’t imagine how a view of London would be possible and having to force my eyes back open several times to gauge our progress. The Bronze Cascade’s mountain-like walls whizzed past us and in an instant were below us. The bubble slowed, bobbed in midair not entirely gently, and then
swung toward the building and settled onto the rooftop garden. I barely held on to the contents of my stomach.

  “You were supposed to be drinking in the sights of London,” Kera giggled as we supported each other, exiting the bubble as if we had just come on land from a sea voyage. The bubble immediately vaulted into the air again and we entered the rooftop garden.

  “Doctor Twist,” I exclaimed, seeing the little inventor, Sararati and Tod bent over a camel and tinkering with its works. Twist looked up and I could have sworn something like a scowl passed over his face before he suppressed it and turned back to his work.

  “What’s up, Florrie?” he asked distractedly. “I’m a bit busy.”

  “We thought you had meant to speak with your manager, but he told us you went away before he saw you.”

  “Yes. I realized it was stupid to go accost Langham. He’s never given me any reason to distrust him. Anyway, There are a bunch of prints of stuff about the school alumni, pictures, all sorts of rot you can check out if you’ve a mind. Lady Phoebe has them downstairs.”

  Tod caught my eye as Kera and I, still wobbly, stepped back before Twist ran into us in his absent-minded lifting and extending of the camel’s left hind foot. The inventor’s driver and assistant had lost his jaunty fox-like air and his face was haggard and his expression very uneasy. We had no pretext upon which to linger but I made a note to seek out Tod. I also wondered briefly about the fact that I had not seen before that any of Twist’s clockwork creatures moved their legs.

  “I have seen heads nod, wings flap, mouths gape and trunks spray, but these things do not walk about. What are they tinkering with?” Kera asked as we got into the lift.

  “I would rather solve the mystery of how to bring a smile back to our little inventor’s face,” I muttered. Kera snuggled closer to me and nodded against my chest.

  It took so much time to go through the information available on the school. The day before the concert we finally had assembled a “rogue’s gallery” of faces to look for during the performance. The graduates of the school represented a powerful segment of London’s population. They were anything but rogues, of course -- educators, business owners, and respected professionals. Almost all of them had donated to Trevor’s campaign.

  On a hunch we had pressed Doctor Twist to try to learn about the financial makeup of the Dodge Foundation and any possible connection to the school. Almost all of the school’s graduates contributed regularly to the Dodge Foundation, through their businesses or personally. The amount of money pouring into that foundation staggered all of us. Twist had resources, apparently, to discover what it was difficult or impossible for others.

  Not that Twist actually participated in these researches. He twitched controls on his tablet and paper spewed from the machine that it was somehow connected to, but he rarely left the roof and rarely allowed Tod to leave it either. Sararati would happily have lived up there anyway. Once I managed to catch Tod stumbling down the hall to his room at some ridiculous hour, bleary-eyed and unshaven.

  “What is it Twist is doing on the roof?” I demanded. “You are both going to kill yourselves if you do not moderate this work schedule.”

  “One way or t’other, it’s done Froiday,” Tod muttered. Friday was the day of the concert. “More I can’t say, Prince Charming. ‘Ceptin’ I never will be so glad to see a Friday come. That’s certain-sure.”

  You cannot say more, or you will not?”

  He eyed me sideways, leaning against the wall with an outstretched hand and dusting his spats with his foxtail. “What Oy owes yew, Prince Charming, ain’t nothin’ t’ what Oy owes ‘im. An Oy owes yew me loife an’ change, daon’tcha think Oy daon’t know it. Oy owes ‘im fer not bein’ dead drunk in a ditch, nor yet stretched wit’ a necktoie wot fits tighter nor Oy’d choose an’ lifts a chap up ‘igher nor one ud choose t’ be lifted.”

  He dusted some more, staring down at his spats for a few moments as his dusting arm went slack. I thought he had fallen asleep and touched him. “Go to bed, Tod,” I said softly.

  “Yeah. Froiday. Oy jest come down fer more parts. Look sharp, Prince Charmin’, willya then, whin ‘at-’ere concert comes off? All a’ yews, look sharper nor yew never thought a’ lookin’, an’ make sure part a’ th’ toime yer looking at me little doc, willya? “

  “We shall, Tod.” I clasped his arm and let him stagger off.

  Friday came and our leader called us together, with the exception of Twist, whom she did not bother to try to extricate from his rooftop menagerie.

  “Jessica Fagin has told us that she acquired the two men who serve her, twin brothers, when she was in Algeria They were put in her care by a dying man. Both had already had their tongues cut out, she told me, and she was horrified and sympathetic to their plight. They have been with her ever since and she has never had cause to distrust them.

  “The fact that they might betray her in this manner deeply disturbed her. They have never learned to read or write. Zambo did not injure them much, but she was unable to find any way to get them to tell her how they came to do what they did.

  “Sue confided in me that she had noticed the men were mutes. She has managed to befriend Jessica. I will let her tell you the fruits of that friendship.”

  “Tryin’ t’ understand Bill’s way a’ communicati’n has made me pretty sensitive t’ signals, little gestures and changes of expression,” Sue explained.

  “It is much the same as my way of understanding Bagheera,” Mowgli nodded.

  “Yep. Reckon so. Anyhow, Ah made a few social calls on Miz Fagin an’ Ah finally asked her frank, in front’a’ them two, why she hadn’t given’ ‘em their walkin’ papers. You shoulda seen ‘em raise their hackles.

  “She said thet while it was true they done took th’ rabbit’s foot, on th’ other hand, it was Charley’s an’ she warn’t convinced they was bent on doin’ anythin’ but seein’ that it went with its owner t’ his restin’ place.

  “Ah was watchin’ ‘em all this time, ‘course, an’ Ah seed relief when she said that. So Ah said, still casual-like, as if Ah had no inklin’ they could understand me, ‘So what if you was t’ find out they had some other reason fer takin’ it along, sech as thet they was paid t’ take it, an’ t’ deliver it t’ someone?’

  “ ‘If my men stole from the dead for selfish gain, I would cut their hands off,’ she up an’ tells me, cool as ya please. Didn’t those two jest jump? She give ‘em a mighty sharp look when they done thet. B’fore Ah could do er say a thing, she jumped up an’ marched out a th’ room where we was havin’ tea. Ah am becomin’ a jest a tetch fond a’ thet sweet mint tea she makes, by th’ by.

  “Ah’ll be corn-swaggled if she don’t march back in with a curved knife ‘most as long as mah drawl. She grabs one’a’ them fellers right by his long black hair an’ pushes ‘im down onta his knees. Remember she’s a pretty good-size woman, not a patch t’ choose b’tween th’ two a’ us, an’ them two is jest pipsqueaks. She sez t’ me, ‘Get hold of his hand and stretch it out on the table.’

  “Ah gives her two or three looks but Ah do like she sez. The fellah she’s got hold’a’ makes these mewlin’ noises like a whipped puppy, but she don’t pay him no mind. She looks at t’ other ‘un an’ says, ‘Shall I cut it off? If he is the thief, spare yourself, and let the truth be known.’ An’ what did that fellah that was free do but throw his own arm down on th’ table on toppa his brother’s an’ try ta push him aside, cryin’ an’ shakin’ his head t’ beat th’ band.

  “Whew! Ah thought Ah done some tough stuff in mah time, but that woman beat all. She nodded t’ me and we both let go. Them brothers was huggin’ an’ cryin’ an’ layin’ theirselves down all th’ way on the floor afore her. ‘Tween th’ two a’ us it took about two hours t’ get some kinda understandin’ about what happened. They was adamant about a man with goggles--” She put her thumbs and fingers around her eyes to demonstrate “ -- gettin’ up in the one brother’s face an’ threatenin’
t’ kill th’ other if’n they didn’t git that rabbit’s foot. Ain’t it a caution that we attached no significance t’ that trinket ‘till they stole it?”

  “Where did Dodge meet them?” I asked.

  “That warn’t near s’ easy t’ get at,” Sue admitted. “It ended up with the both a’ us trottin’ off after them two while they went and showed us th’ place.” She spread out a map and pointed. “Remember how we done placed Dodge at th’ hotel, th’ alley, th’ thieves’ den, an’ that corner where Mr. Guppy done seed him?” She pointed at each place. “Well, naow we got us another place. An’ it makes almost a circle, which makes me think we might just find Dodge smack in th’ middle a’ that-there circle.”