by Claire Bott
My circuit of the room had brought me to stand directly in front of this hook. Now, staring at it, I began to tremble. Indeed I must be malfunctioning, I felt, for I had never trembled so before. Surely something was wrong, for my hand seemed to move without my willing it, to reach up of its own accord and grasp the ring of keys.
I stood there for a long time, holding on to the ring as though it was the only thing supporting me, staring at the keys. Then, slowly, I lifted the ring free of the hook, and drew it towards me. Clasping it with both hands, I hurried out of the room.
I had done nothing I had been forbidden to do, nothing that was against Sir Edward’s instructions. He had never said that I was not to remove the key-ring from the housekeeper’s room, never told me I must not carry it down the stairs, never ordered me not to stand in front of the old wine-cellar door, holding the ring of keys and shaking so hard I could barely stand. Never told me not to. Never said anything to the contrary. Never. I had done nothing wrong.
So far.
I could hear the sound of voices coming from within. Quietly, carefully, not wanting to slip again and let them know I was there, I moved closer.
‘Anyhow,’ Honoré was saying, ‘that explains her longevity.’
‘Maybe it also explains the strangeness you sensed in her timeline?’ suggested Emily
‘Maybe... but I think there was more to it than that. Something about the events in it. It seemed... important, somehow.’
‘Perhaps, if she comes back, you’ll get a better chance to look at it, and we can find out more?’
‘I’m not sure I want to find out more. I just want to get out of here.’
‘Well, you’d better hope she does come back, or we may never be able to.’
I did not understand the things of which they spoke. More than that, there was something about the manner in which they spoke that was utterly unfamiliar to me. It was as though it were possible for a man and a woman to converse, and to be in company, without giving so much as a thought to the kind of acts that Sir Edward desired me to do.. I had not known, until I heard them, that such a thing was indeed possible; but I knew it then. And I wanted to know more.
I managed to move my hand. The keys were still clasped to my chest. I selected the correct one, and began to bring it slowly down towards the lock. By the time it was level, my hands were shaking so hard that I needed to use both of them to push it in. I turned the key. The door swung open – only a little, but it was enough. I heard an exclamation from inside the cellar, and footsteps coming closer. Then they came out into the corridor – the dark-skinned man and the frail-looking girl. I would have spoken to them then; but my sense of my own wickedness, my base treachery, in releasing them against Sir Edward’s wishes, overcame me so that it was all I could do to keep myself from sinking to the floor.
The man, Honoré Lechasseur, as I later discovered, turned, and saw me standing there. He held out his hand. ‘Come here,’ he said; and though his voice was soft, this was without doubt an instruction. Trembling still, I went over to where he stood, and gave him my hand. For a moment, he stood holding it, and I began to wonder if perhaps I should now begin to remove my clothes; but then he gave a small cry, and the darkness of his skin became ashy.
‘Emily,’ he whispered, turning to her. ‘It’s gone!’
She looked at him in alarm. ‘The thing you felt? The important thing?’
‘No, no, not that; her whole timeline has gone. It – it just stops, little more than a year from now.’
They looked at each other, grim-faced.
‘Well,’ Emily said, after a moment. ‘That’s that, then. We’ve got to stay, now.’
Lechasseur heaved a sigh so deep it seemed to have come from his boot-soles. ‘I guess you’re right. We’ve got no choice – until we can find some other way back to our time.’ He glanced around, nervously. ‘But we can sure as hell get out of this house.’ He looked directly at me. ‘How do we get to the grounds?’
I shook my head. ‘Not the grounds. Dogs. The roof. That way.’
‘Why, what’s on the roof?’
‘You’ll see,’ I managed. ‘This way. Hurry.’
We crept through the stillness, up stairs and along corridors, past the library, past the dining-hall, past Sir Edward’s bedroom (how I shook then!), past his workroom. Now I could see the door to the roof at the end of the corridor. In a moment we would be on the roof, and then they would go. And my days and nights would return to the same smooth, unhurried rhythm that I had known before they arrived. I would –
‘Stop!’ screamed a voice from behind us, and we turned in shock.
Sir Edward stood at the other end of the corridor, and his face was mottled with rage.
I closed my eyes. I remember thinking, clearly and calmly, ‘This is the end. He will dismantle me and melt down my parts for scrap.’
I heard Sir Edward sneer, ‘Trying to steal my toy, were you?’
Then it occurred to me that Lechasseur was still holding me by the arm to keep me from falling, and that although I still had the key-ring, the hand in which I grasped it was hidden in the voluminous folds of my skirt. I swung round as though trying to free myself, and surreptitiously pushed the keys into Lechasseur’s hand. Turning my head slightly, I whispered: ‘The door at the end of the corridor. Go!’ Then I pulled myself free, and ran the few steps between me and Sir Edward to fling myself into his arms. I had done what I could, I had done everything I could, and it was up to them now.
Sir Edward caught me awkwardly, and I clung to him, impeding his movements, keeping him from running after Lechasseur and Emily, who were pelting down the corridor. Furiously, he shoved me to one side, and ran to the speaking-tube set into the corridor wall. ‘Attack dogs!’ he roared. ‘Attack dogs to the roof, now!’
‘They will be with you shortly, Sir,’ replied the impassive voice of the housekeeper. Sir Edward snorted violently, and ran towards the door to the roof – it was open now, the key-ring still dangling from the lock. I gathered my skirts in my hands and followed him.
Out on the roof, the glider sat, quiet and serene, its nose pointing towards the dark sky. Its massive wings spread out from either side, and the cockpit... was empty.
In another moment, I saw why, and could have groaned my foolishness. There was only room for one person in there – I had not thought, had never before had to think, about the practicalities of escape. I had only remembered the glider, built to fly, and made for it blindly. Now I saw that the two fugitives were standing only feet from it, arguing fiercely. Of course – neither one would want to stay and be trapped; they would be fighting over their one chance to escape this place. But I could hear, faintly behind me, the howls of the attack dogs as they made their way through the house, and I knew that soon neither would be able to get away.
Then I saw Lechasseur grab Emily by the arm and push her – not away from the glider, but towards it. ‘Get in!’ he shouted, loud enough for me to hear all the way across the roof. ‘Now!’
She did, then turned to look back at him. ‘For goodness sake, be careful,’ she said, hurriedly.
He took her hand in his own for a brief moment. ‘You bet. Now go.’
Emily pulled the release lever, and the glider began to move along the launch tracks. Sir Edward, watching, gave a shriek of rage. ‘My dogs!’ he screamed. ‘Where are my dogs?’
The glider picked up speed, moving across the roof, sliding smoothly past Sir Edward (who shook in impotent rage), and dropping neatly from the edge of the building to arc cleanly into the sky, under the moonlight. She was gone, she was safe, the glider would carry her far away before it came to ground.
And the attack dogs burst onto the roof. It seemed to me, in that moment, that I had never really seen them before, only let my gaze slide over them, taking them for granted. Never seen how the light shone in long flakes from their metal
sides, how their mouths snarled terribly and their teeth were like long knives. I looked at Lechasseur, and saw him drop into a fighting crouch. They were tearing across the roof towards him now. I buried my face in Sir Edward’s shoulder. This I could not watch.
There was a short cry, quickly cut off, and I shivered in Sir Edward’s arms. It was over. I should have rejoiced that I could return to the untroubled existence I had once known, but something in me seemed to revolt at the thought. I looked up at Sir Edward, and saw the glee on his face. I could almost have trembled again, the way he looked at me.
‘Silly idiot jumped!’ he exclaimed exultantly. ‘Jumped off the roof. He’ll be spread across the ground like butter now. Smack!’
Strange that, having known Lechasseur for less than a day, I should have so quickly begun thinking of his actions in terms of plans, of stratagems. Strange that a shred of hope leapt in me at Sir Edward’s words. Gently, I disengaged myself from him, and walked casually to the edge of the roof.
Lechasseur, hanging by his fingers from a windowsill two stories down, looked up and winked at me.
‘Is it a pretty sight?’ came Sir Edward’s voice from behind me. ‘The body of a dead man – does it excite you, my little angel?’ His footsteps came closer. He was going to join me on the edge of the roof.
I should have taken him by the hand, and drawn him to where I stood. I should have pointed down, and said, ‘There is your enemy.’ For a moment, I hesitated. Sir Edward was close behind me.
I turned, and stepped into his arms. ‘Oh, it does, Sir. So much so, that I can barely contain my ardour. Will you join me in my rooms?’ I drew him away from the edge of the roof as I spoke. I could feel myself shaking again, but he must have thought it was an excess of passion, for he only clasped me closer.
‘I will join you in a moment. I have just a few things I need to put in order in my workshop – I was disturbed in the middle of an important construction.’
I led him towards the stairs. ‘I hope it was not damaged by being abandoned?’
‘Not at all. I must just complete a minor task before I can fully relax.’
‘Then I shall wait for you with eager anticipation.’
We parted at the foot of the stairs, he towards the workshop, I in the direction of my rooms. But only until Sir Edward was out of sight. Then I took my skirts in both hands and ran towards that window, two stories down from the roof.
A foot away from it, I stopped, and leaned back against the wall. I was shaking, still. This was wrong, doubly and triply wrong. I should never have helped the two fugitives to escape, should not have concealed from Sir Edward that Lechasseur had survived. I was malfunctioning terribly.
I could still walk away. Lechasseur would lose his grip in the end, he would fall, all would be as it should have been.
No. I couldn’t do that. I unlatched the window, and threw up the sash. My hands were trembling violently. I felt sure that if I reached out to help Lechasseur in, I would lose my hold on him and let him fall. I gripped the window-frame hard. I would not shake, I would be steady. I listened to the faint, gentle hum of my whirring cogs until the sound calmed me. If I was to malfunction, if it was inevitable, I would at least do it efficiently. The same way I did everything else.
I leaned out, took hold of Lechasseur’s wrists, and hauled him inside.
‘You took your time,’ he grumbled, brushing himself down.
I motioned him to be quiet. Sir Edward might be listening. Beckoning Lechasseur to follow me, I led him down the corridor towards my rooms.
Once there, I felt a little safer. The familiar furnishings, the deep-pile carpet, the double bed strewn with cushions, all calmed me. I looked over at Lechasseur, who was examining a vase on the mantelshelf.
‘This is really old,’ he said, curiously fascinated. ‘I can sense it. It comes from China, doesn’t it?’
‘I don’t know. I don’t know anything about vases.’
‘Yeah, that’s right, you’re a robot. You don’t know anything about anything, do you?’
I sat down on the bed, and picked up one of the cushions. ‘Only one thing.’
He barely glanced at me as he set the vase back on the shelf. ‘Oh yeah, I remember. You – mentioned that.’
I might have asked him what he meant, if I hadn’t heard footsteps approaching down the corridor outside. ‘Quick!’ I hissed. ‘Hide!’
‘Where?’
I pointed to the wardrobe. ‘In there! Quickly!’
He darted inside, just as Sir Edward opened the door and came in. I hastily lay back on the bed, arranging myself into an alluring pose. Sir Edward locked the door behind him, then sat down and, without saying a word, reached for the ties of my bodice. I sighed in apparent ecstasy, and began to remove his breeches.
Later, I was lying with my head pillowed on Sir Edward’s chest while he stroked my hair.
‘That was even better than usual,’ he said quietly.
‘Yes,’ I murmured, ‘I felt it too.’ Need I remind my reader that I had no sense of touch, and that Sir Edward, who had built me, knew this better than anyone? Yet he still liked to have me say such things to him.
‘You are so marvellous,’ he whispered. ‘So very marvellous. And I made you. Who do you obey?’
‘Only you, Sir Edward.’
He smiled at me. ‘Only me. Always me. That’s right.’ He was silent for a long moment. ‘You would never laugh at me, would you, my sweet?’
‘Never.’
‘Nor call me a fool for spending my days in my workshop.’
‘You are a genius, Sir Edward. Of course you must spend your days in your workshop.’
He touched his lips to my hair. ‘What would they say, I wonder,’ he said quietly, ‘if they could see me now?’
I did not know, I had never known, who ‘they’ were. But I knew from long experience what I must say now. ‘They would envy you bitterly, and beg you to forgive them for their jeers and harsh words in the days of your youth.’
‘Yes, they would. They would.’
‘Of course they would,’ I said, and reached out to touch Sir Edward in the ways that pleased him. He lay in murmurous pleasure for a moment, then sat up and looked down at me.
‘This is a special occasion. You shall wear one of your special outfits, for me.’ He got to his feet, pulling on his breeches, and went to open the wardrobe door.
I lay on the bed, watching. What else could I do? Never, in all my existence, had I attempted to deny him anything. Even to want to deny his desires was a thing from which my mind shrank, appalled. So I lay and watched, while Sir Edward opened the wardrobe door.
Lechasseur stepped out of the cabinet, as calmly as a man coming out of his own house. ‘Hi there,’ he said, urbanely, smiling at Sir Edward in a friendly way. ‘As I said before, I really don’t want to be intruding on your privacy. But I just had to meet you. You see, I’m Honoré Lechasseur, an officer in the US Army Corps of Engineers.’ He paused, as though waiting for the other man to reply
Sir Edward was still looking at him, his mouth fallen open, his face a mask of utter astonishment. He made a few strangled sounds, but seemed to be otherwise incapable of speech.
Lechasseur leaned closer to him, and took him confidentially by the arm. ‘We’re really very interested in the work that you’ve been doing here – and particularly in your machine over there.’ He nodded towards me, where I lay on the bed.
Sir Edward, completely taken in by this appeal to his pride, looked from me to Lechasseur, and I saw an almost painful hope begin to grow in his eyes. ‘You – you understand? You see how – what an achievement, what a vast achievement –’
‘Sure,’ Lechasseur replied, soothingly. ‘We understand these things. From what we hear, you must be the world’s greatest inventor.’
Sir Edward turned to face him, his eyes positi
vely glowing with delight. ‘Oh I am!’ he cried. ‘I am! My dear sir – will it please you to follow me? I would like to show you,’ and here his voice dropped a tone, becoming low and confiding, ‘my workshop.’
Lechasseur looked deeply gratified. ‘That would be a privilege, indeed.’
Sir Edward turned to me. ‘Dress yourself, my dear. You shall come with us.’
I began to put my clothes on as quickly as I could, my mind in a whirl. The US Army Corps of Engineers? Was that really where Lechasseur had come from? But then, why had he not said so straight away? Had he perhaps thought that he would be treated as a spy? Or was this all simply a ruse to deceive Sir Edward? If so – I glanced quickly at Sir Edward while I dressed – it was certainly succeeding. So taken was he with the idea of being visited by a representative of a foreign power, that he had not even questioned why such a man would be hiding in his wardrobe. I laced up my bodice and slipped on my shoes, then turned back to the men. ‘I am ready, Sir Edward.’
‘Now, sir,’ said my master, taking my arm, ‘follow me.’
As we went down the corridor, I kept my eyes on my shoes, trying to prevent my excitement and trepidation from showing. For I had never seen Sir Edward’s workshop before; nor, I believe, would I have seen it now, if not for the fact that my creator wanted to show off his other inventions without relinquishing the chance to show off my own wonderful beauty. Yes, I knew I was beautiful – how could I not? I had been told so many times.
Now we were at the door of the workshop. There was a moment’s pause while Sir Edward fumbled in his pocket for the key; then the lock clicked open, and he ushered Lechasseur and me inside.
It was a marvellous place. There were shelves around the walls, piled high with all manner of mechanical parts, besides other things; fur, wool, silk, glass, coils of gold wire, piles of semi-precious stones. And on the work-benches around the room stood marvels.
One of these, the nearest, was a perfect facsimile of a small, lithe black cat, crouched down and looking for all the world as though it were about to spring. This Sir Edward took up in his hands, and turned over and over as he stood addressing Lechasseur. ‘Now, you will, of course, have heard of Vaucansen?’