Dawn of Steam: Gods of the Sun (5 page)

Once at Miss Bowe's entrance to the city, he managed to make his way, again, to the rooftops. I suppose so much of young life aboard an airship, with all of its ropes and pipes and such – and needing to access anywhere that might have rats and mice in abundance – would help a child become a strong climber. He climbed to the top of a building and, seeing no one else, scouted out what hiding places he might make use of. In time he heard voices and peeked over the edge of the roof to see a few American soldiers, accompanied by the Spaniard he recognized, speaking with one of the owners of the local shops. They reached some agreement, and the men began to deploy around the area in hiding. One with a Baker rifle made his way to an adjoining rooftop, and Matthew scrambled back to a hiding place before he was discovered.

Shortly thereafter, Miss Bowe made her way back into town and into the teeth of the ambush. Had she any reason to suspect such a thing, or were she in a more natural element to her, I cannot be certain she would have needed the help, but this time, he said, she showed no sign of being aware of the cowardly assault. He took aim with his slingshot, and as the sniper was taking aim on the arrival, he fired, striking the man in the side of the head. The rifle fired, but off by some few feet. Close enough to warn Miss Bowe that the shot was, indeed, intended for her.

Had there been even a moment of confusion, with so many guns to the opposition, she likely still would have been lost, but from the moment of the shot, Matthew says she was racing for the greater cover of the city. Musket fire erupted, but none of the gunmen successfully found their target. Matthew says he stood up, jumping about and shouting to her where men were hidden, and Miss Bowe has agreed that she saw him at this act of simultaneous bravery and stupidity.

The added noise split some part of the muskets, and while the cover of the roofs was enough that he thankfully was not hit, he was close enough to the edge that she might see him, and the first shots were not far off. He set off running for cover, with men scrambling to the level of the rooftops as quickly as they could to get after him. He said one got quite close, but when Matthew turned and shot him with his slingshot, the man tumbled off of the rooftop, having been too close to the edge. Finding a place to hide and keeping quiet enough then that a few men moved by him, he watched as a peculiar scene unfolded. Miss Bowe has done little other than confirm Matthew's report, so I remain reliant upon his information for this account.

He insists that Miss Bowe could not simply climb the walls, but instead, reached the cover of the buildings, then, on the run, jumped high enough to take hold of a second story balcony and pulled herself up. The Spaniard followed almost as quickly, using his whip as a tool to assist in scaling the walls. Others of his company also followed upward, but more clumsily than either Miss Bowe or the Spaniard. Matthew reports there was a duel between the pair on the rooftops when he caught up with her. The pair circled for a time while the Spaniard tried to delay her long enough to allow his reinforcements to arrive. He does not know what words were exchanged between the pair, only that they spoke, with the Spaniard grinning like a court fool the whole time.

After those few words, both went for their weapons. The bullwhip was dropped in favor of his sword, and the pair clashed a number of times, with the sword's greater reach and his skill balancing out Miss Bowe's skill with her knives. She was finally distracted by one of York's men reaching the top of the building. He made a clumsy grab at her, and she was able to knock him back off the edge of the building. This distracted her long enough for the Spaniard to go for one of his guns instead. Miss Bowe threw a knife, disarming him of the gun, though he was quick enough to pr
event it from being a more grievous wound. As Matthew learned some new words in Spanish, Miss Bowe seized the moment and jumped to the next building over, making an impressive leap Matthew didn't initially believe possible. The soldiers who had reached the rooftops fired after her, none hitting. The Spaniard recovered his gun and whip and went after her. Without Miss Bowe's athleticism or the Spaniard's expert use of his tools, no other could keep up.

After this, Matthew lost track of the both of them. While Miss Bowe speaks very little of the fight, she insists they both left their mark upon the other, with her bearing a shallow cut on one arm. Left to a one-on-one fight, I am uncertain from her account of precisely who escaped from whom, but in any case, she assures me that he yet lives.

Having seen Miss Bowe with her knives, I can only say that I would have paid good money to have seen that confrontation, and I wonder how dangerous a man he might yet be to have escaped the confrontation with his life. Were it anyone else, I'd wager a brace of guns and a good sword in the hands of an expert over a handful of knives anytime. Here, it seemed that evened the gap enough that I am grateful I have not had to face the man myself.

Matthew used the distraction provided by this to sneak behind the soldiers, who were still searching for him, and dropped down from the rooftops. Though he made enough noise on hitting the ground to get attention again, he also had enough of a head start to evade the men chasing him. Once within the city, a person can become lost in New Orleans with amazing ease, so I can quite imagine how quickly it might have become impossible for the soldiers to capture a single small boy.

Matthew had made his way back towards the dirigible. The troops about it had defended his family's right to keep their privacy aboard, and the new soldiers would not be allowed to board. Likewise, he was sure Miss Bowe should be able to find him there and would travel there eventually. He found some few troops prowling about the area beyond, possibly looking for weak points in the patrols or some other chance to breach our ship's defenses and get aboard.

One of these men passed him, and a few seconds later, he heard a body drop. He is unsure if Miss Bowe knocked him unconscious, or had enough confidence in the prowler's loyalties as to dispatch him, but Miss Bowe found Matthew a few seconds later, even in his hiding spot. He told her all that had transpired and where we were. The pair came after us not long after, not risking giving themselves away by going to the dirigible. Our first sign of them was when Matthew again appeared at the window, waving one hand frantically to beckon to us while the other held on to his precarious perch. When Miss Bowe helped him back towards the roof and appeared herself, it was enough to convince us.

Using Julietta's knife, we cut ourselves free, though Eddy had to lift the writing desk – no small effort, I assure you – that we could slide the other end of the shackles out from it. This still left me chained, but for the time, there was no help for it. The opening of the window was a tricky thing, for it was determined to make some noise. Thankfully, the guards below had been taken care of. I could not see, again, if they were unconscious or dead when we made our escape, though their presence guarding us assured me enough that they were among our enemy, so either way, I could not feel terribly sorry for them.

Though we opened the window carefully, it may have still drawn some attention, or else they had chosen just that moment look in on us again. Eddy managed to shove the bed against the door, but that made enough noise to raise an alarm. We hurried out the window as quickly as we could and made it out, though the door was opened soon enough that at least two shots were fired as Eddy made his way out through the window at last. They missed, but it was a near thing, judging by his expression as he dropped to the ground. With the place erupting like a hornet's nest, we were able to disappear into New Orleans.

As they of course could not let the city know we had been kidnapped, and many of the guards remain loyal to England and our company, their search could not proceed too far or too obviously. At the same time, we could not know who was among York's men and whom we might be able to trust. Miss Penn was able to find an unlocked door, or perhaps had made it so. She has some talent for the unladylike art of picking locks, which she would demonstrate in releasing me from my chains once we had found ourselves a place to rest and consider our options.

Indeed, she began the efforts to unlock me from my chains even as I began this account. Eddy and Matthew have left to retrieve Eddy
's rifle and the remaining guns, that we might have half a chance to rescue Miss Wright and Sir James. It has been agreed that the best opportunity to do so would be while half of them are out searching for us. It is hoped that Col. York will not do anything too harmful to them while we are escaped, with the foundation that he is reasonable enough to know that they are his only bargaining tool should we prove able to get to him. Either way, we are waiting for the weapons, by which we may have some chance in this, and for Matthew's safe return to his guardians if possible, though Eddy may need to sneak aboard and away without chance to go unobserved if he has company. In the meanwhile, I write so that I do not go mad thinking of what Col. York may even now be doing to our companions, though there is no help for it until we have a fighting chance. When Eddy returns, we shall have a short time to plan, but we cannot delay too long.

January 25th, 1816

New Orleans

29º57'N 090º04'W

Eddy has returned to us, and we have learned some new information. After he returned, he and Miss Bowe scouted out the inn as best they could without taking too many risks. Sir James is being held in an upstairs room, where he is being interrogated quite harshly, and does not look to be in the best of condition. We have guessed he has not broken yet, and thus he remains of use to them.

Miss Wright is in a room with two other women and guards nearby. She is not tied, but both other women are armed. She showed no signs of any physical harm, so at least that much is fortunate. For all that one of the women appeared to be a woman of some breeding and low character, and the other is a stern and bookish-looking woman, we are keeping in mind that the loose woman is also a manipulator and poisoner, and we can take no one in York's entourage lightly.

We have also learned in our conversations, through hesitant admission, that Miss Coltrane is capable, though clumsily and haltingly, of piloting her brother's machine. Apparently on a lark at one point, with her companion already working for her brother as a mechanic, Miss Coltrane was able to convince Sir James to allow her to learn the controls for the machine. She has a fine memory and education for a young woman, and her mind was sharp enough to master the controls to some degree. From time to time, in quiet, she has been permitted to work on her control over the machine, such that while normally she would consider doing no such thing as entering it in combat, these dire circumstances may merit thought of things we would not normally consider.

She thought it might come in useful, even though we eventually discarded such an option in favor of stealth, at least at first, but agreed it may be necessary should we need backup. When we have begun the attack, she, Miss Penn, and Matthew will make haste back to the ship to ready whatever resources can be mustered and to prepare the machine. Though this is all shocking in its way, theirs is not a conventional family, and it does not surprise me that the sister should continue to prove her merits and mind. She is also very clearly worried about both of her relations.

We are now awaiting only two last details. Miss Bowe is sneaking back aboard the airship to fetch her ornithopter, that she might come in from above more easily and have a means to quickly escape, or possibly bring someone else down off the rooftops. As she proved with Matthew, while the device does not have the power in its wings to fly while bearing two, it can slow a descent. With the Spaniard about, and so outnumbered, she does not wish to take any chances.

Secondly, Eddy is gathering reinforcements. While normally he could not be certain who might be mercenaries in York's employ and who might be on our side, his socializing might have had some use to it, for he previously met some men who seemed particularly eager to meet Sir James. They had served with him in combat operations but never met the man outside of backing up his assault. That they are from Virginia, as was Miss Wright before she moved to England, only encourages him. He knows where they linger at this time of day and believes he can recruit them. They are only a few additional guns, but anyone we can trust is a boon, and they might know more.

When we have all the allies of whom we can be certain, Miss Bowe will see to rescuing Miss Wright, while Eddy and I, with what troops we have convinced to our side, will attempt to penetrate as deeply into the inn as we might and try to rescue Sir James. The dirigible will move above the inn so that we might have backup if we need it. We can only hope that with only one hostage
left to him, and one he needs if he is ever to profit from his actions, he will not simply kill Sir James.

Even with the speed and resources we have on our side, there seems to simply be no way we might effect a rescue without getting him shot in surprise and putting our people amidst too many guns. If there is no hope for his situation, however, it is hoped that York will see reason and surrender. Despite his treacherous ways so far, he seems to be an intelligent man and certainly will understand the value of negotiation out of a difficult situation.

We will know soon enough. In the meanwhile, along with the other notes gathered in this collection, should anyone find these notes, we are probably now dead. Know that Col. York is a traitor to England, a kidnapper, and associated with the worst kind of company. He has taken control of leadership of English and colonial forces out of New Orleans and must be removed as quickly as possible.