Rebel Mechanics (30 page)

When we reached the theater, I knew I'd never get Henry past the lookouts at the main entrance. Instead, I led him around the building, looking for the alley where Alec and I had escaped from the raid that never happened. I'd been blindfolded then, but now that I knew where the theater was, I was able to find it. Deep within the alley, I spotted the open basement window and peered through to ensure it was the room I remembered. “I'd better go in first,” I said.

“That looks like a long drop. I should go first and assist you.”

“They're less likely to shoot me on sight, if anyone's there.”

“Then be very careful with that drop.”

He knelt beside me and helped me get my skirts through the small window. My feet found the ladder that was still below the window, and I got my footing, then took stock of the room, making sure no one was there before signaling for Henry to come down.

When he stepped onto the floor, I tugged on his necktie to make him bend so I could speak directly into his ear—the only way to be heard over the sound of the dynamo without shouting. “Follow my lead, and let me do the talking.” I paused. “Maybe I should go up alone first.”

He shook his head, then said into my ear, “You're not going anywhere without me.”

We went up the narrow stairs to the auditorium, which looked like any other theater after a performance. Some of the chairs had been knocked over or shoved aside, as though the audience had left in a hurry. The floor was littered with programs. There were no signs that the Rebel Mechanics had ever been there. A light came from the balcony, and I could see people up there. Gesturing for Henry to be as quiet as possible, I led him up the side aisle to the balcony stairs. As we climbed the curved staircase, I felt like I was leading a cat into a mouse hole. They would see this as a betrayal.

Then, I reflected, they would know how I felt about what they'd done to me, only I was doing this to help them, not to trick or use anyone. The closer I got to the top of the stairs, the more uneasy I became. This would be the first time I'd seen Alec since I'd learned the truth, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to hit him or kiss him. I'd imagined bringing him some important piece of information and him being appropriately penitent about how he'd treated me and awed about what a brilliant spy I was, but now that I was actually doing so, I felt certain he wouldn't react the way I wanted him to. I only hoped that I didn't reveal how hurt I was to Alec or show enough emotion that Henry would infer anything about our relationship.

At the top of the stairs, I nearly ran into Nat. “Verity!” he said. “What are you doing here so late? Don't you know there's a revolution on?”

“I have news. It's important—urgent.”

Nat turned to shout, “Alec! Colin! Lizzie! It's Verity. She says it's important.” Then he turned back and noticed Henry behind me. “And she's brought a magpie with her!”

He backed away to join the circle of Mechanics that came to loom at the top of the staircase. As I saw their decidedly unfriendly expressions, it occurred to me that this might be more like bringing a mouse into a group of cats.

 

IN WHICH WE MUST LIGHTEN THE LOAD

Alec stepped forward, gesturing for the others to stay back and, I hoped, not do anything rash. “What is this, Verity?” he demanded, his voice harsh. He seemed a very different person from the one I'd known. Henry wasn't the only one who maintained a mask.

It was easier to face this near-stranger than the boy I'd been falling in love with, but I still fought to keep my voice calm so it wouldn't betray my emotions. “The British are going to seize the machines. They're searching the whole area door-to-door, quite thoroughly, and they're closing in on you.”

He glanced at Henry, who stood silently beside me. “It must be easy for them if you lead them straight to us,” Alec said with a sneer. “Is this your revenge?”

“Don't be stupid,” I snapped, forgetting my vow to keep my emotions in check. “This is Lord Henry Lyndon, and he's here to help.”

“Help how?”

“Do you really think you can get your machines out of the city under the noses of the British troops without magical assistance?” Henry asked evenly.

“Let's hear what he has to say,” Colin said with a shrug. “We don't have to let him leave if we don't believe him.”

Although he was in far more danger than I was, Henry stayed protectively next to me as the rebels escorted us to the table where they'd been gathered. Colin rushed forward to hide the papers that had been spread out on it. Alec gestured for Henry to sit at the head of the table, and then other rebels filled in next to him, with one standing behind him. I took an empty seat farther down.

If Henry was flustered by such hostile surroundings, he didn't show it. This was, after all, the man who hadn't reacted when the girl he'd encountered during a train robbery showed up to interview for a position in his home. He didn't play the fool this time, though. This Henry was the Masked Bandit, only without the mask, regarding the rebels as though he was the one who had them at a disadvantage. Even in the dim light, his eyes showed icy blue.

“Now, tell us why we should believe you,” Alec said to him. “The soldiers were just here for the show. They'd think there's nothing here to seize.”

“We were at the governor's ball when the governor received a message and gathered a few officers for a conference in his study. I presume this was in response to whatever action you carried out tonight. I manufactured an excuse to slip away so I could see what was in the study, and Verity likewise went snooping—quite independently from my activities, I assure you. I had no idea of her efforts on behalf of the cause.”

Alec leaned forward. “What did it matter to you?”

Henry paused, considering for a moment, then he grinned and said, “I'm as much a rebel as any of you. Have you heard of the Masked Bandits?”

There were gasps around the table, and Alec turned to me. “That's why you wanted to help them at the fort? You knew who he was? And you said nothing?”

“I'm very good at keeping secrets,” I said.

“You were the ones who helped that night?” Henry asked, his composure slipping a little. “I knew someone must have created a diversion. Verity, that's how you knew about the boat? Were you there?”

I started to respond, but Alec held up a hand, signaling for silence. “So you're one of the Masked Bandits,” he said to Henry, sounding skeptical.

“I
lead
the Masked Bandits.” Henry gestured around the room at the various bits of machinery. “Who do you think's been funding your merry band of Mechanics all along? But this is hardly the time to argue about who's more revolutionary than whom. I've gone to quite a bit of risk to ensure that you people succeed, and I won't have you throw it away over petty prejudices. Verity and I saw the governor's order to search this entire area and take the machines.” He pulled the blotter page from his pocket, unfolded it, waved his hand over it to make the letters glow, then threw it on the table. The Mechanics shied away from the magic, even as they tried to read the message.

“This time, the raid is real,” I added, giving Alec a frosty glare.

“Now, do you want my help getting your machines out of the city or not?” Henry said. “I've got my entire gang ready to come at a moment's notice.”

“They know where we are?” Colin asked, rising from his seat.

“The exact location would have to come when I tell them they're needed.”

“How do you think you can get the machines out of here?”

“I can magically make them silent. I can use glamour to make people not see them. I can entrance soldiers so they'll do nothing as we go past.”

“Wait a second!” Mick, who had remained quiet at Alec's side this whole time, jumped to his feet and pointed at Henry. “Why is he so fired up about getting the machines out of the city? It could be part of their plot to steal them!”

“That is a good question,” Alec said.

“They'll tear the city apart to find those machines because without them, you have no revolution.” Henry shrugged slightly. “Really, even
with
the machines you haven't much of one.”

“Then what's that going on out there?” Colin asked, gesturing in the general direction of the fires.

“It's fighting. That's different from revolution. Do you have a plan to bring down the colonial government? If you do, do you have a plan for what will replace it? Do you have plans for extending the fight beyond this one small part of the city and into the rest of the colonies so that you stand a chance against the British Empire? Or do you expect the colonials to spontaneously rise up at your example and take matters into their own hands?”

“I suppose
you've
got all that worked out?” Alec asked, his voice sharp.

“Not yet, which is why I've been laying the groundwork instead of provoking fights with the British and showing off what I have in my arsenal. Tonight's little foray is driving you out of town and could have lost you your machines. Was it worth it?”

Alec smiled tightly. “You have no idea.”

I stood and pounded on the table. “Boys!” I shouted in my sternest governess voice. They stopped arguing and turned to look at me. More conversationally, I continued, “We can debate the merits of our respective revolutionary plans later. But for now, the soldiers are closing in on us, and you're running out of time. We're offering assistance. Do you want it?”

Alec stood and gestured to his comrades. They went off into a corner, and muffled sounds of discussion came our way, but I couldn't make out any words. “So these are your friends?” Henry asked.

“I thought they were, at one time. But that's too long a story for tonight.”

“If they don't let me help, this will become more difficult.”

“How so?”

“Stealing their machines would be the biggest heist I've ever managed.”

“You wouldn't!”

“I'd have to. We don't have the slightest chance of winning a revolution without those machines, even with some magisters on our side.”

The Mechanics returned to us, and Alec stood facing Henry. “We will accept your help.”

“Very sensible of you,” Henry said, rising and reaching into his pocket. “Allow me to contact my colleagues.” He went into the corner the rebels had just vacated and spoke briefly into something that looked like a small pocket mirror. He came back to us, putting the object in his pocket as he walked. “They should be here soon, but in the meantime, I can help you get started. The hard part will be getting everything out of this part of town.”

Alec grinned. “Actually, that will be the easy part. Where we'll need your help is getting out of the city.”

We trooped down to the basement and into a corridor I'd never seen. It smelled familiar, though, and I suspected I knew where Alec was leading us. We came out into the underground railway station. “This leads uptown, past where you live,” Alec told Henry. “We use it to transport machines within the city.”

Henry gazed wide-eyed around the chamber and at the machine powering the railway. “Remarkable!” he said with a huge grin. “So we'll merely need to load the machines onto your railway to get them out of the immediate reach of the soldiers.”

“That won't be easy,” Colin said. “The dynamo is heavy, and it isn't on wheels.”

“That's where I come in,” Henry said cheerfully.

His friends had arrived by the time we made it back to the theater's basement, where the machines had been hidden during the diversionary theatrical production. The dynamo had already been disconnected, and the group of magisters soon had it floating into the rail station, where it landed light as a feather on a flatbed car behind the pilot car. Once it was loaded, the car shot down the tunnel.

The Mechanics pushed the smaller steam engine into the cavern, with much effort, but the magisters stepped in and had it gliding along under its own power. After that demonstration, the Mechanics' resistance to magister help faded. Getting Bessie onto a flatbed car took a combined effort from magisters and Mechanics. While the magisters and Mechanics worked with the heavy machinery, Lizzie and I went around the theater, gathering all evidence of the Mechanics' presence there. It had mostly been cleared out for the performance, but in the balcony, basement, and dressing rooms we found some banners, maps, and machine diagrams that we added to the loads heading up the tunnel.

We worked in uncomfortable silence for a while before Lizzie finally said, “I know you're angry at us. Maybe we should have just honestly recruited you instead of staging all those little dramas for you, but you must admit that you were alarmed to learn we were Mechanics. Why should we have thought that you'd be open to joining us?”

“I didn't know anything about the Mechanics then, nothing more than was in the newspaper,” I said, rolling up a map. “But you may have noticed that I didn't snub you when I saw you again, and I accepted your invitations. You could have told me the truth at any time.”

She gathered several rolled charts into a bundle. “I suspect that what you're really angry about is Alec. That might have been going too far. That's my fault. I thought that would be the best way to reach you, and I pushed him into it.”

“So he
wasn't
interested,” I said with a grim nod.

“That's not what I meant. He didn't want to recruit you by seducing you.”

“And yet he did.” I had an armload of papers and maps, so I left the balcony.

She came behind me. “You're a good writer. That wasn't part of the recruitment plan—well, asking you to help was, but keeping you doing it wasn't. I hope you'll keep writing for the paper. I'll find you a new contact if you don't want to talk to me. But I hope you'll want to talk to me.”