Sky Song: Overture (11 page)

XIV. Fear of Flying

C
hildren are less reserved about showing and sharing their fears. They will cling to the nearest adult and ask with pleading eyes for any reassurance. Molly had this energy about her as we prepared to board Dirk’s new ship the Eclipse.

I read the pamphlet listing the dirigible’s impressive features. The Eclipse had earned her name after an older model was essentially eclipsed by superior technology. She was of the same generation as the Wastrel, but had been installed with electric engines, reserve gas cells, showers, heat and plumbing. I was blabbering on about how excited I was to explore when I noticed Molly’s distant stare. I could tell she wasn’t listening, but it did not bother me. I had been speaking more to myself anyhow.

Stairwells unhinged and dropped open at the bottom of the gondola. Molly and I were to be the first to board, but the girl clasped her mitts around my arm and pulled me back like an anchor.

“Molly?”

Her legs trembled, her face as white as a cloud. “I can’t,” she murmured.

I signaled for the men to go on ahead of us and knelt before her. “Molly,” I said. “What is the matter?”

“The last time I was on an airship, it was blown to bits,” she whimpered.

I scratched my throat and squinted at her sideways. “Yes, well, this is a very safe ship, and the journey only takes two nights.”

“We could be attacked again,” she said.

“Unlikely, and if we were, just remember that you’re on a ship full of pirates. We’ll keep you safe.”

“I don’t want to go to Windmark anymore. Can I change my mind?”

Certainly the child had the right to turn back and remain with the Belle family in Nelise, but if she made that choice, I knew she would never muster the courage to board an airship again. “No, Molly. You have to get on that ship. Now I can’t promise anything, but the likelihood of something happening is very small. These ships are built to withstand all kinds of things, and this one is shiny and new, with technology superior to the Wastrel. I’ve spent weeks at a time up in these old birds, and you just have to get through a few days.”

“Don’t you ever get scared?” asked Molly.

I laughed. “Of course I do! And sick to boot! But flying is too much fun to let that get in the way! Besides, your brother and I would miss you terribly.”

“Truly?”

I gave her hand a squeeze. “You know that we would. Come on, flygirl!” I pulled her up the stairs and we boarded the Eclipse.

The compact hallways wound through the belly of the ship. Molly’s nervosa shifted into excitement as we discovered different locations together. She gasped and skipped into the mess hall, running her hands over the metallic surfaces of tables that were bolted to the wall. Baker and Pierce were seated at one, and as we came in, their conversation evaporated and they stared at us as if we were a pair of unicorns prancing through.

“Gentlemen,” Molly greeted, bouncing a slight curtsy.

I stood in the doorway, holding both sides as the engines began to shake the ship. Molly stumbled and Pierce stood halfway to catch her.

“Ahem. Thank you,” she said.

“You have to hold onto something at take off, pet,” said Pierce, sitting back down. Molly took a place on the bench beside him. All three gripped the table. I held fast in the threshold. I looked at Baker, noting his bleak countenance. The windows went gray as we rose up in a dense mist. Molly squealed and her effervescence made Pierce grin.

We floated like a bubble that breaches the surface of water, higher than the birds in an instant. As my ears popped and that rush of adrenalin hit me I couldn’t resist the urge to smile, but I soon noticed Baker was not smiling with the rest of us. A hard expression stole across his features.

A man is different when he doesn’t smile, and while Baker was a good friend to have on a pirate ship, he made a terrible enemy. When I called him a bastard, I had forgotten he could snap my neck with his bare hands. He was a pirate. To him, stealing was the same as earning and killing meant nothing because the whole world had been out to get him from the start.

“Come on, Molly,” I said. We left the mess hall to find the captain’s quarters. We headed down the long narrow corridor all the way to the end and took the stairwell to level B. His chamber occupied this floor.

What this new ship lacked in adornment, it made up for in utility. The berth was above a row of wooden drawers and beneath a lofted storage closet. It had a rail that slid up and down to keep the sleeper from falling out.

Dirk was attaching his hammock to a hook on the wall. “Ah, Clikk. I completely forgot,” he said upon seeing me. “I suppose it only makes sense that you lodge here. I only brought one hammock.”

“I’ll take the bed with Molly,” I said. “I cannot lodge in the sleeping quarters with the rest of them. There are still tensions.”

Molly found her luggage trunk and opened it up, pulling out a thick brown envelope.

“You must know your brothers would never harm you. Those who are still with us are the most honorable men I’ve ever known.”

“With all due respect, Captain, these men are hardened criminals.”

“So are you, Clikk.”

I shrugged. When I turned back around to check on Molly, I discovered her working on some messy project. Loose hair lay scattered like a fine mist. The child wove the strands into coils and was mounting it on cardstock.

“Is that?” I gasped. “Is that my hair? Or rather Fiona’s hair?”

“Who?” Molly asked.

“Molly! Clean that up! This is a shared space!” barked Dirk.

“Sorry,” she said, collecting the hair back into the envelope. “I’ve just wanted something to keep busy.”

“I have a project for you,” said Dirk. “I was thinking you and Clikk could write a song, something to motivate the troops before the siege of Locwyn. If it’s good, it might even become our national anthem.”

“Really?” Molly beamed, stars in her eyes. “Might we get started now?”

“I suppose. Shall we give Clikk the surprise?”

Molly clapped her hands, jumping up and down.

Dirk reached into a drawer under the berth and pulled out an instrument case. Inside was a new fiddle. I ran my fingertips over the smooth form and plucked the strings. The fiddle was in impeccable condition and smelled like the inside of Cook’s pantry. I thanked him for the present, and got to work right away.

Writing that blasted song made me regret not lodging with my brothers. Molly and I rewrote it over and over, loving it at times, hating it at others. Molly handled the lyrics while I composed a standard uplifting melody, but everything kept changing until we both arrived at the conclusion that we wanted it to be done. We played our final version for Dirk on the second night of our journey, Molly singing while I accompanied her.

Rebels of the rising sun,

Royalists assemble,

Unite and slay tyranny,

In our wake they will tremble.

Arise and see the light that tears

Through the clouds of a midnight dark.

‘Tis your King, ‘tis the rising sun,

Resurrected and crowned by the gods.

Raise your sword at your captain’s behest,

Run them through, disembowel the rest.

Arise, Elsace!

Arise.

“A bit macabre, don’t you think?” commented Dirk.

“The old anthem had an entire verse about the entrails of corruption,” Molly pointed out.

“I suppose. Well, you’re entitled to your creative license but we will not be using that for the anthem.”

There was suddenly a loud pop overhead that rattled the cabin. The lights flickered out and a red bulb came on in the corner of the room. Molly grabbed my hand.

“Those bloody idiots!” Dirk snarled, storming out of the room.

“Clikk?” Molly whined.

“It’s only a bit of lightning.” I saw the terror flashing in her eyes. An imminent fall had already swept through her mind. “The reserve power will keep our engines serviced. Nothing to worry about. I’d best go help your brother.” I put my fiddle and bow away in their case and strapped everything to my back. If we were going down, I wasn’t losing my instrument again.

“Don’t leave me here alone!” Molly cried.

I nodded, taking her by the arm. “Come on then.”

We traveled down narrow red hallways. The ship slid on the wind and we fell against the wall. Molly screamed, catching herself. I heard shouts overhead in the engine room. Something was not right in there, so up we went.

“Clikk! I’m scared!”

We came around the bend of the staircase. On the next level were some parachutes, so I ripped one off the wall and handed it to Molly.

“Take off your dress and put this on. Quickly.” I helped her strip down to her chemise and bloomers; then she stepped into her harness and we secured the belts. I went over the cords with her. “If you should find yourself needing to deploy your chute, pull this. If that doesn’t work—look at me now—if that doesn’t work, pull this one.”

She sobbed uncontrollably. “I don’t want to fall again. I don’t want to. Please, Clikk.”

“Why not? First time’s the scariest. Second time’s a blast!” I pulled the child along into the engine room. The men were shoving random debris into a furnace and I began to understand what was going on. Our electric engines were shot and we were dead in the air.

The Eclipse’s induction engines had been built right on top of its original steam engines, coils wrapped around the old form. The men gathered old maps, books, hammocks and whatever else they could scrape together to shove on the flame. With good old steam heat and pistons, they fueled the antique engines to propel our ship.

“If it’s not bolted down, burn it!” Dirk hollered over the rumble of the old engines breathing life. He labored alongside the men, breaking down any timber he could find to fuel the flames. “We’re all dead if we can’t get out of these winds!”

I could hear the riveted panels moaning beneath the howl of the storm. High enough wind speeds could rip us open bow to stern, and if we didn’t get moving, it was only a question of when.

Lightning burst like a cannon blast, striking the ship again. A steel cable snapped outside. The engine room jerked and we all took a spill across the floor.

“Get them out of here!” Jasper growled, throwing his finger at Molly and me. “I knew a woman on a ship was bad luck! And our fool of a captain has two of ‘em up here.”

The wall sucked me up flat against it. Molly screamed, and as the wall pulled her in, she didn’t stop screaming. Her wail made my eardrums throb.

“Saul! Climb up into the envelope and flood that balloon with Skye!” Dirk shouted, crawling on the wall. He made it over to the lever that manually released ballast and gave it a hard yank. Saul battled against gravity and climbed the central ladder. It traveled directly through the mast into the lower section of the balloon, where Skye tanks could be manipulated directly. “Clikk!” shouted Dirk. “Take that sealant there and go patch the balloon!”

The pull eased up as Saul filled the bird with lift. Our spinning sink was under control at least for now. I secured my footing. The wall with the tool fastener was closest to me, so I grabbed the sealant gun off its tether and dashed towards the stairwell. Molly came chasing after, pleading for me to stay with her. I could not. I had orders.

Rain pummeled the balloon like thousands of pins colliding with tin. Visibility came and went as black clouds drifted across the deck. We were caught in a swarm of darkness and danger so much greater than ourselves. The wind roared and tore several railing pegs out at their roots.

“Hold onto something, and if you must, jump!” I told Molly.

I could not know she had heard me over the wind until I saw her wrap her arms and legs around the center mast. A steel cable had come loose from the balloon. It undulated like a wild serpent, smacking the body of the gondola. I leapt onto the cable that ran alongside it and shimmied towards the envelope, sealant gun clenched between my teeth.

White light flickered. My heart skipped a beat as crackling thunder cried out for my body and soul. The pouring rain blinded me. The wind ripped off my flight cap and my hair, instantly drenched, clung to my head. Weather fabric rolled on the wind, rippling violently. I pulled it over a beam of the balloon’s skeleton, took the sealant gun in hand and aimed at the leak, squeezing the trigger hard. Silver gunk oozed out and bonded the gash. I had done it.

A gust of wind lifted me off the cable and the sky swallowed my tool. I flew towards the stern, barely catching myself on the rail. My body flailed on the wind. Soon every muscle in my arms ached, and began to tremble and burn against the force of the moving ship. The sky opened its ghastly maw to claim me.

“No!” Molly’s strident screech tore through the wind roar.

I felt a pair of hands tighten around my wrists like hose clamps. I looked up, squinting through the dense rainfall. Molly reeled me in, every muscle in her face screwed up tight, emitting a fierce cry as she harnessed all her strength. She truly was her brother’s sister.