Steamborn (9 page)

Charles shook his head. “Fine, I’m fine.” He took a few deep breaths and leaned into the bike. “Besides, anything comes over that wall, you’ll need to be swinging that sword, not pushing this damned bike.”

Samuel smiled and pointed at the next intersection. “Take a left here, and my uncle’s place is on the next corner.”

“Wow,” Jacob said. The storefront burst with colors and a small pyramid of fudge in the front window.

Samuel glanced over at the building with the blue awnings and nodded. “Best sweets shop in town.” He lowered his voice and said, “If you ask the owner.”

Jacob smiled slightly as they walked by. He watched a small girl pull an enormous cone-shaped candy out of a display made up like a rainbow-colored tree. Each branch of the little tree had different colors, shapes, and sizes of candy. More stayed behind a little glass display on the dark wood counter. She handed the candy to a small boy whose head was wrapped in a bandage. Jacob frowned.

“You can take Alice there later,” Samuel said.

Jacob turned away from the shop at the mention of her name.

A minute later, Samuel helped Charles slide two wide doors into the walls on either side of his uncle’s home, revealing a dark room beyond.

Jacob stared up at the brick face of the building. “How many floors is that?”

Samuel grunted. “Five.”

Jacob’s gaze trailed down from the distant roof, past the smooth stone of the balconies and decorative mosaic of a giant Jumper, to the doorway they’d just opened. He almost jogged into the workshop behind Charles and Samuel once he saw what was inside. It wasn’t as grand as Charles’s lab in the old observatory, but someone had filled it with enough tools and gadgets to keep Jacob occupied for hours.

“This is fantastic,” Charles said, setting the metal wedge beneath the steambike.

“I know it’s small …” Samuel said. “This used to be my uncle’s stables.”

Charles shook his head. “It’s plenty big for what I need. Thank you. Truly.” Charles reached out and grasped Samuel’s hand.

“Come on inside. I’ll introduce you to my uncle and we can see who else is staying with us. Samuel tugged the outer doors closed and hooked two simple metal latches on the interior.

Jacob followed Samuel and Charles through an arched doorway. The door would have looked just as good in the Hall in the Lowlands, all ancient oak and iron bars.

“Jacob!”

Jacob just had time to smile before his mother crossed the room and threatened to suffocate him in a bear hug. He heard Charles and Samuel talking to someone, their voices muffled by his mother’s. Jacob barely made out that Charles was going upstairs to get some rest. He tried to say goodnight, but his face was fully smothered by the ruffles on his mother’s green dress. For a moment, he remembered the Highlander at the city gates, her dress splashed in gore, and he shivered.

“Thank the gods you’re okay,” his mother said. She put a hand on either side of his face.

“Is Dad here? Is he okay?”

“Yes, honey, yes. We’re both fine. Samuel—bless him—Samuel helped us evacuate the street.”

“Good thing he did,” a tall, broad-shouldered man said. He stroked a salt-and-pepper beard before narrowing his eyes and extending his hand. “You must be Jacob.”

Jacob shook his hand, and it felt like half his arm disappeared into the man’s palm. The man was
huge.

“This is my uncle, Bartholomew,” Samuel said, settling onto the floor and leaning against the wall.

“Call me Bat,” Samuel’s uncle said. “Full name’s got too many letters to do anyone much good.” He grinned, and it lifted the edges of his beard.

Bat turned around and led the way into a parlor. The room was so large it made Bat look normal, and everyone else look small. A low, round table sat in the center of the room. Crushed velvet peeked out from between three women and a small stack of photographs. Jacob guessed the photos used to be displayed across the table, but they’d been stacked up to make room.

Bat introduced everyone as Jacob took a seat beside his father on a long, wood-framed couch. A large chandelier hung from the ceiling. It looked like iron with candles as thick as Jacob’s arm. He followed the chain up to the ceiling and turned his head so he could trace it to the far wall and down to a brass crank. The chain seemed like a much better idea than what they used in the Lowlands. Rope, no matter how well treated, could still catch fire.

He turned his attention back to the people in the room while Bat continued talking. It surprised Jacob how few of those people were members of Samuel’s family. It seemed Bat was taking in anyone who needed shelter. There were three other families from the Lowlands. They were all older than his parents and seated on ornate, paisley-patterned chairs and another wood-framed couch on the far wall. A few of the younger folks in the group sat on the ground, leaning against walls or family members.

Jacob couldn’t remember half the names by the time Bat was done. It all turned to mush. He was just happy to be with his parents again.

His dad coughed, and Jacob was glad to hear it didn’t sound as bad as it had the night before. He still looked pale, but the doctor had said it could take a while for that to change.

A sudden snore betrayed Samuel’s exhaustion.

Bat looked down at his nephew and smiled. “It’s been a long day for everyone. Let me show you to your rooms. Some of you will need to share, but we have plenty of space.” He started taking people away in groups. Some climbed the stairway that spiraled up in the northwestern corner of the room, while others trailed to the back of the house behind it.

“Did you see Alice?” Jacob asked, turning to his mother. The room had quieted down, and the loudest sound left was Samuel’s snoring. Bat escorted another group out of the room.

“We didn’t,” his mom said.

“Don’t worry,” Jacob’s dad said. “You know Alice can take care of herself.” He took two deep breaths.

“I left her in the Square,” Jacob said. “I never should have left her.”

“You did the best thing anyone could have done,” Samuel said, his voice groggy. He slowly climbed to his feet, the plates of his armor slithering together and clinking as he adjusted the mail shirt beneath. “I already told you that, kid. You know she made it.”

“We saw so many people,” Jacob said. He looked toward the shadowed corner of the far hall. “So many didn’t make it.”

Samuel took a few steps and put a gauntleted hand on Jacob’s shoulder. “You just wait. You’ll see her again.”

Bat came down the stairs and paused. He watched Samuel for a moment before coming closer. “Samuel, why don’t you take my room.”

“Because it’s on the fifth floor?” Samuel said.

Bat smiled at him. “Go on. You could use the tub. You’re looking a little rough.”

Samuel nodded. “Goodnight. Let me know if the gatehouse comes calling.”

Bat patted Samuel’s shoulder as the Spider Knight walked by and started up the spiral staircase. Jacob watched him until Samuel vanished into the floor above.

“You can explore tomorrow if you like,” Bat said. “Find your friends and go anywhere you want. Nothing’s off limits.”

“Don’t tell him that,” Jacob’s dad said with a small smile.

“Would you all mind spending the night here?” Bat asked. “I know there’s not much privacy, but we have a lot of guests this evening.”

“It’s no problem at all,” Jacob’s mom said. “Please, don’t concern yourself. We’re perfectly comfortable here.” She patted the couch cushion.

Bat nodded.

“Are you going to put the candles out?” Jacob asked, looking up at the chandelier.

“Ah,” Bat said. “Samuel told me you were one for gears and gadgets. Come here, boy. I’d like to show you something.”

“You’re going to lower it?” Jacob asked. He walked over to join Bat by the wheel and lever that would lower the chandelier.

Bat shook his head. “You see this lever?” he asked, placing his hand on a lever beside the chain supporting the chandelier. Jacob hadn’t noticed the other chain. It was thin, so fine it almost disappeared beside the thicker chain. “Pull it.”

Jacob wrapped his hand around the cool metal and pulled. Something in the wall whirred and clicked.

Bat pointed at the chandelier. “Watch.”

Half spheres of metal arced slowly up across each candle, sealing it off and putting the room into a darkness broken only by a small lantern on an end table.

“You have automatic snuffers?” Jacob asked, squinting at the chandelier. “Where do you wind them up? What’s the ratio like on the gearbox?” He fired off three more questions before Bat held up his hands in surrender.

“I couldn’t tell you,” Bat said with a small laugh, “but you and Charles are welcome to poke around tomorrow.”

“No!”

Jacob bolted upright from the nest of blankets he’d made on the floor by the couch. He stared at his shaking hands, remembering the screams and the tears and the blood. Jacob closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths, clenching his hands into fists.

He opened his eyes and looked at the window across the room. Daylight was just breaking through the darkness, etching a thin line of gold around the shuttered glass.

He lay back down and pulled a blanket up to his neck. “It was only a dream,” he whispered to himself. “Dad’s okay, Alice is okay, Bradley … it was only a dream.” He squeezed his eyes shut, but it only brought the horrible vision back to life. He’d told her to run. She’d trusted him. The mantis had been so fast when it stabbed Alice. His dad tried to help and then they both …

Jacob’s eyes snapped open. He hoped the vision of his father and Alice tumbling off the cliff with the mantis would go away. It didn’t. At the bottom their bodies fell beside Bradley. Jacob stared at the high ceiling for a time, remembering the screams and how quickly Bradley had disappeared into the horde. Exhaustion finally won out, and Jacob stole another hour of restless sleep.

Bat served a fantastic breakfast of fruit and flatcakes. Jacob was pretty sure some of the people staying with Samuel’s uncle hadn’t had food that good in a very long time. They were all so grateful, but Bat would hear nothing of it. It made Jacob smile, knowing that Samuel’s uncle could do something so nice for people without expecting to be repaid.

He’d explained to his parents that he planned to ask after Alice at the hospitals. They didn’t complain when he told them he wanted to go, as long as he promised to be back for dinner.

Jacob found himself waiting outside the candy shop a bit later. He leaned up against the wall and sighed, watching the people mill around the stone street. No one in the tents near the gate remembered seeing a redheaded girl. A piercing cry caught Jacob’s attention. He couldn’t see who was screaming, but he ran down the block, dodging Highlanders and Lowlanders alike. The scream grew louder, and when he turned toward the sound, he saw a little boy, not more than six, being wheeled into a small stone building.

The boy’s arm was bandaged, and blood seeped through the gauze. The boy screamed again and raised his wounded arm. Jacob walked closer to see what was happening when he noticed the arm looked shorter than it should. He clenched his jaw when he realized the boy’s hand was missing.

He heard more cries from inside the building as he neared it. A few more steps took him to the doorway, and he could hear the moans of men and women mixed with the cries of a dozen children. Doctors worked frantically over the wounded, applying tourniquets and balms where they could. Bloody sheets and rags were strewn around the room. A young nurse with red eyes gathered them up as fast as she could, placing them inside a hamper.

“Give me another belt!” one of the doctors shouted when the boy was wheeled up beside him. “He’s bleeding out. Get me a goddamned belt!”

Jacob met the eyes of another boy, his head wrapped in a bandage that covered one of his eyes. The boy nodded slightly, and Jacob started to wave until he recognized the face. He backed away as fast as he could until he bumped into someone.

“Careful where you’re walking, son.”

Jacob glanced up at the old woman. It wasn’t the same nurse he’d seen earlier. Her hair was long and gray and pulled up into a tight bun, except for a single braid. She wore a plain white apron covered in pockets and adorned with a red cross. She shuffled toward the building.

“Have you seen a red-haired girl named Alice?”

She shook her head. “Red hair, you say? I would have remembered that I think.”

“What happened to them?” Jacob asked, glancing at the patients inside.

“They just came in from the Lowlands,” the woman said. “Lucky they’re alive. Most of them, anyhow.”

He wanted to go back in and say hi to the injured boy he recognized. He knew it was Bobby, but there was so much blood. Jacob’s stomach soured and he put his hand over his mouth. He could be strong. He could be like Samuel. Jacob took a few deep breaths and then walked back up the street a little ways. He paused and looked around when he realized he was back by the little shop where he and Charles had waited for Samuel.

Jacob pulled a silver piece out of his pocket. He knew he needed it for his dad’s medicine, but he had to do
something.
He hurried back up the hill and headed for the sweets shop. He didn’t hesitate as he set the coin on the counter and waited for the girl in the red-and-white-striped hat. She started over to him when she finished helping an older woman and her kids.

“Hi there,” she said. “What can I help you with?”

Jacob pushed the silver coin closer to the clerk. “What can I get for this?”

She laughed and said, “More than you can eat.”

“It’s not for me.”

“Really?” the girl asked.

“It’s for …” Jacob turned his head, almost like he was trying to see down the hill, through the walls. “It’s not …”

The girl followed his gaze and frowned. “Are you … are you buying these for the kids at the hospital? The ones who were hurt?”

Jacob nodded. He refused to cry, but Bobby’s face and that boy’s screams flashed through his mind. He was afraid if he tried to speak, he’d just embarrass himself by crying in front of a stranger.