And she still didn’t know how to respond, so she didn’t. That didn’t seem to bother Gavin. They sat on the deck in simple silence together until the airship pulled onto the spur that led to the park Dodd had rented for the circus. When the ship came to a halt behind the dark circus train, Alice headed for the ladder.
“Get your fiddle,” she said. “We aren’t done yet.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’ll explain below.”
Nathan was already unhitching the horses with Dr. Clef’s help. Alice explained how she had met the woman. “She said there were more who need me at the Church of Our Lady.”
“I know where that is,” Gavin said.
“So do I,” Nathan put in. “Dodd and I have gone there for confession once or twice.”
Gavin blinked innocently. “What did you confess?”
“That you were an arse.”
“She said to ask for Monsignor Adames,” Alice said. “I need to—”
“There you are!” Dodd ran up and caught Nathan in a hard embrace. One of the horses snorted. “Jesus, you scared me out of my wits.”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Nathan gasped. “What’s wrong?”
“Mingers.” Dodd let him go. “Gendarmes. They turned the whole circus upside down looking for Gavin and Alice and demanding to know if we were hiding you. No one said anything, of course, but thank God you weren’t here.”
“Are they still looking?” Dr. Clef asked.
“I should think so. They seemed pretty intent. They called you criminals, and Dr. Clef a danger to society.”
“Was a woman with them? Tall? Dark hair? Metal arm?” Gavin said.
Dodd shook his head. “You mean your Lieutenant Phipps. She wasn’t there, but I heard them mention her name.”
“What about Feng?” Alice said.
“He was easy to hide.” Dodd waved a dismissive hand. “We have two families of Chinese. She didn’t even ask about him.”
“That’s a relief, then.” Alice tugged at Gavin’s elbow. “We need to go.”
“You can’t go now,” Dodd said. “Didn’t you just hear? Phipps has patrols looking for you all over the city. You’ll be safe here—they’ve already looked—but you can’t go out.”
“I promised, Ringmaster,” Alice said. “Those people need my help. Every moment’s delay means another plague victim might die. So unless you intend to lock me in a lion’s cage, get out of my way before I knock you down.”
“She will,” Gavin told him.
“Fine.” Dodd made the same dismissive gesture. “But you aren’t going alone.”
“Certainly not!” Alice said, and Dodd looked surprised that she was agreeing. “Only a fool would do that. And a number of people who aren’t coming should know where I’m going so they can mount a rescue if I don’t return in a reasonable amount of time. Gavin’s coming, of course.”
“Am I?” Gavin was grinning.
“You are. You know where the church is. Feng must come, too. That leaves Mr. Storm, who also knows where the church is, on rescue duty with Dr. Clef and the ringmaster.”
“As long as you’re running my circus,” that man sighed, “you might as well just call me Dodd.”
Chapter Six
They took several moments to gather equipment. Alice wanted to get the firefly jar from Feng, and Gavin wanted weapons. He couldn’t bring himself to use actual pistols, however. A lifetime of training had instilled a healthy fear of anything that created flame, a deadly threat on an airship. Even after several weeks on the
“It’s too heavy,” Gavin said. “I wouldn’t get twenty yards.”
“Perhaps you could make modifications with this.” Dr. Clef held up a spool of alloy wire, the same stuff as the endoskeleton rolled up and lying on the port side of the deck. “Can you do it alone? I have fear that we shall fight if I assist.”
Gavin looked at the wire and at the power cannon. His brain leaped ahead, and he saw wires and pulsing power and batteries. He ran his hands over the cannon, able to
“Gavin?”
The high-pitched voice intruded, interrupted, interjected. He turned to snarl at the interruption—
