His Clockwork Canary

His Clockwork Canary The Glorious Victorious Darcys 2 by Beth Ciotta

Excerpt of Her Sky Cowboy

To my editor, Jhanteigh Kupihea, who gives my imagination free rein and champions my adventures with genuine and inspiring enthusiasm

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I’d like to share my heartfelt appreciation with everyone at Penguin for supporting this series and helping to bring the Glorious Victorious Darcys to life! Your creativity and expertise help to fuel my own imagination and enthusiasm.

I especially want to acknowledge my amazing editor, Jhanteigh Kupihea, as well as my dazzling copy editor, Michele Alpern. Thank you for helping me to make this story shine!

A special shout-out to my agent, Amy Moore-Benson—my champion, my friend. Thank you for keeping me sane.

A huge, sloppy thank-you to my critique partners, my sister and fellow author Elle J. Rossi and my cherished friend and fellow author Cynthia Valero. You ROCK!

My love and appreciation to my biggest supporter—my husband, my hero, Steve. Thank you for everything, always.

To my many wonderful and supportive friends and family members, loyal readers, and enthusiastic Facebook friends—thank you for brightening my days and enriching my life. To the hardworking bloggers and reviewers who help to spread the word—thank you for your thoughtful time and energy. And to all of the wondrous librarians and booksellers who live and breathe and promote literature—thank you for being.

Greetings, fellow romantics and daring adventurers,

I don’t know about you, but one of my most cherished possessions is my imagination. It’s taken me to some wondrous places, but none so personally thrilling as the alternate world I created for Her Sky Cowboy and the subsequent stories in the Glorious Victorious Darcys series.

Imagine the 1960s. Race riots. Vietnam. The Cuban Missile Crisis.

Imagine a group of fanatical peace activists happening upon a means of time travel and jumping back to the source of departure, the mid-1800s, in hopes of altering the future and avoiding specific global atrocities.

Imagine their good intentions going horribly wrong and, instead, the two centuries melding, setting the world on an unknown course.

I imagined and ended up with a spectacular and endearing alternate era—the Victorian Age meets the Age of Aquarius.

Every decade, every era, and every world has its own lingo. In kind, there is terminology specific to the GVD universe. I’ve included a glossary for easy reference should you desire clarification. Also for those who have not read Her Sky Cowboy, the first installment in the series, I’d like to offer some history on how this world came to be. If you prefer to discover while reading, then skip this part. But for those who prefer background, this is for you!

Spectacularly Astonishing Exclusive Peeks into Marvelous Historical Facts (sort of)

1851—Great Britain. The Great Exhibition is held at the Crystal Palace. Prince Albert encourages the celebration of inventions and technology.

Engineer/visionary Briscoe Darcy introduces his one-of-kind time machine, vowing to journey forward in time and to return with a futuristic marvel. He vanishes in front of thousands of people, never to be seen again. Historically, Darcy is known as the Time Voyager.

1856 (a leap year)—A caravan of twentieth-century time travelers arrives in the nineteenth century via a time vehicle dubbed the Briscoe Bus. Their mission: to alter history for the preservation of mankind. Known as the Peace Rebels, these Mods spread the message “Make love, not war.”

Hungry for knowledge regarding technological marvels of the future, Prince Albert embraces the PRs, causing a rift between him and his old-fashioned wife, Queen Victoria. The PRs’ loose morals and advanced knowledge threaten their original goal. Some PRs are corrupted, selling knowledge to power-hungry Vics. Soon society is divided into two main factions: Old Worlders and New Worlders.

1860—The Peace War breaks out, and when the dust settles . . . a hybrid of the 1860s and the 1960s is born.

—Beth Ciotta

ALTERNATE WORLD GLOSSARY

Terminology and definitions exclusive to the Glorious Victorious Darcys (and related spin-offs)

aero-hangar—a cavernous shelter used for housing and repairing airships.

aeropark—a public or private airfield.

ALE—acronym for Air Law Enforcement. A legion of law enforcers who police the skies in airships.

Aquarian Cosmology Compendium—an elusive journal compiled by the scientific faction of the time-traveling Peace Rebels. According to legend, the ACC features designs and scientific data pertaining to twentieth-century technological wonders, as well as engineering details of a functioning time machine.

automocab—a hired road conveyance powered by steam or petrol (e.g., taxicab).

automocoaches—road vehicles of various size and construction, powered by steam or petrol. Often a cross between late-1800s mechanics and mid-to-late-1960s designs (e.g., steam-powered Beetle Bug).

Book of Mods—an extensive compilation of sketches, essays, and cautionary tales pertaining to culture, politics, technology, and significant events of the twentieth century. Written by a faction of the original Peace Rebels, this published journal was once widely read, but is now banned.

clockwork propulsion engine—a unique engine, originally designed by Briscoe Darcy, enabling a vehicle to travel through time.

corneatacts—cosmetic optical lenses utilized by Freaks to disguise their kaleidoscope (rainbow) irises. Constructed to fit over the cornea, corneatacts create the illusion of normal, unicolor irises.

Disrupter 29—a modified derringer (pocket pistol) enhanced by twentieth-century technology. An advanced weapon available for purchase only on the black market.

Flatliner—someone who cares only about his/her future and not the future or welfare of mankind.

Freak—the offspring of a Vic and a Mod. Cross-century humans with varied supernatural gifts. Freaks are born with kaleidoscope eyes (irises that swirl with a rainbow of colors) and a unique blood type. A powerful and unpredictable minority, Freaks are regarded as a curiosity and/or a threat. As such, their civil rights are restricted by law.

Freak Fighters—any person belonging to the underground organization fighting for the