Charmed Vengeance

through the air?” She made a noise of distain. “This is your ship? She’s lovely.”

He patted the ship’s wooden hull. “She’s a good ship.”

“Jeff, is that you?” a female voice with a hint of a southern accent called. “Where have you been? As soon as Asa and Thad return we need to be off.”

A woman strode down the gangplank. Well … if it belonged to the speaker it must be a woman, but Noli had never seen a woman such as this before. She stood nearly as tall as Jeff and had a thin body devoid of any of the curves a woman usually had. Her boyishly short near-black hair, a lock of it dyed blue, hung in her big brown slightly-slanted eyes.

“Vix, come here, there’s someone I want you to meet.” Jeff waved her down.

Wait. Vix. This was the woman Jeff was sweet on?

Noli had seen women in trousers before, one of Queen Tiana’s handmaidens often wore them, but they were always feminine, showing off her figure. This woman wore an outfit similar to Jeff’s as if she wanted to be mistaken for a boy.

Leaping onto the dock with the grace of a cat, Vix looked Noli up and down and shook her head, dark stands flying. “We don’t take passengers.”

“She’s not a passenger, she’s our new engineer—I hope.” Jeff gave Vix a charming smile, the sort men gave women when trying to get their way. “Vix, meet my younger sister, Magnolia Braddock. Noli, meet Captain Vix, this is her ship.”

“Captain.” Noli curtsied. A female captain who wore trousers! “I thought this was your ship, Jeff?”

Jeff laughed. “I’m just the pilot, Vix tells me where to go.”

Woman couldn’t legally pilot airships, only co-pilot. But there was no law against female captains. What adventures she must have!

Vix, who stood the slightest bit shorter than Jeff, furrowed her dark brows in a way that made Noli’s stomach twist. “This is the little sister? The one who fixes things?”

“We need an engineer, she needs work. It could be mutually beneficial,” Jeff replied.

She scowled. “This isn’t a place for just anyone.”

“This isn’t just anyone, this is my sister. Give her a chance, please?” His look pleaded.

Noli’s chest tightened as she smoothed her blue skirts. She hadn’t given thought to the idea that someone on the ship might not want her.

“Please, Captain?” Noli asked, voice soft. “I’ll pull my weight, promise.” She wasn’t entirely what she’d need to do besides keep the ship running and in good repair. Whatever it was, she could handle it, surely. “Find yourself on the wrong side of the law again?” Vix didn’t quite sneer, but it wasn’t kind either.

She knew? Mortification crept through Noli. How much had Jeff told her of her previous exploits?

“If I allow them take her to Boston they’ll have her married off to some society dirt-bag three-times her age before Christmas.” He gave Vix another beseeching glance. “She wants to attend the university, she’ll stay with us for awhile, save up, then I’ll get her settled in.”

“No favors. She pulls her weight like everyone else.” Vix turned to Noli. “On my ship we don’t make allowances based on gender—women do the same tasks men do. Or,” she grinned at Jeff, “men do the same jobs as women. You maintain the ship, you keep the engine room tidy, and you make sure we have what we need to make repairs. Also, we share jobs onboard; you’ll have assignments like everyone else.” Standing toe to toe with Noli, Vix looked her right in the eyes. “Understood?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Noli felt as if she should salute or something.

“It’s sir.” But she didn’t snap or say it rudely.

The captain’s accent wasn’t quite the same as Charlotte’s but still made a pang of sadness shoot though Noli. A southern female captain. What would dear Lottie have made of that?

“I don’t supposed you can use a pistol—or defend yourself?” the captain added.

“I can use a sword a little.” Noli tried not to fidget under the scrutiny.

Vix scoffed, her rough and tanned hand combing through her short hair. “A sword? That’s not going to help.”

“She’s an engineer, not a fieldhand or a gunner, she doesn’t need to know how to shoot.” Jeff kept his voice calm and quiet.

Fieldhand. Gunners. Pistols. One more indication this wasn’t a respectable cargo vessel. The pistol around Vix’s waist added to that. Did Jeff have a pistol as well?

Vix shook her head then looked to Jeff. “Go put her someplace where she won’t cause any trouble then get to the bridge. They’ll be here any moment and we can’t afford to dally.”

“Of course, Captain.” Jeff didn’t kiss her or put an arm around her, but the look he gave her told Noli that yes, this was the woman. And he loved her. A lot.

Jeff offered Noli his arm. “Noli?”

Noli remembered something from the days of visiting airships with her father. “Permission to come aboard, Captain?”

“Granted. Welcome to the Vixen’s Revenge.” Vix almost cracked a smile. Almost.

Jeff and Noli walked up the gangplank to the top interior deck of the ship. It looked as if they were in some sort of lounge or common area. He set his overboard in a rack, then they went down another flight of stairs. The inside of the ship seemed as neat and tidy as the outside.

“I’ll give you a tour later, but I need to get to the bridge. Let me show you to your little domain.” He gave her a shy smile. “Also, Vix will warm up to you, she didn’t get where she is by being a pushover.”

Noli smiled back, not entirely believing him. “If you love her then I’m sure I will, too.”

They went down a hallway toward the stern of the airship. Jeff pushed open a door marked engine room. He turned on a lamp hanging on the wall inside near the door. “Here it is, the heart of Vixen’s Revenge.”

The engines, bigger than Noli, greeted them, motionless and silent. The brass gleamed in the dim lamplight.

“She’s beautiful.” And cleaner than the kitchen back home. Closing her eyes, she put her hands on the still main engine, getting a feel for it. Hello there. Metal came from the earth, and sometimes working with metal came easier when she remembered that, overcoming the sprite’s insistence that thinking was hard.

Thinking is hard, the sprite replied. Oh, that’s shiny.

It’s shiny, indeed, Noli replied.

Jeff chuckled in the background and her eyes snapped open, cheeks burning. The last thing she wanted was for anyone to think her eccentric, or even worse, mad.

“Engineers are so strange,” Jeff teased, another lamp in his hand. “Parts closet is over there.” He gestured to a wardrobe in the corner of the room. “Now, I want to show you something.” A little door marked the far wall. “This was a closet. A previous engineer far before Vix got the ship made the closet into a workroom. Since an engineer on a ship like this is also chief inventor, tinker, and handyman it makes sense.”

He opened the door. Inside was a workbench covered in tools which took up most of the back wall. Boxes of parts and such filled the little room. If she stood in the middle and stretched out her arms she could probably touch all the walls. The only light came from the lamp in Jeff’s hand.

“This room and everything in it are yours to use. Also,” he gestured to the cluttered space lighting the corners with the lamp. “I think it would be best for you to sleep here. I don’t want you with the rest of the crew. Hopefully, you can fit all this in the parts closet, though you can build some shelves if you need them. I’ll get you a hammock and a locker for your things.” Jeff looked at her bag and frowned. “Believe it or not, Vix is very good at shopping. Eventually we’ll have time for you to get a few things. I’m sorry you couldn’t bring your trunk.”

“I’ve got everything I need.” She patted her bag. Noli peered into the little room. “This is where I should sleep?” Once she moved out the boxes out it should suffice.

Jeff nodded. “That’s safest. Right now we’re running light. It’s me, Vix, Thad, Asa, Winky—and now you. But we’ll need to bring at least one more person on, perhaps two, and well, crew quarters aren’t the place for a lady.”