“Someone has trained those men well. They move with German military precision. I have an odd feeling about this display. I think it’s saying more than just an arrival of a Russian Count. The Russians are probably still sore gold was discovered in the Yukon a few years after they sold it to the United States,” Lane observed the entire display with a critical eye.
Once the ropes firmly secured, there came a steady whoosh, clack from the flying ship. Puffs of steam blowing from relief valves. Helena observed the propellers had stopped spinning. As, the vessel continued to settle towards the ground. The sun had recently set, on cue the steam capstans stopped and a different set of electric up lights lit the gas bladder with, white, blue, and red colors replicating the Russian ensign. This elicited another round of Oooos and Awwws from the spectators.
A loudspeaker boomed on, amplifying a distinctive Russian accent that addressed the gathered crowd, “People of San Francisco, we bring you warm wishes from mother Russia. We look forward to visiting your fair city and traveling your country. We come in peace, hoping for the prosperity of both our nations. We look forward to meeting many of you at the reception tonight and many more as we travel about the city.”
“Now that was an entrance,” Sigmund spoke barely audible over the cheering crowd.
“We need to go home and dress, I want to be there to meet the Russian royalty.”
“Am I the only one that finds it strange that they didn’t arrive until nightfall?” Lane asked.
“Before you can even think that accusation we need to be around fewer people,” Sigmund chastised Lane for his loose lips.
“What accusation?” Helena asked.
Sigmund merely put his right index finger up to his lips and guided his horse towards the gates. “We need to head back to the estate.”
Helena grew exceedingly resentful to the fact that it seemed everyone knew something about how the world worked, but her.
“Why do I feel like my tutors left out most of my education? I feel there’s so much more to the world than what I’ve been taught. Why did I go to school if I’m going to be left so ignorant about the way things work?” she asked.
“Right now, you just have a different kind of smarts,” Lane commented chuckling to himself.
“Because your stepfather and grandfather made some decisions about your upbringing when you were young. I have done my best to follow their wishes. Unfortunately, I think they made a mistake, now we might need to rush your training. You’re too much like your mother and father,” Sigmund said.
Helena let his words sink in, she did do as he requested and not ask any inconvenient questions until they gained some distance from the crowd. She was just about to ask when Sigmund started speaking.
“Lane was trying to be clever and imply that the Russian royalty might be creatures of the night.”
“I don’t understand, creatures of the night?” Helena asked.
“A dollar way of saying vampires,” Lane added.
“Now you’re trying to convince me that vampires walk among us?”
“I wouldn’t say walk among us, but there have been some cases of vampires being discovered stalking and murdering humans. They are rare. It appears the folklore about creating new vampires might be overstated. Nevertheless, the journals I’ve read, suggest the vampires do enjoy an extraordinary long lifespan if not immortality.”
“You told me about fairies, will-o’-the-wisp’s, now vampires are real, what’re next... witches?”
“Oh, witches are very real, my grandma is one.”
“Magic surrounds us every day, we typically refuse to acknowledge it. There are some who learn how to control it. There are some who try and die. So yes, witches are real, some are merely better than others. Before you ask, werewolves are real as well though they prefer to be called lycanthropes and some shift into other animal forms.” Sigmund picked up the pace of his horse trying to reach home a little quicker.
“Are there any books about this? I would really like to learn more.”
Sigmund considered his answer carefully before giving his response. “I know where there are a number of books, on multiple subjects I’m sure you’ll find interesting. I’ve been waiting for the right time to show you. It may have finally arrived. But tonight, we are not focusing on Legendary Creatures, tonight we are all going to get dressed up and take you to a masque.”
The Masque:
After making their way home, it took some time for the small group to complete preparations to join the other revelers at the Cliff House. Fortunately, they had plenty of time, three hours from the arrival of the airship until the beginning of the masquerade ball, well after sunset, closer to Midnight.
Helena failed to hide her excitement, she had met plenty of wealthy people in her limited years, but never royalty. She was unsure what to expect, but they had to be somehow better, more caring than the people she knew.
She wished the search for Missy was over, her life before this adventure seemed simpler, happier, full of the good things. Now her existence seemed hollow, she had a constant pain in her heart but felt powerless to place a name on the cause.
She was happy the three women, Kam Ting, Wai Han, and Gertie, had taken the day off, not allowed to leave her room they had worked hard to get to know each other, between naps. Now the two Chinese women and the Irish one worked overtime to dress Helena. It never crossed their minds that they prepared Helena to attend an exclusive resort for a fancy ball, and the other three stayed behind.
Gertie said, “Miss, Mister Sigmund gave us this dress, he told us you should wear it, it belonged to your mother.”
Helena inspected the dress, unquestionably different
