“Why are we going to the servant’s house?”
“This isn’t the servant's house,” he stated simply, “The servant's house is over there.” He waved his hand towards a building near the rear of the property. She had seen it before but had just assumed it was the carriage house. Lord Adrian opened a pair of large doors, and as she followed him inside, she realized she had been wrong.
The elaborate building he had brought her to, had luxurious cherry wood floors and large high ceilinged rooms. From what she could see there were numerous workbenches covered with tools of every description. She now realized what she had always thought to be the servant's house was actually a carriage house. It would easily hold two or three large carriages, but instead only contained one large carriage-shaped object with a heavy dust cloth over it.
“A carriage house?” she ventured.
“Yes!” he nodded, a boyish smile spreading across his mischievous face. “Wait ‘til you see what I’ve made!” He grabbed the dust cloth and pulled it back revealing a huge gleaming carriage.
“I don’t understand. What’s the big deal? It looks like a fancier version of the two carriages you already own. The ones sitting outside there lacking proper care.” She spoke with an air of irritation, but her tone went right over his head.
“Yes, my dear, but looks can be deceiving. I’ll show you the inside in a moment, but first, we need to light the fire. Follow me.” Lord Adrian went to the rear of the carriage and opened a steel door. Wylie saw that a wood fire had already been laid in the grate, complete with kindling and some crumpled paper. Lord Adrian struck a wooden sulfur match on the door and touched the flame to the paper, which immediately flared up.
“Now, while the boiler is heating up, come take a look at the interior.” He opened the large double wooden doors on the side of the carriage. They reminded her very much of the double doors on a tavern that swing back and forth. As they climbed up into the spacious seating area, she immediately noticed a panel with many dials and levers mounted at the front. This certainly was no ordinary carriage.
Lord Adrian grasped a T-shaped handle and began pumping furiously, which set off whirring and grinding sounds from the rear of the carriage.
She couldn’t see what was happening, but she heard the cranking. Then he grasped another handle on the opposite side and did the same thing. The carriage was starting to make strange noises and vibrate slightly as if it were coming to life.
“What do you say, Wylie, shall we take a ride? We can transport the people of Lugwallow here more quickly. As I told you just yesterday, your friends and the people of Lugwallow Parish are welcome to stay here. With the carriage empty, they can load up, and I’ll bring them back here, though it will take numerous trips.” He smiled triumphantly, pumping his fist in the air, while the steam made fizzing and spitting sounds beneath them. It was quite noisy, and she yelled back.
“You meant all of them, the people too? When you said ‘bring their things here temporarily’ I thought you meant just that, just their things. I didn’t think you were considering them too.” Her eyes welled up at his generosity.
“Wylie, you must know by now that I would do anything for your happiness. Now come, we’ve much to do, and this will help us.” He waved his hand gallantly over his contraption.
“What in the world is this thing?” she asked, as she wiped a tear away, still slightly overcome with emotion.
“Well, it’s a horse-drawn carriage without the horses. Have a seat, and I’ll explain it to you on our way to Lugwallow.” His eyes sparkled with delight, and she delighted in his excitement.
“Fine, fine, is this thing safe?”
“I don’t honestly know.” He laughed, and reaching his hand out to her, pulled her down to the seat beside him. There were levers and buttons and gleaming dials in front of her, but for the life of her, she had no idea what they were for.
“Well, you see Wylie… it's like this.” He flipped a small lever and pressed his foot down on a pedal on the floor. The carriage began to creep forward slowly. “Newton’s law of motion states that an object in motion stays in motion, you know… unless something stops it. So, my thought process was, what must I do to get an object of this mass to move forward, accelerate, and stay in motion?”
The carriage began to move more quickly as they headed toward Lugwallow, and Wylie couldn’t help but notice the astounded looks from passersby as they rolled down the street.
“Uh huh.” She was a bit astounded herself and had a hard time trying to think of anything intelligent to say.
“So I surmised that a steam engine would create enough inertia to propel this form of transportation forward and allow me to keep it going. It's quite intricate, but I simply installed a firebox and a boiler. I have to start the fire first before I take off and allow it time to heat the boiler, but it takes very little effort to do so. The boiler is located at the back, underneath the carriage itself. For short distances, at least, it should be quite safe.
“The water goes into the boiler through a filler pipe on the back. This dial shows the water level. A float in the water tank is connected to this gauge and tells me the water level. When it gets to this mark, it needs to be refilled.
“The steam created in the boiler activates the pistons which are attached to the rear wheels and gets them going. This little set of dials here shows me the temperature and steam pressure. I can adjust both by moving this lever here. Everything is measured with precision, and once I get the wheels turning, it requires less steam pressure to keep them moving.”
“And you did this? All by yourself?”
“Aye. That I did!” He smiled broadly at her, before turning to wave at gawkers. He turned the steam knob, causing the steam-carriage to go faster. “Let’s hurry along, shall we?”
“What happens when you go too fast? Or need to stop? Or run out of water or steam or any number of things?”
“Well, it’s not perfected yet, but that’s exactly why I said I couldn’t take it long distances. There is a wood box where I can store extra wood beneath the undercarriage. As for the water, there’s another tank back there.
“I started building this before my father died, but with him gone, and my inability to sleep, I’ve spent a lot of time working on it. I completed it last night. Never got a wink of sleep, but it doesn’t matter. I finished it,” he yelled out jubilantly.
“It is truly and utterly amazing, Adrian. You are a remarkable man.” If he was up all night building this thing, that means he can’t possibly be the Siapheg. And that means the Siapheg is still at large. “Dang Blammit,” she said aloud.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Oh nothing, I’m sorry Adrian. I’m just worried about the parish of Lugwallow.”
“Well, don’t you worry, I have more than enough rooms in my house and servants quarters to shelter them for a few nights. That ought to really ruffle Lord Jameston’s feathers.”
“What? Adrian, you can't do that.”
“Oh, but yes, I can. And I will. Lady Judith will think it’s a hoot.” He tossed his head back and laughed as his steam-powered carriage rolled into Lugwallow. Many of the people were standing outside, their bags and personal effects piled around them. The carriage started to slow as Lord Adrian pulled on a tall lever mounted on the floor. Finally, the carriage came to a stop, wheezing and puffing, amid clouds of steam.
“Get them loaded up Wylie, let's get them back to my house before nightfall. It will take several trips before we get them all.” Wiley didn’t even question him anymore; she simply nodded and rounded up the Riverpont family as they had the most children.
“Hannah, Jonathan… come now… you can trust Lord Adrian. He wants to help us. Load up your things and go with him to his home. He’s going to take us all in for a few days until we can figure out what to do about Lord Jameston.” Hannah started to protest, but Jonathan wrapped a caring arm around her.
“It will be all
right, Hannah. Come on, children, let's go!” he called out to them. Wylie helped lift them up into the carriage, and Jonathan sat up front with Adrian, to make room for the children in the back with their mother.
“Wylie, why don’t you get yourself packed. I’ll be back soon, okay?” She nodded to Adrian, bewildered by the turn of events. How was she going to be the Teselym without being caught now? Living in a house full of people was a good way to get seen coming and going, or even worse, what if someone walked in on her in the middle of her transformation or tried to check on her ‘sleeping’ body?
Calm down, Wylie. You’re getting ahead of yourself. She watched anxiously as the steam-powered carriage rolled out of sight. Her things had been packed for days, after all, what more would she need but her clothes? Furniture was replaceable. Except for the few pieces her father had built.
If all went well, she would be back in her home within a few days. Surely once Lord Jameston saw that Lord Adrian intended to allow the residents of Lugwallow to live in his house, he would have to change his mind if only to spare Judith. Wylie could only hope for positive results at the moment.
True to his word, Adrian made several trips and retrieved the families one by one, until it was nearly pitch dark outside. She knew it was well past her time to transform, so when he made one last trip to pick her up, along with the three remaining people, an elderly couple and their grandson, she declined.
“I’ll join you in the morning, Adrian. I have some last-minute things to take care of here. At least for now, my townspeople are safe. I can sleep peacefully tonight.”
“No, Wylie. You must come! Lord Jameston’s men will be here tomorrow with the police, and they will take you away if they catch you here.”
“Don’t worry Adrian. Here…” She threw her carpetbag up into the carriage. “There, that’s all I need. I’ll be at your house first thing in the morning, I promise. I just want to take care of a few small things here. I won't get caught, I promise.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m certain.” She smiled at him, the soft streetlamp now shining over them.
“All right, be safe.” He reached down from the carriage door, grabbed her hand, and pulled her close to kiss her on the forehead. “If all goes well, perhaps we will be able to be together when this is all over.” Gasps and exclamations came from within the carriage.
“That isn’t going over well.” She laughed. “I’m sure the widow Turpin will have a heyday with that.” She let out an exasperated sigh.
“So let her. I’ll take good care of your people, love. You take care of yourself, and I'll see you soon.”
“That you will, Adrian. That you will.”
He nodded at her, released the brake, and flipped the steam switch propelling the carriage forward, and the last of Lugwallow's inhabitants disappeared into the night.
Wylie ran into her house, quickly changed into her nightdress, crawled under the covers, and opened the Dracosinum. The tiny blue flame rose from her chest, and as her own body lost consciousness, the Teselym body formed around her essence and she quickly rose through the open window and took to the sky.
Wylie threw herself into her night's work, listening intently to the directions and promptings that sprang up in her mind. Even Quincy could sense that she meant business, and he stayed quiet most of the night, except to give her guidance a time or two or to help her decide which cases were most urgent.
“It’s hard to believe so much evil goes on at night, Quincy.”
“Yes, well, even more goes on in the daylight, right underneath our very noses,” he answered back.
“Why do I never feel tired?” the thought struck her.
“You are… how shall we say…” his little cogs whirring and clicking softly. “You are Teselym-powered now. You require much less sleep because you are part god. The tiniest part of a god. Their tears. It is enough to give you incredible strength, speed, sharper judgment, and so much more. So far, you’ve only just scratched the surface of your possibilities as a Teselym. Using them in your human form makes you more Teselym than human. Now that you’ve united the two, you’ll find that you will only sleep if you want to. It’s going to be a matter of choice, honestly.”
“Hmm,” she mumbled as she flew over her last city of the night before heading home. She could see the slight hint of the sun coming up, meaning ‘The Time of the Dragon’ was up. She transported home, transformed back into her own body, donned her clothes, and then transported to Lord Adrian’s stable. Feeling that it would be less conspicuous for her to be seen coming from there.
Now all we have to do is wait.
Chapter Sixteen
Wylie rapped gently on the door, knowing it was still quite early, and she would be lucky if anyone were awake at this hour. The door whipped open before she had finished knocking, and Adrian grabbed her hand, yanked her inside, and into his arms.
The soft musky lavender scent that was Adrian was like a salve to an open wound she had no idea she had been trying to conceal. The moment he held her, her legs went weak beneath her. Hot tears streamed silently down her cheeks.
“I’m so glad you’re all right. I was sure that Lord Jameston had already tossed you in jail and thrown away the key.”
“After what we’ve done, I wouldn’t put it past him,” she replied weakly.
“My love, are you okay?” he whispered softly into her ear.
“Oh, Adrian… I’m just overwhelmed and so tired.” She feigned a yawn.
“I know, love,” he said as he stroked her hair. “It’s all going to be okay.”
“He’s going to ruin you, you know,” she said.
“Let him. He can’t do anything to me.” Adrian was so sure about the situation. As if the devil himself had heard the conversation, a sudden loud banging came at the front door. Adrian gently pushed Wylie behind him. “Well, well… our friend got here early, just as I assumed.” Some of the people had started to wake up and come down the stairs.
Wylie could tell they were worried. The banging sounded again.
“Lord Adrian, I know you’re in there! I have received word of your shenanigans! Open the door.”
Lord Adrian spoke to the group, “Don’t worry. I’ve already requested the cooks make a large breakfast this morning. We will be eating shortly. In the meantime, worry not. You are all free to shower and use my home as if it were your own. Once I’ve dealt with Lord Jameston, we’ll sit down together and celebrate our victory, all right?” Some of them nodded half-heartedly in response. The rest rather dubious moved off toward the good smells coming from the kitchen.
Lord Adrian grabbed Wylie’s hand, pulling her gently along behind him, then pushed her out of sight behind him as he opened the door.
“Well, good morning, Lord Jameston. So happy to see you arrived back from your little venture out of town yesterday.” Lady Judith appeared at her father’s side. “I trust all went well?”
“Yes, until I arrived back in town last night and heard something that quite disturbed me,” he hissed through clenched teeth.
“Oh? And just what might possibly upset the unflappable Lord Jameston?” Adrian quipped.
“I got wind that you ... you…” Lord Jameston’s face turned several shades of red before he spat out the words, “You are housing the people of Lugwallow!”
At those words, Lord Adrian pulled Wylie from behind him and held her tightly to his side. He flung the door wide so that Lord Jameston was able to see the people gathered behind him listening to the confrontation.
“Those reports would be correct. See, I heard tell that a villainous man, concerned only with his own welfare rather than that of innocent men, women, and children, had bought all of Lugwallow and wanted the parish emptied within two days. Well, I, being a concerned and compassionate citizen, could not very well allow my fellow humans to be tossed out on the street as if they were nothing more than vermin. So, I invited them t
o come stay with me until we were able to sort this whole mess out,” Adrian finished with a wide smile. Wylie was worried that Judith would be angry but was surprised to see her stifling a giggle. Her large emerald eyes sparkled with laughter.
“You will rue the day you crossed me, Lord Adrian. You and that worthless gutter rat will both regret it. The wedding is off. I will not have my beautiful daughter marrying someone who collects so much... trash.” Lord Jameston looked Wylie up and down before turning abruptly and yanking his daughter along with him.
“Father, you can’t treat me this way!”
“Shut up, girl.” He smacked her across the face, and Wylie broke free from Adrian and went after Lord Jameston.
“How dare you treat her in such a way?” she hollered, and as he turned to face her, his mouth open to say something, she punched him square in the jaw.
“Why you insolent…” She hit him again and would have continued doing so, but Lord Adrian had rushed to her side and held her arm back from the third swing.
“Wylie! Stop! You cannot act in such a way!”
“I will. He is not a human being with actual feelings. He deserves that and more.” She wriggled out of his clutches and went after Jameston again who was preparing to hit her back. He balled his fist up, but before he could land a punch, Wylie's foot flew up and caught him squarely between the legs causing him to bend forward gasping in pain. Both hands held onto his codpiece which apparently had provided little protection. As he fell forward onto his knees in pain, something shiny slipped from the pocket of his waistcoat and rolled silently into the grass beside the walkway.
“You... will… pay… for… that...” he said through clenched teeth, puffing like a steam engine as he finally gathered himself off the ground, hobbled back to his carriage, and climbed painfully inside. She laughed giddily as he disappeared.
The Dragon Lady (The Dracosinum Tales) Page 13
