Rebel Mechanics

by Shanna Swendson

  Nat stood by her side. “And that’s gonna sell a lot of papers for me.”

  “Verity, we’ll talk,” Lizzie said, her tone pleading. I gave her a curt nod before boarding the car with the others.

  When the car shot down the tunnel, Henry threw back his head and laughed. “Amazing!” he shouted, grinning widely, and some of the Mechanics grinned back at him. Alec still gave him wary glances, but the others had warmed to him. I couldn’t blame them. This Henry, a blend of the boyish enthusiasm of his cover persona and the daring intensity of his Bandit identity, was irresistible.

  Some of the Mechanics and magisters had gone ahead with the other machines, and they were waiting at the end of the line. They’d hooked the flatbed cars carrying the machines that didn’t move of their own accord to the engines. Now we had to get them out of the tunnels and into the city—and then out of the city.

  Alec sent a scouting team that included the Mechanic who’d been my guide the week before and one of the magister bandits to reconnoiter. They returned with a report that the immediate area was clear. At that signal, the Mechanics opened a wide set of doors at the end of the tunnel.

  The doors led to a ramp, and the magisters got all the machines moving up it. The ramp ended in a barnlike building. The magisters gathered around the machines and did the silencing spell Henry had performed on his roadster, and then at Henry’s signal, the mechanics opened the doors, and we went out into the street.

  Henry and I rode on Bessie with Alec at the head of the line. It had seemed as though we’d been underground for hours, but it was still pitch-dark, just past three in the morning. The city slept as the machines moved silently through the streets.

  There weren’t any barricades this far uptown because the police and soldiers assumed all the other barriers would have stopped any rebels, and they were focusing their efforts downtown in the rebel stronghold. It looked like we might be home free, until the scouts who’d traveled ahead returned, reporting that the bridge leading off the island to the north was guarded.

  Alec turned to Henry. “Now what do we do?”

  “Let me take a look,” Henry said. He climbed down off the engine, and I went with him. I felt like he was my responsibility, and I wanted to make sure he neither came to harm nor did anything foolish. We went down the riverbank to where we could observe the bridge unseen. Henry took a pair of field glasses from his coat pocket and studied the bridge. “They’re only guarding this end,” he said. “Looks like half a dozen men.” He put the glasses in his pocket and turned to head back to the machines.

  “Do you have a plan?” I asked as I hurried to catch up with his rapid, long-legged stride.

  “I think so.” When we reached the machines, he gestured for everyone to gather around him. “It will take at least two of us to entrance that many guards long enough for us to get by. I think the rest can move the machines magically so they make no noise, but it will be a strain. We won’t be of much help beyond the bridge.”

  “We’ll be fine from that point,” Alec said.

  “Why don’t we just shoot the soldiers? Or conk ’em on the head?” Mick asked.

  “Because then they’d know someone had been past, and they’d know to look for us,” I said. “This way, no one will know the machines left the city.”

  Henry gave me an appreciative look. “Yes, Verity’s right,” he said. “If they find dead or injured soldiers, you’ll have a manhunt. They won’t realize they’ve been entranced, so you’ll disappear—as if by magic.”

  “I don’t suppose you could just wave your hand and make us disappear,” Colin said with a grin.

  “I wish I could, but we’re not that powerful,” Henry said. “You’re fortunate to find this many magisters who even know how to use their powers properly.”

  The magisters tasked with entrancing the soldiers went ahead. Once we’d moved out of the more settled parts of the city, the machines had run on their own steam power, but now the Mechanics cut the engines, and it was up to the magisters to power them. Even without the engines, the machines weren’t entirely silent. The wheels crunched on the road surface, the moving parts clanked and squeaked, and the loose pieces of metal in the cargo rattled at every bump.

  I held my breath as the engines approached the bridge. The soldiers stood there on either side, looking like they were on guard. I waited for them to raise their weapons and challenge us, but they didn’t move at all under the spell.

  The machines had to go over the bridge one at a time because they were so heavy. The smaller engine went first. The calliope was heavier, and while Bessie waited her turn to cross, Henry jumped off and joined the crew moving the calliope. The bridge groaned alarmingly as the calliope crossed, but it held. Henry and two other magisters ran back across the bridge to Bessie.

  Henry swung himself up onto the engine to talk to Alec. “I don’t think the bridge will take this engine and the dynamo.”

  “There’s no other way off the island,” Alec protested. “The railway bridge is too busy and the area around it too populated. I suppose we could find somewhere else to hide them. They won’t look for them up here, but I’d rather have all the machines where we can use them instead of keeping them hidden.”

  “We could levitate them slightly, just enough to take some of the weight off the bridge,” Henry suggested.

  “You can do that?” Alec asked, his skepticism clear on his face.

  “It will take a lot of power, but I believe we can.”

  “If you fail, we’ll lose our most important engines. I’d rather keep them hidden,” Alec said. “Now, are you absolutely certain you can make this work? Don’t overstate your abilities, magister.”

  “We can do it,” Henry insisted, his jaw set stubbornly. He waved to the rest of the magisters, and they gathered by the engine, discussing how to manage the spell. Then they took their places, some on the dynamo and a few on the ground to walk beside the engine and dynamo. Henry sent all the Mechanics other than Alec ahead over the bridge before climbing onto the engine with Alec and me.

  “Verity, you should go on, too,” Alec said.

  “I told you, we can do this. She’ll be safe,” Henry said.

  “I’d rather not take the chance with her life, and that will lighten the weight you have to lift.”

  “I need a lookout. You’ll be steering and I’ll be deep into the spell. She’s hardly any extra weight. She stays.” Henry’s voice left no room for argument.

  Alec glared at him, and I thought for a moment it might come to a fight. “I’m willing to stay as lookout,” I said. “I’m not afraid.”

  “Then that settles it. We should get started,” Henry said, rubbing his hands together, then placing them on the engine. I felt the surge of magic as the engine crept forward and onto the bridge.

  I couldn’t tell when they began lifting some of the engine’s weight, but the bridge didn’t make any frightening sounds, so I assumed it was working. I shifted my attention back and forth between the group waiting at the other end and the group holding the guards in thrall. So far, everything was going according to plan.

  Then when we were just past the middle of the bridge, I heard a distant drum cadence. “I think it’s the shift change for the guards,” I said, wondering if Henry could hear me, as deep as he was into the spell.

  “We’ll have to hurry, then,” he said without opening his eyes. The engine moved faster, but the strain was showing on Henry’s face, and the sound of groaning metal told me the bridge was taking more weight than it should.

  IN WHICH I MUST DECIDE MY FUTURE

  We weren’t going to make it across the bridge. More soldiers were coming, and the magisters didn’t have enough power to move the engine faster while lifting its weight enough for the bridge to bear it. Either we’d be caught or the bridge would collapse and plunge us into the river below. I didn’t know much about using magic, but I could channel power from the ether. Perhaps that would provide the needed boost. However, doing
so would reveal my biggest secret. It was a revelation that could cost me my freedom.

  The bridge groaned again, sounding like its metal trusses were crying out in pain. Alec kept the engine pointed straight down the bridge, but I could see the tension in his shoulders as he focused on the other end that seemed so far away. A look at Henry’s sweat-beaded face convinced me I had no choice but to trust him. He knew a thing or two about secrets and breaking the law. If any magister could accept a half-breed in his household, it would be Henry Lyndon. I removed my glove and placed my hand on top of his, then lowered my magical shields and opened myself to the ether, pouring the power I channeled into him.

  He gasped out loud in surprise as my power connected to his. A moment later, the bridge quit groaning and the engine gained speed. My instinct was to hold my breath until we were safe, but I forced myself to keep breathing to maintain the flow of the ether. All the while, the sound of approaching drumbeats grew louder.

  At last, the engine moved off the bridge, so we no longer needed to levitate it. Henry signaled to the magisters enthralling the guards, and they ran across the bridge to join us. I felt as though I’d been drained completely by the time we were far enough away for Alec to fire up the engine. I sagged against Henry, and he turned his hand around to clasp mine. “Well done, Verity,” he whispered in my ear. “You are full of surprises, aren’t you?”

  About half an hour later, the machines had all moved a safe distance from the city into the wilds beyond the Bronx. The engines stopped, and all of us—magisters and Mechanics—piled off to say our farewells before the Mechanics went on and the magisters returned to the city.

  “Thank you for your help,” Alec said, extending a hand to Henry. “It was a good plan.” It looked as though the admission pained him, but he was being a good sport about it.

  “You have good machines that helped it work,” Henry said. “That underground railway of yours is amazing. What will you do now?”

  “We’ll go somewhere west—we have some allies among the native tribes, and they’ll give us refuge in their land—and do what you said we should do. We’ll make plans for a real revolution, build more machines, get ready to really turn things upside down throughout the colonies. You’ll be doing the same?”

  “I’ll keep undermining the government, and we have other things in the works. I’m sure our respective groups will encounter each other again.” He glanced around, then gave a sheepish smile. “There is one small flaw in my plan: how are we to get home?”

  “Stewart’s meeting us with his carriage,” one of the magisters said.

  “That’s well enough for you. You’re known for being out until the wee hours. But even if I left this moment, I’d be caught sneaking through the kitchen door after being out all night with my governess,” Henry said. “The servants would be up by the time we drove home, and I’m sure my housekeeper is a spy for the governor.”

  “We can get you home faster without having to go through the kitchen door,” Alec said. “As I told you, some of the machines were already out of town. Get back on board.”

  The carriage arrived and the rest of Henry’s gang piled into it. We waved goodbye as the engines moved onward. A few minutes later, we stopped in front of an enormous barn, and the Mechanics opened the doors to reveal the airship Liberty. Everett came out to meet us, and after Alec explained the situation to him, he said to Henry, “If you can get in through your bedroom windows, we can keep you out of sight of any nosy servants.”

  Alec turned to us and asked, “Will that do for you?”

  “You have an airship? How is it powered?” Henry asked, looking and sounding very much like Rollo. “Wouldn’t a steam engine be too heavy?”

  “Everett can explain it to you,” Alec said with the first real smile he’d given Henry. Henry’s enthusiasm about the machine had apparently made a small dent in Alec’s resentment of magisters. He paused, frowned, then seemed to come to a decision. “The fighting tonight wasn’t really about revolution. It was a diversion to distract the soldiers who weren’t at the ball or the theater so we could carry out our real mission.” He reached into his breast pocket and pulled out a few sheets of paper. “We managed to get into their offices and copy their codebooks. I doubt they have any idea that we have these. They think we were just fighting a skirmish.” He handed the papers to Henry. “You can probably make better use of these than we can.”

  Henry gave a soft whistle of surprise as he took the papers. “I owe you an apology, then,” he said. “You were being more strategic than I gave you credit for. Thank you. I’ll put these to good use. We’ve stolen a lot of dispatches we need to decode.” He folded the papers and tucked them carefully into his breast pocket.

  “And now, we’d best be on our way.”

  “Godspeed,” Henry said with a jaunty salute.

  Alec hesitated, then said, “Verity, may I have a word?” He pulled me aside and said, “I’m sorry for tricking you the way we did. I should have known what a piston you were. You really came through for us tonight in warning us, even if you did bring a magpie with you.”

  “You wouldn’t have escaped without him.”

  With a deep sigh and a rueful smile, he said, “I know. I hate it, but you’re right. Our machines couldn’t have done it alone.” He glanced at Henry, then back at me, paused, took a deep breath, and said, “You could come with us if you like.”

  “Wouldn’t you be giving up a valuable spy who has access to the highest levels of magpie society?” I couldn’t keep the bitterness out of my voice.

  “I don’t care about that.” He took my hand and squeezed it fiercely. “I’d rather have you with me than have you being useful. I’ve missed you.”

  I weighed what he’d said, realizing what a sacrifice he was willing to make. I’d been so potentially valuable to them that they’d engineered an elaborate ruse to get me on their side, and now he was willing to give up the spy they’d worked so hard to create. But they’d done their job too well. I couldn’t just leave now. I shook my head. “We’ve got a lot of work to do, and I think Liberty Jones has a lot more stories in her. Who knows what I might learn among the magisters?”

  He looked disappointed for a moment, then he grinned. “That’s my girl, Liberty. I’m sure I’ll see you again.”

  As Alec boarded the engine, Henry came up behind me. “If you want to go with them,” he said softly, “I’d understand, even though hiring a new governess would be very inconvenient.”

  I turned to face him. “Do you want me to go, now that you know about me?”

  “Only if going is what you want. Nothing has to change, as far as I’m concerned.”

  I glanced at Alec and the magnificent engine, then turned back to Henry. “No, I think I can do more in the city. Besides, there are the children, and there’s my newspaper career.”

  “Newspaper career?”

  “Just one of the many things we need to discuss later, but we’re running out of time to get home safely.”

  Everett and his crew had wheeled the airship out of the barn, and he gave us goggles as we boarded. The ship was soon soaring upward. I could see the rebel engines below, snaking their way into the wilderness, and I waved, but I wasn’t sure they could see me.

  Henry was like an older version of Rollo as he moved around the ship, taking note of every detail of how it worked, and then looking over the side at the approaching city far below. “Rollo would be so jealous,” he said with a grin. “I feel guilty for getting to do this without him.”

  “Maybe someday we can arrange it for him,” I said.

  “Perhaps. You’re the one with the connections.” He studied me for a while, then took my hand and said, “That, back there, is that why you had to come to the city, why you said you have nowhere else to go?”

  I nodded. “I think my father always knew I wasn’t his child, and when my mother died…” I gave a weak shrug, and he nodded. “He didn’t even know about the magic, but that was how I knew.”


  “Do you know who your natural father was?”

  “I have no idea. It wasn’t the sort of thing anyone talked about. My parents pretended nothing was the matter, until my mother died and her husband didn’t want anything to do with me anymore. I didn’t know until I arrived in the city that what I am isn’t accepted. I never found out what happens to half-breeds, but Mrs. Talbot hinted that it was dire.”

  “I think it involves isolation, to make sure the blood isn’t further tainted. And they may be used to provide power for magical objects. Slave labor, essentially.” I gulped in horror, and he gripped my hand tightly. “I hope you can trust that I’ll keep your secret. You keep so many of mine.”

  “Isn’t that the ideal relationship between a governess and her employer—each having enough knowledge to thoroughly destroy the other?”

  “I think it’s also the ideal foundation for a good friendship,” he said with a laugh. “Think of it as us having a great deal of trust in each other.”

  “Oh, what about your roadster?” I asked, remembering one last loose end from the night’s adventure.

  “I’ll send Matthews to retrieve it. He’s in on all my secrets. If you ever need help and can’t find me, you can always turn to him, and I’ll let him know he can trust you as well. I suppose all of us have some planning to do—after we get some rest.”

  The sky was still dark, but lights were beginning to show here and there in windows as early risers woke, when the airship came in behind the Lyndon house. Since we had left through the kitchen door, the bedroom windows were closed, but Henry and I went down on the ladder together, and he magically opened my window for me and saw me safely inside before the ship moved farther down the building to his room.

  The servants had assumed we’d be out late at the ball and let us sleep in, so I managed a short nap before I had to face the day. I was grateful that I’d accepted Mrs. Talbot’s offer to walk Rollo to school in the morning because that allowed me to take my time getting up and dressing. It took me forever to pull all the pins out of my windblown and tangled hair, but eventually I looked like my usual governess self, and I felt safe going downstairs for breakfast.