Echoes of Aether

by Gail B Williams

  Chapter 41

  Unable to move too far or too fast, Maker suffered the ignominy of a second day sharing the drawing room after lunch with his wife and the other ladies. No one had said anything, but recent events and the way people were looking at him, meant they knew something had changed.

  Amethyst had returned late yesterday with Jenson and they’d both been rather quiet over dinner. Unfortunately, others hadn’t, revealing the fact that Stephen was still in the house. A huge argument had ensued, one which had led to the sudden departure of Lovesey. So, the evening hadn’t been a total loss.

  After an early night, Amethyst hadn’t joined them for lunch either. She was probably in the workroom, one of the few places Great-Aunt Flora would allow her to go unescorted. Amethyst seemed to prefer to spend her time that way, and given this as the alternative, he didn’t blame her. Besides, she now had the perfect excuse; she was looking for ways to help Edwina by restoring Stephen. Jenson had free rein to go wherever he needed to, to do whatever he wanted; if he said he was investigating, none of them could gainsay him, though questions were already arising. Maker knew that his entire life was a trap, and it was only partly his own fault. There were ways out of this, but the threat was too great, the prospect of that threat, more than he could bear.

  He looked around the room, Lady Garrington-Smythe and Great-Aunt Flora sat in the middle of the room, playing cards over a fold-out baize table. Every now and again their quiet conversation would break out into saucy smiles and girly giggles. The Chalmers women, who didn’t deserve the title of ‘ladies’, sipped tea, and next to Cynthia sat the ever-present plate of treats. Little wonder the woman looked like a pig, she ate like one. Perhaps that explained why Charlotte was so painfully thin - there wasn’t enough food left for her.

  Maker looked away, ashamed of himself. It was a mean and unworthy thought, he should be better than that.

  “Why would she spend the night in the servant’s quarters with her maid?” Charlotte asked.

  “Perhaps that’s more what she’s used too,” Violet suggested. He didn’t like that even tone, it suggested a hint of danger. “Perhaps she’s another who enjoys sapphic tendencies.”

  “Lady Fotheringham.”

  The call that forestalled Maker taking his wife to task was Lady Garrington-Smythe’s. The older woman sat imperially at the card table and looked across the room, and the surrounding silence settled ominously, till no one, including him, dared risk a single movement.

  “Miss Amethyst Forester is a very dear friend of mine. If I ever hear of you, any of you, calling her good name or nature into question, I will ruin you. Completely and utterly.”

  The thunderous nature of that statement kept them all still and noiseless, not daring to breathe lest they upset the great lady.

  The door opened and Jenson stepped inside. His lips parted as if he would speak, then he looked around the room, clearly caught by the silence and the atmosphere that kept them all as fixed as if cast in aspic. Maker watched him concentrate his attention on Lady Garrington-Smythe. He offered a small bow.

  “Excuse me, Your Ladyship. I came looking for Lord Fotheringham.”

  Lady Garrington-Smythe inclined her head in greeting and then turned to Maker, indicating his presence tucked away in the corner of the room. Jenson looked around the door and offered a smile.

  “Ah, Maker,” Jenson said. “Wondered if I might borrow you for an hour or two?”

  Nebulous or not, no other request could have been more welcome. With measured, careful movements, Maker levered himself up off the chair to a standing position. Thankfully, he was unpleasantly used to pain, though this hurt more than anything he’d suffered for a long time. He straightened his waistcoat and looked only at Jenson. Each step shuddered up through his frame but he took them anyway. Any excuse to absent himself from the ladies.

  Jenson offered a farewell and Maker followed him out. Beyond the main door a pony and trap sat waiting. Jenson stopped beside it.

  “It’s not going to be the most comfortable thing you’ve ever experienced, but it will get us out of here as fast as I can.”

  The need to lean on another man for support to get up into the trap robbed away dignity, but pride was long gone, and Maker preferred not to fall. Besides, as the evening they’d introduced Arthur to him had demonstrated, Jenson was a well-muscled individual, he had no problem taking Maker’s weight until he was sitting on the bench seat. Jenson was at his side in a moment and moving the horse on.

  They sat side by side and Jenson kept the horse at a steady pace, directing it along the smoothest route. They went into the village and stopped outside Jade’s establishment. The man came out, took charge of the horse and Maker managed to alight without help. At least he didn’t look like a fool publicly. Jenson came to his side.

  “Pub’s this way.”

    

  The double cough drew her attention to the man at the front of the workspace. Amethyst turned to look at him, her hand still in the drawer of his parts store.

  “Hello.”

  “Hello,” Jade returned as he came to stand next to the tall storage cupboard. He leaned against it and crossed his arms, looking down at her. “Do you want to tell me what you’re rummaging around in my stores for?”

  “Three quarter inch rubber washers with a quarter inch aperture.”

  “Hmm.” Jade slapped her hands away and closed the drawer she’d been going through. He opened one, two drawers up. “How many do you need?”

  “Eighteen.”

  He frowned down at her. “Whatever for?”

  “DMAC. It makes a terrible noise when it’s calculating, and it’s been suggested that putting rubber washers between the rods and their fixing point might help quiet it some. And now I’ve got all these calculations to do to work out how to get Stephen back, I could really do with it being quieter.”

  “Stephen?”

  She nodded. “Yes. Stephen Russell. If I’m going to reconstitute ‒”

  “Wait!” Jade stopped counting out washers and concentrated on her. “Stephen Russell is dead. Has been for a while now.”

  “No!” She beamed at Jade’s obvious bafflement. “We’ve found him. He’s lost in the aether, I can see echoes of him through prismatic glass.” She looked into Jade’s hand and took the washers he’d counted out. “Oh that reminds me, I need to use your grinder to shape and smooth some glass.” She looked up at him. He just looked back. She placed the handful of washers on the bench and taking him by the shoulders, she led him to sit down on his work stool.

  “You have questions,” she said. “Ask away.”

  He did. Her answers weren’t as complete as she’d like. Suddenly he stood up.

  “I need to walk.”

  Typical Jade. If he had a problem, he literally walked it out. Grabbing her small purse from his bench, she rushed to follow him out. Since talking to him at this point would be pointless, she just matched his pace and let him lead her wherever he needed to go.

  “Do you know your friends are in the village?” Jade said as they walked away from it.

  “No, actually. Which ones?”

  “Inspector Jenson and that tall haughty lord.”

  Amethyst frowned. “Maker?” He couldn’t mean Monty, he would have named Monty.

  “Yeah. The stiff.”

  Maker wasn’t that stiff, but given the circumstances, he wouldn’t move easily, and Jade wasn’t to know that. How much there was to conceal. And she hated concealing anything from her brother, her twin.

  “They headed for the pub.”

  “See, he’s really not that much of a stiff.” It seemed odd, but she wasn’t in a position to argue, she hadn’t seen anything. And thoughts of them just led to thoughts of the question still unanswered.

  “Suppose.” Jade’s arm sweeping around her, hugging her to him, nearly pulled her off her feet. “Are you going to tell me what’s got you all tied in knots?”

  She leant her head on his
shoulder and patted his stomach. “Not planning on it.”

  He laughed; the way he always bounced back so quickly was one of things she loved about Jade. “Guessed as much, but you don’t get away with it that easy. You get all nervous and twisted up inside, and you know I know. So, come on, little sis.” He patted her head just to rub that ‘little’ in once more. “What’s up?”

  She told him about Montgomery’s offer.

  “Well, it’s not the worst offer you’ve ever had.”

  “Dread to think what was.”

  The humorous tone surprised the siblings to a halt, then out from behind a tree strode Bobbie. She wore hunting tweeds and carried a broken gun over her arm, a brace of pheasants in her other hand. “You want these?” She held them out to Jade.

  “Cheers.” He took the game birds. “Let’s go put these in the workshop and head to the pub.”

  “Err, I ‒”

  “You’re coming.” Jade took Amethyst’s hand - thankfully the right one - and they were striding back to the village.

  Objections were possible, but not really necessary.

  Chapter 42

  Maker spotted them the second the trio clambered into the pub, three young friends laughing and joking. Had he ever been like that? No, he hadn’t been able to be. Bobbie and he were nearly the same age, the twins a dozen years younger, but you wouldn’t know such a difference existed the way they behaved together. Bobbie spotted them and pointed he and Jenson out as the trio headed for the bar.

  A few moments later, Amethyst slipped onto the hard bench seat opposite Maker. That frisson of connection shivered through him when she glanced his way, and for one perfect moment he forgot the pain and all in his world was her. For one heartbeat. Her brother tucked in beside her and Bobbie took the stool Jade pulled into place at the end of the table. Three tankards accompanied the three people; from the more golden content and the sweeter smell he guessed they were ciders. General greetings were passed around, then Amethyst sipped her drink and made an odd face.

  “Lord, that’s so strong it could be one of your home brews.” She scowled at Jade.

  “My home brew tastes better than this.”

  Amethyst chuckled. “True.”

  “Should you be drinking that on an empty stomach?” Bobbie asked.

  “What makes you think I’ve an empty stomach?”

  “The fact that you didn’t join us for lunch.”

  “I ate in the workroom, while working.”

  “But did you?” Jade pushed.

  “Yes!” She punched him playfully. “Seriously, do I look like I skip meals?”

  “When you get lost in the work, you tend to forget about everything else, including eating.”

  “Well now I have a housekeeper and a maid who won’t let me forget.”

  “A housekeeper and a maid,” Jenson pointed out, “that often complain that you’ve let good food go to waste because you’ve been lost in your work.”

  Amethyst turned to him with a smile, though her eyes carried a more sour tone. “Just because I’m the youngest at the table doesn’t mean you can all pick on me. I had lunch, all right?”

  “It’s only because we love you, sweetie.” Jade swung his arm around her shoulders, squeezed her to him and kissed the top of her head. Apparently, he was as happy to have her back in his life as she was him. Amethyst grinned, comfortable and more relaxed than Maker had seen her in a long time – than he’d seen her ever, actually and that couldn’t be just the alcohol, not on one sip.

  “Why didn’t you join us for lunch, then?” Bobbie asked. “You think I enjoy being caught alone between my mother, Violet and the charmless Chalmers’?”

  The face Amethyst pulled demonstrated how clearly she understood that. “Sorry, I was being selfish. I didn’t want to join them after what was said this morning.”

  It seemed she would say more, but caught herself.

  “What was said this morning?” Jenson asked.

  Amethyst looked into her tankard and sipped, shaking her hand and shrugging.

  “Amme?” Jade pushed.

  The eye roll and sigh said it all. “Just more unfounded accusations.”

  “Same as Sunday?”

  She nodded in answer to Jenson’s question.

  “Is that all?” Bobbie asked. “This afternoon Violet told the Chalmers’ you are sapphic.”

  Amethyst frowned. “I’m what?”

  With an uncontrolled grin, Jade leaned in and whispered in her ear. Amethyst’s brows rose, an embarrassed grin and a flush coloured her face. “Well I’ve never heard it called that before.” She looked at Bobbie and the two of them burst out laughing. “Oh well, I’ve been called worse.”

  “When?” Again, the girls burst out laughing.

  It was good to hear. It was good to be here. This was the kind of company he’d like to keep all the time. The sourness of thinking about the other woman so permanently scarred into his life left him sour when it shouldn’t. He looked to Amethyst. She looked back, and he felt the touch of her boot beside his, between his feet. It wasn’t much of a touch, but he moved his feet together and gently squeezed her foot between his. She didn’t visibly react, but she didn’t pull away either. That was as good as he dared hope for.

  “Is that the other thing that’s got you all tied up in knots? What people are saying?”

  She glared at her brother. “Any chance you could just leave it?”

  “No. I worry about you. Besides, a problem shared is a problem halved, remember?”

  “Doubled more like,” she muttered and got an elbow in the ribs for her trouble. Another exaggerated sigh. She shifted and pulled something from the small bag she had placed on the table. A sheaf of papers which she passed to Jade. “Take a look at this.”

  He did, and the more he looked, the more he frowned.

  “Does that do what I fear it does?” she asked.

  Slowly the man started to nod. He folded the papers and returned them to her. “Make sure that doesn’t get out.”

  “Why?” Jenson demanded.

  The twins looked around and then at each other before leaning forward and answering so softly that Maker had to strain to listen.

  “If you built something like that, it’s got the power to deaden aetheric engines.” Jade explained.

  That wouldn’t be good, but Maker failed understand how it was that big a problem.

  “Imagine if you set something like that off in the middle of London,” Amethyst continued. “You could stop whole factories in their tracks. If it was a mill or a press where children run under the press to clear scraps, there’d be nothing to hold the ram head up and no time to get the workers out. The engines that pump clean air into the tunnels being cut for the underground and the extending sewers would stop pumping air. The water and sewage pumps and treatment works would stop working. Every aetheric conveyance would just slide to an uncontrollable stop. There’d be carnage.”

  It seemed fantastical that might ever happen, that anyone would ever conceive of such a thing, such a weapon.

  Now Jenson sat forward, concern on every feature. “You’re saying it’s some kind of aetheric bomb?”

  “It’s a sound wave. An acoustic instrument, but effectively, yes.”

  Jade frowned. “Actually, that might be its one saving grace.” He took the papers and looked again.

  Amethyst looked to him. “How?”

  For a moment he continued frowning at the papers. “Yes.” He pointed at the page and passed them back. He spoke as Amethyst studied. “Well acoustics can only cancel out if they match – within a small tolerance. Which means you’d have to transmit at the right frequency. Aetheric conveyances run at a different frequency to heavy industrial machinery. In fact, even the convies don’t all run at the same frequency. Which in turn means you could do a lot of damage, cut out lots of engines, but you couldn’t cut them all out at once with a single machine.”

  “What if you use two machines?”

 
Amethyst and Jade both considered it. “Cross-frequency contamination,” Amethyst said. “They’d each erode the effectiveness of the other, possibly even cancel one another out. Which would actually be the best way to stop the effects anyway.”

  Jenson looked confused. “What do you mean?”

  “Well, with most weapons, you only have to break them to stop them. Stop the workings to stop them working.”

  Now Maker was confused. “Yes?”

  Amethyst looked at him like she didn’t understand why he didn’t understand. She shook her head and focused. “The way that these acoustic frequencies work, they’re like waves. The waves will continue after the machine stops, so it can best be stopped by the emission of the negative wave.”

  Jade’s nod showed he concurred. “Luckily, no one but us knows about this anyway, so it won’t be a problem.”

  “If we’re the only ones who know.”

  Now that was a sobering thought. They all took a swig as it sank into their bones.

  Jenson frowned as he considered. “He said ‘other thing’, what other thing was tying you up in knots.”

  Amethyst blushed again. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter.”

  “Huh!” Bobbie smiled; whatever topic was coming, and Maker had a sinking feeling he knew what it was, it was going to be a lot lighter than the last discussion. “It’s hardly a state secret.”

  “Montgomery?” Maker asked.

  She answered with a small nod.

  “Answered?”

  This time the tiny movement was side to side.

  “You should,” Bobbie said. “You shouldn’t keep him hanging.”

  Something meaningful passed in the glance Amethyst exchanged with Jenson. What knowledge did Jenson hold that the rest of them did not?

  “How do I tell him no, and continue to stay in his house?” She looked at her brother. “Do you have a spare bed I can use?”

  “Nope,” he seemed happy to tell her. “But I’ve got a couch you’re short enough to sleep on.”

  “Oh, so much for chivalry.” She smiled and laughed again.