“I will endeavor to fix this,” he said, watching as the steam train stopped along the tracks, filling the space between the rails and along the platform with fat clouds of vapor. “Miss Baxter will know that I support her and that no matter what, I shall stand behind her one hundred percent.”
“Good on ya, Mr. Todd.” Dick smiled, looking after Molly as she shook her head and mounted the squat set of stairs leading up into the cabin. “Why not even a hundred and ten percent?”
“Well, mathematically that doesn’t really…” He stopped to take hold of the railing and follow after his companions. “It doesn’t really make sense, but alright!” Simon smiled, looking back over Steam Station from the cabin door as the train began to lurch forward.
There seemed to be a figure in the distance. He had only noticed at the last moment, the inky shade of a figure beyond the cloud. It appeared to be a young woman wearing a full skirt with a bonnet. Simon thought it must have been his mind, conjuring up visions of Miss Baxter waiting for him, tossing a handkerchief in the air as they departed for Grimguild.
Feeling delusional, Simon waved backed. “We’re coming!” he said, feeling the steam press warmly against his face.
We’re coming Miss Baxter.
Chapter 22
Decant Stop Us Now!
“So, we’ll get into the station and go directly to the Eastern Tower?” Simon sat upon a bench in the rear caboose of the steaming locomotive, watching the windows as their reflections stared back at them from darkened panes. Molly was on the opposite side facing him, the doorway of their carriage slightly ajar to the hallway.
They were, of course, the only passengers on the small stream train and occupied just one of three private carriages. The train itself had only two sections, being the caboose and engine, with nothing else in tow beyond that.
Mr. Dashing, who had been quiet since boarding at Steam Station, had his boots resting on the same seat Molly currently occupied, with his hands folded behind his head.
“How are we supposed to know how to find them?” he asked, the brim of his hat obscuring his features. “There must be a hundred of those wizard closets. You’re telling me we need to find Sally, Jane and Miss Hershal, somehow open the door and get them out? Seems a bit over our heads if you ask me.”
Simon saw Molly flare her nostrils.
“Well Mr. Todd’s a ghost, we wouldn’t need to open all of them if he could simply pop his head through.”
Again, Mr. Dashing shook his head. “Sorry Miss, but I’ve been in one of those hell holes. No way Mr. Todd’ll be able to see much of anything while inside a wizard closet. They’re like an interdimensional pocket. A guy can’t see the nose on his own face while in one of those things. Ghost or no.”
Simon could see Molly struggling to piece together her plan. She frowned at all the obstacles that were seemingly in her way.
“Perhaps there is some sort of library?” Simon suggested. “A card catalogue for prisoners, maybe? If there are that many doors, there must be some way to be able to distinguish them from one another?”
Simon couldn’t imagine being a warden of such a dense prison community with no means of organization in which to catalogue it. Unless Grimguild was in the habit of simply locking the door and throwing away the key, though even if that were the case there must have been something chronicling key expenses. There had to be some kind of ledger or cabinet that outlined closet occupancy.
“I’m sure there is, Mr. Todd, but Grimguild is massive. I’m not sure where we’d even start looking.”
Simon bit his lip at Dashing’s remark, trying to spin some sort of solution in his head. “Well, maybe we ought to find the scoundrels who put them in there in the first place.”
“Chip Ardale and Benedict Uovo, was it?” Dick, more animated than he had been over the last thirty minutes, picked his head up. “They were the ones to capture Fae and Jane. They were also in Piper’s Toss the day you left, Miss Stein.”
The girl nodded, the black silhouette of her sister bobbing within the hollow of her throat. “They’ll know where Sally is! I know it!” She smiled, eyes bright.
Simon thought the expression quite fetching.
“Well then.” Mr. Dashing pushed himself up with his knees, rolling his head about his shoulders to stretch the sore muscles in his neck. “Our first order of business will be to find the two ragamuffins and knock them about until they tell us where their cells are.”
“Do you really think we can? Mr…,” Simon hesitated in an effort to recall the name, “Ardale was more than a little powerful back there. Miss Baxter may have been able to defeat him, but we’re just, well…” He looked down, regarding his folded hands. “Well us.”
Dick laughed, arching his back until it cracked. “No worries, old boy!” he said, clapping him on the shoulder as he made his way to the door and pulled it open. “Where there’s a will there’s a way.”
Simon looked after him as he left, marvelling at how someone could stay so positive amidst an obviously hopeless situation. “The foolhardy old blockhead will be locked up in his own wizard’s wardrobe what-cha-ma-call-it before the day’s out.” Mr. Todd turned back, feeling a shock of guilt at Molly’s dour expression.
“I mean…” He started sympathetically, leaning forward to take her hand before pulling back awkwardly last second. “I’m sure we will figure out something. Mr. Dashing’s a lot of boasting and strutting about, but he does hate to lose.” Simon regarded the glass of the window and his own reflection before turning back. “So don’t fret too much, Miss Stein.”
The dark-haired woman sighed, looking towards the door Mr. Dashing had just departed before leaning forward to close it. Molly pressed her lips into a thin line.
Mr. Todd leant back in his seat, his sixth sense telling him something important was about to be discussed.
“I am very grateful that you’re helping me to find Sally,” she said, a smile lighting her eyes. “I don’t think I could have done this alone.”
Simon exhaled through his nose, trying to laugh away the seriousness of her tone. “It’s really not a bother, Molly.” He twisted to look away. “I know our relationship may have been an odd one, but despite every awkward detail, I do feel honored to have met you.” He smiled, turning his head so he wouldn’t have to imagine the embarrassment he felt reflected back through her eyes. “Both of you, of course.”
Molly smirked. “You really ought to just get on with it. A girl may be more inclined to accept your affections if you went straight out and admitted them, Mr. Todd.”
“Well, practice makes perfect,” Simon replied a bit sheepishly.
“Yes, but,” Molly cocked an eyebrow, “playing dress up with a few working girls may give someone the wrong idea about you, too.”
Simon had to at least admit that was true. How utterly pathetic he was! He promised himself that as long as he was alive, or at least in the same not-entirely-dead sort of state that he was currently in, and as soon as he saw Miss Baxter again, he would tell her how much he really cared for her. No ifs ands or buts!
“Well, let’s just keep that between us for now, shall we?” Simon laughed uneasily, coughing into his fist.
Molly smiled. “It sounds worse than it is.” Mr. Todd, though odd and certainly coming off as more than a bit desperate, was nevertheless a virtuous man, she thought. Even though Molly had practiced a few of her lesser spells on him, he had never touched her in any way, certainly none that would have been deemed acceptable to her trade. A fool man in love, he was. And yet, Molly was more than one hundred percent certain that the things he didn’t know about Miss Baxter could fill a book. In fact… “Mr. Todd, I need to apologize.”
He laughed. “For what?” Certainly if anyone had to apologize for their actions it was him. Though, he really didn’t like dwelling on the thought.
“I, well, I… It really is my fault all this happening, Mr. Todd.”
Simon quirked a brow.
“There are a
lot of politics surrounding your Miss Baxter and the current Chancellor Heironymous Grimguild. I think…,” she trailed off a second. “Perhaps before you admit anything to that sorceress, you may want to ask her about it.” Molly looked up, biting her lip. “However, when certain things occurred at the University and Miss Baxter had to leave, I already knew you.”
Simon frowned. “I don’t… quite understand. In what time frame did this happen?”
Again, Molly regarded her lap. “It was all a few weeks before you came to Piper’s Toss. That was when Miss Baxter and Heironymous had a falling out of sorts.”
Simon reflected back, remembering that long week Miss Baxter had been away, tending to some matters at the school.
“Alright,” he said, his expression grave.
“Well, in all the kerfuffle, it got out that I knew you, and that you were quite close to Miss Baxter.” It had all been a bit less polite than that. Molly had been going on about some poor sop who was in love with her, in fact. Molly didn’t see the need to expand on the details however.
“The University wanted me to use you to find out more about her. Where she lived and where she may go. I did initially refuse, but then they took Sally and well…” She looked up. “I’m sorry, Mr. Todd. That night when Chip and Uovo came for you two in Piper’s Toss. That was my fault.”
Simon held his breath a moment before inhaling and exhaling deeply. “So, the tuition thing?”
“That’s true,” Molly admitted. “Because I initially refused to help, they took her and said it was due to illegal tutoring.” She bit her lip. “I haven’t necessarily lied but…I did omit some details and I wanted to well…” She regarded her reflection in the mirror a moment. “I wanted to clear it up.”
Simon felt the train lurch a bit as he sat back, regarding the black silhouette of her sister’s pendant at the young girl’s neck. It reminded Mr. Todd of the ivory choker Miss Baxter had worn on the day she had asked him to be a part of their expedition. He blushed at the thought of it, turning away.
“A loved one was in danger. I understand you must have felt quite lost.” Simon smiled, leaning forward to tap her on the back of the hand. “Consider it a non-issue, Miss Stein.”
When she nodded and looked away with a happy smile, Simon did too, listening to the rhythmic chug of the locomotive. He couldn’t help but feel curiously perplexed at the obvious scandal revolving around the Grimguild University. That Miss Baxter was more than just a powerful sorceress was clear. But was her mother Rebecca involved in the mess of affairs as well? Molly had mentioned as such, but the poor woman died two springs ago, whereas these shenanigans seemed to be all rather recent.
Mr. Todd found all the secrecy to be utterly exhausting. He pitched forward, rubbing at his eyes, wishing that he could lay down for a nap to clear his head when Mr. Dashing popped his head back in through the door.
“I think we may be approaching,” he said, turning about after his announcement.
Simon offered a cursory glance towards Miss Stein before sitting up. The young woman was rifling for something in her pocket as he left, sliding open the red carriage door to join Mr. Dashing in the corridor.
Large windows looked opaque in the darkness, but as Mr. Todd strode over towards the young gunslinger, he noticed several lights piecing through the stony black night and frothy steam.
“Grimguild,” Dick said. He had his pistol holstered, but Simon recognized the several instruments he used for cleaning it as he was putting them away. “I hope Miss Stein knows how to get us inside,” he said flatly, the brim of his hat obscuring his eyes. Simon could see the light of the University reflected in the man’s targeting goggles.
“I’m sure she’ll try her best,” Mr. Todd replied, looking back out the window. “We’re not the only ones with something to lose, after all.”
The steam train hissed as the station approached, whorls of fiery sparks dancing about the tracks as it slowed into position. Though the locomotive was composed of only the main engine and one passenger car, Simon felt as though the deceleration was agonizingly slow and watched out the window as the lights grew larger, with eager eyes.
Molly Stein had come out of the carriage car a few moments after him, smiling at the two as she joined them at the window. As the station came into view, large girders were lit up with ambient light all around them. The darkened windows turned sandy bronze from the warm, tarnished walls of the terminal. From their viewpoint, before the rail turned and headed into position on the platform, Mr. Todd espied several housing corridors for different trains already sequestered away. He had counted six rows of dormant locomotives, all gathered beneath a large dial that reminded Mr. Todd of the innermost workings of a clock. One large cogwheel was surrounded with other smaller toothed dials.
He wondered, fingering his pocket watch in his jacket pocket, if perhaps the trains worked much like a wound watch. There hadn’t been any conductor, he mused. Perhaps steam and magic, working in conjunction with clockwork technology, allowed for the wizards of Grimguild to safely expedite to other areas of Freland without much hassle. The idea was most fascinating.
“Let’s go, Mr. Todd.”
Simon woke from his reverie with a start, widening his eyes as he nodded and followed along after Miss Molly. As he hopped from the platform to join the others, Simon was a bit relieved to see that the station was almost entirely empty.
To the left of the platform was the large wall housing the other trains, and where, most probably, their own would be transferred too after dropping off its cargo. To the right was their entry point, black and dark from the underground.
Molly waved to him as she ran forward, her skirts bouncing and stirring the metallic scent of the terminal so it invaded his nostrils. Dick walked after her, seemingly unimpressed, or perhaps already familiar with the steam station of Grimguild. Simon on the other hand felt rather transfixed on the area, feeling as though he hadn’t ever seen a place quite so complex and cold as he was experiencing now.
“Should there be other people here?” he asked, walking up a wide set of granite stairs towards a squat entryway.
“It’s late, and like I said before, this isn’t usually where people come in at. Most arrive via blimp.” Retrieving something from her pocket, Molly looked back. “That train will run all night, but typically the other longer trains will only venture out during the day.” She looked back. “I suppose our timing is good in that regard.”
Simon, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure as he yawned into his palm.
The gate into Grimguild lay just beyond the station. It was large, at least forty strides wide with a tiled floor of ivory and rosewood. A red-tinted, glass wall, framed into small squares, ran in an arch along the ceiling and was horizontally bisected into a thick panelled wall of the same, slightly faded, rosewood planks.
Simon thought that the entire station could have benefitted from a good coat of varnish, but with his silver spoons and forks tarnishing away at home he felt he wasn’t in any position to outwardly comment about it.
“Why are there so many doors?” he asked.
The entire wall, in fact, was littered in closed doorways and all of them were queerly dissimilar and mismatched. Some were long and thin with a single brass knob in the center, where others were double sided with ornate depictions etched into them. Blue doors with chipping paint and onyx knockers, verdant emerald doors with golden hinges, and mouldering old farmhouse doors were all framed within the same wall, and each one had a very oddly shaped keyhole.
“Well, I guess sometimes there are a lot of people that want to come through,” Molly said, holding up a silver key in the shape of a wizard’s hat with a cat’s eye gem in the middle. “I hope this still works.”
Simon watched as she walked forward, not towards any door in particular, mind, but rather the closest one to her. Inserting the rather odd key into the lock, something inside seemed to pop and after a few gritty rattles and clicks, the mechanism opened.
&
nbsp; “Don’t tell me that’s what you were talking about when you said we ‘needed a mage’?” Simon cried.
Molly laughed, removing the key and popping it into the plunging neckline of her top. “Only students get keys into Grimguild,” she said, turning back towards the open door.
“Well, why couldn’t we have simply popped you on the head and took it?” he continued, adding as an afterthought, “I mean, of course if we had wanted to.”
Mr. Dashing grinned, folding his arms in front of him. “Astute observation, Mr. Todd. Keep in the spirit.”
“I guess you could have.” Miss Stein shrugged, turning on her heel as the lace of her skirt followed in her wake. “But I don’t think you have it in you.”
It was a fair reflection on his character, Simon realized, following after Dick and Miss Stein as they ran through the door. He was already feeling more than a bit nervous at what he could possibly do when they encountered the two vagabond mages.
“This way to the East Tower!” Molly cried.
Simon Todd, he thought. If only you were wearing different footwear, maybe it’d be easier to lift yourself up by the bootstraps.
As it was, his loafers were dreadfully caked in mud.
Chapter 23
Kettling Down In The Dark
Being in the dark for an inordinate amount of time was frustrating. Mr. Darcy, not really accustomed to being visually impaired, also felt rather muddled in his thoughts. Though his limbs were unbound, his human body stifled him, so he endeavored, after several hours, to remove his clothing and transform back into his sleek, yet large and handsome, dragon form.
One must keep in mind, preferably, that maintaining his human form was much akin to donning a well-made pair of trousers that were a bit too tight in the waist. Though they may look smashing, enough so to endure a good day’s work bound inside them, one did favor the exact moment when one could pull them from their person and strut about in their underclothes. This wasn’t his home, but the darkness was secure enough that Mr. Darcy felt comfortable with both being naked in front of Miss Hershal, and being in dragon form.
The Curious Case of Simon Todd Page 24
