Guns & Flame: The Sara Featherwood Adventures ~ Volume Three

by Guy Antibes

  The words disappointed Sara. She thought the man might have a shred of decency within him.

  “They made me tell you, since we have a relationship.” He wouldn’t look at Sara. He looked despondent, but his body didn’t and his lip curled just a bit that showed that he was amused at the whole thing. Hans might be decent, but he played along right with Ferdik in every way but the tone of his voice. Why did he feel the need to act regretful? She also didn’t believe that a few conversations constituted a relationship.

  Her disappointment quickly turned to anger. “And if I don’t?”

  Ferdik poked his head out of the carriage. “Driver, stop here!” he said in execrable Belonnian. Why did these men speak the language in such an abominable fashion? But then Lily and Willa wouldn’t do much better. The carriage halted and Ferdik turned to Hans. “Tell her she will get out and walk back to Okalla is she doesn’t agree to leave with Miss Evertrue.”

  “Do you really think a few miles of walking will force me to leave?” Sara laughed in his face.

  Ferdik cast a nervous glance at Hans. “She’s noble, right?”

  “So what if I’m noble? You are perfectly capable of speaking to me! I am a Countess and you are a sniveling little baronet!” Were these two men idiots? Didn’t they know that she had run as far as the distance to Okalla more than a few times with Meldey? Of course they didn’t and she’d keep that fact to herself.

  “Noble women don’t have the capacity for such a walk. I think she’s bluffing.”

  Hans said, “Perhaps we should reconsider…”

  Enough of this prattle, Sara would put an end to this idiocy. She bent over and lifted up her dress.

  “I told you it wouldn’t work,” Hans said.

  “Leave the judgment to me. She’s bluffing.”

  Sara pulled out her knife and pointed it towards Ferdik. “Out!”

  His eyes bulged and his pale face turned red. “You aren’t serious.”

  “Well, it looks like part of me has been recognized enough for you to talk directly to me.” She poked him lightly in the stomach. “I am serious. Both of you get out.” Sara yelled in Belonnian to the driver, “These men were about to do cruel things to me. We will leave them here. I’ll pay you more than whatever they arranged.”

  “That suits me, Miss,” the driver said, but she could hear fear in his voice.

  “You speak Belonnian too well. Perhaps you are a spy.” Ferdik said as he looked at the knife, but kept himself pushed against the opposite side of the carriage.

  “Hans knows my command of Belonnian. It’s no secret, but I don’t think it would matter what he told you. People like you believe only what you want to. I want you two to leave the carriage.” She pulled her knife back.

  Ferdik must have taken the move as a sign of weakness. “And if I won’t?”

  Hans had moved into the far corner as Sara continued, “Then I will cut you, Baronet. I may cut you anyway to remind you what a woman can do.”

  Sara turned to Hans. “You first, Master Dairy.” She turned her knife to Hans, who quickly fled the cabin and Sara noticed the smile. This was a comic play to him. Well, it looked like Sara would be part of the entertainer.

  Ferdik grabbed Sara’s arm. “You’re no match for a man.”

  She sighed and rammed her other elbow in Ferdik’s nose. He released her arm and sat back clutching his face. Blood began to leak through his fingers. “No match for you? You’re too easy. Out.” She poked him in the side—enough for him to wince.

  Ferdik didn’t hesitate. He soon stood with Hans on the side of the road.

  “Turn around,” Sara said, “bend over and grab your ankles. Both of you.”

  They complied with Sara’s command. She stole a glance at the driver who sat there with a shocked look on his face. Sara threw up their cloaks over their backs. She slapped the flat of the knife against Hans’ rear and kicked him into the mud at the side of the road. Then she drew the sharp edge of her blade across Ferdik’s buttocks, making a not-too-deep red line on both sides, splitting the fabric and his underclothes and kicked him into the mud as well.

  “You may stand up, Master Dairy,” Sara said.

  Hans stood with a wry smile on his face, but Ferdik howled and clutched his backside. Sara retreated to the carriage. “Enjoy your stroll.” She called out to the driver in Belonnian. “These two will hike back to the city. Let’s return now.”

  “Your wish is my wish.” The driver looked at the two men with fear in his eyes as Sara boarded. He snapped his whip over the horses and they left.

  They soon came to a crossroads. “This is the faster way into Okalla than just turning around,” he said with fear still coloring his voice.

  “Onward!” Sara said. She smiled in triumph over the insufferable Ferdik, but regretted that the University boys had so thoroughly manipulated Hans. She expected more of him. The risk of further spoiling their reputation among the male students seemed rather low and she doubted that any of the students had the courage to confront her. For the first time during the entire trip, pity intruded on her emotions regarding the students. She had no desire to engage in conversation with Hans again.

  A few hours later, Willa and Lily walked into the suite surprised to see Sara reading the Belonnian science text.

  “The ride bored you?” Lily said. “I’m glad I made excuses.” She put her packages down.

  Sara smiled, but before she could say anything, Willa said, “Your face is too flushed. I doubt if the text book is that exciting.”

  “You wouldn’t believe what happened.” Sara told them her story. Lily and Willa laughed and laughed. Sara couldn’t help joining in. “I thought that my actions might precipitate a war, but then I realized that it had already been declared. I doubt if their attitudes will change—except for Ferdik Heathergate. He won’t be sitting for awhile.” They all laughed some more.

  Joking about it seemed to minimize the pure maliciousness of Ferdik. Sara refused to be intimidated by the man, but Hans had gone along with Ferdik’s browbeating. She longed for Klark who wouldn’t stand for such treatment, not that she needed Klark’s help. Sara knew that all men weren’t like the students. Had the Dean of the University handpicked these men for meanness and stupidity?

  ~~~

  Chapter Thirteen

  Science: The Wrong Reaction

  The first day of the science exchange had arrived on Oneday. The session took place at the University of Okalla laboratories. Sara followed the path on the map, twisting and turning until it ended up at the back of the campus.

  She approached the lab, seeing some Parthy students milling around the door. Ferdik looked surprised to see Sara and quickly walked away, holding a pillow. Fear? The other men hurried inside and sat on one side of the lecture hall without Ferdik, who must have decided to attend sessions elsewhere, after all.

  A laboratory set-up littered the table at the bottom of the lecture well. Sara intentionally sat by herself on the other side among a scattering of Belonnians. She gazed at the eight Parthy men who returned with stares of their own. She prepared herself for hostility, but their faces betrayed caution as much as anything and maybe a trace of fear, but Sara suspected she imagined that—perhaps a touch of discomfort.

  A few more Belonnian young men and women ambled in at the last minute and took a few seats on Sara’s side of the hall as the professor entered the room from the lower door.

  “I am Professor Grappel.” He spoke no better Parthian than the men spoke Belonnian. “We will go over some of the advances in science.” The man began to drone on about the general state of Belonnian discovery. The Belonnian chemistry text talked about more advanced discoveries than the professor mentioned.

  Sara noticed the Parthy students taking furious notes. Had they never studied science? The professors at Tarrey Abbey College taught at the same level. Hedge taught a few classes that went over the more advanced concepts that the textbook described. Could the University be so mediocre? Sara a
ched to find out. She came to Belonnia hoping to gauge what the University taught. Degrees from the University were sought after, but Sara was coming to the conclusion that Tarrey Abbey students learned just as much.

  Perhaps these were lesser minds that had been sent to Belonnia. Did Duke Northcross have a hand in their selection?

  “Questions?”

  The Parthian students remained silent as Sara raised her hand. “It seems the alloy work you described isn’t quite the same as what is described in this text,” she said in perfect Belonnian. She pulled the science text out of her bag. “You didn’t mention the preparation of the alloy’s component materials or how stable the alloy was. I’m interested in what techniques Belonnia uses to guard against re-crystallization as the alloy cools.”

  “We employ the use of several catalysts.” The professor defined what catalysts did and a few general methods employed to keep crystallization from occurring. He warmed to the topic. She glanced at the boys on the other side of the hall. Half of them dozed.

  Sara picked up a few techniques that she hadn’t learned from Doctor Hedge and wrote them down. She had gone through this topic thoroughly while Hedge taught her practical methods as they worked on percussive powder and the Belonnians truly did have an edge.

  Another professor entered the room and began talking about the biological sciences in somewhat better Parthian. Sara had a general interest in biology, but perked up when a geologist entered the room.

  Evidently, he had been told about Sara. His Parthian pronunciations were nearly unintelligible, but he continued. The few students still engaged gradually gave up writing notes.

  The man began to talk about advances in processing ground oil. Sara knew little about ground oil and she concentrated on parsing his awful command of her language. The students now looked over at her with disgruntled expressions.

  “Professor, where is ground oil found in Belonnia?” In Parth, there were a few areas where ground oil had been located, but mostly in the Gost and in lower-lying areas. No one knew what to do with it since there were better, purer sources of oil, like what they harvested from whales.

  “In certain areas of the Western Mountains.”

  “Are there any papers on this subject? I didn’t read about this very interesting phenomenon in the text.”

  A man who had slipped in at the top of the lecture room walked down, giving Sara an inscrutable glance, and whispered in the professor’s ear and returned to his position above her in the hall.

  “I am sorry no papers exist. The discovery has been discredited, but the concept is interesting is it not?” The professor now lied. Sara noticed the change in the timbre of his voice and everyone could see the sheen of sweat on his high forehead. “Haven’t you recently found something similar? There were reports of exploding devices employed by the Parthian Army during the Shattuk Downs conflict. Perhaps ground oil had been refined to create highly volatile mixtures?”

  Sara merely shrugged. “Shattuk Downs conflict?”

  One of the Parthy students piped up. “Shattuk Downs? Aren’t you from Shattuk Downs, Sara Featherwood?” She could hear the venom in the voice. It took all of the control she had to maintain an even face.

  “I am, but as you know, I was in Parth before and after the little disagreement in the Downs. I’d hardly call it a conflict.” She pressed her lips together and restrained herself from looking annoyed.

  “Do you know a Doctor Hedges, Miss Featherwood?” The man who whispered in the professor’s ear spoke from above.

  “I know Doctor Hedge. I took a course from him when I attended the Women’s School at Tarrey Abbey. I’ve been in Parth for the past year helping to get the Women’s College started.” Sara replied in Belonnian. Let the cretins from across the aisle twist their minds to translate.

  She hoped that the subject of percussive powder had been changed sufficiently to move on to a different subject. The professor did, indeed, launch into the precious metals and gems found within Belonnia.

  The session ended. Tomorrow they would get actual demonstrations of some of the topics discussed. No one stopped her as she walked by herself out of the Science building. The Parthy students had stayed to mingle with the Belonnians, but Sara had no interest in participating. The twists and turns of the pathways confused her for a few moments as the sun had moved on the other side of the sky and the pathways looked different than in the morning. The late afternoon was surprisingly warm, and there were quite a few students about.

  She turned into a quadrangle populated by a few students and spotted a woman sitting on a bench in the sunlight, who looked just like Meldey. The flowers were long gone, but most of the plants were evergreens and the grass had not yet turned brown. The effect was rather pleasant, even surrounded by black buildings. Sara walked up to her and spoke in Belonnian. “I seem to have become lost. Can you give me directions?”

  “You have caught me waiting for someone. If you take that exit and turn left, you’ll reach the main pathway. You can follow it out,” Meldey said in Belonnian as perfect as Sara’s.

  “Thank you, if I can ever be of assistance to you…” Sara said.

  “I’m sorry, I’m not a student, here. I’ll be leaving Okalla soon, but thank you for your offer.” Meldey casually scratched her wrist, showing Sara her tattoo.

  Sara gave her a little bow and quickly left the garden. She didn’t want to be around Meldey any longer than necessary and it wasn’t out of the question that either of them might be followed. Sara could take her out of her mind and leave her absence to her imagination, but seeing her sitting on the bench, unsettled her. Could Meldey be following her? No. Her mission had something to do with the University and Sara had randomly arrived at the garden.

  Her footsteps were quicker and her breathing more shallow than normal. She felt a little panic and had the desire to put as much distance as she could from Meldey. Relief flooded into her as she found the refuge of her hotel room. Willa and Lily were still out.

  Sara wrote a few additional notes regarding the day’s exchange and would leave it plainly in the textbook. She didn’t need the notes now for when she wrote down the notes while listening, she remembered all of the professors’ words. She tried to eradicate thoughts of Meldey’s assignment and thought back to the science exchange.

  The Western Mountains held the burning minerals. Sara wondered if they too had explosive properties. Belonnia’s Western Mountains were Parthy’s Eastern Mountains. If the Belonnians wanted total control of the ground oil, that would be the primary reason Shattuk Downs had been made into an elaborate diversion, just as the Duke had thought. The Belonnians had retreated from their attempt at grabbing Parthian lands, but if there were minerals in the mountains that were of military value, she doubted if Belonnia’s ceasefire would continue and what if they wanted the ground oil in the Gost? That might explain why they supported the Grand Duke. There might be more layers to their strategy than just a ruse.

  What did they use ground oil for? That was an important fact to relay to Hedge. She found herself looking for complicated aspects to the day, however as Lisha Temple taught, the simplest explanation was usually the best assumption. That indicated to her that the geologist spoke the truth at the beginning and lied at the end.

  Because of the man who scolded the geology professor, Sara would have to keep a lower profile for the next day. Let the University students do all the talking. She’d be able to assess Belonnian and University chemistry levels. Sara also realized that she’d have to have a talk with Doctor Hedge about the University’s curriculum. Again she thought that the intellectual level of the students didn’t match her expectations.

  Sara decided to take a quick nap. Willa and Lily’s voices woke her up and she yawned while entering the sitting area. “Did you have a nice enough time?”

  “Practical Mathematics,” they both said in unison. “Belonnia is a backward country.” Lily said, “I didn’t even First in the damned subject and I know more than they
do.”

  “I did, and Lily’s right. They just aren’t as developed and the University students,” Willa said, squinting at Sara, “those that attended, wouldn’t have passed any of the Tarrey Abbey courses.”

  “I noticed that among my Science cohorts.”

  Lily snorted. “I wouldn’t use the term ‘cohorts’, that indicates some indication that we are in the same group.” Lily sighed. “They are obviously the dregs.”

  Sara made a face at Lily and pointed at her ear to remind her that they might be heard. “It’s just us, I suppose. I’m sure the Women’s School in Obridge has the best teachers in Parthy. The University doesn’t even teach Practical Mathematics.”

  “But businessmen…” Willa said.

  Sara shrugged. “I’m not very experienced with business in Parth, but how many are groomed for their positions through the University?”

  “Something to find out,” Lily said. “I’m sure Banna would like to know.”

  “I’m sure she would.” Willa nodded and kicked off her shoes. “Who would have thought Obridge to be the center of Practical Mathematics?”

  “I thought I saw Meldey today,” Sara said. “I passed a woman on my way back, but, alas, it wasn’t her. I worry about your maid, Lily.” That would have to do to inform them that she actually ran into Meldey. Sara desperately wished she could talk to them about Meldey and the anxiety that she felt, but that would have to wait for an opportune time and there weren’t many on this trip.

  “As do we all,” Willa said. “As do we all.”

  “What’s for tomorrow?” Sara said as she straightened out the notes in her science text and made them very visible.

  “Political Philosophy,” Lily said. “It will be at a room in the hotel. I wonder if that Ferdik Heathergate is in on that one. I wonder if he’ll be able to take the exchange sitting?” She laughed.

  “I won’t attend,” Willa said. “I don’t trust my control that far. After all, I’m a servant. My stint as a housekeeper taught me much about Practical Mathematics, but I stay away from politics—it gives me the shivers.”