by Lucy Saxon
Cat nodded, and he scoffed.
‘Well, I suppose all that inbreeding can’t be good for dress sense.’
Cat whacked him in the stomach. ‘I’m not inbred!’ she protested. She rifled through the clothes, occasionally taking something out and tossing it on the bed.
‘You wear dresses?’ Fox asked, sounding surprised, and Cat glanced over her shoulder to see him holding up a simple, pale blue dress. She shot him a deadpan look.
‘Yes, I wear dresses. The only reason I haven’t since we met is because we’ve been a bit busy, and unless there’s something you’re not telling me, there weren’t dresses available among your old clothes,’ she said, making him laugh.
‘Point taken,’ he conceded. ‘I just never thought you were the type to actually enjoy wearing pretty dresses. You’ve always seemed so comfortable in trousers and shirts.’
She shrugged nonchalantly.
‘They’re far more practical. A dress would blow around something awful on deck. And it would have got in the way all the time back in the compound,’ she reasoned. ‘But I do like wearing dresses when I can. I’m happy to dress as a boy if it suits what I’m doing, but I’m still a girl.’ Her tone was somewhat defensive, and Fox held his hands up.
‘I didn’t mean anything by it. I think you’ll look pretty in a dress. Especially this one,’ he told her, holding up a simple purple and silver dress that was one of her favourites.
She blushed, smiling, and added the dress to the pile to be packed.
With her clothes packed, Cat looked around her room for anything she might have forgotten the last time, or not dared to take. After this, she didn’t plan on returning to the house, except to collect the children.
‘Anything else? Books, maybe?’ Fox suggested, studying the overstuffed bookshelf lining the far wall.
Cat snorted, shaking her head.
‘If I had to choose only a few of them, we’d be here for days,’ she told him with a grin. ‘They’ll be here for me if I ever want them. Besides, I’ve read most of them twenty times over. Help yourself, though,’ she offered, wandering over to browse the titles on the shelves.
Her finger dragged across the spines along one row, and paused on a dark blue hardback book. ‘This is one of my favourites. It’s rather well loved,’ she added with a rueful smile, pulling it free from its companions. The cover was scuffed and peeling at the corners, and the pages were weathered and creased. It was obvious she’d read it over and over.
Fox reached across to run a gentle finger over the gold lettering on the cover. ‘My mother read this book to me when I was younger, and when I learned to read myself, it was the first book I ever read the whole way through on my own. I loved it to pieces. Mum had to sew the cover back on half a dozen times. I used to take it with me almost everywhere, but one of the few times I left it at home, well …’ He didn’t need to finish his sentence; his face said it all. One of the few times he’d left it at home, his entire house had gone up in flames. ‘I never managed to get another copy after that. I haven’t seen it in … years.’
‘You can have my copy, if you’d like? I think I can trust you with it,’ she offered with a soft smile.
He looked at her, surprised.
‘Are you sure? I mean, it’s your favourite …’ he trailed off as she pushed the book securely into his hands.
‘It’s your favourite too, so I know you’ll look after it. Take it,’ she insisted.
He paused, pursing his lips, then slipped the book carefully into the inside pocket of his coat. When he looked back at her, his eyes were somewhat shiny.
‘Thank you,’ he murmured, one hand on her waist as he bent to kiss her. Still amazed that she could do such a thing so freely, Cat’s hand slid up to rest on his shoulder.
‘We should go back downstairs,’ she breathed once they parted, not moving far away from each other. ‘We need to get moving. It’ll be hell for Benny to navigate the Stormlands in the dark.’
Fox nodded, grabbing her duffle bag off the bed and shouldering it for her. Together they walked back down to the living room, where they found the kids eating under the watchful eyes of the crew.
‘All set?’ Ben queried when he saw them, and Cat nodded.
‘I think so.’ She’d definitely be sending someone to get Samuel once things were over; he didn’t deserve to be left alone in the house.
‘Her Majesty is going to stay and look after the sprogs,’ Harry informed her. Cat turned curious eyes on Mary, who smiled wearily.
‘I admit I need some time to … acclimatise to freedom. It’s been a long eight years, and I don’t think I can stand another adventure so quickly. Besides, we can hardly leave the children to fend for themselves.’ Cat didn’t argue; Mary looked tired, and it would probably do her good to spend some time in familiar surroundings.
‘Are you staying too, James?’ she queried, not particularly surprised when the blond shook his head stubbornly.
‘I want to help,’ he insisted. ‘I’m coming with you.’
Mary’s lips were pursed, and it was clear they had already argued over his decision while Cat had been upstairs.
‘We’d better get moving, then,’ Harry declared, offering a short bow to Mary. ‘Ma’am, we’ll see you soon, storms willing.’
‘Thank you for all your help, sir,’ the queen replied, getting to her feet. ‘James.’ She pulled her son close, hugging him tightly and pressing a kiss to his hair. ‘My darling boy, be safe, and do as you’re told. Your country needs you far too much for you to come to any harm.’ James swallowed, nodding sharply, and kissed his mother’s cheek.
‘I will, Mother. I’ll be back soon.’
Cat was surprised when Mary crossed the room to her, but obligingly returned the woman’s hug. ‘Look after my son, Catherine. You may both be grown now, but you were friends once, and I hope you can be again. Keep him safe, and yourself.’
‘I’ll do my best,’ Cat replied, not wanting to promise anything.
Leaving Mary with the children, the crew and James left the house, Cat locking the door behind her. Without a gaggle of children to keep an eye on it was far easier getting back to the ship, though the city was much busier than it had been when they’d left. Despite the cull in numbers, there were now almost twice as many guard patrols as usual, and it made Cat nervous to see so much purple about. The sooner they finished the job and got those in charge arrested, the sooner they could all relax.
‘I’ll take first shift,’ Harry decided, opening the trapdoor on deck. ‘Let you get some rest before we hit the Stormlands, Ben.’ Ben looked grateful for that, and soon disappeared to his room.
‘I’m going to put my bag away, then I’ll meet you in the engine room,’ Cat told Matt, tugging her duffle bag off Fox’s shoulder. Squeezing his hand briefly, she turned away, jogging for the manhole down to the floor below. The familiar mix of dread and anticipation she’d felt in the government compound was returning, and the sooner she got to work the better.
Cat was with Matt and Fox for most of the afternoon, Alice coming down with a plate of sandwiches to tide them over while they got the ship airborne. They worked furiously as Harry pushed the engines to their limits. It wasn’t until nearly dinner time that they had things running smoothly, and Cat looked down at her grease-stained arms and clothing. ‘I think I’m going to head up,’ she mused. ‘Have a bath and unpack my things. I’ll see you at dinner.’
Matt waved from where he was working on one of the propeller motors, and Fox gave her a lopsided smile, tyrium smudges all over his face.
‘See you at dinner.’
Heading back up to her bedroom, Cat perched on the edge of the bed with a sigh, her shoulders slumping. She felt like she hadn’t slept in days, and yet it wasn’t even close to night time. They still had a long few days ahead.
When she’d finished unpacking, Cat’s eyes fell on the contents of her open wardrobe, and a small smile flickered across her face. Fox was surprised that she l
iked to wear dresses? Well, she’d give him something to be surprised about. Pulling the purple and silver dress that he’d picked out earlier off its hanger, she chose some grey woollen tights to go with it and bundled her fresh clothing in her arms, a towel on top of the pile. Hurrying to the washroom, Cat locked the door behind her and started to run her bath, looking forward to a nice long, relaxing soak.
Chapter 26
Clean and dressed, Cat towelled her hair until it was only damp, then unlocked the bathroom door and peered into the corridor. It was empty, so she quickly darted back into her room. She didn’t want anyone to see her in her dress until dinner. Brushing her hair, she looked in the mirror that hung on her wardrobe door, smiling at her reflection. She looked a lot more like the girl she used to be, but she rather thought she looked years older. Her short haircut made her look more mature, and with all the action and stress over the past couple of weeks, she’d lost the last of her baby fat. She was, dare she say it, quite pretty.
Opening her drawer of jewellery, she found the necklace she was looking for; a simple silver raindrop on a fine chain, with an amethyst gem set in the centre. She carefully fastened the chain around her neck and sat down to pull on her boots. As she did up the last buckle on her boot, there was a knock on the door, and she cursed under her breath.
‘It’s open!’ she called, hoping it wasn’t James. She grinned widely when Fox opened the door, her expression growing even brighter at the gobsmacked look on his face.
‘Well, do I look enough like a girl now?’ she asked with a teasing grin.
When he’d picked his jaw up off the floor, he stepped inside, shutting the door behind him.
‘You definitely look enough like a girl, a very beautiful girl, for that matter. Far too beautiful for this scruffy little street rat,’ he informed her, half-serious as he moved forward, fingers brushing her cheek to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear. Cat felt her face redden, reaching up to rest her hands on his shoulders as he placed his other hand at the curve of her bodice.
‘We’ve been through this,’ she told him seriously, voice soft. ‘You’re not a scruffy little street rat. To me, you’re far more of a prince than James is.’
He laughed, pulling her into a lingering kiss, then stepped back and offered his arm with a short bow.
‘Well, m’lady, might your prince escort you to dinner?’
She laughed, offering a curtsey before looping her arm through his.
‘You may,’ she agreed, smiling.
As they walked through the galley door, all eyes turned on them, and Cat blushed fiercely as Matt let out a teasing wolf whistle.
‘Oh, Cat, sweetheart, you look wonderful! Did you bring that with you from the house?’ Alice asked, and Cat nodded, leaning closer into Fox’s side as they approached. James was staring at her with wide eyes.
‘Don’t you make a pretty little lass, then,’ Matt remarked. ‘Give us a spin.’ She twirled obligingly. ‘You’d better keep an eye on your girl, Fox, before someone better-looking makes off with her.’
The redhead raised an eyebrow.
‘She’d have to find someone better-looking first,’ he retorted smoothly.
‘Better-looking, I don’t know, but I could do with someone with a smaller ego,’ Cat sniped, earning a playful nudge from her boyfriend.
‘You wound me,’ he murmured.
‘Cat, would you take Ben and Harry their dinner up for me, please?’ Alice asked.
‘Sure.’ Picking up the tray, she doubled back out of the room, climbing up the ladder one-handed. She nudged the control-room door open with her hip.
‘Dinner,’ she called.
‘Blimey, lass, you clean up nicely! What’s the occasion?’ asked Harry with a grin, prompting Ben to glance over from where he was engrossed in the view outside the window.
‘No occasion. I just brought some clothes back from the house and thought I’d wear one of the dresses. Contrary to popular belief, I do actually like wearing them sometimes.’
‘Well, you look very pretty. Has Fox seen you?’ Ben asked, turning the steering wheel to central position as he turned to collect his dinner.
‘He has. He was quite speechless,’ she replied.
‘Quite rightly so,’ he said with a wink, setting his plate on his lap.
‘How long do you think we’ll be, Harry?’ Cat queried.
‘A fair few hours yet, lass. But no worries – if you go to bed, I promise I’ll send someone in to wake you up when we get there. Benny and I will be taking shifts all night,’ he assured her.
‘I’ll see you later, then,’ she replied, leaving the control room.
Her dinner was waiting for her when she got back to the galley. They were all somewhat tense, despite knowing they were flying as fast as they possibly could, and Cat was uncomfortably aware of James’s eyes on her through the entire meal. Afterwards, Alice brought a small sponge cake from the kitchen.
‘Should I take some upstairs?’ Cat asked, and Alice shook her head.
‘No, I’ll keep theirs for later,’ she assured her, plating up. ‘I just thought it might be nice to have a little treat tonight, in celebration of the fact that if all goes well, this entire mess will be over in a couple of days.’
‘Shouldn’t we celebrate … after?’ Matt said hesitantly.
‘There’s cake, Matthew, don’t argue,’ Fox said sagely.
Matt grinned.
‘Duly noted.’
Cat took a bite of her cake, humming quietly in appreciation.
‘What do you think will happen when we find the ship? I mean, I know we’re going to try and shut them down, but … wouldn’t it make more sense to just blow them up?’ James asked curiously.
‘We’ll see what we find on the ship,’ Matt reasoned. ‘And we won’t blow the ship up, we’ll seize it and fly it back to Anglya – with foreign aid, if they do come – where it’ll be searched and stripped until it’s back to its bare bones and able to be used as a normal ship again. Then everyone involved will pay for their crimes, and we can make sure there are no experiments left elsewhere, ready to be used.’
Cat frowned as she thought about what would happen when the whole mess was over. Yes, she would love to stay with the crew, but … part of her felt responsible for setting the country back to rights. Her father had got them into this state, so wasn’t it her duty to get them out? As much as she would love to just fly off into the sunset with the crew … she didn’t know if she could.
‘Everything OK?’ Fox asked in a low murmur, his blue eyes concerned, his hand covering hers on the bench.
She shrugged, offering a half-hearted smile.
‘Yeah, fine,’ she replied unconvincingly. His eyes narrowed, but he let it slide, merely squeezing her hand.
‘I might even be able to persuade Harry to settle down and give me some kids after all this!’ Alice remarked, making Cat grin. ‘He’s been making excuses for far too long, and we’re not exactly young any more!’
‘I think you’d make great parents,’ Fox told her sincerely.
Cat knew that Alice and Harry were as good as parents to Fox, and had to agree with him; she rather thought any child would be lucky to have those two as parents.
‘What about you, Matt? Gonna settle down when this mess is done with?’ Fox asked.
‘I don’t think settling down is anywhere in my future plans,’ Matt said with quiet assurance. ‘I’ll just carry on here, if Harry and Alice will have me. And if they decide to give up travelling for the family life, I’m sure Benny and I will think of something. I doubt anyone could keep him grounded for long, and he’ll need me to keep him out of trouble. How about you?’
The mechanic looked thoughtful.
‘Staying on the ship would be nice. Maybe going a bit further afield, seeing parts of the world we’ve not seen yet. With no one relying on us to bring them food, we could go anywhere.’
Both Matt and Fox looked a little dreamy-eyed at that prospect, and Cat bea
med; seeing the world sounded perfect to her.
‘I’m going to have to lead a country, aren’t I?’ James realised, his voice faint and his eyes wide at the prospect. ‘Bloody hell.’
‘You won’t be leading it for a while, yet, dear,’ Alice reasoned. ‘Your mother has plenty of years left in her. But I’m sure when the time comes, you’ll do brilliantly.’
‘And the people will already like you, since they’ll know you had a hand in helping us bring this mess to light. Any bloke who stopped their children being taken will be all right by them,’ Matt pointed out, smiling encouragingly at the young boy.
‘I think you’ll make a wonderful king,’ Cat added.
At her words, he beamed back, looking like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
Cat felt that being shaken awake by Fox was becoming far too common an occurrence for her liking, though he was admittedly more gentle about it now. She squinted up at the redhead, who had an apologetic look on his face as he roused her from sleep.
‘We’re near the Stormlands, so you’ll want to be up on deck soon. Matt’s rigging the ropes as we speak.’
At the news, her grogginess vanished and she shot up out of bed, making Fox laugh. ‘Easy there, sweetheart, there’s no rush yet. We’re just preparing, so we’ll be ready for action as soon as we find their skyship. Get dressed, take your time, wake up a bit.’
She slowed her breathing and calmed herself, smiling sheepishly.
They went straight up on deck as soon as Cat was ready, and despite being bundled up in her warmest clothes, she was still freezing. She could see frost forming on the lenses of her goggles, obscuring her vision, and wiped it off with a gloved hand, squinting up into the rigging to see Matt loosening two swing-ropes with which they could board the other ship. A zip-line would be safer, but that required the cooperation of both ships, which was something they definitely didn’t have.
She and Fox hurried over to Harry, who was scouring the cloudy sky for anything that might possibly be another skyship. Cat gripped Fox’s arm as the ship lurched abruptly, buffeted by a particularly strong gust of wind. She heard Matt swearing faintly from high above.
