“You’ve forgiven me!” he said in wonder. “You’re not angry at me anymore!”
“I forgave you the moment I saw that empty bottle of Surebelow on your chest,” Mars replied. “I realized you’d tried to save your own miserable life.”
Jeremy managed a joke. “How did you know I didn’t pour it out on the ground?”
Mars scratched the back of his head.
“Humph,” he said. “I never thought of that. But you got over the poison so you must’ve drunk it. It took a long time though. It’s been days of waiting for you to wake up.”
“Well, don’t, I beg of you, get offended again. I’ve got enough pains for which I must deal with.”
Mars straddled the chair and rested his chin on the back of it. “You in a lot of pain, Jeremy?”
“As if you care. Look at you. You’re overly cheerful about something.”
“Well, you’re not dead right? I don’t have to give Uncle Tov bad news.”
“Uh huh. What else?”
“A bunch of citizens in Tonturin didn’t die of poison because of what we did.”
“Right.”
Jeremy paused and considered him for a moment.
“Ah,” he said at last. “I know what it is. Kannikey.”
Mars couldn’t help that a small gleam of satisfaction took over his expression.
“Have you kissed her or something? I’m going to lay here and think of ways to tease you.”
“Shut up, Jeremy.”
Jeremy tried to find a second position for lying in the bed that was comfortable and was unsuccessful. But he and Mars both felt better. All was restored between them. During the course of the day he had a lot of visitors, not including when the doctor and his nurse would come in. His Uncle Tov came first; the man arrived before breakfast and sent Mars home so he could open his shop. It was a bit awkward to be alone with his uncle. Mars had filled Jeremy in on the fact that all of Tonturin had been made aware that there was a Time Mechanic, but the citizens didn’t know it was him. Mars also told him that his friends were keeping his secret, and there was a strong compulsion keeping the mouths closed of all the other people involved as well— from his doctor down to the constables.
“I’m so relieved you’re awake!” Tov said. “I’ve been very worried Jeremy. You had this high fever, but the doctor wouldn’t say much about it. In fact, the constables, too, have been close-mouthed. All they would tell me was that you’d had an accident and they couldn’t reveal any details right then.”
“I’m sorry, Uncle Tov. They shouldn’t keep secrets from you.”
“That’s right. I may not have raised you very long, Jeremy, but I… well you must know I love you like you were my own son.” The man’s voice clogged with emotion.
“I know you do. I love you too, Uncle Tov.”
“So I hope I’m free then to ask you. What happened out there, son? How did you get so hurt? Did someone attack you and the constables are still investigating? Are you safe now?”
Jeremy stared at his uncle’s concerned face. It was odd. All of his friends and the professionals involved couldn’t push past the compulsion and tell his secret. But Jeremy himself was unaffected. He could tell anyone he wanted. Claiming the fact that he was the Time Mechanic could bring him a lot of things. Fame, popularity, and if he was smart enough he could use the information to eventually make a lot of money off it. But he shook his head. He didn’t want any of those things.
Mars had helped him sit up in the bed earlier. He could look his visitor in the eye.
“Uncle Tov, there’s something I want to tell you,” he said. “It’s a long story and you need to keep it a secret. Mars knows, and a few others. You’ll understand why they didn’t inform you when I’m done talking. Except for one thing; I’ve still got a few secrets I intend to keep. About this situation I’ve just gone through and about what happened to me long ago when I was a boy on your farm. There’s certain things I’ll never tell anyone till the day I die. I hope you understand.”
“Every man deserves to keep a few secrets, Jeremy. Just a few though, mind you.”
Jeremy chuckled and then grimaced from the pain in his ribs. He sat back and started speaking. He told his Uncle Tov almost everything. When Tov ran out of questions he stared at Jeremy with tears in his eyes. His voice was thick and he sat forward and put his strong hand on Jeremy’s unbroken arm.
“I knew it,” his uncle said. “I knew you were destined for great things. I’m proud of what you’ve done as the Time Mechanic, Jeremy. But I’m more proud of the fact that you’re lying in that bed looking me in the eye. Whatever it was that hurt you and kept you from thriving in the past I sense that you’re ready to move on from it. To me that took more bravery than what you’ve done as the Time Mechanic. Acts of heroism are momentary but choosing to live a good life being good to others is what really proves your character in the end. Any man would be glad to have a son like you.”
After his uncle left, the stream of visitors was steady. Nemeth came in and spoke calmly of everyday things, as if he had an instinct that was what Jeremy wanted. He told him all about the Loop Festival. The quaint old couple from the Manse came and said they’d heard he was sick and brought him some old- fashioned roses from the garden he used to help tend. Also Kannikey and Stedland came, and even her mother, who although she didn’t know that Kannikey had helped him with his mission insisted that she wanted to meet all of Kannikey’s new friends. Olpher and Tearrant came to congratulate him on beginning the road to recovery and to tell him a few last details about the warehouses and the criminals involved. Jeremy was touched by the respect they showed him.
Halbernon came just as the afternoon was passing into dinner time. By that time Jeremy was getting impatient and frustrated. He couldn’t get out of the bed without a helper, and then he could only stand for a moment on one leg. He couldn’t use crutches either, since his arm was broken worse than his leg. The old man smiled and patted him on the shoulder and brought him several healthy green plants in a pot. They would assist him in healing, he said.
“Thank you,” Jeremy replied in a formal voice but gave him a pertinent look.
Halbernon’s hearty manner slipped a bit.
“Come on, Halbernon and tell me,” Jeremy insisted at last. “Where is she?”
“You mean, Ffefferpip?”
“Of course I do. Why hasn’t she come to see me?”
“She hasn’t been out much to see anyone.”
“Kannikey told me she went back to her shack.”
“Several of us went with her. We helped her clean it up. We brought her plenty of supplies and blankets and furniture so she’s comfortable.”
“What’s wrong? Was she hurt badly in the crash of her Steam Eagle?”
“Not too badly, don’t worry. Her head is better and her sprain is almost healed.”
“Halbernon come on,” Jeremy growled.
The old man shook his head. “So you’re still the Time Mechanic then, Jeremy? Still think you can give orders and be obeyed?”
“I’ll be the Time Mechanic till I die. I can’t return to what I was.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing. Back to Ffip. Tell me what’s going on with her.”
“She’s upset about something.”
“What?”
“I don’t know, all right? The girl can be almost as stubborn as you, when she likes.”
“Can you tell her to visit me?”
“She did come to see you, several times.”
“While I was asleep, right? Why doesn’t she want to see me when I’m awake?”
“Eventually she will, boy.”
“I’m not a boy!”
“Then stop being impatient like one.”
Jeremy sighed.
After Halbernon left he grimaced. He swung his legs slowly over, but the one that was wrapped in a cloth cast ached. Nevertheless he tried to hold it up as he slid to stand on his other leg. For a moment
he was elevated to his full height. He supported himself by holding onto the small table by his bed with his good arm. The doctor had gotten him up several times during the day, to help him to the bathroom mostly. He’d told Jeremy that tomorrow they’d get him a firm chair to sit up in, like he was a child and this was a special treat.
“If I had one crutch,” he muttered to himself, and tried to hop forward, but he was awkward and his sore leg came down.
“Ow!” he hissed, trying to correct his mistake and then banging his broken arm against the edge of the table. The pain from that nearly knocked him to the floor. “Blast it!” The nurse came in and caught him at it. Soon he was back in the bed where he started, after several minutes of scolding. But at least he’d convinced her he needed something. He wanted her to send for his friend Mars. “This evening, if you please,” he said. “It’s important.”
“Don’t tell me it’s important!” she fussed at him. “I know it feels important, but what’s most important is that you get your rest and try not to injure yourself further!”
“Send for my friend and I’ll obey you.”
“You’ll obey me anyway!”
He frowned for a moment. “Yes, ma’am.”
She glared into his stormy gaze for a long moment before she gusted out a heavy sigh. “Oh, all right then. I’ll send for your friend!”
After she left he stared at the wall and wondered about something. He closed his eyes and concentrated. He no longer had a mission to accomplish but his mind had been changed. He could still use it to try to help others, surely. And his mind cooperated. He froze to the bed and saw a vision— one pertinent to what he needed to know.
He saw inside Ffip’s shack, for he recognized the rusty bowl at the sink and the rickety bed in the corner, although it had a better mattress and blanket than before. He couldn’t see her, but he saw her hand move. The sleeve that hung down over her wrist was made of worn material— like the near-rags she’d worn when he first met her. Her hand opened a crate in the corner and then took out a small box. Inside the box he saw several sheaths of papers, each one colorful with elegant and tidy-drawn designs. He jumped a bit when her hand threw the designs onto the floor of the shack and then grabbed up the papers and tore them to shreds. The vision cleared and he clenched his good hand over his blanket until it throbbed like his other arm. Something was very wrong with her and he should’ve realized it sooner! A few minutes later Mars and Kannikey came in with the nurse behind them.
“Visiting hours are over,” the woman snapped.
“And yet you brought me visitors,” Jeremy pointed out.
“Only because the doctor said to give you whatever you wanted,” the woman complained. “I don’t know what kind of hold you have over my boss, young man. He refuses to answer any questions about you!”
“I’m not so mysterious. I’m just an ordinary man…” Jeremy paused and felt frustrated again. “Well I was.”
“Humph,” the woman glared, with her hands on her hips. Then she turned and left them.
Jeremy looked over but had to smile at his two guests. Mars and Kannikey were holding hands. His eyes gleamed as he met Mars’ gaze.
“Don’t tease us, Jeremy,” the man warned.
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were about to.”
“I’ll tease just you, later.”
“So you’ll leave Kannikey alone? What’s that?”
“Chivalry?” she put in, and giggled.
“Hey,” protested Mars. “Quit making Kannikey laugh!”
“But I’m trying to get on her good side,” Jeremy said.
“Why?”
“I need her ability. Kannikey, I want you to go steal one more thing for me.”
“And what’s that?” she asked. Her eyes were suddenly large.
“Ffip,” he said, and then clutched his blanket again.
“But she won’t see any of us.”
“She’ll see me.”
“No, Jeremy. She seems to be avoiding you especially.”
“Tell her I need her. Tell her I’m hurting. She’ll come.”
“You want me to lie to her?”
“No.”
Kannikey shook her head.
“Listen,” he said. “There’s something wrong; with our friend, Fillipi. I care about her and I’m worried. I can’t rest. I’ll try to get out of this bed and hobble all the way to her shack. In short, if she doesn’t come here, it’s going to hurt me.”
“I don’t know why I bother arguing with you!”
“Me neither,” Mars muttered.
“Oh all right,” Kannikey said, “but only because I’ve been worried about her, too. Come on, Mars.”
Chapter Forty-Four (In Which Jeremy Hangs a New Banner over his Life)
Kannikey and Mars brought Ffip into his room, saw the looks on their two faces as they stared at each other, excused themselves awkwardly, and then left.
“We’ll be out in the carriage when you’re ready to go, Ffip,” Kannikey said as she shut the door behind her.
And there Ffip was; the woman with whom he’d fallen in love. Like a haze of soft feelings surrounded her she seemed to glimmer to his eyes as she stood there. Her thin frame, wrapped in the over-large clothing of a peasant made him burn. She was wearing the turban wrap that almost covered her beautiful eyes. There was no hint of the dimple. Her face was pale. Her mouth was shut off and trembling. He got right to the business at hand. He sat up straight in his bed, with his broken leg on top of the coverlet and his broken arm in a sling. He didn’t greet her or waste time on pleasantries.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” he commanded. “Why did you rip up your designs?”
Her eyes blinked and she gasped in surprise.
“How did you know that?”
“I can see the things that really matter to me; things that are wrong.”
“You had no right to look in on me. That’s private!”
“So I don’t matter to you then?”
“I didn’t say that!”
“I thought we were connected, Fillipi. I thought there was something between us.”
“There was.”
Pain struck him at her remark.
“There was?” he demanded. “You don’t feel the same anymore?”
“I feel… too much. I’m done with it, Jeremy. I’m going home to Tetoross and see my family.”
“When?”
“Tomorrow.”
“And when did you decide that?”
“Just now.”
He frowned and wished he could see inside her mind.
“You can’t leave me like this,” he pleaded.
“I can if it’s the best thing for you!”
His head tilted and some answers began to fall into place.
“You blame yourself,” he guessed at last.
She looked away, small and stubborn, only now her lips were trembling uncontrollably. It frustrated him so that he threw the blankets off and moved to swing his legs off the bed again.
“No don’t!” she protested.
“Tell me what’s going on, Ffip or by all that’s green I’ll get out of this bed and…”
“And what?”
“I… don’t know.”
“Don’t forget that I’m just as smart as you are, so don’t try to threaten me!”
“You’re smarter.”
“Don’t try to flatter me either.”
“I’m not. Your designs are special, Ffip— unique and amazing. Why would you try to remove your gift from the world?”
“Because of the Steam Eagle, of course!” she finally shouted. “With my design QuRellon nearly poisoned all of Tonturin! And look at you in that bed!” she added. “My Eagle nearly killed you! When I came in here the other day and saw you like that I knew it was, of course, my fault!”
She was shouting again and then she bowed her head and sobbed.
He was out of the bed so fast his sore leg had no option but to cooperate and
stay up and out of the way. He dragged the table with him for support and hopped to her side.
“No Jeremy,” she protested, when she noticed him hovering over her.
“Then come with me. Help me back to the bed and sit with me.”
“Not fair,” she cried, but she wrapped her arms around his waist and supported him. When they arrived at the bed he kept hold of her with his good arm.
“Sit with me,” he said. “I’m cold.”
“You are not! You’re pretending so you can have your way!”
“Feel my hand then. It’s cold, see?”
“You’re a brat!”
“And you’re being an idiot.”
“What?”
“You designed the Steam Eagle to help people.”
“I’ll never design it again! Not until history forgets the use it can be put to!”
“It was the poison that was dangerous, not your Steam Eagle. It’s the poison that needs to disappear! If a criminal cared to imitate QuRellon’s plan after this, he could use other methods to disperse that poison. The cities need to make certain it’s eradicated, for good this time.”
“So what?”
“So I’m trying to impress upon you that it was never your Steam Eagle that was the threat. QuRellon was. The poison was. Remember he was already producing Surebelow. If he hadn’t found your Eagle he would’ve used something else. He intended to act, one way or another.”
“But…”
“If it hadn’t been for you, Ffip, and your Eagle, I couldn’t have caught up to QuRellon in time. If you hadn’t designed it in the first place, I never would’ve met you!”
“It’s hard, though. Don’t you see that? I wanted to help people and instead I designed a weapon!”
“Shh, don’t. You’re shivering.”
“I’m horrified,” she whispered, “Every time I think of it.”
“I know, sweetheart.”
“It’s so awful, what nearly happened to Tonturin.”
“You’re right.”
Soon they were both shivering. Reaction to all he’d been through struck him like an unpleasant surprise. She had tears on her cheeks, and, after a while, so did he. They held each other around his sore spots and cried. At last she removed the turban from her head and unfolded it. She used the soft material to wipe his eyes.
The Time Mechanic Page 31
