Chapter 18
By breakfast the next day the plan had been set,
although, truth be told, it was not too different from the initial plan. The
two girls and Moto would take the sedan up to the country house, land on the
roof at night, and make their way in to take Cogsworth. The General told Mary
he wished that she had gotten an idea about how many servants and other people
were in the house, including perhaps guards. Based on what Deering’s maid had
told them, they figured on no more than a dozen in the entire house.
Once or more precisely, if, they found Cogsworth, they
would meet the General and the Colonel down the road from the house. Then, all
six of them would alight for the trip to the Caribbean. It would be crowded,
and perhaps somewhat dangerous, but they would have to get away quickly, as
Iggelsdin and his men would surely be after them as fast as possible.
The four of them spent the next few days carefully
gather and packing supplies while Moto went over every inch of the sedan,
making sure it was ready for the long journey south. They would have to pack
lightly so they could take extra fuel for the propeller engine. The Colonel
pointed out that there were several British places in the Caribbean, from
Jamaica down to St Lucia or even out to Barbados that could resupply them for
the return.
On the last morning Mary brought her fairly small
suitcase to the Littlefield’s house and up to Liza’s room.
“Is that all then” Liza asked, eying the small case
suspiciously.
“Yes.” Mary said and sat down in one of the large
chairs. She pulled a small notepad from a pocket on her pants.
“What’s all in it? It feels heavy, Moto won’t like it.”
“Heavy? Goodness you should lift some of the cases
mother packs just to go for the weekend to a hunt. If you must know it does
have two volumes of xxxxx’s plant
identification series, the Caribbean and South America.”
“And clothes?”
“Some. I must say it is marvelous to just be taking some
blouses and pants. Can you imagine if we had to pack full blown gowns?”
Liza laughed. “Well, Grandfather and I had an awful row
last night on that very topic. He feels as if we should each take something
suitable, in case we meet a King or something. Luckily Moto was there and he
strictly forbid myself, or you, from taking anything but the most necessary
clothing. But eh books…”
“If I am to be the company’s botanist I must have
reference material.”
“The what’s what?” Liza said with a smile.
“I have decided that will be my role.” Mary said earnestly,
but then smiled too. “Oh, look Liza, I feel so inadequate around you, and Moto
for that matter. I wouldn’t know my elbow from a balloon. Why I nearly wrecked
it when I tried to steer it.”
“Through no fault of your now, Moto should have been on
the lookout.”
“Regardless, I want to be of service, so I have brought
the book to have them on hand. I am hoping to add some species to the book in
my travels.”
“You very well might, Grandfather is sure that the
island we are headed for must be uncharted, possibly even undiscovered, or else
someone would have figured out the cloud by now.”
“Good point. Perhaps I should get the North American
volume too then?”
Liza sat down next to Mary’s chair.
“Dearest Mary, you act as if this is the only time in
life you’ll ever get to explore or see new things!”
“But what if it is Liza? Mother is so keen to marry me
off…”
“And what of it? Marriage isn’t death!”
“Isn’t it? Mother spends her days fussing over clothes
and seating charts and which flowers to have in which hallway…”
Liza put her hand on Mary’s cheek.” You, Miss Mary, are
not your mother. Her fate is not your destiny.” Liza stood up.
“You’ll see Mary. We’ll have a grand adventure. And who
knows perhaps you will meet a tribesman of the Caribbean and fall madly in love
with him. That should set your mother straight!”
“Oh Liza, there’re no tribesmen in the Caribbean, or
even Indians for that matter, they were killed off centuries ago.”
“Really? Sounds like a terribly sad,strange place.”
“Perhaps. I guess we’ll see.”
That evening, after the wind had died, they gathered on
the rooftop and loaded up the sedan. Moto expertly guided the balloon up over
the rooftops of London and they were soon on their way up north to the
Inggelsdin’s house.
Night fell on the way and by the time they landed at the
rendezvous spot about a mile away from the great house the stars were out.
The small group, Liza, Mary, Moto, the General and the
Colonel, worked quickly to set up a tent in the empty field. The plan was to
retrieve Cogsworth and bring him back to the field. Then the next day they
would lift off and begin their trip down to the Caribbean, under the guidance
of Cogsworth.
Once the small encampment was set up they all climbed
back into the sedan.
“Do we have everything, lamps? Everyone have their
knife?”
“Yes Liza, we’re fine!” Mary said smiling. Moto nodded
but did not say anything.
“Are you alright Moto?”
“Yes Liza, I am fine, I am getting into my fighting
character now. I am fearful that things will not go so smoothly.”
“Well, yes, but that Mrs. Crumple told us there were
very few people in the house now. Right Mary?” Mary nodded.
“There are few of us as well.” Moto said seriously. Liza
did not know what to say to that so she instead doubled checked what she had on
her. All three of them were dressed in matching black pants and black sweaters.
Despite Moto’s initial objection, they were wearing black ballet slippers as
well. Moto had wanted boots, he said in case they had to run across rough
ground, but Liza pointed out that boots would make noise in the quiet house.
Each of them also had a small focused beam lamp, one of
Liza’s design, that would allow them to shine a beam of light in front of them
without causing the entire area to light up. They also had decided that each of
them would have a large knife. This was Moto’s idea, he had shown them the
multiple ways they could use it- to break window panes, to jimmy locks and, in
a session when the General was out, how to use it to defend themselves against
attackers. They also carried with them shorts lengths of rope. This had been
Liza’s idea, in case they had to tie anyone up. Moto had suggested they just
knock the person on the head instead, but Mary had found that too distressing.
Nevertheless Mary had absorbed all of these ideas and
lessons with a rapacity that surprised even her.
After a few moments in the air they came up over a hill
and saw beneath them the estate house. As none in the sedan had seen it before
they were taken aback by the size of it. They had known it would be big, but it
seemed immense laid out below underneath the pale moonlight. It was built
somewhat like a castle, with four corners that each had a large round turret.
Each side of the brownstone square house was about 300 yards long. The house
was, based on the windows, four stories tall. It looked more like a mid-London
bank’s building than a home.
From the air they could see very few lights on. The
front entryway had gaslights and there was at least one light from a room
nearby the front. Moto pointed to it and told them it was likely a night
watchman’s room.
“With luck that’ll be the only person up. I wager there
is no guard on Mr. Cogsworth room as it will be locked.”
“Will you be able to work the lock?” Liza asked.
“I will have too, or else break the door down.”
“We can’t have that, the house will wake up.”
“Yes, well, that is why the plan is to pick the lock.”
Moto said grimly.
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