Cahp 28 of Liza and the Air Pirates o fNavassa (NaNoWriMo work in progress, unedited)

Chapter 28

 

Liza followed the large man carrying Mary into the aft tower and down a steep stairway to below deck. They went through a small wooden door, the two pirates had to duck the doorway was so low, and into a spare but comfortable looking room. A large row of windows lined the back wall, they looked out into the fading sunset. In the middle of the room was a large table strewn with papers. Off to one side was a simple chaise lounge and several sitting chairs. One the other side of the room was a large bed surrounded by a canopy. That was about it, it was clearly, she thought, a man’s room. No extra decorations, not even pillows on the chaise. She felt oddly at home.

 

The large pirate laid Mary carefully on the chaise and stepped back. Liza turned, aware someone else was entering the room. A small woman, slight and a full head shorter than Liza, came in with a stack of white towels and a jug and a bowl. She set all of it down at the foot of the chaise. She looked at Liza and smiled and said something in French.

“I ‘m sorry, I- I don’t speak French.” Liza regretted not bothering to keep up with her French studies in school. She had, instead, begged her grandfather to let her study engine mechanics with the house chauffer.

The woman, who’s smooth faced made her look ageless smiled. “Is ok, I speak a little English. I will help her. I will make a new bandage for her and wash her with this… petyon? How do you say… water with flowers and trees in it?”

“OK, yes please.”

“And if you have hunger, please tell me. I will bring you food.”

“Thank you, not now. May I watch?”

“Yes please!” the woman smiled and kneeled next to Mary.

“I am Liza.”

“Ah, I am Adelina, you may call me Adi.”

“Thank you Adi.”

Adi pulled open Mary’s shirt and then barked out something in French. The two pirates behind them hesitated a moment so Adi said the same thing but louder. The two quickly left the room.

“They are nice boys, but not to be here when I change the bandage. You met my father, no?”

“That was, Henri is your father?”

“Yes.” Adi had Mary’s blouse open and was undoing the linen Liza had put on earlier. It was wet with fresh blood. She expertly cleaned around the wound with a fresh towel dipped in the water she poured from the jug into the bowl. Then she wrapped new linen, also dipped in the water, around the wound.

“He is scary no?” Adi said with a laugh. ”Scary big man, but a mouton, as we say, inside.”

“Adi, can I ask you, that is, do you know if we are meant to be prisoners?”

“I am not sure, he probably means to. But if you are friendly, he will not harm you.”

“Oh, in that case, I can assure you, we are very friendly.”

Adi stopped, and turned to Liza with a serious expression. “Yet you claim to want to visit LeDyab. This is most serious Liza.” Adi said quietly.

“What can you tell me about them then? You must understand that we, my Grandfather and I, did not seriously believe that anyone, or anything, lived in the clouds. We are no more friends to Le Dyab than to Dragons or… or Fairies.”

Adi smiled. “It is a long story, but I will tell you some of it.” She sat back for a moment. “Let us let your friend rest.” She got up and sat in the chair across from the one Liza was sitting in.

“I’ll start at the beginning Liza. A Long time ago, in 1784, my ancestors were brought over to this new world as slaves in the belly of a large ship, not unlike this one right here. They were ripped from their homes by slavers. But they fought hard when they landed. They were rbought to Haiti- cruel place, very cruel. They fought hard against the French. Many years of fighting, at least twenty years of fighting until at least they drove the French right out. My ancestors were proud people Liza, proud.”

“But how-“ Adi put her hand up.

“So we defeated the French but we faced the new enemy then, each other, ourselves! My great grandfather was a powerful man, much hatred from other men against him. He was driven from Haiti into exile. He wander for years around these islands, finally driven way down south into the deepest heart of Brazil. A very dangerous place for a man of Africa to be since black men were still enslaved there. But he had heard of marvelous wood in those jungles. You see, Liza, he was searching for light wood from to which to build a house or a ship he could float above the land and escape his enemies down below. And in the jungle he found the wood. Tap your feet on the floor… hard!”

Liza stomped her foot, the wood beneath her was hard and did not yield, however neither did it echo with a knocking sound. Instead her stomp sounded muffled. She reached down and felt the wood, even hit it, it was unyielding and hard.

“The natives of the river Amazone call it ‘Asas de madeira” That is what the locals said. I guess in their language it something different. It is wood lighter than Balsa wood yet as strong as iron wood.”

“And so your great grandfather built these ships?”

“Oh no, not these, not these exact ones. It has taken us many years to perfect our skills at ship making. This ship here is hmmm, perhaps twenty years old.”

“It seems so much older…”

“The look yes? I know, we are a sentimental people…”

“So your ancestors escaped Haiti by going into the clouds…”

“Yes or no. We still are in contact with people in Haiti and Cuba…”

“But surely we would have heard about these ships or seen them…”

“We do not come down in these, we have smaller balloons we land on Navassa. We are careful.”

“Then, the Le Dyab? Are they also Haitian or African?”

“That is not for me to say. They are devils of a different sort altogether Liza. Not to be trusted, not to be treated with any regard as human people.”

Liza sat for a moment trying to soak in all of the information she has just learned from Adi. Adi sat smiling. A thought crept into Liza’s mind.

“The ship is light but it still must weigh a lot.. how does it stay up? I saw no burner, to heat the air…”

Adi’s smile faltered just a bit. “It is late Liza. All will become clear when it needs to be clear. Rest now as it is night.”

Liza started to protest but Adi put a finger to her lip and then checked Mary’s sleeping form. She then smiled again at Liza and left, closing the door behind her. As the door closed Liza could clearly see one of the two large pirates standing guard.

Liza slunk back down in the chair and sighed.

“Well Mary, we’ve gone and found ourselves an adventure alright…”

Chap 27 Liza and the Air Pirates of Navassa (NaNoWriMo work in progress novel -unedited)

Chapter 27

 

Mary let out small gasp.

“Are you afraid?” Henri asked. Mary nodded, and tried to smile. “You should be!” Henri growled, but then smiled, letting out a small chuckle. “But as I said, I am getting old, and perhaps soft. You have nothing to fear as long as you behave yourselves! My family welcomes you on board. Allow me to formally introduce them, behold, the Pirates of Navassa!”

 

Mary smiled and turned to quickly translate for her group.

“Tell them we are honored Mary.” The General said.

“Should I tell them who you are sir?” Mary asked. The general frowned for a second.

“Yes, well why not, in for a penny after all…”

 

Mary turned back, putting on what she hoped was a pleasant smile that said “we’re impressed.”

“Dear Henri, may I call you that?”

“Yes, if I may call you dearest Mary.”

Of yes, of course. I must say it is very impressive to see you all here.” Mary scanned the group of both men and women, all of them as dark as Henri, all dressed in similar loose fitting clothes. “And you must know we have a million questions, but may I introduce our little band to you as well?”

“By all means.”

“This is Liza, she is a dear friend of mine, very pretty but not to be underestimated.”

“What did you say about me?” Liza hissed.

“That you are a wilting wallflower, now sssh!” Mary said with a smile. “You have met Moto, she served in his Majesties Colonial forces with the other two older gentlemen. This is Colonel Thornberry, my Uncle. And this is Liza’s Grandfather, The General XXXX. The last person here is William Cogsworth. We hired him to bring us here, to see if what he saw many years ago really existed, if he really did see people living in the clouds, Le Dyab s you say.”

With that the crowd behind Henri gasped. Henri put his hand up. His face was dark again.
“Le Dyab are our sworn enemies Dearest Mary.” He said in a low rumble. “If you mean to befriend them or even make contact, we will be obliged to treat you as we treat them.”

Mary did not say anything at first as she collected her thoughts. Behind her she heard Liza whisper. “What happened?”

Mary did not answer but instead looked back up at Henri.

“Dear Sir, dear Henri. I, we, do not mean you or your family any offense. We are merely curious. Perhaps you can tell us how you and Le Dyab came to be enemies, so that we may understand? Indeed, if you would do us the great favor of telling us how you came to be here, in the clouds, yourself…”

Henri, who expression had not softened during Mary’s speech, suddenly laughed.

“Yes! Of course! I will fetch our other ships, you will meet my sons and daughters!”

“Other ships?”

“Yes, of course, how could we defend ourselves otherwise! I say, even for a white devil you are very pale girl.”

“Oh yes, sorry, it is just that I-“ and with that Mary collapsed on the deck. Liza rushed up.

“She is over worked! And bleeding again!”

Moto stepped beside Liza and addressed Henri. “Sir, our friend has suffered a bullet wound yesterday, is there a place where we may lie her down and dress her wounds” he managed in halting French.

“Absolutely. She is braver than I thought!” Henri motioned and two of the larger pirates came forward. They were both much bigger than even Henri, muscle bound young men with very serious expressions.

“Remove her and the other girl to my stateroom.”

 

“I must insist I go with them Sir.” Moto said, but Henri put up his hand.

“No, you must stay here. No harm will come to them, you have my word.”

Moto started to object, but then thought better of it.

 

“Where are they taking Mary?” Liza asked.

“Down below, to get rest, go with her.” Moto said.

“You must come with us!” Liza said, trying not to sound panicked.

“They insist I stay here.”

“It is a trap Moto, they mean to hold us prisoner!” Liza said.

“Liza is right!” Will said, coming to her side.

“What can we do?” Moto asked.

“Go Liza.” The General said. “I have no doubt they intend to hold you until they discern our intentions. Therefore, Will, Moto, Colonel, we must do our best to reassure our hosts, no?”

Moto and Will nodded. Liza looked angry.

“Liza, please, this will work out young lady, I will see to it myself.” The general said, as if that settled the matter. And Liza realized that it really did, in a way.  

 

One of the larger pirates had picked up Mary by himself, with little obvious effort. The other held his hand out, motioning Liza to follow Mary. So, reluctantly, Liza followed Mary across the deck tot eh aft and went inside the tower at the rear of the ship. The second pirate closed the door behind them and they were gone.

Chapter 26 Liza and the Air Pirates of Navassa (NaNoWriMo work in progres, unedited)

26

 

The ship, and it did indeed look just like a sailing ship, was about 200 feet long and over 50 feet wide. The back of the ship was raised several levels above the front, allowing for a deck outfitted with a ships wheel and a look out station, while keeping the deck below clear for the sails and cannons. The sail, rather than going up tall masts, hung off the sides on the left and right. In place of the tall mast was a massive balloon at least twice as tall as the ship. Moto could see no burner underneath, which puzzled him.
 

On the deck were also what appeared to be about a dozen large cannons tied down. There were also bales of goods on the deck and other items under large canvas covers.

Moto brought out his spyglass, but despite his careful examination he could not find anyone on the deck of the ship. Then, he did catch sight of a tall dark figure stand up from behind the ship’s wheel and take a hold of the giant wheel, turning it very slightly.

Within a moment the large ship, now towering over them, was alongside of the sedan, but far enough away to be clear of their balloon. For an eerie moment there was silence. Despite the enormous size of the ship, Moto quickly counted at least 5 levels plus the aft deck, it made almost no sound as it hung in the air.

The ship was painted in bright yellows, golds, reds and oranges on its top, but sky blue on its bottom. The effect was fairly dazzling, especially in the fading golden light of the sun as it set. Nothing about the ship suggested it was of any age, the paint was fresh, the deck clean and shiny.

“Please tell me you are seeing this too” Mary said quietly.

“I’m… I’m not sure either Mary.” Liza responded.

“How on earth does it float?” Moto said.

“The balloon?” Liza asked.

“No balloon is big enough to float that much wood and iron. Simply not possible.”

Small flags of red and white and gold fluttered in the breeze. But nothing else stirred.

 

“What… what is going on do you suppose?” Will whispered, although there was no apparent need to whisper.

“No idea” Moto said, trying to keep their balloon stationary.

“Are these, is this  what you saw Will?” Liza asked. “When you came up last time…”

“No, no, not at all…”

 

Without warning a man appeared over the railing of the mian deck, the line of which floated a few feet above the sedan. He was a tall and handsome man, decked out in black pants, a bright white shirt and a deep blue coat bedecked with medals and gold trim. His face was long and gaunt and as dark as midnight.

“Pourquoi es-tu ici?” he said in a rich deep voice, his face stern.

“That’s French!” Moto exclaimed. “I know a little… Nous sommes amis!” He shouted back.

The tall man’s expression did not change. “

“Attaché votre bateau à la nôtre!” he shouted and he let down a large thick rope.

“He wants us to tie up…” Moto said. The General nodded and so Moto and Will did their best to attach the sedan to the larger ship, bringing the basket up to the level of the deck.

“Dégonfler le ballon et monter à bord. Comporte-toi!” The tall man said.

“He means us to come on board and leave the sedan witht eh balloon deflated.” Moto said in a low voice.

“I say we do as he asks. If we try to run now I suspect he can blast us out of the sky very quickly.” Will said.

With some effort the five of them wrestled the large balloon into the sedan while Mary sat, pale, on the bench. Then, once everything seemed as secure as they could make it, they made to get off the ship. Will and Moto were last, as they helped the other, Will slipped a Browning into his jacket. Under the pretense of handing a coat to Moto, he slipped the other one to him as well.

Shortly Moto, the General, Thornsberry, Mary, Liza and Will were standing on the solid wooden deck of a 17^th century style man of war ship suspended thousands of feet above the earth.

Moto cleared his throat, he spoke, slowly, haltingly.

“Nous… venons…paci, paci, pacifiquement!”

“Êtes-vous leur serviteur? Pourquoi les autres ne parlent-ils pas? Sont-ils Anglais?” The man demanded in rapid French.

“Um… he is speaking so quickly, I think he wonders if I am  a servant and if you are silent because you are English?” Moto said to the group. “It is difficult to understand his accent.”

“It is a bit rough…” Mary said. “But let me try…”

Mary then stunned the other members of her party by launching into flawless and lilting school girl French.

“Dear Sir…” She said, in French of course, “I must first thank you ever so much for your kind treatment of us. We are truly sorry for any imposition we have made. My dear friend Mr. Moto is no servant, he is a citizen of the British Empire and from Uganda-“

“Tanganyika.” Moto interjected, delighted that he could keep up with Mary’s simple French.

“Tanganyika that is. We have come a long way, from Great Britain.”

Mary paused and looked at the General. “Why should I say we are here General?” She asked.

“Tell him was are sight seeing in the Caribbean…”

“No, Mary, tell him the truth. Tell him we want to find the city in the clouds…” Will said. “Truth will out eventually and I want him to trust us…”

Mary turned back to the tall man, who had been skeptically eyeing the brief conversation.

“Yes” She started back in French “I wanted to make sure I was correct in what I was saying dear sir. We have come searching for… well, my friend here tells us a tale of a floating city he saw once and-“

“Stop!” the tall man said, holding up his hand. “You come looking for the Le dyab?”

“Le Dyab?” Mary repeated and turned to look at Moto, who shrugged. “the devil sir?”

“Yes, Le Dyab, the people of the city in the clouds? Are you allies of them?”

“No, I can assure you sir, we are no one’s allies. Nor, nor” she hastened to add” Nor anyone’s enemies. We are merely curious.”

The tall man eyed her for a moment. “Devils in the clouds, white devils on my ship, I am getting too old… What is your name girl?”

“I am Mary Sir.” Mary did a little bow. She wanted to ask Moto about the White devil comment, but thought it impolite to keep turning to speak in English.

“I am General Henri Boukman.” He made a loud clicking sound three times with his mouth and, seemingly out of nowhere; several dozen people emerged out from various parts of the deck, all armed with rifles. “And this is my family.”

Chapters 24 & 25 of Liza and the Air Pirates (NaNoWriMo novel work in progress, unedited)

[So, careful readers may notice something new - a (provisional) title! Tell me what you think of it!
Meanwhile - here are two chapters to make up for the lack of chapters lately...)

Chapter 24

“We need to see what happened!” Will shouted as he tried to gently push Mary off of him and onto the floor of the sedan.

“Here” Liza was there next to Mary in an instant and ripped the shoulder seam on Mary’s blouse. A long wound appeared on Mary’s naked shoulder blade, blood seeping out at an alarming rate.

“It looks like the bullet grazed her, but there is no way to tell now!” Moto said, still steering the balloon away from the islands below. “There is a kit in der the bench behind me. We must stop the bleeding as fast as possible.”

“How?” Liza said, her voice trembling.

“Let me.” Will said as he pulled out a small box from the bench. “I was trained as a field nurse in my service days. We need to bind the should and the wound as tightly as possible.” He pulled out a long white bandage and bean to wrap it around Mary’s shoulder. “She’s lost a lot of blood, that may have caused her to faint. Liza, look for salts in the kit and use them to revive Mary if you can.”

Will finished wrapping the bandage around Mary’s shoulder and was tying it off. It was already soaked red. “We need to apply pressure too.” Will took his jacket and placed it on the shoulder and gripped it tightly.

Liza, meanwhile, had found the bottle of salts and had uncapped it beneath Mary’s nose. With a start Mary’s eyes flew open.

“Mary!” Liza smiled.

“Ohhh, what happened?” Mary said, trying to get up. Will gently held her down.

“Not so fast if you please Mary.” Will said quietly. “ It seems that you have been hit by the shot fired by our pursuers.”

“Which would not have been fired had you not fired first.” Liza said sternly to Will.

“If I had not fired they would have been in the basket with us even now!”

“Shhhhhh, shhh, you two.” Mary said drowsily. “I feel very weakssss.”

“You’ve lost a lot of blood Mary, but you will be ok. Just rest and drink whenever you can. Colonel, can you get her something to drink… something without alcohol.”

The colonel glared at Will as he handed over a canteen. Will tipped it to Mary’s lip and she drank a small amount of the water.

“Now, rest. Everyone, let Mary get some rest now.” Mary reclined onto a pile of pillows Liza has collected from the benches in the sedan. Will stood up and sat on the bench furthest from Mary.

Liza murmured reassurance to Mary and then got up and sat down next to Will, who visibly bristled.

“We need to discuss things, William, grandfather, Moto.” The Colonel opened his mouth to sepak but Liza’s stern face caused him to shut it again.   

“If it is about the guns” Will began

“The guns, there is more than one?! How many are there?” Liza demanded.

“Two, two Browning’s, both FMN 1903’s-“

“Two! This is impossible. Grandfather why did you let this happen?”

“I did not let this happen young lady, it is I who purchased the guns.” The general said evenly.

“But!... honestly, you have said it yourself Grandfather, guns never really solve anything, they only invite more violence!”

“Guns are the only things men like those that Mr. Ingellsdin employs do understand.” Will said, trying to keep his voice low. “Or do you forget what they did to me? I have seen these people Liza, they will be armed to the teeth if we meet them again.”

“Well, no doubt after your display.” Liza said.

“Liza, Will is right” Moto said “We fool ourselves to think they are not armed. Remember, they had a weapon ready to return Will’s fire even as they rushed to stop us. They came prepared, so should we.”

Liza’s mouth opened and closed several times as she looked around at the four men who sat in the dean with her. “Oh, fine. This is impossible. Mark my words, these guns will only serve to cause more harm, and I mean to us.”

“If you are worried about shooting them, myself and Moto will keep the guns. We are both army trained, right Moto.”

Moto smiled a wide smile. “Yes, but I would watch myself Will, Liza is a pretty crack shot herself.”

“Is that so?” Will said, half smiling, half in wonder. “Perhaps sometime soon we could have a demonstration of your skills Liza?”

“Perhaps, although at this rate you had better hope I do not demonstrate my skills with firearms on your person!” Liza said.

“If that were the case I should hope you are a very poor shot!” Will laughed but Liza just glared.

“Jussst get on with it you twoooo” Mary slurred from her resting place on the floor. Liza and Will looked at Mary and then each other, but no one laughed.

 

25

 

The balloon sailed for the next day without incident. Liza and Will, still not really speaking to each other, worked together to tend to Mary. After a fitful night’s sleep and several bandage changes, Mary was feeling slightly better by the afternoon of the next day.

The afternoon sun was going further down the sky when suddenly the Colonel jumped up from his position of watch.

“I say! Look below, land!”

Everyone on board save for Mary craned their necks over the edge of the sedan to look.

“I see it!” Liza shouted. Is it Navassa then?”

“No, not yet… I wager it’s one of the Caicos or the Bahamas.  But we’re on track, at least.” Will took out his pocket watch. “We’ve made excellent time too. Maybe enough to put us ahead of Ingellsdin’s men, although I wouldn’t count in it…”

“Where too then Will?” Moto asked.

“We’ll need to be over an island called Inagua, part of the Bahamas’ but to the south of the Turks.”

Will pointed to an island on the map that looked something like a child’s idea of a whale in the water. “From there aim between Cuba and Haiti in a straight shot. We should see Navassa by night fall.”

“What do we do when we get there?” Liza asked, forgetting for a moment she was mad at Will.

“There is an abandoned light house there, the Americans built it. They claim the island but Haiit is not so sure. There was mining there until about 5 years ago, the Spanish-American war made it unsafe, but we should be fine now. We can set the balloon down there safely enough and ascend in the morning.”

Ascend?”

“Yes, to the clouds. Assuming they haven’t drifted…”

“Young man, are you telling me that we have come all this way and your city in the clouds might not be there?”

“No sir General, I mean, maybe. The clouds come and go, but they always come back to Navassa. We just might have to wait. Of course, Ingellsdin’s men may be waiting too…”

“Tricky stuff.”

“Should we land on the light house then?” Mary’s voice drifted up from the floor. Everyone turned to look at the prone figure of Mary, who was now awake.

“Excellent point Mary.” Moto said. “Will?”

“Maybe. Trouble is, the islands is rather small. But if it dark enough perhaps we can land at the other end and avoid detection for a while. Best if the clouds are there however, and we can ascend first thing in the morning.”

It was dusk when, based on Moto’s true reckoning, they spotted Navassa.

“Oh! I see it!” Liza said, she had been eager to relieve the colonel from his perch. The colonel, in turn, has declared a dire need of some sherry after his “simply exhausting” watch.

“It is small.” Liza said, almost as if she was let down. “Does anyone live there?”

“No, at least not officially. It was a guano mine for a number of years, so people did live here, workers mostly, but there’s no fresh water. Makes it rather difficult.”

“Should we have set down in Port Au Prince then?”

“We can go there later. We’re fine for a few days.”

Everyone except the colonel had come to the front of the sedan to spy Navassa. Even Mary had propped herself up gingerly to look at the island in the far distance.

“I say, is there another bottle of sherry General?”

“Underneath the tea Colonel.” The general said. “I say we may have to go to Port-au Prince sooner than we thought if the colonel keep this up!”

“I found it General. Ah, saving the good stuff I see… what is that behind us?”

“Haiti, or Cuba…” Will said absent mindedly.

“No, not beneath us, behind us…” The colonel repeated.

Five heads turned as one to look behind them. What they saw none of them could believe. It was a large English Man-of-war ship coming straight for them, thousands of feet above the ocean’s waves.

 

Chapter 23 Balloons (NaNoWriMo work in progress) - Back from Break!

23

 

“Liza, take a look at this bush, I don’t recall that I have ever seen this kind of flower…”

“Um…” Liza glanced at the bush but then scanned the sky, hoping to catch site of a balloon. She sighed, they had not gone ten feet in an hour, Mary had been finding all sorts of interesting plants. Liza scanned the horizon. The basket and balloon were still in sight, on the flat of the hill beneath them.

“I wish I had brought a volume with Azores in it, but then again who knew…”

“Mary!” Liza’s shout startled Mary, who nearly fell into the bush she was admiring. “Mary!” Look, down at the bottom of the hill, it’s Will and a boy and a cart, both pulling it. “

“Well, I guess it is time to get back then…” Mary said, making no move to get up.

“No, girl! Get up, Moto is out ahead of them running. Even Grandfather seems to be in a hurry behind them!”

Mary popped up and looked down at the bottom of the hill. “By George, I think you’re right, they do seem animated.”

“Where is the Colonel? No doubt a sleep. We need to get the balloon up! Come, if we run we’ll beat Moto and can get a head start!” Liza took off running at top speed down the hill with Mary struggling behind her.

“Colonel! Colonel!” Liza yelled. Mary could see the Colonel pop up in the basekt, bottle in hand, with an alarmed look on his face.

“Colonel! Start the burner!” Liza screamed, but the Colonel just looked around confused.

It only took a minute for them to reach the basket. Mary grabbed the basket and was heaving, but Liza seemed hardly phased at all and quickly jumped in the basket.

“Out Colonel! Help Mary with the balloon, I have a bad feeling we need to get out of here in a hurry!”

The Colonel continued to look dazed, so Mary, still recovering, reached in and grabbed his arm.

“Step out sir!” She gasped, helping him tumble out of the basket.

“I say! What on earth is going on?”

“Well, Liza and I spied Moto running up the hill, he should be here shortly. Will and the General are close behind. I dare say we’ve been discovered or run into some other sort of trouble.”

“Mary! Grab the balloon and start to pull it up! Hurry!”

Mary and the Colonel set about finding and gathering up the end of the balloon.

“I knew we should have just kept it up!” Liza said.

“The wind…” Mary said.

“Yes, you are right, of course, but having it down makes escape very tedious!”

 

Just then Moto burst into view.

“Liza! Start the- nevermind, good going!” He smiled and made a running jump into the basket. “Keep it going Liza, I’ll guide the balloon in!”

“What is it?”

“Will says we’ve been spotted! He and your grandfather are coming with a cart of supplies.”

 

It took a few moments but eventually the balloon began to rise over the burner. Just as it reached halfway Will and the Cart appeared.

“Liza, Mary, help unload!” Moto said. “Colonel you get in the basket and help store the things as best you can!”

Will was too out of breath to talk, but began handing Liza and Mary packets as they round-robined between the cart and the balloon. The boy who had pulled the cart also shuttled packets. In moments they had everything on board.

“Will, what did you see?” Liza asked as they threw in the last of the things.

“One of the men I remember from the house- he’s here. It means they’re ahead of us, possibly. But he saw the balloon. They know. Boy, here-“ Will thrust a packet of bank notes into the boys hands “Take off, but not down again, hide, bad people come.”

The boy nodded solemnly and began to pull his cart around the side of the hill, towards a large scattering of rocks.

“Where is your grandfather!?” Will asked, scanned the hill.

“I am right here” The General said as he ambled up the pathway. “Beastly hill to climb and without the fortification fo a good glass of port either!”

“Look!” Mary said. “Men, a pack of them, coming up the hill. Can we lift off Moto?”

“Not yet. It will be a close thing. Everyone in!” He shouted. Liza and Will helped push Mary and then the General in. Then, in an awkward moment, Will offered to help Liza in, who gave him a polite smiled and jumped in by herself. Will looked surprised, but said nothing as he too, pulled himself in.

“They’re awfully close!” Mary said.

“Yes, too close...” Will said. “Liza, hand me that box, the small one there.” He pointed to one of the small boxes from the inn.

“The used one Will” The General said calmly.

“Yes, good idea.” So will pulled out one of the hand guns and, shaking loaded in some bullets.

“What on earth is that for!?” Liza asked.

“It’s a gun, we may need it-“

“Yes, I know a Browning when I see it, I mean, what do you intend to do with it?”

“Buy us time. How much longer do we need Moto?”

“Another minute, but they will reach us before we can safely lift off.”

Will crouched down and aimed the pistol and waited.

“You are not seriously going to try and shoot at them? What if you hit one?” Liza said, her voice sharp.

“It would be well deserved.” Will said. “Calm yourself girl, I am only going to scare them.”

“Girl?!” Liza exploded.

“Hush Liza, get down, let Will do his thing.” The general said in a commanding voice. Liza, still fuming, sat down.

The men, there were five of them were within a hundred feet.

“Get out!”  one of them yelled in a thick accent.

“Now Will” Moto said quietly.

“Wait”

The men drew even closer.

“Will…” Moto said, now sounding nervous.

“Can we go?” Will asked. Moto looked up at the still inflating balloon.

“I need 60 seconds…”

The men were 50 feet away. Pow! A spray of dirt flew up in front of them and they stopped.

“Stay back!” Will yelled. The men stopped, one stepped forward a few feet. Pow! Another spray of dirt.

“Next time I aim to hit!” Will yelled.

“Will!” Mary yelled as she dove for the floor. “The man has a gun!” Sure enough one of the five drew a revolver out of his coat. Just then the basket lurched and began to rapidly ascend. The ground fell beneath them and then a load sound, like a pop. The man on the ground had fired, but they continued to rise and they were soon out of range. Soon the figures below were like ants and the Azores began to come into view as islands.

“Well!” Liza said. “That was close! You almost got us killed!” She turned to Will, who smiled weakly as he put the gun back into the box.

“Well, perhaps.”

Just then Mary, who had been quiet, fell onto Will like a dead weight. Liza gasped as a spreading red circle appeared on Mary’s shoulder…