Behind Kali, Cedar muttered something to himself. She wondered if he recognized the woman.
The captain leaned against the side of a harpoon launcher, and Kali looked closely at the person manning the weapon for the first time. It was the female bandit who had ambushed the sled the day before, the one Kali had dismissed as unlikely to trouble them again. She snorted. That woman now had a harpoon aimed at her chest.
Kali resisted the urge to skitter back and take cover behind the sled. The female bandit would not do anything without an order from the captain. Probably.
“You folks looking for me?” Kali called.
“Reckon so,” the captain yelled over the thrum of the engines. “You’re Ezekiel McAlister’s kid, right?”
“What if I’m not? Would you feel bad for shooting at some innocent sled racer?”
“Nah. As you can see, the boys need target practice.”
“They were good enough to mess up the race route.” Kali considered the airship, wondering how she could convince the captain to lower it. Even if Cedar had an excellent throwing arm, the balloon was a hundred feet above the lake at the moment. “What do you want?”
“You. Care to make things easy on yourself? We can lower a rope, so you can climb up. Might even spare your partner cowering behind the sled there.”
Kali did not look behind her. She did not want to draw attention to Cedar. “I could make things that easy, but only if you agree to spare himandthe sled. It’s a prototype, and it’s worth a fortune.”
“Is it now?” The captain stroked her chin.
“I mean, it might be valuable to some people in the business,” Kali blurted, as if she knew she had said too much and wanted to cover her words. “No use for pirates. And it’d be a pain to tote out of here. Best to let my colleague finish up the race with it, and I’ll go peacefully with you.”
The captain had already turned her back to the rail. She waved a hand, and a coal-smeared man came into view. The engineer, Kali guessed. They had a quick conversation, which involved frequent gesturing at the sled and the airship.
The female bandit pointed Cedar’s direction, and Kali grimaced. Having someone who had seen him fight could ruin everything. But the captain merely waved for the bandit to pay attention to the harpoon launcher.
“New plan,” the captain said to Kali. “We’re taking the sled too.”
“What?” Kali yelled. “You don’t need to-it’s of no use to you. It’s-”
“Mine now.” The captain rested a hand on the harpoon launcher. “Shoot the man if he tries anything.”
“The sled is heavy,” Kali said, continuing to argue to keep their attention focused on her. “Are you sure you’ll be able to fly with so much extra weight?”
Nobody was paying attention to her. The ship drew lower and lower, then angled toward the sled. Men threw ropes with grappling hooks over the sides.
Kali crossed her fingers inside her gloves. The ship floated closer.
Just as she feared Cedar was waiting too long, the jar flew over her head, a flame dancing along its fuse.
“Look out!” someone shouted.
“Attack!”
“No, it’s a-whatisthat?”
A rifle cracked behind her. The jar exploded against the balloon.
Flames burst to life. They licked the balloon walls, burning the kerosene concoction, but they did not pierce the material. The fire would die quickly without access to the hydrogen inside.
“Damn, damn.” Kali spun and ran for the sled. “Cedar, you need to-”
A foot in front of her, a harpoon slammed into the ice. She lunged to the side to avoid the quivering shaft, but slipped. She flailed, trying to catch her balance. The ice thwarted her, and she landed on her back. Hard. Air whooshed from her lungs, and the blow stunned her.
“Get her!” someone cried.
A rifle fired again. Certain someone was shooting at her, Kali buried her head beneath her arms.
An explosion ripped across the frozen lake. Wind blasted Kali’s hat from her head. The ensuing jumble of shouts and screams were too tangled to decipher.
Kali peeped between her arms.
Smoke choked the air, blocking out the sun. The airship was careening across the lake, flames streaking from the balloon’s side. It crashed into the ice and skidded a half mile before ramming into the shoreline.
A gloved hand descended into her vision. “This hydrogen you speak of… It seems it’s flammable.”
She accepted his hand. “Highly.”
“Smart lady.” Cedar surprised her by pulling her into a hug.
With the immediate threat gone, Kali’s legs grew rubbery, and she was glad for his support. “I still don’t trust you,” she felt compelled to add.
Cedar chuckled. “Perhaps not, but I’m beginning to trust you.”
The words surprised her, not only because he said them but because they made a lump form in her throat. She could not remember anyone ever saying that to her. Not trusting her voice, she decided not to respond. A hug was fine, but she certainly did not want him thinking his words affected her.
Sled runners rasped on the ice behind them.
Kali pulled away from Cedar. A team of dogs trotted past, angling their sled to skirt the fissure. The musher, an older man with a trapline above town, lifted a hand.
“Good show.” He smirked. “Hope it doesn’t delay you.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Kali called. “We’ll catch up.”
A second sled team was passing farther down. “Don’t bring that trouble back to town, McAlister!”
Kali gritted her teeth. “Let’s get going, Cedar.”
But Cedar was pulling his pack off the sled. He shouldered it, checked his sword, and reloaded his rifle.
“What’re you doing?” she asked. “You’re leaving?”
He pointed the rifle at the burning wreck. “I want to make sure nobody’s left to come after us on foot.”
“It’ll be dark before you make it there and back. I can’t wait for you. I have to press on. I have to-”
Cedar gripped her arm. “I know. I’ll catch up to you when you make camp.”
Kali watched for a moment as he jogged across the ice and snow. As capable as he was, she felt guilty about letting him go off alone. There had been a lot of pirates manning that ship. Many would be injured, and some might be dead, but there would be able-bodied men and women left too.
She yanked her gaze away and returned to the sled. Cedar knew what he was doing. She had to focus on the race. The last night was coming up, and she had expected to be ahead by this point. Larger and less maneuverable, her sled would be at a disadvantage weaving amongst the tightly spaced trees that dotted the remaining terrain. She had to make sure she regained the lead before nightfall. That was the only way she would be in position to fly into town at the head of the pack in the morning.
Part VI
Kali lay in the lean-to, her back to the furnace. Darkness smothered the forest, and she had no lantern fuel left to light her lamp.
“Don’t need light,” she told herself. It was long past midnight, long past the time she should be sleeping.
But her ears strained, listening for footsteps crunching through the snow. The starlit trail ought to be easy to follow, even at night. Cedar should have caught up hours ago-if he hadn’t been hurt. Or worse.
Kali groaned and rubbed her face. Why was she worrying about him? She had only known him two days.
Two days in which he had saved her life numerous times. More, he had saved hersledfrom saboteurs. She probably shouldn’t value a piece of machinery more than her own hide, but, damn it, it made her grin just thinking of him sneaking up on those brutes from town.
That grin faded at the realization that dawn lurked only a couple hours away. She could not go back and search for him now. If she did, it was over. The race was lost. She had caught up to the other mushers but not gotten ahead before darkness fell, so she needed an early start in the morning. She needed to be well-rested. She definitely did not need to be lying awake, imagining Cedar buried in a snow drift with a bullet in his leg, trying to claw his way toward help, frostbite blackening his fingers and toes. Death on the horizon.