“So long as Cudgel isn’t around?”
“Kali…”
She stopped in front of the tiny boathousedoor and lifted a hand. “Relax, I’m not angry. I know Cudgel’s yourlife’s quest. And I’m just… Look, I appreciate that you humor meby listening to me prattle about my work. Not many people want tohave anything to do with me.” And if she wished he might be morethan a business partner, well, that was not something she shouldwish for.
“I don’t humor you,” Cedar said. “I’minterested in your work. Especially when you’re making weapons andexplosives. And modifying my rifle.”
She smiled. That did seem to tickle him. Shehad modified the loading mechanism on his Winchester to work likehers, automatically chambering a new round after the first bulletfired. She wondered what those dancing hall ladies thought when heinsisted on sleeping with the rifle.
“And I’m currently interested in why we’restanding here. The mining claims are that way.” Cedar pointedupriver. “Unless you intend to steal a boat?”
“No, I made a deal with a fellow who lost hisfishing boat last fall. I fixed his furnace in exchange for freerent.”
“Free rent for what?”
“You’ll see.” Kali patted her pockets. “Uhoh, did I forget the key?”
“It doesn’t look like you forgot anything.”Cedar’s eyes crinkled at the corners as he nodded at her lumpy,bulging packsack. “Except a blanket. Or did you intend to share myEuklisia Rug?” he asked, naming his fancy bedroll. “To further theguise of us as lovers?”
Heat flushed her cheeks. “No! I mean… Ijust assumed since Sebastian offered employment, he would providethe basics.” Dear Lord, this plan would involve her havingto back up her thoughtless proclamation. Possibly for days. Oneill-considered word. She groaned.
“You needn’t appear so appalled,” Cedar said.“I’ve been told I’m a fine companion. True, my face is a littlebattered, but I make up for it with what’s beneath my clothing.” Hesmiled, but it faltered immediately. “I didn’t mean anything luridby that. Just that some women have suggested my physique ispleasant to, uhm, need help with that lock?”
Kali shook her head and dug out a couple offine tools. Quicker to pick the lock than run back through all thatmud to the workshop. “I’m sure you’re fine.” More than fine. “Ijust don’t sleep with men whose names I don’t know.”
“Ah.”
If she had thought her statement wouldmotivate him to reveal his name, she was mistaken. He merelywatched her until the lock thunked and she pushed the dooropen.
“Huh,” he said.
“What?”
“You can pick locks.”
Kali shrugged and walked into the boathouse.“I can make locks. Picking them is easy.”
“Remind me not to throw you in shackles.”
“Is that something you contemplate often?”Kali untied a tarp draping a chest-high, six-foot-long object thatrested not in the water but on the dock.
“Not…often.” Cedar smiled and lifteda finger, as if he might say more, but the words changed to a gaspwhen she removed the tarp, revealing the machine beneath. “Whoa.What is that?”
The reverence in his tone warmed her far morethan the spring weather, and she forgot his fumbled words on thedock.
“Just a little hobby,” Kali said. “You knowI’ve been antsy waiting for the parts I ordered to come upriver.I’m calling this a self-automated bicycle.” Few bicycles had tiresthat thick and rugged-or a smokestack for that matter-but it wasclose enough. “It’ll take time to heat up the boiler, but it cantake us up the trail at ten to twenty miles an hour, depending onthe terrain. We can be at Sebastian’s claim in time to watch himcook us supper.” She pointed at the broad seat. “I made it bigenough for two.”
Cedar touched the head-high smokestack risingfrom the compact boiler in the back, then slid his hand along thesturdy black frame. “It’s fantastic,” he breathed.
Kali grabbed a shovel from a coal bin in thecorner, intending to load the firebox, but Cedar took the tool fromher.
“Allow me,” he said.
“If it’ll make you feel useful.”
“Your gratitude always warms me.”
Kali smirked. “Are these the times you startthinking of shackles?”
“Maybe.”
Her humor faded. “Cedar, I’d like to ask afavor before we go. Can I give you something to hold for me? I, ofcourse, figure I can handle myself in a brawl, especially if I havemy tools, but I don’t believe an army could get through you.”
Cedar, a shovel full of coal poised in theair, tilted his head, eyebrows raised.
Kali checked outside the door to make surenobody was lurking on their dock, then fished a tiny bundle out ofher pocket. She unwrapped two vials filled with golden flakes thatpulsed with soft yellow light.
“With the help of my model, I’ve done somecalculations,” Kali said, “and I don’t believe I’ll need the entirebrick you saw to power the airship. I shaved off some flakes incase I need to use them on something to help you with Cudgel.”
Cedar gazed not at the gold but at her face.“I’m not quite clear on what your flash gold does but I know it’sprecious, especially to you. I appreciate this gesture.”
“It’s a power source,” Kali said. “More thanthat, it’s…well, it has properties. You can imbue it withcommands, sort of like teaching a dog to sit and stay. Nothingfancy, mind you, and not a long list, but, a sample as large as mybrick could accept a series as complicated as a punchcard programfor a loom. My father was working on even more complexity when hedied. He was always disappointed I couldn’t…”
A whistle of steam escaped from the vent. Thebicycle was ready.
“Never mind.” Kali pressed the vials intoCedar’s hands. “Take care of them.”
“I will,” he said.
PART II
The self-automated bicycle or SAB, as Kalishortened it to in her mind, chugged over the uneven trail, itsbroad tires thus far handling the roots, rocks, and snow patches.The mud was more problematic, but it thinned as they climbed awayfrom the morass pooled beneath Dawson.
The sun came out, dappling the forest floor,and Kali found herself enjoying the trip. The road narrowed to atrail following the river, and she and Cedar had to duck periodicbranches, but that did not bother her enough to tear the grin fromher face. So far the SAB was doing well on its firstexpedition.
The wildlife seemed less enthused with themachine. Whenever it neared, shrubbery thrashed as critters fledthe trail. A part of her hoped a stubborn moose would stand intheir path, staring them down, so she would have an excuse to trythe steam horn.
“When do I get to drive?” Cedar asked acouple of miles into the trip.
“When you build one of your own,” Kali saidover her shoulder.
She was trying to ignore him and the factthat her lack of handles or grip bars for the rear passenger meanthe had to use her to hold on. The sensation of hands resting on herwaist-and twice all the way around her when they ascended a steepincline-was not…unpleasant but it made her think of thingsunrelated to mechanics and steering. Things that were whollyinappropriate, given that they were on a quest to find and killsomeone.
“Do you still not trust me fully?” Cedarasked. “Or are you simply unable to relinquish control over yourdevices?”
She smiled. The latter, of course, but…“How can I trust a man with so many secrets?”
“Are you referring to my name again?”
“That and other things. Aside from thosebrief revelations at my old workshop when you were trying to enlistmy aid against Cudgel, you’ve never spoken about yourself.You-”
A shadow fell across the trail-a largeshadow.
“What’s that?” Kali slowed down.
It disappeared as quickly as it had come, andbeams of sunlight found the forest floor again.
“A cloud?” she asked.
“No,” Cedar said.
Yes, that had come and gone too quickly to bea cloud. Eagles were common in these parts, but that had been toolarge a shadow to indicate a bird.