Hot and Steamy: Tales of Steampunk Romance by Jean Rabe & Martin H. Greenberg

Author:Jean Rabe & Martin H. Greenberg [Rabe, Jean & Greenberg, Martin H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy, Collections & Anthologies, Romance, Science Fiction
ISBN: 9780756406899
Google: pF2qjwEACAAJ
Amazon: 0756406897
Barnesnoble: 0756406897
Publisher: DAW
Published: 2011-03-15T18:40:30+00:00

The May’s Landing prison consisted of a stone building beside the butcher shop filled with half a dozen small cells. The three in front contained a short, nervous man who kept clenching and unclenching his hands together; Warren, the fat town drunk; and a burly stranger walking a treadwheel with a weary, fanatical step. Elizabeth’s gaze traced the series of pipes and whoosh of water that benefited from his work. It would prove easy enough to power the system with steam, yet whoever designed it clearly intended it as a punishment for prisoners. No work, no water. They probably had to do just as much to earn their food as well.

Directed to the back, Elizabeth walked cautiously around the brick and iron cells. The odors of feces, urine, and vomit nearly overwhelmed her; and she found herself breathing only through her mouth. The other two cells on that side lay empty. Perry sat on the floor of the third, his head bowed. Apparently hearing Elizabeth’s approach, he looked up. Then, recognizing her, he straggled to his feet.

In the gloom of the prison, Perry looked exactly as he had in village dusk: thin and fair with youthful features and pale eyes. In many ways, he fit the current vision of beauty, defined as much by light skin, hair, and eyes as voluptuous contours in women and straighter angles in men.

When Elizabeth turned the corner, it took her beyond the view of the other prisoners and the gaoler. They were, essentially, alone. “Why?” she asked, pitching her voice low so no one could overhear them.

Perry took a breath, as if to demand more information. Then he paused and smiled wanly. He knew from that one word what Elizabeth had meant. “Why should we both get in trouble? I figured I could handle the punishment better than you.”

Elizabeth had no idea if he was right or not. She had heard that the gaoler did not discriminate between men and women, sane and insane, orphans or criminals. Anyone requiring housing who did not find a safe place on the streets eventually wound up here, sometimes crammed together in the same cage in leaner times. “Byron?”

Perry shrugged. “I gave him a ‘run-and-hide’ command. The men came back without him.” Pain scrolled across his features. “Did they . . . get him?”

Elizabeth thought that, if they had caught the dog, news would have reached the entire village. “I don’t believe so.” She could not help grinning. “That means he’s still safely out there.”

“Yeah.” Perry nodded thoughtfully. “Until he gets hungry or craves companionship.” He turned Elizabeth a careful look. “Someone has to find him first and tend to him. Someone who . . .” He glanced around, as if afraid someone might overhear them.

. . . loves dogs. Elizabeth’s mind filled in. She knew it had to be one of them. She was the only possibility, but she had managed to obtain something that could change that situation. Her hand slid into her pocket. She pinned the object against her palm and reached a hand into the cell.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.