Metal and Magic by Chris Paton

Author:Chris Paton [Paton, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Steampunk Action and Adventure
Publisher: Aarluuk Press
Published: 2018-02-03T22:00:00+00:00

҉

The wind whipped at Hari’s robes as he plunged toward the roiling surface of the North Sea. Hands outstretched, the airship escaped him, growing smaller every second as he pitched downward. Hari stared, at the tiny people crowding the windows, peeping above the sill, staring, pointing at something to their right. Hari squinted in the wind as his view of the airship was obscured by a small gasbag deflating with a burst of gas bubbling from the valve in the bottom of the bag.

The oily black balloon filled Hari’s vision, shadowing his face from the onslaught of rain, and slamming into his body. Winded, Hari stuttered as he grasped at the ropes criss-crossing the balloon, scrabbling for purchase.

“Take this, Hari,” Luise yelled into the wind. Suspended in the leather bucket-harness, she tugged a hemp halter over Hari’s head as he slid down the face of the balloon. “Get your arms through it. Quickly.”

Hari gripped the leather guys fastened to the balloon cradle. Luise’s legs slipped sideways as Hari’s weight dipped the balloon. Slipping his arm through the halter, he cast a glance at the sea below, the roar of the waves competing with that of the wind.

“Never mind the sea, Hari,” Luise pulled the halter tight as Hari fought his other arm through the opening. Securing Hari to the chest strap of the bucket-harness, Luise leaned back to stare up toward the airship.

“Thank you,” Hari dangled beneath Luise’s head, his body twisting in the wind.

“We’re not there yet, Hari,” Luise leaned father back. “Where is he?”

“Who?”

“Jacques. He is supposed to...” The balloon jerked upward, its descent slowed with an abrupt stop. “There,” Luise gripped the leather steering guys.

“You have a rope attached to the balloon?” Leaning his head back as far as the halter allowed Hari twisted to the left.

“You won’t see it,” Luise wiped the rain from her face. “It’s tied to the top of the cradle.”

“Ingenious,” Hari let his body hang in the halter. He gripped Luise around her waist. “This is one of the lifeboats?”

“Yes. Jacques and I...”

“What?” Hari waited.

Luise took a deep breath. “I am sorry, Hari. I didn’t mean to doubt you, but we just couldn’t see how you were going to rescue that young girl.”

“So you came up with another plan?”

“Yes,” Luise paused. “I didn’t want to lose you, Hari.”

“And I did not want to be lost.” Hari reached up with his right hand, smoothing the rain away from Luise’s face. He looked up. “Are we attached to the Scotsman? That must be a very long rope.”

“Not the Scotsman, no,” Luise leaned back, her brow wrinkling beneath the wet strands of her strawberry blonde fringe. “Something a little more fragile, I am afraid.” A smile tickled the corners of her mouth. “There they are. Look up, Hari.”

Slicing through the swathes of rain gusting in the grip of the wind, four lengths of thick rope caught Hari’s eye as they stretched from one lifeboat balloon to the next, all the way back to The Flying Scotsman labouring through the storm above them.

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.