sir.”
Jackaby fiddled with a few compartments, tapping gauges and dials behind me. After a minute he mumbled something that sounded an awful lot like “Oh, dear.”
“What?” I called. “What is it?”
“Nothing! Nothing, just admiring the steamworks.”
We rode on for several hours, Jackaby and I taking turns at the helm. The sun crept toward the horizon behind us, its light brushing the clouds ahead with golds and oranges, reflected brilliantly in the calm ocean waves below. At times a low cloud would drift beneath us, and our own shadow would ripple and dance across its billowy surface as we passed. It was quietly breathtaking.
“We may have a small problem.” Jackaby ’ s voice shook me out of my serenity.
“What is it?”
He flipped open a little iron grate, revealing the last, dying lumps of coal in an ashy heap. He flipped it shut again with a clink.
“We ’ re out of fuel?”
“I was hopeful that it might last long enough to manage the trip out, and then we could use this for the return journey.” He pointed to the single cherry-red party cracker in his bandolier. “But the engine burned through our stores faster than I had anticipated. It seems increasingly unlikely that we will reach our destination.” As if to confirm my employer ’ s doubts, the boiler sputtered and the airship shuddered and rocked. “Such a shame. This is closer than anyone ’ s come in three hundred years—which is something, I suppose.”
“What? No!” I said. “I know you want to do the thing properly, but we’ve hit every point on the map—surely you can’t object to using that cracker to finish the trip?”
Jackaby pursed his lips. “Nudd knows the magic of his people. He said that the island rests on a pocket between our Earth and the Annwyn. We need the dirigible. Think of it as our compass. Even a carefully aimed transapparative hop without it would likely leave us on this side of the veil, dropped in the middle of the Atlantic without a rock to cling to. I don’t know about you, but I doubt I could manage the swim back to shore.”
The mechanism behind him hissed, and with another rumble, the airship began to sink and lose altitude. Jackaby sighed and glanced at the approaching waves. He walked toward me and held out the lonesome red tube. “Even if we could manage it, this is the last popper. I’m afraid it’s over. You finally get your birthday wish, Miss Rook. We’re going home. I ’ ll let you do the honors. Just think of where you ’ d like to be, and our destination will appear.”
“But . . . but we ’ re so close!” I said. I peered out over the waters. On the horizon I could just make out the shimmering silhouette of a patch of land creeping into view. It wasn’t fair.
“ I am sorry, Miss Rook. ” Jackaby held out the tube. “But it really is the last one.” The patchwork balloon deflated rapidly above us, flapping wildly in the rushing wind. My feet lifted off the floor and my stomach lurched as the airship completely fell from the sky. I gripped the rickety basket with one hand and clasped the cracker with the other. Just as the sparkling waves threw themselves at the plummeting dirigible, I tugged.
* * *
The Island
The darkness smelled of wet leather and smoke. I pushed the lifeless balloon off of me and blinked into the light. From a lump in the mess before me came a muffled grumbling as Jackaby attempted to free himself from the same.
“You brought it along? I do
not
have the space in my offices to accommodate a craft this size. I hope Nudd can send an envoy to pick it up as soon as . . . Oh.” He fell silent as the material dropped away from his face. “Oh, Miss Rook. What have you done?”
The island was small. The whole space could have fit easily within a city block, and it was occupied only by rocks sparse vegetation. A border of pearl-white sand defined the perimeter, and a single leafy tree stood in the center. I glanced behind me. Although we were
Jackaby fiddled with a few compartments, tapping gauges and dials behind me. After a minute he mumbled something that sounded an awful lot like “Oh, dear.”
“What?” I called. “What is it?”
“Nothing! Nothing, just admiring the steamworks.”
We rode on for several hours, Jackaby and I taking turns at the helm. The sun crept toward the horizon behind us, its light brushing the clouds ahead with golds and oranges, reflected brilliantly in the calm ocean waves below. At times a low cloud would drift beneath us, and our own shadow would ripple and dance across its billowy surface as we passed. It was quietly breathtaking.
“We may have a small problem.” Jackaby ’ s voice shook me out of my serenity.
“What is it?”
He flipped open a little iron grate, revealing the last, dying lumps of coal in an ashy heap. He flipped it shut again with a clink.
“We ’ re out of fuel?”
“I was hopeful that it might last long enough to manage the trip out, and then we could use this for the return journey.” He pointed to the single cherry-red party cracker in his bandolier. “But the engine burned through our stores faster than I had anticipated. It seems increasingly unlikely that we will reach our destination.” As if to confirm my employer ’ s doubts, the boiler sputtered and the airship shuddered and rocked. “Such a shame. This is closer than anyone ’ s come in three hundred years—which is something, I suppose.”
“What? No!” I said. “I know you want to do the thing properly, but we’ve hit every point on the map—surely you can’t object to using that cracker to finish the trip?”
Jackaby pursed his lips. “Nudd knows the magic of his people. He said that the island rests on a pocket between our Earth and the Annwyn. We need the dirigible. Think of it as our compass. Even a carefully aimed transapparative hop without it would likely leave us on this side of the veil, dropped in the middle of the Atlantic without a rock to cling to. I don’t know about you, but I doubt I could manage the swim back to shore.”
The mechanism behind him hissed, and with another rumble, the airship began to sink and lose altitude. Jackaby sighed and glanced at the approaching waves. He walked toward me and held out the lonesome red tube. “Even if we could manage it, this is the last popper. I’m afraid it’s over. You finally get your birthday wish, Miss Rook. We’re going home. I ’ ll let you do the honors. Just think of where you ’ d like to be, and our destination will appear.”
“But . . . but we ’ re so close!” I said. I peered out over the waters. On the horizon I could just make out the shimmering silhouette of a patch of land creeping into view. It wasn’t fair.
“ I am sorry, Miss Rook. ” Jackaby held out the tube. “But it really is the last one.” The patchwork balloon deflated rapidly above us, flapping wildly in the rushing wind. My feet lifted off the floor and my stomach lurched as the airship completely fell from the sky. I gripped the rickety basket with one hand and clasped the cracker with the other. Just as the sparkling waves threw themselves at the plummeting dirigible, I tugged.
* * *
The Island
The darkness smelled of wet leather and smoke. I pushed the lifeless balloon off of me and blinked into the light. From a lump in the mess before me came a muffled grumbling as Jackaby attempted to free himself from the same.
“You brought it along? I do
not
have the space in my offices to accommodate a craft this size. I hope Nudd can send an envoy to pick it up as soon as . . . Oh.” He fell silent as the material dropped away from his face. “Oh, Miss Rook. What have you done?”
The island was small. The whole space could have fit easily within a city block, and it was occupied only by rocks sparse vegetation. A border of pearl-white sand defined the perimeter, and a single leafy tree stood in the center. I glanced behind me. Although we were
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