VFinn started awake with a gasp. The engine had shuddered to a halt with a great sigh of steam, hurling him forwards. He waddled on skinned, stinging knees to press his eye to one of the square holes in the side of the machine.
He could see a square of hedgerow atop a stone wall. There were voices, muffled by the iron walls and the roar of the furnace. Somewhere up ahead, out of sight, the master was arguing with someone. It couldn't be one of the ironclads; they never disagreed. Someone they had met in the lane.
Finn turned his ear to the hole. The master shouted, dismissive, angered. Another voice, a man's, wheedled and complained in response. Finn tried another of the tiny holes, nearer the front of the engine. Glimpsed between the jostling bulk of the horses, he could see a beggar st
