The Draco Society Trilogy

Chapter 6:

Chapter 6:

The two women woke simultaneously, sat bolt upright, and began speaking concurrently.

“That was amazing.”

“I thought you would get us killed!”

“I never thought it would work.”

“We should never mess with a dragon. You never know what mood they are in until it is too late.”

“I wonder if I can take more people in.”

“More people in? Are you crazy?” Phoebe moved to sit in front of Helena.

“My skills are increasing every time I visit. Yours can too.”

“The immortals will not take kindly to us playing in their realm.”

“If I could take more people, we might become guardians for good.”

“You’re not listening to me. This is very dangerous.”

“I wonder if there is a range limitation if we need to be sleeping near one another for the connection to work.”

“Mistress, please, you’re scaring me.”

“I wonder if I can become strong enough to do the traveling while awake.”

“Helena, please stop!”

“Also, can I take people against their will?” The thrill of the experience was too much for Helena.

Phoebe reached up and slapped Helena across the face.

Shocked, Helena reached her hand up to cover where her friend had just struck her. She tried to look into Phoebe’s eyes, but she had lowered her head searching her lap.

“I’m sorry, Helena, but you’re scaring me. I didn’t know what to do.” Phoebe started crying.

Helena wasn’t sure what she had done wrong, the excitement for such a new experience she’d found overwhelming. There was so much more she wanted to experiment with, but for the moment, she needed to concern herself with Phoebe’s emotions and the fear of the unknown.

Helena glanced down and dropped her voice to barely whisper, “I’m sorry. I got carried away. That was the first time I stood up to the Master. It will not happen again.”

“Please, listen to me. What you’re doing is dangerous. Like losing your immortal soul dangerous. You must stop going!” Phoebe never looked up, but Helena saw the tears dropping into her lap.

“Master Ao told me the only reason I could travel there is because I was a guardian. You must be a guardian, as well. We should both be celebrating that we discovered Gertrude is alive and we learned where she is.”

“Yes, we learned she’s alive, and we know who holds her, but we don’t know where she is.” Phoebe began wringing her hands together.

“But he will try to use her as a bargaining chip. He wants something from Mister Wizard. That must be why he keeps sniffing around. Gertrude will be safe until the count gets what he wants.”

“You promised to keep us safe. I know you will do everything in your power to get her back. I’m just not sure toying with the immortals is the best way to get her back without losing you.”

“I’m sorry, but at times, I can’t control going. I will do my best to limit my travels, but something keeps pulling me to that cave at night.”

Phoebe nodded and dried her eyes with the back of her hand. “If you don’t mind, I think I would like to sleep in my own bed tonight. I’ve had enough new experiences for one day. Tomorrow, we will talk about how to find Count Stroganov and Gertrude.”

Helena nodded. She glanced out the window behind her, the southern moonlight reflecting off the glass of her cabin in the dark night sky beyond. She pulled herself out of bed and helped the shorter Phoebe to her feet.

“We will talk tomorrow with Mister Wizard, Deirdre, the captain, and Marshal Dearborn. We should be able to think of some way to rescue Gertrude.”

Phoebe nodded.

They walked together to the cabin door where Helena opened it for her. Phoebe stopped and gave her a hug and whispered in her ear, “Please sleep tonight. Don’t go back alone.” Whether Master Ao had sent them back or Helena had broken the link, they would never know. Phoebe was right—it would prove dangerous to try the exercise again so soon.

It was Helena’s turn to nod. After she closed the door behind Phoebe, she slid the bolt home. Secured in her stateroom, she walked over to a bookcase on the port wall. She found the special latch Mister Wizard installed for her, and with the press of the button, a secret door silently slid open. She reached inside and retrieved an object wrapped in oilcloth. It had weight to it, much heavier than the size indicated. She unwrapped the package and examined the ancient patina on the Dragon Dagger. She held the dagger Mister Nobody, and the Society of the Draco used to free and summon Master Ao. The master alluded to the fact she could control dragons with the ancient blade. She considered taking the blade into the center of her room and experimenting with how to control the Jade Dragon to rescue Gertrude for her. The task would be much easier for the dragon with his magic.

Memories of how she had been controlled her entire life flooded over her. Since her parents disappeared one way or another, the people around her controlled her with information or the lack of knowledge guiding her every move. She hated the idea of being forced to do something against her will. With little hesitation, she wrapped the dagger securely in its oilcloth and placed the package back in the secret compartment. The door closed, and she rested her hand over the small access. Her head thumped on the rail above repeatedly as she whispered, “If I force the dragon to submit, I will be no better than a slave master. We will need to find another way.”

Once the crew had risen for breakfast, Helena asked to meet with her advisors directly afterward. This was when they discovered a small error in the design. They had nowhere to meet and discuss their plans in private.

“I never anticipated the need for a boardroom,” Mister Wizard grumbled to himself.

“I think we need a place where we can talk about sensitive things and not be overheard by just anyone,” Helena explained.

Captain Cox crossed his arms. “I trust my crew. You can say anything you like before them.”

“Helena dear, aren’t you being jumpy? We can use the galley here,” her aunt suggested.

“Not secure enough. We’ve been spied on and attacked too many times. You can’t blame me for feeling paranoid. I want a place we can close the door and be relatively certain no one will eavesdrop on us.” Helena held her ground on this one.

Mister Wizard snapped his fingers as he got an idea. “The cargo hold where we keep Bessie and the other gear. The space is large enough to fit everyone, and no one goes down there.”

The Marshal drank his coffee. “Just tell me where and when.”

“That sounds like the best place. Everyone meet in the cargo hold at nine a.m.,” Helena announced.

Calico added, “That would be two bells for your more salty dogs like me.” He pulled Helena aside. “We should be able to land in San Diego this afternoon for a few supplies if you like. We could use some fresh fruit and vegetables.”

“I would like to make a brief stop and be off before dark.”

“We will do our best. We have no way to signal ahead for supplies.”

“Thank you, Captain, for everything.”

Helena had so many people to ask for advice, but the meetings would become unruly if she invited everyone. However, she wanted a broad tent. Everyone on the Legend should have a voice in the decisions if possible. She understood that would quickly become chaos.

This meeting would be limited to Aunt Deirdre, Mister Wizard, Captain Cox, Marshal Dearborn, and her and Phoebe since she wanted her to back up her story if necessary.

Her story! How would she ever convince them Gertrude was on the Russian ship without revealing more than she wanted to? Phoebe was the only person she trusted with the knowledge of Master Ao and her travels to Mount Kunlun. How would she ever explain that to someone who had never traveled out of their bodies? She would just need to do her best to convince them she knew the truth. Perhaps Deirdre would be able to help.

How did the Count escape his fall to death from the top of the Legend’s airbag? Every time she discovered one answer, she unearthed five more questions.

She made her way down to the hold before anyone else arrived. Strapped to the deck was Bessie, her steam-powered horseless carriage. She found herself missing Lane, her former driver. who she had watched die at the hands of Sister Ping. Not wanting to remember that pain, she shook her head. Hettie and David popped into her thoughts. Even if they left only two days ago, she wondered what they were up to.

Try as hard as she might not to think about the separation, she couldn’t help herself. All the memories of Sigmund rushed back to her. But the one that kept pushing out all the fond memories was him hanging precariously from the wall of the burning hanger while he shouted something she couldn’t hear. The fire surrounded him. She couldn’t think of a way that he could have escaped. The seat he used to sit in beckoned her. She sank into her place like so many times before, the image of him sitting next to her fresh. She felt him close to her now.

With the back of her hand, she quickly caught the tears that fell from her eyes. She didn’t want to let the others see her weak. As a young woman, she felt the need to be twice as tough as anyone else, lest she be judged too emotional.

“You miss them?” Her aunt’s voice seemed to come from nowhere. Helena glanced around and found she stood at the back of Bessie, looking over the wooden storage trunk.

“Of course, I do.” Caught up in her own misery, she forced herself to remember her aunt had just lost her man Ross to Sister Ping’s whip as well. “I know you must be in pain. How do you do it? How do you seem so level at a time like this?”

Deirdre slid into the back seat with her and sat across from her like the first time they had met. “You just keep going. I can’t explain it, but what is the alternative? Stopping? Dying? No, I will keep going on as long as I can. The longer you live, the more death you will see. Dying is a fact of nature. All things die.” Her aunt let her guard down, and a few tears slipped out. She was quick with a hanky to catch them so as not to ruin her face.

“I want to be strong, but when it is quiet, the memories come rushing back. It is then when I find the memories hard to take and the pain the greatest.”

“Dear, we don’t even know if Sigmund is dead. There is still a chance he escaped. When we land this afternoon, send a telegram, find out the truth.”

“Who would I send a message to?”

“Send it to Andrea. If anyone at the house knows, she will. You know she never leaves that house. Remember they don’t know if we are alive either. Send it in code if you can. We have no way of telling who is watching for us to show ourselves.”

Helena nodded. She hadn’t thought about that. She was so concerned about her loss, it never occurred to her that when they flew off in that storm, no one would know if they made the liftoff alive or not. As far as the city of San Francisco was concerned, they might be dead. As soon as they made landfall, that would change. Perhaps stopping in San Diego wasn’t the best idea.

The others filed into the hold. With the vehicles and boxes about, it was tight, but people sat where they needed to for space.

Once everyone was seated, Helena began. “I called you here because we’ve discovered news about Gertrude. She is alive.”

“What? How?” Captain Cox was the first and loudest.

Helena continued, “We are not sure how she left the ship, but Deirdre used her powers to find out she was alive.”

“Witchcraft?” The Marshal scoffed. “Why I never?”

“It works. I’ve used it before.” Helena defended her aunt.

“Never discount things you know nothing about, sir,” Deirdre chided him.

“Great. The spirits told you she is alive. Do you know where? We will go gather her up. I am not keen on losing members of the crew.”

Deirdre added, “I couldn’t tell where specifically she was—only that she was alive.”

Helena continued, “That’s true, but Phoebe and I did some more digging, and we found out where she is.”

“Don’t hold back, dear. Tell us.” Mister Wizard sat on Bessie’s hood.

“Somehow, the Russians took her off the ship during the conflict.”

“Damn.” Captain Cox cursed to himself.

Dearborn shook her head. “That’s not good.”

“I told you they wanted something.” Mister Wizard slapped his hand on the hood.

Deirdre eyed Helena. “How did you learn of this?”

“Please don’t ask how we found out. Phoebe and I are not ready to tell you. Just understand that we are certain the information is good.” Helena wrung her hands, hoping they would not press for an answer.

“How do you think this will do us any good?” Dearborn asked.

“I was hoping you would go to their ship and demand her back.” Helena stared him down.

“How? Ask nicely?”

“You are a U.S. Marshal. If they broke the law, arrest them. They attacked us. You should charge them with that.”

Dearborn jumped down off the box. “I’m not sure how you think life works. I must follow the law. Right now, we’ve no proof of any of this. I can’t just go up to a Russian-flagged ship and search them. I need a warrant signed by a judge. With no idea where the Russian airship is, I have no idea where to secure a warrant from. I’m not going to go to a judge and ask for a warrant to search a foreign national’s ship with the evidence being ‘a ghost told me.’ I would be laughed out of the courthouse. Another problem, since the count is part of the Russian royal family and on a Russian-flagged ship, I would be willing to bet my Henry rifle they are flying under diplomatic immunity. There is no way a judge would risk an international incident without the count gunning down a person in the middle of the street with hundreds of witnesses. While that ship is over the United States, I can’t help you by breaking the law.” Finished, Dearborn walked toward the hatch.

Helena stared on in disbelief, “Where are you going?”

He stopped at the first tread of the ladder leading out. “If I know you, and I do, you are going to start planning some harebrained rescue attempt, which will break many laws. For your own legal safety, you can count me out of the rest of this discussion.”

The silence hung heavy over the room after Dearborn left. Finally, Helena spoke softly, “I’m not giving up on rescuing Gertrude. There is no telling what the count and his crazy sister will do to her.”

“No one is expecting you to concede, dear. It is just a matter of limitations, the largest being we don’t know where the Russian is to mount a rescue.” Deirdre tried to console her niece.

Mister Wizard patted Helena’s shoulder as he passed to the ladder out. “I tell you they are after something. They will contact us for a trade. I can feel it in my bones. Gertrude will be safe until they ask for something in return for her.”

The others filed out, leaving Helena and Captain Cox alone. His metal arm rested on the back seat of Bessie. “You understand I hate losing people off my ship.”

“I know, Captain. I do too. I want you to take us somewhere other than San Diego, somewhere south of the border. Do you know of a place we can stock up down in Mexico?”

“Aye, Mistress, that I do. It will be tomorrow morning before we reach Ensenada. Might I ask why?”

“I listened to what Marshal Dearborn said. Even if I don’t like it, I must heed his warning. If we need to break any laws, I would rather they not be on American soil.”

“If you haven’t heard, Mexican prisons are not pleasant places.”

“Then I highly suggest we don’t get caught.”