Clockwork Twist : Missing (4 page)

Despite Twist’s best efforts, Captain Howell Davis only looked at him strangely when Twist insisted that the man had a missing nephew. No one else on the airship had ever heard of Jonas either. In desperation, Twist led them to Jonas’s cabin, which remained just the way it had been the last time Twist had seen it. Howell shook his head and mentioned that the
Vimana
often took on passengers. The things in the cabin must have been left behind by one of them. No matter how Twist tried to counter this fiction with his own truth, Howell’s new memories held fast.

Finally exasperated, Twist left the ship, climbed down the airship docks to the street below, and hailed a cab. Myra remained at his side as the sun began to rise behind the gray clouds. The streetlights would still be needed for a few more hours, as the sky lightened slowly overhead.

“Twist, dear,” Myra began softly as he held the cab door open for her. “Maybe we should wait until a little later. Give you some time to—”

“Myra, please,” Twist said, cutting her off. He focused on not snapping at her, but his voice simply wouldn’t soften as much as he wanted it to. “Just trust me. There’s no time to lose.”

Myra bit at her metal lip with silver teeth, looking deeply uncertain, but she climbed into the cab and sat back into the shadows silently. Twist followed her inside and then shut the door. He called to the driver, and the cab began to pull away.

Twist was instantly lost in thought as the cab ambled over the damp cobblestones, through the thin fog that the night had left on the London streets. Aden had to be unaffected by this strange situation. He had a Sight himself, and could always hear the truth. Surely he would remember Jonas. But even if he did, how could he help? If Jonas was truly in orbit, then how could anyone get to him? Had man learned how to travel into outer space? The ones who had taken Jonas were obviously anything but human.

Myra let out a soft sigh that only barely caught Twist’s attention. He looked to her and was startled to find her face mournful and her posture sagging as she watched the city trot by through the windows of the cab. Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap; Twist reached out and gently took one of them. Myra looked up to him quietly as she put on a thin smile. Twist’s Sight ached against the touch, but he caught her worry and fear all the same.

“Don’t fret, my love,” he said as sweetly as he could. “Everything will be all right.”

“Of course,” she said, her smile growing a bit stronger. “I’m just…I’m worried for you.”

Twist’s heart chilled as he felt her fear grow with her words. She wasn’t worried about finding Jonas or discovering why she couldn’t remember him. She was worried that Twist was losing his mind. Twist rejected the impulse to take this as a betrayal. She was under some sort of spell or sickness. It wasn’t her fault that she couldn’t understand. Besides, she was only so disturbed because she cared for him. Having no words to soothe her fears, Twist reached out to wrap an arm around her. She nestled herself against him instantly and rested her head on his shoulder. Silence fell over them both until the cab reached the hotel.

The face of the building was ornate in the extreme. Every window was surrounded in stone figures and carvings of vines. Every eave was crusted with filigree and gilding. The enormous front doors stood open, welcoming them into a lavish and lush lobby complete with emerald velvet-cushioned couches, potted ferns, and golden gas chandeliers. As it was still very early in the morning, the only people Twist saw in the lobby were porters in sharp green uniforms, the golden buttons on their coats gleaming brightly in the abundant gaslight.

“Welcome to The Elizabethan,” said a porter who stood by the door as Twist and Myra entered. The man’s broad chest barely seemed to fit inside his uniform, filled as it was with the pride of his words. “Are you checking in?”

“We’re here to visit a guest,” Twist said.

“Ah, I see,” the porter said brightly. He glanced over the empty lobby and then looked back to Twist. “Please have a seat, and I’ll call up to the room. What was the name?”

“Aden.”

The porter’s smile dropped. “I’m sorry?”

“I’m here to see Aden of the Rooks,” Twist said measuredly.

“Are you sure you are meeting in our hotel?” the porter asked carefully, his voice betraying unease. “I don’t think I recognize that name.”

Judging by the man’s reactions and his own understanding of the Rooks, Twist imagined that this porter was playing dumb on purpose. Perhaps if Twist had made an appointment to see Aden before arriving, things would be going much more smoothly.

“Do you honestly believe I would be here, this early in the morning, if I had time for formality? This is an emergency. If you won’t help me, then I will find Aden myself.”

The porter regarded him thoughtfully. “What is your name, sir?”

“Twist. And my companion’s name is Myra.”

“Very well,” the porter said with a short bow. “Please have a seat, and I will check the register for the name you mentioned.”

“Tell him to hurry,” Twist said as the porter turned to leave.

Twist and Myra sat on one of the couches in the lobby to wait. It was only a few minutes before someone approached them. Aden, dressed in his usual black suit, smiled when he saw them. Myra rose to her feet, and Aden took her hand in greeting.

“Well, this is a surprise,” Aden said, giving Twist a bow before sitting down in a chair just beside them. “What brings you here so early on a Sunday? I was only just getting dressed when I heard that you’d arrived. And how did you know I was here, by the way?”

“Arabel told us,” Myra said.

“Ah! That girl is a wonder,” Aden said brightly. “I’ll get her to work for me one of these days. And when I do, believe me, she’ll be a very rich young woman.” Twist watched him quietly, struggling to decide how to begin. “Well, the porter said something about an emergency. What’s happened?”

Twist steeled his will and made his choice. “Jonas has disappeared.”

“I’m sorry, who?” Aden asked innocently. Disappointment crashed down on Twist’s battered resolve, and his gaze dropped to the floor.

“Twist is very upset about this,” Myra said to Aden, petting gently at Twist’s arm. “Yesterday, he began saying that someone named Jonas has gone missing, but none of us quite know who he means.” As unhappy as Twist was with what she was saying, the kindness in the way she said it wasn’t lost on him.

“Really?” Aden toned thoughtfully. “That’s rather strange. Twist, can you tell me who this person is?” Twist took a deep breath and looked up to Aden.

“His name is Jonas Davis. He’s Arabel’s twin brother, even though she now says she doesn’t have a brother. I’ve lived and traveled with him since I finished repairing Myra. He’s always with me. It’s impossible to know me and not know him. But after a strange white flash that I experienced yesterday afternoon, no one I speak to has even heard of him.”

Aden listened to him with unwavering attention. “And he was with you yesterday?”

“Yes.” Twist nodded. “He was sitting right beside me in a tea shop one moment, and vanished the next.”

“When this white flash happened?” Aden asked.

“Yes,” Twist answered. “Do you believe me?”

“You’re not lying,” Aden said carefully. “I can hear that. But I’ve honestly never heard of the man. What about you, Myra? If this Jonas person has been with Twist since you met him, then you must know him.”

Twist looked to her.

She looked back at him sorrowfully. “I’m sorry, but I can’t imagine who Twist means.”

“Then what did you see happen yesterday?” Aden asked her.

“Arabel and I met Twist at Hyde Park, and then went to tea when it started to rain. I only remember that there was me, Arabel, and Twist there. We were having a pleasant conversation, and then suddenly Twist jumped and started asking where this ‘Jonas’ had gone.”

“Did you see a flash of any kind?”

“No, nothing like that.”

“What about the strange man?” Twist asked her suddenly. “He was very tall and imposing. He came to our table and asked which of us was Jonas.”

Myra looked away from him. Her metal fingers knit tightly in the fabric on her knees. “I don’t remember that,” she said softly. “I’m sorry,” she offered, looking back to Twist. He saw nothing but concern in her eyes.

Twist rubbed at his face with a hand. “I’m not insane. Something has happened.”

“That’s impossible,” Aden gasped, looking alarmed as he looked back and forth between them. “Neither one of you are lying!”

“What?” Twist asked.

“You are telling me the truth,” Aden said, pointing to him. “I can hear it. There’s no doubt at all. What you said happened, did happen, exactly the way you say it. But you are also telling me the truth,” he said to Myra. “You can’t both be speaking the truth, but my Sight says that you are. It’s impossible. I’ve never been wrong.”

“But I’m definitely not mad?” Twist asked.

“Say it again as a statement,” Aden said, leaning closer and closing his eyes to listen.

“I’m not insane,” Twist said, glancing to Myra as he spoke. Her eyes flitted away from him with a flash of her own shame.

“True,” Aden said, sitting back again. “According to my Sight, you’re perfectly sane.”

“Then what’s happened?” Myra asked. “If this man has been with us all the time, then why don’t I know him?”

“It could be a spell or a charm of some kind,” Aden said, frowning in thought. “I’ve never heard of a scientific technology that could do something like this. Either way, there are only two possibilities that I can see. One is that Twist is correct, and something has happened to erase this man from the world and from all of our minds.”

“Marvelous,” Twist muttered.

“The other possibility is the opposite,” Aden said. “Something has happened to Twist to implant a fictional character in his memories.”

“Now just a minute!” Twist snapped. “You just said I wasn’t mad.”

“It doesn’t mean that you are,” Aden said quickly. “But it is possible that your memory has been affected by some outside means. If that’s true, then you could be perfectly sane and yet working with incorrect data. My Sight should tell me if you are, but the spell might be cloaking you somehow. I’m sorry, Twist, but you must see that it’s the more reasonable explanation. Whatever the means, it must be much easier to affect one mind than to alter the perception of the entire world and simultaneously remove the physical person.”

Twist’s blood seemed to chill inside him. “No, that can’t be.”

“Well, either way,” Aden said, “something certainly has happened. My people don’t often deal with magic, but I’ll have my agents look into our archives for anything similar that might have happened before. But if it isn’t magic, then it could be a Cypher attack. I can’t imagine how making you believe that someone exists when they don’t—“

“Jonas exists,” Twist snapped through gritted teeth.

“—or vanishing him from everyone’s mind but yours,” Aden added gently, “could aid them, but the Cyphers deal primarily in things that look like magic. They collect and improve it all the time. They’re the most likely to have done this.”

“But they’re horrid,” Myra said with a shudder. “And I didn’t see anyone who looked like one of them yesterday. They always wear those silly cloaks and things.”

“Well, then tell me you didn’t see a Cypher yesterday,” Aden said. Myra complied. Aden shrugged. “All right, not Cyphers then. But something or someone obviously caused it. There’s just not enough data. The only thing I can advise you to do is to wait and see what happens. Maybe my agents will find some information that could help.”

Twist shook his head. “I can’t just sit around and wait. I have to find him. I think he might be…” Twist paused. With the question of his sanity on the table, perhaps it wasn’t best to mention the interplanetary side of things. Or the monsters. “He might be in real danger.”

“Twist, I understand that you feel this person is your friend,” Aden said gently, “but you must be reasonable. There is nothing that you can do right now.”

Myra patted his arm supportively.

Twist tried to imagine living out the rest of the day without Jonas beside him. The cold, nervous, tangled mess of fear and confusion in the pit of his stomach seemed to loom larger with the thought. His Sight still ached at the edges, and he’d begun to fear using it at all. One touch from Jonas would take all of it away. Without him, Twist would have to endure alone. Did he even remember how to brave difficulty without the help of such a trusted friend? Twist saw the signs of panic approaching and snapped his eyes shut, forcing his quickening breath to slow. He shook his head.