Fianna Kelly Versus the Jeebees: A Collection of Steampunk Stories (17 page)

Bradan
and I got a wagon ride from the hospital to the guest house in the morning. It
took an hour or two before I felt like normal again. We walked to the castle, I
talked nice to a few soldiers, and they ran around the castle to find Eric. A
few minutes later, one returned with him.

I
said, "I recall an invitation from a charming man to escort me through his
greenhouse."

Eric
replied, "I was wondering if you'd remember that. The invitation still
stands."

"Is
now a good time?"

"I
suspect the entire castle has heard that my girlfriend is here to see me by
now."

"Have
I done something wrong?"

"No.
I have. I should have been at the hospital when you were discharged."

"I
learned long ago that the world does not stop based on my wishes. I can come
back when you are less busy. I have my own work to do."

He
said, "As long as we are both here, it is the perfect time to inspect the
tulips. We may not have another chance."

It
was a short walk and I danced around him, enjoying the sunshine and the gentle
breeze. He took my hand and brought me to his side. I think I was making him
dizzy.

He
said, "To be truthful, it is not my greenhouse, but my mother's. She
chooses the arrangement of the flowers and I see that they get enough
water."

"I
wouldn't think that giving them water would be a problem."

"Perhaps
I should have said that they get just enough and not too much."

The
greenhouse was open on both ends and I turned to Bradan. "We do not wish
to be disturbed by anyone or anything."

I
turned back to Eric, "I heard that tulips come in all the colours of the
rainbow. Is that correct?"

"Not
to be prideful, but we have colours that you won't see in the rainbow. The
scientists say they are actually there and we just don't see them.  I prefer to
think that those colours have been reserved for flowers."

I
ran over to one flower bed. "I love the colour of purple; the perfect mix
of red and blue. The colour reserved for royalty. Add gold accents for women
and silver for men. Had I been born into a different family, I would have
purple gowns, and purple party dresses, and purple corsets; all with gold
trim."

I
ran over to other ones, smelling them and trying to tell if different colours
had different fragrances.

I
waited for him to catch up to me before running off again. "I also love
this shade of blue. I wore a dress of this shade the night before we met. I had
to return it as it was on loan. I wore white slippers with it and danced all
night."

"I
must invite you to a dance soon."

"I
agree. If you wish to dance with me, you must invite me. I am not one to invite
myself."

"Shall
I send you a written invitation or will a simple 'please join us tonight at
nine' suffice?"

"I
accept your simple, yet gracious, invitation... I see you are wearing what I
bought you."

"They
are very nice but may be a bit extravagant. They must have cost you a
lot."

"You
would not believe what I paid and I'll not cheapen the gift by telling
you."

"I
have not given you a gift."

"This
is not an exchange. When I travel, I buy things for my friends to remember it.
I would like it if whenever you look at them you would remember me and red
roses and purple tulips."

"I
think you have that backwards. From now on when I see roses or tulips I will
think of you. These are nice but you are unforgettable. I don't need them to
remember you."

"You
say that now, but once I am out of your sight, you'll be engrossed in your work
and I'll be a fading memory."

"I
will remember everything about you, just as if you were standing here."

I
turned away and asked, "What colour are my eyes? Is there a colour of
tulip here that reminds you of them?"

He
strode over to a selection of dark green ones while I was careful that he did
not see my eyes. He picked one up, came over near me, and said, "While the
shade of this one is close, it does not match the brilliance of your
eyes."

I
turned to look at him. He pulled me close and kissed me. I felt like a flower
and I wilted in his arms. We ended on the ground between beds and he was
pulling petals off the tulip and rubbing my nose with them. They tickled and I
almost swallowed one while laughing.

"While
I'd love to spend hours here with you, I need to search your country for any
remaining jeebees. Do you know places where people invent things? The jeebees
like to steal devices. Bradan and I will check around those places. As you
know, he can sense them."

"The
first place we should check is near where your airship is secreted. Major
Meyers has posted six men to patrol that area at all times, but it can't hurt
to check there."

"Did
you say 'we'?"

"Spare
me a few minutes to collect my rifle and I shall join you. It is my country,
you know, and I'll not have it said I was too busy arranging dinners to help
defend it."

I
waited by Bradan as he ran off. He came back with a rifle that bore an uncanny
resemblance to mine. "Where did you get that?" I asked.

"I
had to call in a few favours to have this built to the same designs as
yours."

"That
seems like a lot of trouble to me."

"While
I'm still not in your league, my scores have noticeably improved."

"Do
you have a pistol like mine too?"

"No,
I have a volley gun."

"What
does that do?"

"It
shoots six bullets at once in different directions. Were we to be overrun, it
might be useful. Anyway, I was thinking on my way back here that we need to
make a stop in the city before heading out."

He
must have arranged for a wagon too as one pull up beside us. We got Bradan
loaded, took our seats, and he drove us into the city. I slid as close to him
as I could without interfering with the reins. I couldn't tell what kind of
shoppe we stopped at as the sign was not in English and had a lot of words on
it.

Eric
spoke to a man for a minute. He went in the back of the shoppe and returned
with a felt-lined case containing goggles. These were not simple round lenses
inside leather straps though. These were beautiful. The lenses were large and
egg-shaped so one's vision was not restricted. Rather than leather, they were
mounted in brass wires woven together as if lace. Set along the edges were tiny
stones that I suspected were diamonds and emeralds.

I
looked at Eric. "I doubt I could afford such extravagance, even as practical
as they look to be."

He
smiled and said, "Do not cheapen the gift by asking the price. You
wouldn't believe what I'm paying for them. Which one would you like?"

"You
can't just ask that. I must try them on and then you must tell me which one
looks best on me."

"I'm
not so much concerned about their appearance but your safety. After seeing what
happened to your last set, I cannot think of you going anywhere without a good
set."

"Since
these all look to be equally practical, we can choose by how wonderful they
look on me. No matter which one is chosen, you will have to look at me wearing
them, so choose well."

I
thought they all looked about the same. Eric picked the fourth one I tried. The
lenses were a bit larger on that one and their curve matched my eyebrows as if
made for them. I looked closely in the mirror and noticed that the stones
matched my eyes.

It
was amazing how much more I saw out of these than my previous ones. It was
almost as if I weren't wearing anything. I admired them in the mirror while
Eric talked with the man for a bit. I couldn't understand them, but the tone
sounded like Eric may have been praising his craftsmanship. I asked Eric to
tell him that I loved them.

He
said, "I am guessing your previous plans involved procuring a wagon so you
and your automaton could go riding about the country. Perhaps one like we have
here."

"That's
right."

"This
will serve us well for the first place we need to check on, but I have another
idea."

"Before
you tell me that, you need to know that my job is to eliminate the jeebees
quietly. I don't want children to be afraid to get into bed at night because
the monsters are real. I hope your idea goes along with that."

He
said, "My idea does not involve scaring children. I recall you arrived in
London via rail. How about we arrange passage? There are many routes starting
and ending at Amsterdam. We could cover the country in less time that
way."

"Can
we stop the train when Bradan senses any jeebees?"

"That
should be no problem. It is normal for our engineers to make unscheduled stops
to pick up or drop off passengers. They even have reserved cars just for that
purpose."

I
said, "That is a great idea then! Bradan can sense them from over a mile
away when he is trying hard so we should find routes that work with that."

He
asked, "What were you planning to do if you found any? Were you going to
charge in with guns blazing, as Jim would put it?"

I
replied, "I hadn't thought that far ahead, but Colonel Reynolds advised me
to hide behind something solid and shoot them when they poke their heads
out."

"You
had to have someone tell you that?"

"Well...
The barricade was in my way."

"If
there's nothing else nearby, hide behind me. Major Meyers tells me that I am as
thick as a rock so I should be solid enough for your Colonel." We laughed
at that.

There
weren't any jeebees near the underground base and none near the train station
and none on the ride out. Eric told me about his country as we travelled
through it. He pointed out landmarks and places he had been. Bradan was doing
whatever he did to locate jeebees. It was very nice until...

INTRUDERS
350 YARDS

I
asked, "How many are there?"

SEVEN

I
looked to Eric, but he was already signalling the engineer to stop the train.
We jumped out and the train continued on.

I
asked Eric, "Shouldn't we send a telegram to the Major and get a few of
his men?"

He
said, "For only seven of them?"

"Okay,
you can be my dashing hero on his white steed today," I said.
"Bradan, please point out which direction they are."

I
don't know how far we went back along the tracks before Bradan pointed at a
windmill in a small clearing. We found a spot to hide and checked it out.

Eric
said, "This doesn't look good."

"Why?
I've always wanted to see the inside of a windmill and there are only seven
jeebees."

"You'd
like the inside of most windmills. They pump water or grind grain. This one is
part of our coastal defence and is stocked with explosives."

I
said, "We'll have to invite the jeebees out to play then." I put on
my new goggles and smiled at him.

I
closed to about 50 yards and fired a shotgun shell to make a respectable hole
about 15 feet up. I ran back to where we were hiding and reloaded.

He
scolded me. "Promise me you won't do that again."

Two
jeebees ran out from the left side and tried to find something to hide behind.
We didn't give them the chance. They were just decoys though as three others
fired at us from the right side.

"Damn,
that burns!" he exclaimed.

"Yes,
it does. If you're a good boy, I'll kiss it and make it better."

He
stayed on one knee and shot two jeebees in quick succession while I shot the
third one.

"Really?"
he asked.

"No,"
I said. "Touching the burns make them hurt worse. I'll find someplace to
kiss that doesn't hurt instead."

"By
my count, there are only two left."

I
said, "We need to hurry before they run away. Be extra careful if you see
one wearing robes."

We
closed in on the windmill, being very cautious since we had nothing to hide
behind now.

He
said, "They know we are here so there's no need to sneak around. We just
need to be difficult to hit."

I
drew my pistol and cocked it. He insisted on going first and I let him. We went
around the left side of the windmill. He went down on his knees and counted
down from three on his fingers. We both moved in front of the open door at
once. I saw the jeebee first and shot it.

I
whispered to Eric, "The last one is likely a commander. Do you want to
talk with it?"

He
replied softly, "Yes, I would."

We
cautiously searched the windmill for the last one. Eric kept me behind him. I
kept my pistol pointed up for safety. There were many dark places where a
jeebee could hide; too many. We approached them slowly. I heard the sound of a
jeebee rifle and Eric slumped to the floor. I aimed my pistol where I saw the
sparks and fired. It was just a graze, but the jeebee dropped its rifle and
stumbled into the light. I ran over to it and kicked its legs until it fell
down. Then I put my pistol to its head and said, "Stay down or I'll shoot
you some more."