Freedom's Horizon (WLW) (Full Trilogy - Ongoing/Editing)

Book Three: Part Five: Chapter One

York, England, October 1928, The Lavari Automobile Company Warehouses

Margaret secured the radiator cap on the coolant reservoir to the latest automobile she was helping to build with her dearest friend, Ricky, and outstretched her hand back toward him. Receiving the necessary tool to fasten it as tight as she might, though not so much so that a typical human couldn't pry it off, she made sure it was good and in place. Peeking back over her shoulder, she found Ricky carrying on a deep conversation with the latest hire to join their work crew and smirked, happy that it was still so easy for him to form connections with people from all over. He reminded her daily of Dawn, which was a welcomed respite from the memory of her sorrowful ending so long ago. Ricky was not a replacement, of course, but still much like her and quite the happy go lucky person as well. The same could not be said for herself. In fact, Margaret found it harder and harder with each passing year away from their family to form a bond with anyone other than those she already knew.

Still, she kept her head down and did her job, something of which was uncommon for the fair women of England. Although times had changed quite drastically in the long years she spent separated from her family since the eighteen-hundreds, women were still seen as rather incapable of jobs such as working in a warehouse like the one wherein she now stood. It had been difficult for her to even get the job and truth be told with all the money procured throughout her existence, it wasn't even necessary for them to seek employment. For the sake of life never growing dull and blending in with the society around them, however, both Margaret and Ricky had gotten a job. In the end they were better for it.

Over the decades away from most of those she loved so ardently that stacked so high she felt herself growing stir crazy at times, Margaret had learned many more things about dwelling on land rather than the vast open sea which she truly called home. She learned craftsmanship of other means of transportation, what had come of her first homeland and how living amongst those whose lives were incomparable to hers really seemed. While times may have changed, people themselves did not.

This led Margaret into many decisions for what life she'd made for herself. Firstly, there was blending in so as to not be discovered. With that came needing to withhold some of her mounting strength, though she loved the look on mortal faces when they realized she was more capable than they previously deduced. The second was that both she and Ricky loved those of the same sex. This may have been something relatively overlooked within certain parts of the Caribbean, but here within common society it meant that they must suppress those feelings no matter their beckoning call. For this reason and it alone they let people assume they were a married couple and confined themselves to the sadly true idea that they would be alone for quite some time if not forever.

The last, but strongest was that they needed to aid their family even if from afar in finding the one thing that would one day remedy the sorrow of their departure. Regardless of meeting one another only a mere two times since their separation, Margaret desired more. She wanted to be with her kin. True, the crew was not her bloodkin, but that never really mattered. The love and bond they all shared with one another was forever, leading them to at least remain in contact with Aimee's ever growing fantastical capabilities. Fashioning their carriers after starlings, Aimee had devised a system by which they might all be able to converse through long letters, one of which was burning a hole in Margaret's pocket now.

It was the latest letter she'd received along the leg of their shared red hued starling. Unlike those in the natural world, Aimee's were of different shades and flew higher than many thought birds could accomplish. The purple represented letters from Aimee and Esme, the green from Felipe and Colel, the blue from Margaret and Ricky, and the red was from Genny and Ines. The latter was from whom her latest letter hailed and the color was most fitting, bringing a smirk to Margaret's face as she continued her work and thought more of them.