Lady Ironheart

Chapter Five

Dirigible lots are cold places, and most definitely no place for a lady. The very air smells of machine grease and metal and tobacco smoke. Each anchoring place seems to be frequented by disreputable characters. Few of them have clean faces, and absolutely none of them have any clean clothes.

"Are you sure this is the best place for me to be?" I lift the hem of my skirt to step over what looks to be a grease-spattered engine piece.

Cinda laughs so hard she snorts. This gets her a few odd looks from people in the area, but she shrugs and toys with the hammer on her belt. "These people are much better than your fine lords and ladies. Oi, Vallagher!" She raises the hammer in her hand, beckoning someone over.

Vallagher appears to be a very tall and skinny young man, perhaps a little older than myself. He's clad in an oil-stained grey coat, a purple vest, and slacks, and he has a top hat tied to his head with a purple silk scarf. "What-ho, Cinda!"

Cinda turns and gestures to me with a hand. "Val, this is Sophie. She's a friend of ours."

Vallagher takes my hand and presses his lips to it. "Pleasure to meet you, Miss Sophie. Joseph Vallagher, at your service."

"Thank you, sir." This prompts Vallagher to laugh uncontrollably. "What is so funny?"

"People don't usually call me 'sir'. I'm an airship mechanic from the West Indies who happens to like wearing top hats- no gentleman here." He pulls a pair of goggles up over his eyes. "Anywho, Cinda, do you need the airship?"

Cinda nods decisively. "As soon as possible."

Vallagher ruffles his dark hair, winking from behind his goggles. "And do you need a pilot?"

Madison stands up a little taller, flicking his scarf over his shoulder. "I'm the pilot!" He looks even shorter when he says this, in a coat that's dragging in the dust and goggles that, even at their tightest, are falling off his nose.

"You can come along anyway, though," Cinda reassures. "If the ship is sinking, we can put you up with the balloon-sails. Your big head will fit right in."

Val cracks a smile. "We can use you to inflate the balloons- you're filled with enough hot air."

Sarah shakes her head. "Ah, young love. There's nothing like it. I remember when I was your age."

Both Vallagher and Cinda look at one another, then at Sarah. Cinda speaks first. "That's disgusting. There's no way I could even think about Val like that!"

He makes a face, not looking even a little affected by Cinda's negative reaction. "Cinda's like my sister. I don't think that could happen in a million years."

Madison taps his foot impatiently. "Come on! Sophie's key won't find itself. Hurry up and get on the airship."

Sarah grabs his arm. "She can't go on like that! She'll be blown off the ship with all those froofy skirts. Val, you got something for her to wear?"

Val thinks for a moment, then his eyes brighten behind his goggles. "Wait here." He dashes off and returns a moment later with a pile of brown cloth. "Here, milady. You can change in the rental shed."

I tentatively enter the rental shed, cringing when a string of dusty cobweb brushes my nose. This is the sort of shed full of rotted floorboards and rats, the sort where people and beasts are lurking. Time to see what Val has for me.