Sky Pirates

Chapter 10

"Dear Uncle," Mildred wrote on a fresh piece of paper. It had been several weeks since she'd received a letter from him. Despite not knowing what he was doing or where he was, she continued to write a new letter to him each afternoon or evening, and Marcus posted it each morning to the business address that her uncle had told her was underwriting his current exploration.

She knew it was an intricate thing, this getting letters from the small village of Wickwillow to wherever her uncle was at any given moment. His trips, while financed by industries, were sponsored by the Queen, so his mail traveled via the Royal Post. Somehow, they knew where her uncle was and could get letters to him. Of course, most of the time, he was out slashing his way through this or that jungle and wouldn't receive her letters until he returned to camp, or sometimes boarded a ship to sail or soar to a new location, or even to return home. But, he encouraged her to keep writing. He said that he read many of her notes over and over during the lonely evenings and lengthy voyages.

Many times, his own missives arrived in large batches. She'd open them all and then sort them by their dates and devour each one, one after another, learning of his escapades with giant snakes, killer spiders, all sorts of native tribes, and the vast collection of new plant specimens he'd discovered, named, and cataloged. Many of the letters included intricate drawings of the plants, animals, and people he'd encountered, too. Mildred loved her Uncle Parker's drawings and narratives and awaited their arrival with great anticipation. And, because she enjoyed his epistles so much, she dutifully wrote her own each day as he'd requested, even though, by comparison, life at Wickwillow Manor was anything but daring or exciting.

"Millie!" Cole burst into her rooms and cast himself onto the settee.

"You're a manner-less brute!" Mildred exclaimed. "Your shirt is undone, your trousers dirty. No wonder you can't ever seem to woo a girl."

Cole ignored his sister's ranting.

"Your room is the only cool place in this blasted house."

"You could certainly open your own windows."

"No, I can't. The aroma from the barn and stalls wafts right up to my room. It's simply dreadful."

"We live in a massive home with dozens and dozens of bedrooms. I simply don't know why you won't switch. The servants would gladly help you move your belongings."

"Well, Sister dear, I refuse to move. The view from my windows is the best in the whole house. I can see the river. I can see the road. I have a clear view of the orchards. And, I can see all the way across the cut pasture to the woods. I wouldn't trade my view for the world. In fact, my view is of the world! But, it would be nice to have a breeze that didn't smell of pigs."

Mildred was amused by Cole's assessment of life. She loved him, but his attitude that Wickwillow was the world caused her sadness. She longed to leave. Not forever, but to have his opportunities, a man's opportunities. She wanted to accompany their uncle on his journeys. To sail to the corners of the world... To soar to...

The heat once again got the better of her, bringing Mildred back to her current reality. As they sat for a moment in silence, she conceived an idea for a mechanical fan. It wouldn't require a window for fresh air, but would be able to force the air out already cooled. She began to reach for her secret notebook, but quickly remembered that her brother was there.

"Is there anything you wish to tell Uncle?" She picked up her pen, poised to add her brother's thoughts to her letter.

"Tell him...tell him...tell him my sister is a pest."

"That's a letter you'll have to write yourself," said Mildred, un-phased by Cole's antics. "Did you get all the clock parts back up into the tower today?"

"Almost. I have two more pieces, but with the rain this afternoon, they had to wait until tomorrow."

"Well, I'll spend some time in the garden in the morning, get Perry started with his chores there, and then I'll come visit you in the tower before lunch." She'd continued to have visions of the clockworks since Cole had shown her the pieces. She'd worked out how the gears moved the hands and also how the massive bells should chime. She surmised that a small cog was the cause of the clock not working, but wouldn't know for sure until they'd reassembled the thing. As she'd thought about the inner workings of the clock, she'd also devised a mechanism that, when attached to the drive shaft she envisioned for the entire manor, would run the clock automatically so that the servants wouldn't be forced to pull the ropes and weights each day to keep it running.

She'd had the idea for the drive shaft when the new hot water boiler had been installed in the cellar under the kitchen. The men doing the job laughed at her when she'd asked them to explain how the thing worked, but they'd given her the details all the same of how the water was under pressure and because of that pressure could be delivered anywhere in the manor. They'd explained about the pressure valves and were very serious as they spoke and tapped the gauge with its dangerous red zone and its automatic release valve. That's when Mildred had the idea for the steam-driven shaft.

Of course, Mildred hadn't told anyone what she envisioned for the house, not yet anyway. She had been figuring that it would take a few more favors banked from her brother to bring the plan about.

"Where have you gone, little Sister? You've dripped ink all over your letter to Uncle."

Mildred looked down at the splatters on the paper. "Oh bother."

"Why do you say that all the time? It's an annoying little phrase."

"Never you mind. I like it. And, it's better than constantly cursing like you do all day long."

The siblings again sat in silence, enjoying the coolness of the evening, a byproduct of the afternoon's thunderstorm and Mildred's open windows.

"I'm hungry," Cole said. He threw his legs over the edge of the settee and righted himself. "Care to join me?"

"No, I want to finish my letter and read a bit before going to sleep. How is it you can eat as you do and never gain any weight?"

"Don't know. Don't care." He stood up, moved to Mildred, and kissed the top of her head. "Goodnight, dear Sister."

"Goodnight, cad,"said Mildred with a chuckle. She waited for him to leave the room and close thedoor behind himself before she reached for the hidden notebook and added herlatest ideas for the clock mechanism and drive shaft to the well-inked pages.