Sky Pirates

Chapter 27

After being handed off to several different dwarfs—each one, both the men and the women, wore the pointed little rings—Parker Greene found himself back in his own cabin. He wanted to ask about those rings, to better understand the protection they offered the wearers, beyond the obvious point, but he refrained.

He went to the basin and washed his hands and face. Parker Greene toweled dry; looked around his room, noted the time on the wall clock, two o'clock, surprised at how early it was. He discovered on his long table a pot of hot tea, a plate of fancy sandwiches, and that the fruit bowl had been refreshed. He sniffed at the contents of a crystal flask to discover whiskey. A ceramic pitcher held fresh, cool water. He looked again; it remained at two.

Parker took the timepiece off the wall, brought it to the table, and, as he enjoyed his refreshments, he took the back off the thing and surveyed the contents. He tinkered with the cogs and springs and thought fondly of the tower clock back at Wickwillow Manor. And, as all thoughts of home did, he was reminded of his young charges on their own in that faraway land. He hoped and believed that somehow or someway Cole would find his way, that the boy, now a young man, would discover a love or passion that would begin to more fully and successfully take charge of his journey. Greene chuckled to himself as he envisioned his nephew, hunched over the workbench, doing more harm than good to just about everything he tried to fix. Yet, Parker knew Cole's visions and ideas were remarkable.

Parker tightened a spring. Mildred came next to his mind, with her lovely charms and abilities. If she were not a young woman, but instead a man, Lord Greene knew that because of her mind Mildred could do as she wished. She'd be the head of a company or a great inventor in her own right, or perhaps a doctor or scientist, even. Really, there were no ends to her possibilities, except one: she was and always would be, a woman.

Greene tinkered with the clock. His only tool the dull knife he'd used to spread butter on his crust-less sandwiches. But, by the time he was enjoying a dram of whiskey, the clock once again ticked away. He rummaged through his belongings, found his pocket watch, and was about to set the clock when he realized his small watch was still on England's time, on Wickwillow Manor time. If that tower clock actually worked, it would be chiming the children and their horrible tutor to dinner. He'd let Miss Canton stay too long. Their mother's illegitimate half-sister, she was difficult to release. So much history there, so many memories.

He wondered now if the new vicar had arrived; if Mr. Wickliffe would offer the guidance and direction to his parish and Greene's charges that would aid all along their journeys.

Back in the moment, Parker thought about the Balsa Robin. He wanted to stop the ship from departing, but had no resources. He had no friends or compatriots. There was no way yet to know who he might trust, beyond those captives withering away to nothing in their outdoor cage. He'd save them if he could, but none that he met or saw were fit for any sort of rigorous action or deed.

It was in that momentof contemplation and realization that Lord Parker Greene knew what he must do.For now, for the moment, he must go along and participate in whatever schemehis captors had in store for him. He must work for them with all outward appearancesof being a willing, cooperative, gentleman of his word. He must gain the trustof those he could, formulate a plan, destroy this island and the pirates uponit, and escape to freedom with as many as he could save, while returning allthe blueprints and plans to Her Majesty. For, he must not only serve dear QueenVictoria, but he must return home safely to his charges and familial duties.

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