Kali stopped the SAB and dropped her feet tothe ground. Spruce and pine branches created a latticeworkoverhead, impeding the view of the sky.
“An airship?” she asked, thinking of thepirates who had attacked her in the dog sled race monthsearlier.
“I don’t think it was that big,” Cedar said.“And it moved quickly for an airship. Listen.”
With the chugging pistons of her vehiclestilled, Kali could hear more of the sounds around her. No hint ofbird chattered cheered the forest. Something else sounded in thedistance however. Faint clacks and clanks.
“Some sort of machinery?” Cedarsuggested.
“Hm.” The sounds were already fading, as ifthey belonged to a vehicle driving-or flying? — away. The idea seemedpreposterous. Who up here besides her made such things? Thetownsfolk of Dawson, while not quite as quick to curse her and callher a witch as those of Moose Hollow, thought her peculiar and herinventions doubly so.
The sounds faded altogether, leaving theforest silent except for the soft rumble of her own vehicle’sidling engine and the rush of the nearby river.
“Maybe it’s nothing,” Cedar said. “We couldbe close to a claim where people are using steam machinery.”
“Or maybe somebody’s hunting me,” Kali said.When she had left Moose Hollow, she had not told anyone where shewas going except her friend Nelly, and nobody had attacked hersince she arrived in Dawson. Given the proximity of the two towns,and the size of the bounty on her head, she was surprised it hadtaken this long for anyone to find her.
“A possibility,” Cedar said.
“Should we take any precautions?” she asked,willing to concede to his wisdom when it came to matters ofbattle.
“Yes.”
“Such as?”
“You should let me drive so I can familiarizemyself with the workings of the vehicle.”
She glared over her shoulder and found himsmiling.
“Are you truly using the possibility of a newand dangerous enemy to further your argument for why you should beallowed to play with my bicycle?”
“If we’re attacked,” Cedar said, his smilewidening, “and there’s an incident rendering you unconscious, Ishould know how to work this contraption so I can port you back tocivilization.”
“You needn’t look so excited at the prospectof my incapacitation.”
“I merely believe in being prepared. May Idrive?”
“No.” Kali shoved the lever that controlledthe speed, and the SAB surged forward. “If I’m knocked out, wavesmelling salts under my nose. I’ll rouse myself enough todrive.”
They continued onward for another hour,navigating around mud puddles and horse droppings on the trail.Twice more Kali heard the clanking sound in the distance, thoughwhatever was making it did not venture close enough to be seenthrough the evergreen canopy. Nor did another shadow darken thepath.
They came to the edge of a meadow with theburned hull of an abandoned log cabin hunkering in the middle. Halfits roof had caved in, and the door hung from a single, rustyhinge. Drifts of snow framed the clearing, though it had melted inspots touched by sunlight, leaving patches of matted deadgrass.
The trail passed through the meadow, butCedar gripped her shoulder before they entered it.
“Stop here,” he said.
“A likely ambush point?” she guessed.
“Yes.”
Kali gazed at the unimpeded expanse of skybefore them. “I am reminded of the open area where that airshipattacked us on our last outing together.” She eyed the sky again.She did not hear any of those clanks at the moment, but…
“While I’d enjoy driving this,” Cedar said,“I’d prefer you be conscious at the time in order to give meinstructions. Can we go around the clearing and stay under thecover of the forest?”
She eyed the shrubs and brambles growingbetween the trees. “Not unless you want to cut a path with yoursword.”
“I don’t cut vegetation with my blade. Itwould take an hour anyway. It’s not that big of a clearing. We’llchance it.”
“If you say so.” Kali eased the SAB into themeadow. “I suppose if you’re wrong, there’s always the chance anassailant will target you first. You are larger and moremenacing.”
“I prefer I be conscious for my firstdriving lesson as well,” Cedar said. “And I’m dangerous, notmenacing.”
They had traveled less than a third of theway into the clearing when the clanks sounded. Kali should havegroaned and sent an irritated eye roll to the heavens, but hercuriosity distracted her. She wanted to see the source.
She did not have to wait long.
A metallic…contraption with giant meshbutterfly wings bobbed over the treetops. The clanks grew louder asit approached the meadow, and moving machinery came into the view.The wings flapped in synchronization with the clanks. Kali cranedher neck, searching for another source for the craft’s propulsion.The large wings might keep the flying machine aloft once it gainedmomentum and found a place in the air, but they could not provideenough thrust to carry it into the skies. Could they? The metalframe appeared too sturdy to be light, and a compact furnace andcopper boiler behind the pilot’s seat must add significant weight.Could magic be involved? Or even…flash gold? Was it possiblethere was more out there?
Kali’s fingers twitched at the idea ofclambering about the thing, investigating every inch. The ridersitting at the controls might object. Wrapped in brown, headincluded, the figure was impossible to identify, though from theslightness of the form, Kali guessed it might be a woman. The onewho had eavesdropped on them? Goggles covered the person’s eyes,making it impossible to read her face, though Kali had a sense ofdetermination.
“…faster?” Cedar was saying.
“What?” Kali had been so focused on the airvehicle and its pilot she had missed his words.
“Can’t you go faster? She’s aiming forus!”
Before she could answer, a rifle shot firedbehind her ear. She flinched and nearly lost grip of thehandlebars, a calamity that would have pitched them oversideways.
She glanced back as Cedar fired a secondshot. “What are you doing? She hasn’t even-”
Something thumped to the earth ten metersbefore them.
Cedar grabbed Kali’s arm. “Veer away. Veeraway!”
More on instinct-and his orders-than out ofunderstanding, Kali pulled and pushed on opposing handles andleaned into a hard turn. They skidded as wheels ground on old snow,but they caught, and the SAB sped to the side.
A concussive roar filled the clearing, andrealization pelted Kali. No, that was shrapnel. It clanged off theSAB and hammered against the charred side of the log cabin.
Kali turned again, figuring the structurecould provide cover. “She’s hurling grenades at us?”
“From a launcher in the front,” Cedar said.“It appears to be some sort of crossbow-like device, loadedwith-”
Another grenade hit the ground, this oneexploding right away.
Kali sped behind the wall of the cabin andyanked on the braking mechanism.
“-multiple projectiles,” Cedar finished.
Rifle in hand, he hopped off the SAB. Kalihesitated, reluctant to leave her vehicle for fear it would make aneasy target if it was stationary. She probably ought to be moreworried about being a target herself, but the idea of losing such arecent invention…
Cedar leaned around a corner of the cabin tofire again. Kali nudged the SAB into motion, rounded the othercorner, and found the doorway. She considered the width. Could shefit her vehicle inside? Probably not.
Above, the flying contraption tilted,circling the end of the meadow to come back at them.
Cedar grabbed Kali’s arm. “Inside!”
“I don’t think it’ll fit,” she said.
“I meant you!”
The flyer flew closer, and Kali hesitatedagain, fascinated by the wings, the construction, and even thepilot. Was she the creator? Or had she merely purchased it?
The projectile launcher fired again.