Steamborn (6 page)

A flash of light caught his eye, and he followed it back to the mirrors around the stage. They were already prepping for the dance, which meant he was out of time. Jacob didn’t pay much mind to the enormous fountain as he jumped onto the rim and ran around it. The sculpture at the center bore a group of men hoisting a great cornucopia of food and weapons above their head. His dad had once told him what it meant, but Jacob couldn’t remember.

He leapt off the rim of the fountain and jogged over to the stage.

“Unbelievable,” a frazzled-looking Miss Penny said. “You’re on time.”

Jacob smiled. “It was all Alice.”

“Well, whoever it was, I’m glad you’re all here. Now, up on the stage with you. We’re just getting ready.”

Jacob didn’t bother walking over to the stairs. He adjusted his hat, took a step backwards, and vaulted up onto the stage.

Everyone from Cotillion was already there. They were loosely arranged across the stage, not having taken their spots yet. The boys wore their rounded hats, and the girls all had bright red bows at the backs of their heads.

Jacob stared at one of those bows when the girl turned around and caught his eye.

Alice rolled her eyes and pointed at the back of her head. “It clashes terribly, doesn’t it? Red hair was
not
meant to have a red bow in it.”

Alice wore a rich brown dress with subtle bits of brighter color woven into it along the seams. She followed Jacob’s gaze down to the hem of her dress. “Do you like it? Gram added it in this week. She thought it would be pretty for Festival.”

He looked up and met Alice’s eyes. “It’s very pretty.”

“And you see the shoes?”

He looked down again.

“They’re white,” she said. “Let’s see if we can keep them white.”

Jacob sighed. “I’ll try.”

Something hammered a brief staccato. Jacob and Alice both looked around for the noise.

“It’s the conductor!” Jacob said. He placed his hand on Alice’s shoulder and turned her toward the orchestra pit. “It’s almost time.”

There was a roiling motion in the pit as the musicians took their seats. Every kind of instrument Jacob could imagine was right at the edge of the stage, along with the guitarist and the cellist from the night before. They stood surrounded by more musicians with violins and huge upright basses. A row of percussionists with large copper drums tapped on the stretched heads of their instruments and adjusted a series of levers.

Miss Penny began to usher the kids into rows. Jacob and Alice squared off. Jacob faced the balconies on the buildings behind the stage while Alice looked over his shoulder, off into the crowds.

A man in a tall top hat and white jacket stepped up to the podium near the fountain. He leaned down to a snarl of brass mouthpieces. They were all pointed in different directions, and their ends were made up of coppery plates riveted together. They expanded into enormous cones, and Jacob thought they looked like metal flowers.

“Welcome,” the man said, and his voice burst from the horns, magnified as though he could speak louder than the entire crowd.

The Square fell silent outside of a few whispers and the wail of a crying baby.

The man stood up a little straighter, and Jacob could almost feel the excitement as he said, “Welcome to Festival!”

Cheers exploded around the Square. Little pockets of confetti shot into the sky—propelled by thundering air cannons—only to drift slowly back down into the crowd.

The man waited for the noise to fade into a low chatter before he spoke again. “This is the fiftieth year we’ve held Festival in the Square. Fifty years since the Deadlands War ended and we found our peace behind the walls. In that peace, we built our rails, planned our trade routes, and bolstered our city so that war would never threaten us again.”

Applause rose as the man went on, raising his voice to talk over the noise of the crowd. It was the same speech every year. The only thing that changed was how many years it had been since the war.

“Now, in our city of Ancora, as we come together as one, there are no Lowlands. There are no Highlands. There are only Ancorans. Ancora is one.”

The crowd echoed the man’s last words and then the musicians started playing. It was a brief tune, a march. It played at the end of the speech every year. This year, though, it would be followed by a waltz, as chosen by the Cotillion’s graduating class.

Jacob shivered slightly, surprised when he realized he was a bit nervous. The Festival dance was a rite of passage in Ancora, a sign they were reaching adulthood, and it only ever happened once.

The music started.

Alice stepped up close to Jacob and whispered, “Toe crusher.”

Jacob couldn’t stop his smile. Alice grinned at him and they stepped into the rhythm of the waltz. There was practically a wall of musicians playing at the foot of the stage, and Jacob stole a glance at them each time Alice spun.

Near the middle of the song, Jacob moved his hand to the small of her back once more.

“They’re amazing,” Alice said, her eyes trailing over the musicians.

Jacob nodded and moved his feet close to Alice’s. “It’s the city’s symphony and the best Lowland musicians.”

Miss Penny mimicked the conductor as she moved at the front of the stage. Everyone kept time, better than they ever had in rehearsal. Alice laughed as Jacob took two small steps and they both swooped forward, slowly turning with the rest of the dancers.

Alice twirled her skirt as the musicians slowly ended the waltz. There was a brief moment of silence, and Jacob thought he’d never forget the cheers of the crowd that broke the calm. He’d been in that crowd before, waving his own pennants and flags and throwing sparkling bits of confetti, but being on the stage was entirely different.

Miss Penny bowed to the Square. She gestured for the dancers to do the same.

Jacob thought it should be the symphony that was bowing, but he didn’t mind too much.

The dancers all gathered behind the stage. There was a small dressing area set up there, and Jacob was happy to be getting out of his jacket and hat. It wasn’t particularly hot outside, but it sure felt like it with the extra layers.

“Hats on the racks and jackets on the hangers, please,” Miss Penny said. “I’ll get them back to the tailor for you.”

Jacob heard “Good job” and “Well done” and “I wish we could do it again next year” from a dozen different kids. He agreed. It had been fun. It was nice now that they were older. They were still kids, technically, at fifteen, but now they had a lot more freedom. Jacob slid the jacket off and hung it up carefully, the wooden hanger clinking against the metal bar.

“It was so much fun, Miss Penny,” Alice said.

Jacob glanced at Alice over his shoulder as he hung up his hat.

“And your shoes are still white,” Miss Penny said.

“You don’t have to sound
that
surprised,” Jacob said, turning to face them both.

Miss Penny smiled, and it was one of the largest smiles Jacob had ever seen on her. “You both did very well. I couldn’t be more proud.” She stood up and motioned for the kids to gather closer.

“Now, I promised you all a treat if this performance went well, and a treat you’ll have.” She pulled a little leather satchel off her belt, and Jacob could already hear the coins.

“Are you giving us coppers for candy?” one of the younger girls asked, barely containing her excitement.

Miss Penny smiled as she pulled the strings of the purse open. “The mayor was feeling a bit more generous than that, my dear.”

The kids all gasped as Miss Penny poured a handful of silvers out. “Now, take one as you leave, and have fun today.”

There were shouts of riotous joy and unbridled laughter as the boys and girls scooped their prizes out of Miss Penny’s hands and ran back into the crowds on the Square. Jacob and Alice were the last to see their teacher.

“Thank you so much,” Alice said as she took the coin. She stepped past Miss Penny and waited by the flap that led back into the Square. It still swayed a bit from the last kid to run through it.

“Jacob,” Miss Penny said, “thank you for being on time today. I know your father is not well, so please take this extra coin to him.” She pressed two silvers into Jacob’s palm and he closed his hand around them.

“Thank you.” He started to walk away. He hesitated before throwing his arms around Miss Penny, hugging her briefly, and running out the door after Alice.

The sun was blinding now, but Alice was still easy to follow. Her hair was a beacon, no matter how crowded the Square was. He watched her pat a giant Pill-Bug between its antennae. It was harnessed to a nice black carriage and draped in black silks.

“Are you getting hot out here?” she asked the bug.

One of its antennae smacked her in the face in response.

“He’s quite fine, miss,” the driver said, leaning forward from the top of the carriage. “He’s a bit old, so we like to keep him in wraps.”

“He’s friendly,” Alice said.

“Or he’s just a bit too lazy to be mean.” The driver gave her a crooked smile and Alice continued on, giving the driver a small wave.

“Can you imagine what the nighttime Festival must be like inside the city walls?” Alice asked, looking out over the Square.

“No, but I’d love to see it.”

“I’ve heard this is still the biggest celebration,” Alice shouted over her shoulder as she wove through the crowd. “I bet the Highlands have a grander one behind the city wall.”

“Seems like something they’d do,” Jacob said. “Keep the Lowlanders as far away as possible.” He didn’t really care right then, surrounded by Festival and food, and tailing Alice through all the chaos.

There were even more carriages around the edges of the Square now. Jacob marveled at the array of creatures pulling the carts this way and that. Some were borne by giant Pill-Bugs like the old one Alice had stopped by, while others slowly rolled along behind brilliantly colored beetles. Several had stopped, their carriages unfolding to reveal a wild array of food and treats. Alice headed straight for a bright blue carriage. The rear hatch had been opened and a painted sign hung down, declaring its contents “The Best Cocoa Crunch in Ancora.”

Jacob’s mouth started watering. He slid the two coins together in his pocket but left them both where they were.

They waited in line for a bit, and it wasn’t long before Alice bounced up and down on her heels.

“They aren’t free, little miss,” an old woman said from the back of the carriage.

“Four, please,” Alice said as she handed a silver coin to the woman.

“Oh, you must have been in the dance. You all did a wonderful job,” she said as she began carefully wrapping up the chunks of cocoa and candy into neat squares.

Alice dropped two of the squares into her satchel, along with the coppers and a token she received as change. She handed one of the little bundles to Jacob as they walked away from the cart.

“For me?” he asked, taking the little green square out of her hand.

She nodded and started unwrapping her own. “I know you’re saving those silvers for your dad.”

Jacob looked at the small square of candy in his hands. He wanted to argue, say his family didn’t need the money, but he knew Alice understood. She never really judged him for being a pickpocket, or for stealing food. She knew what it was like to be poor.

“Thank you,” Jacob said. He started unwrapping his own candy.

Alice took a nibble, gasped, and then took a huge bite of the Cocoa Crunch. “It’s so good!”

“Don’t fall down in the gutter, now,” Jacob said. He hopped up past the stone curb and took a bite of candy. It was soft, almost like fudge, and something crunched in the middle. It was rich, with a nutty flavor, and when it mixed with the chocolate … “It’s so good!”

“Right?” Alice said with a laugh.

“It’s like toffee, and fudge, and …” Jacob stopped trying to think of words to say. He opted for grunting as they devoured the rest of the candy and weaved through the Square.

They watched the festivities for a while. There were jugglers and dancers and illusionists, but Jacob’s favorite was always the gadgets. One man—he looked a little younger than Charles—had an incredible array of wind-ups laid out across his table.

“Can I?” Jacob asked. He pointed to one of the clockwork creatures.

“Yes, of course!” the man said. His hair was graying and he wore a mustache that seemed to defy gravity, sweeping out and almost curling back far enough to touch his nose.

Jacob studied the intricate lines and perfect seams all around the toy. Carved into the base, beside the keyhole, were the flowing letters
NVB.
Jacob turned the little key and set the sphere back down. Three notes played, and it reminded him of the Spider Knight’s whistle. As he thought of that old song, the little sphere popped open. Eight legs sprang out from inside it and skittered forward. A small figure with a sword rode on the back of the miniature copper spider. As the spider stepped forward, its legs clicked and the gears inside it moved, and the knight swung his sword back and forth.

“That’s amazing,” Alice said. She leaned in to get a closer look.

When the spider reached the edge of the table, one of its front legs went over the edge. Jacob reached for it, but the vendor stopped him.

“No, watch.”

The first leg missed the table, and then the second. Once both legs went below the surface of the table, something clicked inside the spider, and it spun away from the edge. It started walking back toward the vendor.

“What?” Jacob asked. “How!”

The vendor smiled at him. “I’m selling them today for one silver. It’s quite a bargain with all those moving parts.”

“I … I don’t have the money for that,” Jacob said. He was somewhat disappointed, as he’d have liked to show Charles, but he needed that money for his dad. “Is it all running on springs?”

The vendor rubbed his eyebrows and smiled at Jacob. “It is.”

“No steam?”

“Not in this one, but I do have some larger ones with their very own boilers.”

Jacob picked up the little spider as it slowed down and began curling into a ball once more. He watched as the legs folded and the knight lay down before the shell closed over the mechanism once more.