Take Back the Skies (33 page)

‘Fine, thanks,' she replied, gratefully accepting her
breakfast from Alice. ‘So what's the plan for today, then? Are we heading back to my house?'

Ben nodded from across the table.

‘As soon as everyone's done eating. We'll take the kids in groups. You and Fox can go first, show us the way. We have to be very careful, especially just after the explosion. It's being passed off as a furnace malfunction, from what I heard earlier when I went to pick up some food. And the government doesn't seem to have any idea about our little broadcast.'

‘I know how we can get in safely,' Cat assured, looking around at the full galley. There were a lot of children, but she was confident she could manage it. ‘Once we get closer to Greystone, things should be easier. They won't expect people to be sneaking into government, even if they do suspect rebellion.'

Finishing her breakfast as quickly as possible, Cat slipped a hand into Fox's waistcoat to borrow his pocket watch, ignoring his raised eyebrow. They had to get moving quickly, before too many people were up and about.

‘I need to put something warmer on. Meet you back here?' Cat said to Fox.

‘Ten minutes,' he replied, getting to his feet to talk to the children. Cat started towards the door, almost groaning aloud when James got up to follow. Was he not going to give it a rest?

‘What do you want now?' she asked when they were in the hallway, placing her hands on her hips impatiently. He looked down at the floor nervously, before raising his eyes to look at her.

‘I … wanted to apologise,' he answered stiffly. ‘I was out of line last night. I shouldn't have said what I did. I … I was jealous,' he confessed reluctantly. ‘I still remember you, you know, from when we were kids. And after my mother mentioned the betrothal plans … I suppose I let myself get carried away.'

Cat pursed her lips, but couldn't find it in herself to be too angry. If she'd been locked away for eight years, she'd start developing fantasies too.

‘It's fine. If you agree to leave me alone, we shouldn't have a problem.'

His face screwed up in anger, but he composed himself, nodding sharply.

‘Of course,' he said smoothly, sounding forced. ‘I … I wish you the best with … him.' The words seemed to cause him physical pain. ‘Now, if you'll excuse me …' He retreated back into the galley, allowing Cat to go into her bedroom and get her coat.

When she returned to the galley, it was to find the entire crew gathered with the children, looking equal parts anxious and excited. They had been split into four groups, and Cat moved to Fox's side, turning towards her captain.

‘Fox and I will take the first lot. Who's following on behind us?' she queried, scanning the faces of each child in her group, memorising them.

‘Matt and Benny,' Harry informed her. ‘Get your lot in, leave Fox to settle them, then go back and show the boys how to get past the wall.'

Cat nodded, turning to Matt. ‘Bring your group to the boarded-up tram tunnel in Kentridge, if you know where
that is?' The tunnel was hugely overgrown, and most people didn't realise it still existed. Cat had been using it for years, and never been caught.

‘I know it,' Ben assured her. ‘We'll meet there. Stay safe.'

‘Ready?' said Fox, pulling his knitted cap from his pocket and tugging it over his hair.

She nodded.

‘Let's get moving. Right, come on, brats. Stay close together, don't wander off, and be as quiet as you possibly can.' Fox ducked his head, lips brushing over Cat's. ‘I'll take the rear and keep an eye out for guards. You just worry about getting us there.'

Leading the kids up to the deck, Cat was buzzing with adrenalin, her grey eyes alert. The children seemed to have slept off the after-effects of whatever they'd been drugged with, and looked around with bright eyes as they stepped into the daylight, as if they'd never expected to see it again. Things were just as chaotic as they had been the night before, but Cat wasn't worried about being caught in the shipyard. With the amount of traders who had been blackmailed into silence now able to rebel against their captains, it was definitely safe territory.

The city itself was less busy, the smoke still rising lazily from the pile of rubble that had once been the government compound. Purple-uniformed guards strode in pairs through the streets, but there were far fewer than Cat had expected; maybe more people had been in the building than she'd thought. Or maybe they'd been very lucky, and the blast had reached as far as the guard barracks. Focusing on her destination, Cat slipped into
the familiar network of side streets and back alleys, the sound of small footsteps the sole indication that she hadn't lost her group. She had to hand it to the children; they were quiet as mice.

About halfway there, she paused, turning back for a quick headcount. Her gaze instinctively found Fox's, and his lips curled in a brief smile. All safe and accounted for. Smiling back, Cat set off again. They were drawing closer to Greystone, and she could practically taste safety. The only thing they'd have to worry about past the wall was aristocrats trying to make a sneaky escape before they could be arrested, once the foreign authorities arrived.

She paused at the end of the narrow alley, turning to the children. ‘As quick as you can across the square, and duck round the corner same as I do, OK?' she breathed, staring intently at the small faces in front of her. Cat rounded the corner and sprinted across the square, not wanting to take the chance of guards passing through. The children ran as fast as they could, filing in behind her, and when Fox appeared he moved to her side, placing a hand on her back as he counted their group.

‘All here,' he confirmed. ‘Let's keep moving.'

Cat led the group towards the disused tram tunnel. The weeds grew thicker, ivy clinging to the wall and almost covering the low tunnel. You could only see it if you knew what to look for.

Ignoring the greenery, Cat ploughed ahead, making straight for the gap in the wire that blocked off the tunnel. It had taken her weeks to make that gap, unable to take a knife of any real use out of the house without her father
noticing. It was just big enough for someone her size; to get Matt through, it would have to be a lot bigger.

‘Knife,' she requested, holding a hand out to Fox. He rolled his eyes, nudging past her with his knife in hand.

‘I've got it,' he said, hacking away at the thick wire, slowly widening the gap. Cat wrung her hands as she waited, expecting someone to pop out at them any minute. Surely she couldn't be the only one who knew of the tunnel?

Minutes ticked by as Fox worked, until finally the hole in the wire was large enough. Pocketing his knife, the redhead bent away some of the sharper edges so they couldn't graze people on their way through, then stepped back.

‘Lead the way,' he said to Cat. She ducked through the hole with ease, moving aside for the kids to follow.

‘We're going to have to be very, very careful now,' she murmured to them. ‘I don't need to tell you where we are. But don't worry, it's not far.'

The tram tunnel was merely a street away from her house, and Cat's heart raced as she walked through the familiar neighbourhood. It definitely wasn't home any more.

No lights were on in any of the houses, and Cat mentally hoped that the occupants had been in the government building the night before. Everyone on their street worked directly under her father; if he was involved, so were they. Finally, they came to the front of her house, and she heard Fox let out a low, impressed whistle. Ignoring him, Cat continued, hiding behind a row of bushes along the fence-line as she led the way to the back garden.

‘I can't imagine Nathaniel would just leave the back
door open,' Fox pointed out as they reached the door. Cat grinned at him over the heads of the children.

‘No, but he
does
leave a spare key under here. Or, rather, I do,' she replied, tilting the flowerpot and retrieving the brass key from underneath. Straightening up, she slid the key into the lock, turning it. It clicked loudly, and she stepped over the threshold, into the familiar hallway.

‘Wow,' Fox murmured. ‘Your father must have been a right arse if he made you want to give up all this.'

‘All the money in the world couldn't make him a good parent, and it didn't make me a happy child. As I think we've established.'

He raised an eyebrow at her, and she could see he was still feeling stunned by the blatant wealth on show.

‘To have all this money, all those options, almost nothing stopping you from having what you wanted …' His voice trailed off as he met her eyes and saw the frustrated expression on her face.

‘You don't get it! You'd have to have seen it from my point of view to understand, but I promise you, it wasn't that simple. I'll probably sell all this when everything is over. Keep a few things for sentimental value, maybe, but … most of it is crap.' Fox stared at her incredulously, and she shrugged, looking away in embarrassment. ‘Let's just get the kids settled so I can guide Matt and Ben's group through. Come on.'

Mentally running through a list of rooms in her house, she decided that the upstairs living room was probably the best place to house so many people. Not bothering to kick her boots off – what did she care now if she got mud on the
carpets? – she led the way upstairs, smiling to herself at the awestruck whispers of the kids as they followed.

‘Make yourselves comfortable,' she told them, pushing open the living-room door. ‘You're safe here.'

‘But it's government,' one of the older boys retorted warily.

‘It's safe,' Cat repeated. ‘No one who works in government will be coming in here, I promise.' She turned to Fox, running a hand through her hair. ‘I need to go back and meet the other group. Are you all right to get this lot settled?'

‘Of course. Stay safe, OK?' Cat grinned at his concerned frown, stretching up on her toes to kiss him and lingering longer than she'd intended.

‘I'll be fine. You saw how empty it is out there. I won't be long.' Pulling away from him reluctantly, she slipped out of the room and down the stairs, heading out through the back door. She locked it behind her, pocketing the key.

It didn't take her long to get back to the tram tunnel, and she leaned against the wall, listening for footsteps. She wished she'd taken Fox's pocket watch; she had no idea how long it had been since they'd left the ship. How long were Matt and Ben giving her?

A breath of relief escaped her lips as she spotted Ben's curly hair approaching from the alley opposite, and she stepped out of her hiding spot far enough for him to see her. He grinned, ushering his group of children towards her. Matt was bringing up the rear with a little girl on his back. Cat recognised her as the one with the twisted ankle.

‘Blimey, I thought they'd filled all these in,' he remarked, eyeing the crumbling brick tunnel.

‘No, they just fenced them over. Bricking in was too expensive,' Cat replied, hurrying the children through the gap. ‘Come on, it's not far.'

The path back to her house was just as empty as it had been the first time, and Cat kept her fingers crossed it would stay that way.

‘Take the kids up to the others,' Ben told her. ‘I'll go back and direct the rest. Matt can stay with the kids – you and Fox need to start snooping. The sooner you can find something, the sooner we can get moving.'

‘Are you sure?' Cat checked, lips pursed. She knew the route better than Ben; she didn't want him getting caught.

‘I'll be fine, trust me.' Matt reached out to clasp his friend's shoulder, ruining his serious expression by ruffling his hair.

‘Hurry back, and be safe.' Ben disappeared through the back door, and Cat led Matt and the children up to the living room. Pausing in the doorway, her eyebrows rose.

‘I see Sam found you, then,' she remarked drily, unable to hold in a snigger at seeing Fox pinned to the wall by one mechanical hand, a blade protruding from Samuel's other hand which was positioned at Fox's throat. ‘Samuel, let him go, he's safe.' Samuel immediately released Fox, blade retreating into his wrist.

‘My apologies, Mistress Catherine. He claimed to be a friend of yours, but I do not take chances.' Sam's voice was even grittier than it had been the last time, and it made her wince. Poor thing needed some serious maintenance.

‘Don't apologise. You did exactly what you're programmed to.'

‘I didn't know mecha servants doubled as security guards,' Fox remarked, rubbing his throat. ‘You named it?'

‘Of course I did,' Cat retorted. ‘I couldn't just call him “mecha”. Come on, Ben's bringing the other group through, Matt's going to look after this lot. We need to go to my father's office.' Matt was already getting the children settled with the others, ignoring the mecha in the room completely. He'd probably seen them before when he'd worked at Tinker's.

‘Right. Let's see if we can find anything about this skyship.' Still regarding Samuel with distrust, Fox left the room at Cat's side, as she turned to head up another flight of stairs. ‘This house is ridiculous. There were just the three of you living here?'

‘Yes. We could have fitted in another twenty, I know. But you get used to it, sort of.'

Cat led Fox through the winding corridors, right to the other side, where her father's office was, several doors away from her mother's bedroom. She faltered outside the bedroom door, wishing she could stick her head inside and see her mother resting there, see the smile on her face and sit and talk with her one last time. Pushing the memories away, she carried on, stopping outside the door to her father's office. As she'd expected, it was locked, but she easily hacked the lock, pushing the door wide open.

Fox let out a low whistle, his eyes instantly drawn to the monstrously large desk in the centre of the room. She hated the decor in her father's office; it was disgustingly extravagant, to the point of garish.