Skykeep (34 page)

“I’m sure it would’ve been a real nice poem,
Coop,” Lil snorted.

“A poem?” Nita said. “You’re a poet?”

“Well, no, but I reckon it can’t be that
hard. If I still get one writ, you reckon you’d like it?”

“I’m sure I’ll love it.”

“Well, maybe I’ll go do some thinking on it
right now,” Coop said.

He stood, tousled Lil’s hair, and marched for
the door.

“Oh, Coop?” Nita called.

He turned.

“Was it you who flattened a six foot length
of pipe in the hall out there?”

“Yep!” he said, pride in his expression.
“Fixed it all by myself.”

“We’ll have to have a word about the proper
use of bypass and cutoff valves.”

“Sure thing, Nita. And I’ll have that poem
for you soon as I finish it.” He stepped quickly into the hall.

“Don’t mind him none,” Lil said. “He’s not
any better with his words than I am. Figures he’d be sweet on you
by now.”

A familiar patter of little feet drew their
eyes to the door. Wink scurried in and climbed up on the table.

“There’s our little hero. What’s the matter,
did you see Nikita eating a macaroon and get jealous?”

Nikita got good food, Wink tapped.

Nita took the lid from the box and pushed it
forward.

“And so will you. All yours. And I’ll make
sure to get a box for you and Nikita each when we get back to
Caldera.”

Wink didn’t need to be told twice. He
scrambled into the box and grabbed a macaroon in each cunning
little hand, then crawled down between the girls to crunch away
eagerly.

“Won’t be long, either. Cap’n said we’re
headed right to Caldera once we shove off,” Lil said. “Otherwise we
might miss the low tide.”

“In that case, I should start writing my
letter. Maybe you can help me. It’s going to be a long one,” Nita
said. She picked up a pen.

Dear Mother, she began. Things have been
exciting since I last wrote. I know that you worry about me and the
trouble I’ll get into out here, and what you’ll read below will no
doubt confirm some of your fears. But as you learn about what
happened, please keep this in mind. I am safe. I made it through
with the help of my crew, and with the help of a very good
friend…

Thank you for reading the second book in my
Free-Wrench
series. I hope you enjoyed the story! Steampunk
has been a great deal of fun for me to write, and
Free-Wrench
has the distinction of being a series written
entirely as NaNoWriMo novels! If you enjoy my writing, please
consider taking the time to sign up for my newsletter. It is the
best way to be certain you’ll find out about new books and projects
from me as soon as they become available. Thanks for reading!

Discover other titles by Joseph R. Lallo:

The Book of Deacon Trilogy:

Book 1:
The Book of Deacon

Book 2:
The Great Convergence

Book 3:
The Battle of Verril

Other stories in the same setting:

Jade

The Rise of the Red Shadow

Science Fiction Titles:

Bypass Gemini

Unstable Prototypes

Artificial Evolution

NaNoWriMo Projects:

The Other Eight

Free-Wrench

Skykeep

Website:
http://www.bookofdeacon.com

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