Steamborn (13 page)

“Sir Knight, what was that creation?” a man in a tall top hat asked. “I’ve never seen the like.”

“It’s a secret project,” Samuel said, slightly exaggerating the truth. “One of the Lowlands tinker’s works.”

“The tinker who built that steambike everyone’s been talking about?”

Samuel nodded. “The same.”

“I heard the city smith was even asking after that steambike. The tinker who made that should live within our walls permanently.”

“I’ll give him the message,” Samuel said as he ushered Jacob away from the crowds and onto a side street. “Mister …?”

“Ferryman. Robert Ferryman. Do give him my regards.”

Samuel smiled and nodded, never taking his hand from Jacob’s shoulders. Samuel fended off a dozen more Highlanders before they finally broke through the circle of people. “Quickly now, Jacob.”

Jacob picked up his pace, and they gradually pulled away from the crowd. “I don’t mind crowds, but that was crazy.”

“Oh, I know why you don’t mind crowds,” Samuel said. “You better not have any extra money in your pocket. Charles won’t be happy.”

Jacob felt the blush crawling over his skin. “I didn’t … I mean, I don’t …”

“My family didn’t always live inside the walls, kid. Don’t worry about it.”

Jacob glanced at the Spider Knight. Samuel smiled as they stepped off the side street and back onto the main road near the hospital. They passed two of the square metal covers in the street before Jacob thought to ask Samuel about the city’s underground.

“Have you ever been into the catacombs?”

Samuel shook his head. “The catacombs aren’t used anymore.”

“Can we go in?”

Samuel chuckled. “You’re really not supposed to, but I remember being your age.”
“You aren’t
that
much older than me …”
He shrugged. “I might know a place you can get in. The hinges won’t be rusted shut either, like these,” he said, nodding at a corroded plate of metal.

Jacob’s face lit up.

Samuel pointed at him. “You have to make me a promise.”

“Sure,” Jacob said, without really considering what that might be. “What?”

“Don’t go past the second level. Sometimes bugs get in there, and they’re usually harmless, but the gates below the second level were destroyed in the war. The city never bothered to repair them since they abandoned the catacombs. The inner gates are enough to stop any would-be invaders. I need you to promise me that.”

“Okay. I promise.”

Samuel nodded, apparently satisfied with the word of a fellow pickpocket, and that made Jacob happy. Samuel’s eyes moved to the upper edge of the city wall.

“You see the fourth tower?” he asked. “It’s two over from the one we climbed with Charles.

Jacob nodded as he counted them off and his eyes reached the fourth.

“Good. At the bottom of that tower is an old inn. The first innkeeper was a bit … well, most people would say crazy, but let’s say overly cautious. Go through the cellar door and head to the far wall.”

“Cellar door, far wall,” Jacob repeated.

“The floor there is wooden, but it’s also false. You’ll find two heavy bolts. I’m sure you can figure out the rest.”

“Charles!” Jacob said when the tinker appeared near Bat’s house. “You have to show me how to build one of these gliders!”

Charles caught up with them outside the workshop and patted Jacob’s shoulder. “I will, and well done! You managed to avoid the roofs and lightning rods alike.”

Jacob looked up toward the skyline. He hadn’t really noticed the lightning rods. He flinched at the thought of what could have happened up there.

“What are you going to use that glider for?” Samuel asked.

The old tinker shrugged. “It could be handy if you’re stranded on a mountain, or need to jump off one.”

“Jump off a mountain?” Jacob said. “That’s crazy.”

“This is Charles we’re talking about, kid.”

Jacob grinned at Samuel and started unbuckling the harness while Charles opened the door to the workshop.

“There are more practical uses,” Charles said. “Airships could use them in emergencies. The watchtowers could use them in case of a fire. We’ll find a good home for these contraptions.”

Jacob slid out of the backpack, and his focus returned to the catacombs. He was fairly certain he knew someone he could convince to go with him.

The next morning, Jacob had one thing on his mind.

Catacombs.

He started packing before breakfast. Jacob was glad Charles was so excited about the glider. The old man didn’t seem to get overly excited about very much, but he was thrilled with the glider’s performance and the fact it hadn’t let Jacob fall to his death. Jacob was pretty thrilled with that too.

He left soon after breakfast. The glider backpack had been swapped out for his normal pack, and he thought he had everything he’d need for his day’s adventure. Jacob ran stories through his mind, trying to come up with some reason to get Alice to come with him. He really didn’t want to go underground by himself. Small spaces didn’t make him happy, and he figured something with a name like catacomb had to be small. Not that he was scared of them, like some of the other kids at school, but cramped spaces just weren’t a comfortable place to be.

It didn’t take long to reach the inn where Alice and her family were staying. It stood in one of the elaborate squares, almost impossible to miss with the huge carved dragon above its doors. A dozen doors faced the street on the front of the wide inn. Her family had been moving from room to room, depending on availability, and he knew Alice was in the third from the end after speaking with the innkeeper.

Jacob hesitated, his fist hovering above the knots and whorls of the oaken door while he set his story firmly in his mind. Alice might not want to go if she thought they were breaking a rule. He knocked a moment later. He expected to hear voices, since Alice’s family was staying with a large group, but all he heard were footsteps.

The small panel in the door squeaked as it slid to the side and a pair of blue eyes appeared. The panel closed instantly and two locks clicked open before the door swung in.

“What are you doing here?” Alice asked.

“I thought you might want to help me look for Samuel’s cat. He thinks it snuck down under the streets.” Jacob paused, trying to remember the rest of his story. “It’s, uh, he thinks we can get … get to it under the inn by the wall.”

Alice laughed and leaned up against the doorframe. “Samuel’s cat? You’re a terrible liar. Spider Knights can’t keep pets in the barracks.”

Jacob almost smacked himself in the forehead. “Fine, fine, okay. Charles told me there are train tracks
under
the streets, and I want to go see them.”

Alice stood up a little straighter. “Under the city? You mean the old catacombs? You know how to get into them?”

Jacob blinked. “How did you know about that?”

“They used to bury people there,” Alice said. “We learned about it in history class.” She cocked her head to the side. “Probably one of the classes you were snoring in.”

“Dead people?” Jacob asked.

“I would hope so. I’d hate to think they were burying people alive. I didn’t know there were train tracks though. I want to see them.” She paused and looked back into the house. “Did you bring a lantern?”

Jacob slid his backpack off and pulled out a jar of enormous glowworms. Their bodies pulsed as the worms gnawed on a tightly rolled pack of leaves.

“Wow,” Alice said as she looked back toward Jacob. “Those are huge. Hold on a minute. Let me grab something, just in case.”

She vanished from the doorway, and Jacob slid the jar back into his backpack.

“A Lowlander for sure. Keep your distance.”

Jacob turned slightly to see who had been talking. There was a little old woman with curly gray hair glaring at him. She had her arm around a girl not much younger than Jacob. The girl looked bored and waved at Jacob when he met her eyes. Jacob waved back.

“Well, I never,” the old woman said, hurrying the girl along.

Jacob frowned slightly before he turned back around.

“Ready!” Alice said, pulling the door closed. They started walking down the street.

“What did you get?” Jacob asked.

“A lantern and some snacks.”

“We already have light.”

“Well, if the glowworms decide not to glow, where will we be then?”

“In the dark.”

“Exactly,” Alice said with a satisfied grin.

They walked for a short while until they came to a man in a tattered suit, sitting on the street. The clothing had some bright colors on it, likely leftover from Festival. He played a guitar and smiled at the pair as he brought to life the most intricate melodies Jacob had ever heard. He wished he could understand music better than he did, but Jacob knew enough to know the man should be playing in a Hall, not on a street corner.

Alice bent down and dropped a copper into his cup. They listened for a minute and then continued on their way while the performer nodded his thanks without missing a note.

“So, where are we going?” Alice asked.

“The inn by the fourth watchtower.”

“That’s all the directions we have? What if there are five or six inns by the watchtower?”

Jacob glanced at Alice as he stepped around a pile of droppings in the road, wrinkling his nose at the pungent stench. “I’m pretty sure Samuel would have been more specific.”

“Alright, we’ll see.”

It wasn’t long before they found themselves outside an old inn. The dark stonework pillars outside the front door were worn down from thousands of hands brushing over them throughout the years. The place looked ancient.

Alice craned her neck back and stared up at the top of the inn. “How tall is that?”

“Tall,” Jacob said. From their vantage point, it almost looked like the inn was as tall as the watchtower. “I think this might be the inn Samuel mentioned.”

“Shut up,” Alice said, smacking his arm. She turned away, but not before Jacob saw the smile on her face.

“Let’s find the cellar door,” Jacob said. He walked past the few people milling around outside the inn, keeping his eyes near the ground. Nothing looked remotely like a cellar entrance, so he led Alice around the side of the building, into the mouth of a narrow alley between the inn and the city wall.

Jacob glanced back toward the other side of the street. The wall there had plenty of space between it and the nearest building, enough to fit a carriage or two.

“Why’d they build the inn so close to the wall?” Jacob asked. He turned back around and started down the alley.

“It’s probably older than the wall,” Alice said. “Or at least
this
wall.” She patted the enormous gray and white stone beside them. “You’ve heard Charles talk about the old wall. It didn’t used to be that tall.”

“It didn’t have to be,” Jacob said as he slowed down. “Here it is.” He walked down two short steps and looked at the cellar doors.

“No lock?” Alice asked.

Jacob shook his head. He reached out and grabbed one of the iron rings. It didn’t budge. “I think it’s rusted shut.”

“Let me help.” Alice came down the steps to stand beside him.

They grabbed the ring and leaned backwards together, slowly pulling the warped oak door open with a loud creak.

Jacob looked around, but no one at the either end of the alley seemed to be paying them any mind. “Let’s go.” He held the door open while Alice walked down the steps and then he followed her in.

The light vanished when he let the cellar door close over their heads. A pale light filtered through the cracks in the door as his eyes adjusted. He slid his backpack off and pulled out the jar of glowworms. They grew brighter, bathing the room in a faint green light.

“See? I told you they’d be fine.”

“Alright,” Alice said. “Let’s find the door.”

“Samuel said the floor is all wood, but part of it’s fake.”

“What else did he say?”

Jacob walked toward the far wall, stepping quietly once he realized his boots were loud on the hardwood. “He said there are two bolts on the door.”

“There’s a lot of stuff down here,” Alice said. The room narrowed the farther in they went. Shelves that stretched from floor to ceiling flanked them on either side.

Footsteps sounded overhead, and they both froze. Jacob could hear the blood rushing through his ears as he strained to listen. The footsteps faded, and he slowly relaxed.

“Doesn’t look like they come down here much,” Jacob said, running his finger through the dust on a stack of pale, wooden crates.

“We should still probably be quiet,” Alice said. She rose up on her toes to check another shelf. “It’s all dishes and linens over here. And dust.” She looked back down at the floor and took a few steps forward. The quiet echo of her footsteps changed. She thumped the floor with her heel and looked up at Jacob.

“That has to be it,” Jacob said. “We’re almost at the wall.”

Alice crouched down. “Look there!” She pointed to the edge of the floor where it met the wall. “It’s a hinge.”

“But where are the bolts?”

“I don’t see them.”

Jacob set the jar of glowworms down. He knocked on the floor, following the hollow echo back until it changed to a dull thump. “The hatch ends here. There has to be something.” A small perfect square caught his eye. “It’s a spring bolt!”

“Shh,” Alice said.

“It’s a spring bolt,” Jacob whispered, feeling a little stupid. He pushed his thumb down on the square until it clicked and the bolt popped up.

“How’s that work?” Alice said.

“Watch, you just fold it over at the joint …” Jacob bit his tongue as he worked at the bolt. “Then you twist.” He moved his arm in a half circle and the locks in the door popped open.

Alice moved off the hatch, picking up the glowworms as she went. “Let’s open it.”

Jacob nodded and pulled it up, revealing the pitch-black catacombs beneath.

“Who’s glad we have a lantern now?”

Jacob stared into the darkness and nodded. He knew the glowworms wouldn’t be bright enough to light much of that expanse. “It was a good idea.”

Alice took her lantern out, unclipped the small safety clasp, and pushed the igniter. A bright yellow flame grew more intense when she attached a reflector to the back of the lantern. She angled it down the hole, and they both gasped.