An Improper Derailment Chapter Thirty Three

Where Marshall learns of some near daring dos…

 

Catch up with chapter 32…

Start the adventure from the beginning.

“Are you certain we’re headed east?” asked Mary.

Captain Forsyth made an affirmative grunt.

She sank into herself. Overwhelmed with sudden exhaustion and emotion she couldn’t put a name on, Mary curled into a ball in the bottom of the gondola’s basket and more passed out then fell asleep.

Marshall adjusted her shoulders, putting his folded up coat under her so she wouldn’t wake up with a crick in her neck. He looked up at Captain Forsyth and back down at Mary before returning his gaze to Forsyth. “I think she has the right idea. There’s not much we can do is there?“

Captain Forsyth shrugged. “I never was much for sailing, but I didn’t think the air currents would be much different than on water. I’ve been getting bandied about up here for weeks gradually making my way farther and farther west. It’s as if the heavens know when I need to restock and they send me back to Kansas City.”

Marshall ripped off chunk of bread and popped it into his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully, keeping his eye on the clouds, the position of the sun, and Mary sleeping. Returning to Kansas City wouldn’t be completely horrible. They could pick up a train that would then take them west. It felt like defeat after their hard earned gains of traveling through sauran territory. It also felt like a slap in the face of the help that they received from his friend.

Had Marshall been thinking, maybe they should have gone directly to Kansas City to pick up another train route. But as he glanced down at the sleeping form of Mary, he realized he would not have traded his time with her out in the wilds for a comfortable Pullman car. It was as if she was a completely different woman now, a woman he very much enjoyed the company of.

“So what is your plan for when night falls?” he asked Forsyth, who had been leaning on the side of the gondola watching the scenery beneath them.

“At night I lower lower the ship and cast onto a tree to keep me afloat.”

“So you never touch down?” Marshall asked.

“Not if I can help it, my boy,” Forsyth said. “Those nasty little saurans can jump. I certainly don’t want one of them in on board my ship again.”

“Again? Now that sounds like a daring adventure,” Marshall grinned. They had time while floating in the sky. And nothing passed the time like a good story.

Forsyth chuckled. “It sounds much more adventurous than it truly was. There was no instance of me wrestling one of the foul beasts as it snapped for my jugular.” He mimicked the actions as if he was warding off a snarling beast with fangs, rocking his torso back and forth in a wrestling motion. “The little devils leapt right over the edge of my basket and headed straight toward the food hamper. I dashed to the far side of the basket and immediately lifted off. I used the long boat hook to snag the hamper of food and hauled it over board. The hungry beast followed it right over. Like lemmings over a cliff. I make sure to never settle lower that six feet any more.”

Marshall chuckled at the tale. It wasn’t dashing and no one would write about it in a penny thriller. But it was the reality of survival. Use the tools you have to your best ability.

“It was a fine food hamper. I think at the time, and now that I recall that afternoon, I am more upset for losing the hamper than I am for losing the food that was in it. I had to go without my supper that night,” Forsyth exclaimed.

“Oh, I don’t know about that. I’d be willing to get rid of a great deal to not have one of those nasty little critters on the ship with me. Did you have to go back to Kansas City for provisions then? Do we have to go all the way back this time?” Marshall asked.

Forsyth shook his head. “There are smaller towns between here and there. I stop sometimes if I encounter one of them. I find a way to dock the shipping and take accommodations for the night.”

“That might not be a bad thought,” Marshall murdered. “But Miss Mary is going to need some new garments. I fear the damage to her skirt caused by the saurans who attacked us will cause her more distress than the actual attack caused.”

“I believe you could be right,” Forsyth agreed. “Maybe we will be able to find a small town with a dress maker. I’m sure she would hate to be confined to the ship while one of us found her dressmaker. Maybe we should go all the way back to Kansas City just to find her some ready-made clothes they do that don’t they?”

Marshall considered the old man for a moment, and then shook his head. “Can’t say I rightly know much about women’s clothing other than they wear it.“

It was sometime before Mary came back to her senses and woke from her rather unexpected nap. She stretched her arms wide and yawned before casting her gaze about as she took in her surroundings. Her expression fell. “So I guess it wasn’t a dream, and I wasn’t sunbathing on the deck of a cruise ship?“

Marshall grinned and shook his head. “No ma’am, but you are on the sunny deck of a different kind of ship…” he paused and turned to Captain Forsyth. “What is the name of your fine airship “

“Why, this is the Profound Name.”

“The Profound Name?” Mary asked with a giggle.

Captain Forsyth cleared his throat and cast his gaze down into the side. “Yes, well,” he began, “My young niece suggested the name and I greatly misunderstood her intention in that when she said I should give it a profound name. I thought those words were what she meant. And not that the name itself should be something epic and important. By the time I realized it, I had already registered the ship.”

“You’ve registered the ship?” Marshal asked. “With whom?”

“The Maritime Council, of course.”

“But it’s an airship.” Mary pointed out.

“Yes, but a ship is a ship,” Forsyth pronounced with great bluster.

“This is true,” Mary conceded. “A ship is this ship and we are floating above a sea of grass.”

 

Will Mary and Marshall get turned around? Tune in next time…

©2024 Lulu M. Sylvian