Chapter 2

From beyond the raised ramp, Revi could hear the voices. First, Jimmeson’s, which was laced with panic. “No, no, no, dammit! Revi, please don’t do this!" He had hit the platform just seconds too late, the folded ramp denying them entry to the deck. 

“I’m sorry,” Revi called back, tears burning her face as she shoved her hands in her pockets, swallowing the guilt that tasted like bile. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do that. I can’t open the door, people will die.”

“Revi, please listen to-” But Jimmeson was cut off by the sharp pounding of a fist. "By order of the Conglomerate, lower the ramp now! If we have to make our way aboard by force, you will be executed on site!" Revi recognized the voice as belonging to the pantless man.

The sound of Trevor’s voice turned Revi’s head. “Excellent!” he said, a beaming grin on his lips. He grabbed the Blossom from the deck where Revi had set it. “Now, let’s get this back into the engine, and we’ll get out of here. Come on!”

"Unless that's a direct order, no." Revi said, looking at her feet as she blinked back the tears. "I said I do whatever you told me to, not that I'd enjoy it."

"And I'm supposed to trust that you won't just let the constables on board as soon as I'm out of sight?" He hissed through clenched teeth.

"Was that an order?" She growled.

"As a kid, was your nickname Poen yn y casgen?" Trevor sighed."Yes, that's an order!"

"Na," she mumbled. "I was never a pain in the ass. I was always a good little girl and made my family proud." She could hear the frustration in his voice, and it eased the knot in her chest slightly. When she trusted her face to stay neutral, she looked up to see Trevor glancing back and forth between Farnes and herself. Finally, his eyes fixed on her.

“Let’s go,” he said, and then raced belowdecks. Revi grudgingly followed, staying within clear sight. As they ran, she occasionally caught him glancing over his shoulder at her.

“What, you think I can’t keep up?” She snapped as their eyes met for a moment.

The engine room was marvelously complex, full of gears and levers and pipes, with a single beehive-shaped metal instrument in the center. Revi’s eyes went wide as she beheld the shining metal innards of the zeppelin. Of all the times I get to look inside and it had to be under these circumstances. It took real effort to suppress the urge to explore the space as Trevor pulled on a latch to open a small door on the beehive-shaped instrument. Inside was a cocoon shaped like a diamond. He placed the Blossom inside, closing the door. "Now we can get out of here. You paid your fare, right?"

"The Scarecrow is still here. He needs a doctor, and you promised." She tried to make her voice sound snappish, but it came out dull and flat.

He gave her an ‘Oh, please’ look and rolled his eyes. "If I wanted him to die, I wouldn't have shot him in the leg. We'll get him help." As he spoke, the floor shook. It was clear the Scarecrows had brought the battering rams. "But first we'd best get airborne, eh?" He grinned, but there was a hint of nervousness to his voice.

She didn't answer, just looked at the floor with her hands shoved deep into her pockets.

"You're really gonna do the helpless bit?" Trevor asked. "Really?"

"I don't want to be here and I don't know what the hell you want me to do. I’m not making any offers, just keeping a promise. You want me to do something, tell me, but don't expect me to be pleasant about it." She shot him a look. as he made his way back towards the steps to the upper level, "Either way, you have exactly 3 minutes before they break through."

The ship shook again, punctuating her point. "Ei gael eich ffordd," he said, and vanished from sight, leaving Revi standing alone in the engine room.

“If I did have it my way, not one of us would be here.” She shouted at his back as he vanished. Revi turned slowly, taking in the incredible sight and wondering, had things been different, if she could have learned to work on furnishings and fittings in rooms like this.

Perhaps a half minute later, she heard a soft whirring sound from behind her. The sound grew louder and louder, until finally it was loud enough that, had there been anyone else left in the room, she would have had to raise her voice to be heard over it.

Revi turned around slowly, taking in the intricacy of the room and debating if she wanted to look in the door at the Blossom one last time. Finally, after a long moment, she decided to return to the deck, where she'd left Farnes writhing in agony. While Trevor hadn't said anything, she already knew what would happen if she tried to open the ramp; she would be shot. If the scarecrows didn’t do it, Trevor would. 

"You need to stay conscious." She sighed at Farnes as she stepped back on the deck, looking down at his tourniquet. “I did a soddy job of that. Let me tighten it so you don’t start up bleeding again.”

Farnes looked up at her, face pale and covered in sweat. "You... you're really... not with him."

"I told you that.” she shot Farnes a nasty look, “I'm a Welshman, I'm good for my word.” Not that my word has any value now. Her face was hot, but she’d learned long ago to hide her fears and swallow her tears, so she knelt and started collecting her tools and rods into a neat stack

“Drink this." She reached for a canteen and held it out towards Farnes. "It's not good stuff, just water. I don't drink in the yard… I know a lot who do, I’m just afraid I’ll fall."

He took the canteen and drank deep, gulping it down as if he'd spent the last week in a desert. "I'm sorry," he said. "I should have let you go."

"You weren't going to.” She shrugged, looking down at her belt, tools in disarray and the rods spilling across the wooden planks. “You were waiting for the chance to shoot me. We're stuck here for now, so do you want to finish telling me about that girl?"

"Not for long, we aren't stuck." Farnes said, holding his hat out to her. "Take this. You can get rid of him. You can do it now. As soon as he comes back."

"He shot your leg, not your head." She sighed, "Let me see what I got left and I can help with the pain… But you got to promise not to tell a soul. Not even my Mam when I figure out how to get you out of this mess."

"No, you don't understand.” He waved the hat at her, “It's a weapon. You can --"

Farnes was interrupted as the ship gave a mighty lurch and lifted off the ground. Revi felt her stomach sink as they lifted into the air. Below she could hear the howls of protest and cries of surprise and even... Is that applause? She realized that this was the permission that everyone had waited all morning for; A riot had begun. "They're gonna throw a party tonight. It'll be a full on riot, and I’m sad to miss it. You and your kind, they aren’t exactly well loved, you know. Here." She opened a little tin from the bottom of one of her bags, suddenly relieved that she was moving farther and farther away from the noise

"What's that?" Farnes asked as, slowly, the ship rose higher.

"Just chew it. It helps with the pain. Trust me, and don't tell a soul." She offered him a small pearl of sticky brown substance.

As he reached to take it, the ship gave another lurch and suddenly they were soaring through the skies. It was obvious they were going at a good clip by the way the landscape and clouds were sailing by, but the journey was smooth. The ship did not rock, shake, or jolt. It was almost as if she and Farnes were sitting on a porch enjoying a pleasant breeze.

"Okay," he said. With obvious reluctance, he took the pearl, plopped it on his tongue, closed his mouth, and began to chew. He made a disgusted face, but he kept chewing. Watching his face, Revi recognized the signs as the drug began to take hold. 

“How’s it? Tidy, yeh?” she asked as his eyes grew wide, seeing through her and into some other place, “It’s not the best for what you got going on here, but it will help take away the pain. Good, yah?”

”Listen,” Farnes said, as if Revi hadn’t spoken. “...the hat... you can take him out with the hat...."

As his words began to jumble, Revi imagined the look of horror on Jimmeson’s face, and the look of pride on Bren’s, at finding out that she had doped a Scarecrow – and that he had agreed to it. She smirked.

“The hat… it’s a weapon… you can take him….” His continued rambling forced her out of her reverie. 

"Sure, and wishes are horses." She took a little larger pearl of the brown substance for herself, turning it between her fingers thoughtfully for a second before placing it under her tongue and scooting closer to Farnes. "Mam would die if she knew about this. Jim too, probably." She rubbed her face, trying to hide her distress, but certain that Farnes could see right through her even in his drugged state. "Jim's gonna hate me after this, if I ever get to see him again. And Mam… She’s going to die and take me with her. Can you please keep the promise to help her?" She loosened the knot enough she could leverage it and cinching it as tight as she could, ignoring his protest and cries of pain. 

Farnes nodded, dropping the hat in defeat.

“So, what’s your obsession with this anyway?” She asked, motioning towards the hat, the numbness starting in her chest and snaking its way out to consume her, "It's big, it's fancy, it doesn't suit me at all. Much better on you, really, and I like the one I have. But I still need you to stay conscious. The lack of pain isn’t a sign you’re in a good way, just that what I gave you is doing its job. Keep the conversation going, old man."

“Now that’s not fair,” came McGoyne’s voice from behind her. “I tried to start a conversation with you earlier and you told me to sod off. Why’s the corporate constable rate?”

"You waltzed in like you owned my worksite and ruined my life. Or what was left of it, anyway.” Revi rolled her eyes, falling backwards with a heavy ‘thud’ and lacing her fingers behind her head, “I'm just trying to keep this man conscious so he doesn't die. I'm not making friends."

“They won’t kill her, you know,” Trevor said. “Your Mam. The Conglomerate won’t do it.”

"You have no idea what it's like, do you?" She pushed up on her elbows, clearly annoyed. "She works her ass off. She had nothing left in this world but me, and really not even that. They won't kill her, no. They're gonna demand her pay up every quid we owe from our passage and the medicine and burials, and room when Tad and Bren couldn't work. And when she can't she's going to a work camp or a debtor prison and then she's going to die. Because that's what happens to people who don’t pay."

“That may be what usually happens, but it won’t in this case.” He took a step forward.

"What, is my family somehow special? They don't care about company widows. They care about the little number at the bottom of the page. No one gets a fancy medal for watching their whole family die." She scoffed and fell back again, covering her face with her hat.

“You haven’t got it up here, do you?” Trevor asked, tapping his forehead. “The Conglomerate can’t touch your Mam. Not now. Not with what they think you’ve got.”

"Rydych yn wallgof! And what have I got? Farnes! Hey, old man, what have I got that they won't hurt her?" Revi glared at him for a moment before turning her attention to reattaching her tools to the belt she had reclaimed from Farnes. As she strapped the belt around her waist, she spoke to Trevor once more:"Haven't you been enough of a thorn? And still I can't even just relax a little bit? I really just wanted to lie here until the trumpets sound, but no."

Trevor smacked his forehead. “The Blossom, you dolt! That’s what you’ve got. They think you just helped me steal it. And don’t call me crazy.”

"You are because, they think you stole it and I stole him." She waved at Farnes. "Farnes! You stopped talking. I need you to keep talking. I told you that, and I don't know how to dumb it down more than I already have. Don't stop talking, and maybe drink something, you have the canteen."

Farnes drank, mumbling something unintelligible about the mysterious Lisbeth.

Revi, meanwhile, could feel Trevor’s eyes on her. She glanced at him, watched him open his mouth, and would have paid money to have him close it again before he could speak. But he spoke anyway.“Either way, that means you have all the leverage right now. You could probably get her freed if that’s really what you want.”

"What I want is to be left alone. You already ruined my life, yah? Can you at least let me have the rest of my day in peace?" She turned towards Farnes, "Who the hell are you talking about with this Lisbeth. You can't just drop a name and not tell the story. It's in bad taste, old man.” 

Trevor sighed. “The concept of ‘leverage’ means nothing to you, does it?”

"You are relentless. I'm trying to listen to a story." She groaned, nudging Farnes with her boot. He responded by continuing his slurred rant about Lisbeth.

Trevor shrugged. “Have it your way. We’ll be setting down at the port in Jefferson City. You can make your way back to Whitestone Falls from there.”

"What the hell are you talking about?" She could feel the blood drain from her face as her hat fell to the floor. "Trevor, what do you mean we're setting down. Where is Jefferson? You got me into this situation and you're just leaving me in some random place? You can’t do that!" 

“Stealing the ship was never my plan in the first place.” He said through gritted teeth. “You forced me into that by blocking my way. I just wanted the Blossom. So we go to a zeppelin port, I disappear with the Blossom, and you… do whatever you want.” He shrugged. “What did you think was going to happen?”

"You really want to know? . I thought you would tell me you were trying to fuck over the company, or just up and shoot me.. I would cry the way the damn Scarecrows expected, they would know I wasn’t with you, and then everyone would go away and I'd go back and finish what I started. That's what I thought. You fucked it all up, and nowyou plan to just abandon me in some place I never even heard of? I'm not together enough for this." She scrambled to her knees.

“I am trying to fuck over the company,” McGoyne said.

"Well, you failed. You fucked me over instead!" She began pacing back and forth, trying to calm her mind enough she could use the Knowing. "How long? Goddamnit, how long until we get there? Farnes, you stopped talking. Keep talking, damn you!"

“You need to make up your goddamn mind,” Trevor said, his voice several decibels louder than it had been before as he stalked towards her. “I didn't want to involve you in this at all, and I certainly didn’t want to shoot you, but you blocked my way. I offered to help you save your Mam, you told me to get stuffed. I told you you could go your own way soon, and now you don’t want that either. I’m truly sorry you got swept up in this, but I’ve got my own people to worry about.”

"You didn't listen to me." She planted her feet, clenching her fists. "I said you needed to give me a reason, any reason, for me to let you walk away. I could have played dumb if you would have just listened to me! But no, you were too busy looking for trouble. Then I had everything worked out with this dolt and you fucked it up again. Doesn't anyone get it? I know when we can and can't. You say you want to help my Mam, but how do I know you won't fuck that up too?  Now you just come in here acting like I want to have tea and talk about the weather?" Her eyes stung with impending tears. "I'm not innocent, I never said I was. I wasn’t even supposed to be back there, but I had some thing I had to do and I needed to be alone. Dear God, you act like I asked for a miracle. I just asked for someone to shut up and listen to me!"

His head tilted and one of his eyebrows arched. “…What do you mean, you know when we can and when we can’t?”

"I, I just do, okay? I know what's going to happen and have for a while now. I've been keeping tally on the tadys since it started, right?" She relaxed a little as she realized he was actually listening to her. “You can't tell a soul. No one knows I'm with the sick, they can't know. I won't be taking the medicine or anything for it. I had it all planned out what I was going to do. But then you came charging in, you fucked it up because you refused to listen to me, and now I’m stuck here!" Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. "You don't have any idea what you did, what you took from me, do you?"

Trevor frowned. From the look on his face, she might as well have punched him in the gut. "And your Mam... you know she's going to...?"

"No, I am. And now there's nothing left but the debts." She sank to the ground and pulled her knees to her chest, "I'm out of time. I couldn't even pay the debt down enough she could have her freedom. That's all they ever wanted was a new start, that's why we bought passage."

"And even the Blossom won't stop them from…” Trevor bit his lower lip. His face was the color of chalk now. “There's nothing we can do to change it?" 

"We paid passage in labor for five of us. Mam and Tad thought we'd be better here. But then Tad caught the sickness, and we borrowed against his wages for the medicine. Then Bren, after that." Tears began streaming down her cheeks. "And now we lost our good name and she thinks I'm crooked."

Trevor’s right eyebrow arched. "Your own mother thinks you're crooked?"

"If she hadn't already this morning, she does now! Jim isn't gonna lie to her, and she’s going to want to know where I went."

"I'm sorry." His voice was soft as his gaze dropped to his shoes.

“I just…” she said, her voice a whisper. “I can't keep living like this. I thought you would be off having a victory dance downstairs or I would have stayed a bit more together, but now my head is all a fog. I thought he could help me clear my name, but…” She looked over at Farnes, whose eyes were beginning to close.“Farnes, you dolt, keep talking!” Her snapping woke him up again, and he resumed his half-conscious, not-really-lucid babbling.

"If I... if I take you back now, can you keep her alive?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything when I'm like this. But whatever we do, we need to get him to a doctor now, or I’m scared he’s going to die." Revi rubbed her face with the back of her hand.

"I thought you said you know when we can and when we can't?" Trevor frowned at her. “Can you save your mam if we go back?”

"I don’t know. I shut up the voices in my head. I don't know anything right now." She started searching the pouches in her belt, trying to remember where she’d put the tin. Maybe he’ll understand if I show him. “It isn’t mam what needs saving, it’s our name.”

"I can take you both back. If you'll distract the Crows long enough for me to make off with the Blossom. I'll do it." He nodded at her.

Revi paused, the tin in her hand. "That I can do. I do want to help you. I want to burn the entire Conglomerate to the ground. I just don't have time.” She took a deep breath, “Let me think. Do we have water?"

"Yes," he said. "Let me go get some."

As he turned to head below deck there was a deafening groaning noise and the ship lurched. All of the sudden, the deck was uneven, rapidly tilting so that the port side was far lower than the starboard. Farnes groaned as he began to slide across the deck toward the port side railing, and Revi landed hard on her butt. 

This is what I saw this morning. The vision – it’s still happening exactly like the vision. "Cachu, Cachu, Cachu. Change of plans. Can you land this now? Right now?" She shoved the tin in her pocket and slid across the deck, grabbing Farnes. "I am not in the mood for any of this. Farnes, I need you to snap back to us. If I can function, you can function, or I'll smack you back to earth." 

"I can try," Trevor said, as the ship tilted so far to the port side that he almost lost his footing. "Am ddiwrnod," he said, making his way toward the helm.

“It has been a day, hasn’t it? But that isn’t enough to get us out of here in one piece.” She scrambled to wrap one end of what rope she had left around Farnes, who was still incoherent and didn’t seem aware of the sudden danger or the threat Revi made. "For being such a lightweight you sure are heavy!” She huffed, trying to leverage him to safety, her stomach sinking as she slowly realized what was happening. “Fine mess you got us into!”

"Who didn't let me leave, athrylith?" he said as their altitude dropped precipitously.

"Aren’t you the genius who didn’t listen?” Revi growled, still scrambling to try and stay on her knees, pulling Farnes towards the door that led below deck and their best chance at safety "When you bust this on landing I can’t fix it, you bastard."

"You're assuming any of us will survive the landing," he said, and Revi could hear the strain in his voice.

Before she could fire back at him, a terrible groaning noise split the air ."What the…" Trevor said. And then:"Get below decks! Now!"

Revi looked up at Trevor, at the terror in his face as he came to understand what she already knew."I know how you feel about him, but help me pull or I'll make your life a hell you can't even comprehend."

"You sure that's smart? A smooth landing is out at this point, but there are degrees of bumpy...."

"I am not watching anyone else die, do you understand or do I need to pound it into your skull!" Revi looked up at Trevor, who was fighting with the helm. She balled up her fist like she was about to hit him. “There’s no other choice. Help me!”

Before he could respond, the port fin broke free of the ship and went sailing off over the treetops. “Oh, bugger.” Revi saw his eyes go wide as he jumped over the helm and slid toward her. She knew what came next: In a moment, the port side of the zeppelin would be parallel to the ground. When that happened, they’d be clinging to the railing for dear life – and that was if they were lucky.

"Thank you." She locked eyes, making sure he understood she meant it. "I can Know again so if you trust me, on the count of three we heave and roll. We'll make the door if you help me.” 

Trevor nodded, taking hold of Farnes.

“Together now; One. Two. Three!" Revi pushed against Farnes hard, shoving him part way through the opening and scrambling over the top of him to brace her boots against the frame. Using the rope she’d tied around his waist as an anchor, she leaned dangerously far forward, holding out a hand to Trevor. “Hurry! I’ve got him, but you got to hurry!”

Trevor grabbed her hand and pulled himself up halfway through the opening as the deck tipped to a completely vertical position. He grabbed the rope around Farnes and shoved as Revi put her weight behind one last desperate pull, her feet firmly against the beam, pushing with her full strength to leverage Farnes over the ledge.