Chapter 3

A horrible scraping sound nearly deafened Revi as she cleared the doorway. She landed on her back with a cry of pain as the force of the landing dislodged her hand from his. A sickening sound echoed in the darkness followed by another cry of pain. And then, before Revi could move, Farnes’ weight fell atop her, knocking the breath from her body and pinning her to the ground.

When she could finally breathe again, she looked over at Trevor, who was also pinned beneath Farnes. “Well,” she said, still gasping for air, “at least that’s over?”

Trevor opened his mouth, but before he could get a word out, the ship shook violently, shuddering and dropping again with a deafening screech. And then it was silent and still.

“...I suppose I spoke too soon, aye?” Revi asked.

“I guess it really is bad luck to have a woman on a ship,” Trevor said.

“Shut up, twpsyn,” Revi said, trying to shove Farnes’s listless body off of her. “Consider it payback for the day you put me through. You still in one piece? I think all of me’s here.”

When he was finally out from under Farnes, Trevor got to his feet. He looked himself up and down, brushing himself off.. "I think so," he said. Then he looked down at the supine Scarecrow. Taking a knee, he put a finger to the man's neck. "He's alive."

"He'll come around soon.” She grunted, having managed to get all but one foot free. “Are you still armed? I think you had mine too.” With a last push, she pulled free of his weight, staggering to her feet. Her chest felt as though a cold hand had wrapped itself around her heart. “He lost his hat, so as long as we're sure he isn't armed with anything else I think we're safe enough. I assume you got more than hearsay about these guys? They aren’t like the Crows I know that walk town, these that showed up today. These ones frighten me." 

"I don't have your gun," Trevor said, pointing at Farnes. "Maybe he does? And what do you mean, more than hearsay?"

"You seemed to know a lot about them and how they’d act. I assumed you knew more than fairy stories. I mean we've all heard those, but…" She crouched beside Farnes to search his pockets and belt, hoping he had picked up the gun.

Trevor shrugged. “I’ve been chased a few times. It’s a hazard of being a Chargehand. But I’ve avoided any close personal encounters before now.”

 "I know this is a dumb thing to ask, but I'd feel better if I was the one what had the gun." She looked at him expectantly, but he was looking up at the entrance they had just fallen through, completely ignorant of her request. "So,” Revi said, attempting a sarcastic tone as she stood to assess the damage. “Being a Chargehand, you should know how to get out of a scrape like this. Got a plan?” 

“Nah,” he said, turning back towards her “But given how my plans have gone so far today, we’re likely better off improvising.” 

"Oh, you had a plan before? I thought the entire thing was out your ass." She rolled her eyes, sidestepping away from Farnes. "Are you actually a Chargehand, or is that cachu?"

Trevor turned his back to her, slapping his own rear with one hand. “My plans wouldn’t fit up there. Too big and complex.” He paused. “And yeah, I’m a Chargehand. Only thing it makes sense to be.”

"Right, because it's just that simple, huh. Got it." Revi shoved her hands in her pockets and sighed. "So, you with the big complex ass. What is the next step? I assume waiting here for a magic door into heaven isn't it. And you lost me my ticket to hell."

“We make our way down.” Trevor shot her a look that suggested he wasn’t amused. “And then start walking toward the nearest town. Maybe steal some horses if there’s a ranch nearby.” 

“That easy? Yeah?” She took a few more steps away from Farnes.

“Never said it’d be easy,” Trevor said. “But our other option is to stay here until the supply of food on board runs out.”

"Food would be nice about now, to be honest. He'll need some for sure." She gestured at Farnes, putting even more distance between herself and her companions, her sarcastic tone gone. There was no point in acting anymore. She was trapped in a room with two men who had both proven they wouldn’t hesitate to kill her if they decided to, and while she didn’t fear death, she did fear both of them. "I also have no idea where here is or how I'm supposed to get back. I don’t know if I even can go back."

"Of course you can, I just don’t know why you’d want to." Trevor said, making his way to one of the hatches. They were meant to be windows, but with the ship turned on its side, they effectively served as trap doors. It took some pulling and grunting, but finally the hatch opened, revealing the ground beneath them. Some distance beneath them, as a matter of fact. "Okay... maybe you and I could make that jump. Not so sure about the Scarecrow, though." Trevor scratched his head, looking down.

Revi eased her way to the opposite side of the hatch and looked cautiously down, trying not to let either man out of her sight. "I can get us all down. It isn't going to be easy, and you're gonna hate it, but jumping is a gamble we can't afford to take. I'm gonna need rope, more than I have, and we have to work together." She moved back away from the opening again. "Now, if there really is food here, he's going to need it, and we're all going to need water."

"I think the Conglomerate usually keeps some in the orlop, that space next to the engine room," Trevor said. "Of course, getting there will be something of an issue." He pointed to the trapdoor leading to the ship's lowest deck that nearly aligned with the one they had just climbed through. It was easily ten feet above their heads.

She studied the distance to the opening for a moment. Muttering a string of curses under her breath, she kicked at the floor that now served as a wall. "I guess, with the condition of everything, further damage doesn't matter now?" 

"The Conglomerate isn't going to be taking anybody out in this thing anytime soon," Trevor said. “But at least it didn’t go ‘boom.’ That’s something. I think.”

Revi nodded in agreement, testing one more place along the wall. Not knowing what was on the other side made her reluctant to break through the boards. She had hoped for a soft spot or hollow sound that would have given her some sign that excessive force wouldn’t cause something to ignite, but there was none. Resigned to having to do things the hard way, she walked back over and cut the rope loose from Farnes’s waist, quickly winding it around her shoulder. "I fucking hate heights. You wouldn't know it from my work, but God kept me small as an act of mercy. I was never meant to be this far above ground." 

"For someone so small, you sure are a big pain." Trevor chuckled, watching her.

"Only for you." Revi took one of the hammers from her belt and drove the back of it into the space between boards, prying a large chunk out at about waist-high, and then repeated the process a little higher. "Any special requests? Because if I can pull this off, I'm not willing to go back for more." She put her toe into the lower hole she’d made and pulled up on the highest one carefully, testing the strength of the board as she shifted her weight to create the next handhold. "And before you ask, I'll bring you the fuckin Blossom."

"I wasn't gonna ask," Trevor said, stepping forward. "How about a hand-up? Fewer o' those holes you gotta cut, eh?"

"Don't you fuckin’ touch me!" She dropped to the floor and spun to face him, hammer in hand, whole body coiled like a spring. Trevor took a step backward, raising his hands in shock. 

“Wow,” he said.

"...Sorry. I have had a hell of a day. I, I think I'll be fine on my own." She lowered the weapon and took a deep breath.

Trevor frowned. "I'm literally tryin' to help you here. You said we’d have to work together."

"I said sorry." She looked away, embarrassed by her own outburst. She didn’t need him to know how afraid she was. "Fine. If you think it's better, fine. Just tell me what to do."

He walked to her and dropped to one knee, offering his shoulders for her to stand on.

Revi slid the hammer back into her belt and took a step back, pausing, just out of reach. "Are you sure? Climbing is a huge part of the job. I do it a lot."

"You don't think it'd be faster having fewer holes to cut?"

She nodded and stepped up to stand beside him. "You ready? I'm heavier than I look."

"I'm durable." He grinned. 

"Right.” She stepped carefully onto his shoulder, and he staggered to his feet. She stretched as far as she could, but there were still several feet between her arm's reach and the trapdoor.

"This is going to take a few minutes, how are you holding?” She asked, carefully taking the hammer and chisel from her belt., “I can do this, I just don't want to get dropped." 

"Way too soon to drop you. We haven't even... y'know." 

"Liar." She laughed nervously, leveraging a section of board out of place enough she could get her fingers into the space between boards.Then she tested her weight. "I think I got it. Be steady and let me get up there, and I'll throw you down the rope." She slowly pulled herself up, just barely able to reach the door enough to get a strong grip.

"I am not a liar! I think that's something I would remember." He smirked. "We should move quickly. Eventually the Conglomerate will send people looking for this thing."

“What?” She grunted, slowly pulling herself up. “Oh, only in your dreams would that ever happen!”  She mumbled a string of curses as she got her arm over the frame and scrambled up to straddle the opening. "Do you want me to try and bring you up?"

"Might as well," he said. "Can't have you leaving me behind, after all."

"Why so?" She rolled her eyes as she tied off one end of the rope and dropped it down to him. "Watch your footing at the top. It's narrower than most framing beams." The end of the rope stopped just short of his fingertips. "That's all I got, can you reach it? Maybe the hole I made will help?" 

Trevor jumped, grabbing the rope and starting to pull himself upward. “I got it!” 

She nodded, turning to look down the other side. To her relief, the crossbeams that supported the floor formed something of a ladder. Not ideal but manageable. "I'm heading down. It should be a simple thing to catch up. Just tell me where to find supplies."

“Like I said, I think the Conglomerate usually keeps the food in the orlop,” he grunted, his boots heavy on the other side of the wall. “But to be honest, most of my snooping was making sure I knew my way to and from the engine room. And how to get the Blossom out, of course….” Within seconds, he was peering at her over the side of the trapdoor. “I’ll have to thank Murdock. He said all that rope-climbing would come in handy….”

"Who’s that?" She called up to him as she stepped carefully onto the final beam above the wreckage. . "Footing looks rough, careful when you step down."

The entire contents of the lower deck were collected against the port side. Crates and barrels, some broken, others seemingly intact, filled the space. The sound of liquid dripped somewhere in the rubble. A muffled humming sound echoed from the darkness, and with each breeze outside every inch of the downed zeppelin creaked threateningly around them.

"Murdock," Trevor continued as he lowered himself onto one of the beams. "My commander with the Chargehands.”

As Revi carefully stepped down into the shattered mess of broken crates, the truth of her situation hit her like someone had taken a hammer to her chest. She had no idea where she was or how to get home. The Conglomerate would see her as an accessory to the hijacking, her family account would be billed for the damage the crash had caused. If Farnes survived and was able to set the record straight, then what? She hated her life. She didn’t want to go back to it. She should have just let Trevor shoot her and that would have cleared the Maddoks name. Maybe they would’ve even called her a hero.. 

I don’t want to die… The thought startled her, drowning out the story Trevor had launched into. A giggle erupted from her gutas a strange thought started to solidify in her head. I don’t want to die. She'd lied to everyone about why she had the Deringer, pretending it was loaded when she’d already set her plan for the only bullet she had. I don’t want to die! Her giggle grew into a roaring laughter at the complete ridiculousness of everything. She had wished the entire world would burn to the ground and that the people who had promised them a second chance all those years ago would suffer. She'd quietly rooted for the Chargehands when stories would make it to the tavern or yard. She’d lifted the gun from Yeats hoping that when she used it, she could at least leave him with nightmares and the belief he had been the final straw. She'd wished for death, and when it came in the form of a Scarecrow and a Chargehand she didn’t just refuse, she had fought it, and now she was trying to save it. 

I want to live! I don’t want to die. I was already dead. I was trying to escape death. This was all to escape death. I want to live! The words roared through her head as tears rolled down her face. She wanted freedom, not death. She wanted life, not whatever she had been doing up until this moment. And now, she may never have the chance. She was at the mercy of strangers who saw her as the enemy when all she had done was try to buy her way out of her own pain with a stolen gun.

“I always hated the ropes, but he told me --" Trevor startled her out of her thoughts as he landed in the debris beside her.. “Uh…”

She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, trying to pull herself together. He probably thinks I lost it, and maybe I have. She shook her head, looking at the disaster around them and trying to decide where to start.

"Are you all right?" He finally asked. “Are you off your chump?”

"I wish I knew." She sniffed, thankful for the dim light that would help hide her tears. "It's… it's been a hard day, not that it matters much. Let's get the stuff and get out." She wanted a hug, a shoulder, comforting words, even if it came from Trevor or Farnes. But she couldn’t let that show either. They were enemies.

"I'm telling you, your Mam will be fine. As long as the Conglomerate thinks you've got a Blossom, they'd never touch her." He moved his hand, and for a moment she thought he might put it on her shoulder. But he just ran his fingers through his hair nervously.

"Okay." She nodded, shaking away the shame of her disappointment and hardening her heart. "So where do we go from here? Follow the noise?" The silence she had bought with the drugs was fading as the Knowing crept back into her mind with faint, shadowy images.

"Well," Trevor said, pointing at one of the crates. "My guess is that the food is in that crate." He paused, scratched his chin, and then pointed at another crate. "Or maybe that one. Or that one."

"Smash them all, then?" As she spoke, a sly smile made its way across her face.

"Now you’re speaking my language." He grinned with a sigh of relief, she hadn’t noticed before that his Welsh held a slight accent.

She nodded, looked around the space, and found a piece of broken pipe. “Nice.” Her smirk spread into a wicked grin, and in one smooth, almost effortless motion she cracked the first crate like an egg, filling the air with the sound of shattered glass and smell of whisky. “I think I found the booze.”

"Sure smells it." Trevor picked up another section of pipe and smashed two more crates open. Sugar and flour spilled across the floor. A fourth crate contained hardtack. "Guess they don't bring the meat aboard till it's time for liftoff. Still, there's enough hardtack in here to last us a few days. Maybe long enough to get to town. And since you found the whisky, we can drink to our successful crime spree.”

"Is this how they party in Hell? Maybe I won’t mind the trip." She said as she spun the pipe, getting a better feel for the balance of it. “Is it wrong I’m having fun?”

"It's much hotter in hell. Also, we're too sober." He shrugged and picked up a piece of hard tack, biting into it. "Ddim yn ddrwg."

"Oh, I can fix sober" She paused, considering the idea. Tempting, but…."It's probably better we get back to what we were doing."

Trevor flashed her an impish grin, picking up one of the bottles of whisky. "You're the one who can tell when we can and when we can't, right? Do the Scarecrows catch us if you have one swig?"

"It's not the Scarecrows we need to be afraid of." Her voice was suddenly serious. "But one drink shouldn't hurt you so long as you're quick and keep your feet steady." Her expression darkened again as something groaned nearby, setting the whispers in her mind into a storm of noise and pictures. "Actually, you don’t have time, let's get the rope and Blossom and go."

“Your call. I say after what we just pulled off, we’ve earned a drink.” Trevor shrugged. “But better safe than sorry… What do we need to be afraid of?”

She shrugged, picking her way across the debris towards the sound of hissing and buzzing, "Disgyrchiant. Y ddaear.. It’s getting ugly.”"

“What do you mean by gravity and the ground?” He asked from the darkness.

“Oh, I can Know again.” She shrugged.

She could hear him scrambling to catch up behind her. "Oh. Shit. Better step on it, then."

"Do you know where they keep the rope? I got the Blossom and hard tack if you got water and rope. Oh, and I have an idea. I don’t think we have to climb back over the wall." Revi was studying the maze of pipes that ran along what had once been the ceiling.

Trevor ran out of sight and came back with several bottles of whisky tucked under one arm."Got the bottles. As far as rope, there's usually an equipment locker in the orlop."

"I know I said it already, but I have no idea where anything is or what to look for." She sighed, dumping a canvas bag of salt onto the floor and shoving it full of hardtack. "These things are just framework when I see them, or we're under heavy guard and it's exterior repairs. We aren't allowed inside once they start bringing things on board."

"And I know I said it already, but I didn't count on still being aboard this thing after liftoff," he said. "I spent my time mapping my way to the engine room and learning how to break in. Learning the whereabouts of the equipment locker wasn't exactly my priority."

"For as much mapping as you do, you seem to step in shit pretty often." Revi stood, following a pipe that was poking through a wall. “It seems like you would want to know where to find tools and things.”

"At least I know what risks I'm taking," he said, forging ahead of her and going searching for the equipment locker.

"I'll let you believe that." She muttered, "I didn't have much choice on any of this, so it wasn't like I chose a risk."

"You had a choice to get on this ship this morning, didn’t you? This wasn’t even the ship you were assigned to today. Isn’t that what the Scarecrow said?" Trevor scoffed. "I bet you knew something was gonna happen when you did, right? With that ability of yours?"

"I knew something was supposed to happen. But I had my own reasons for being here and you being an impulsive twspyn cost me everything.” She stopped as the pipe she’d been following vanished into the wall. “... Step back..." She took one hard swing at the place the pipe entered the wall, no longer caring if it blew the ship to hell. The boards split and cracked from the force of the impact, giving way to a small opening. "I knew the ship was going to lift off but not why. And I knew it crashed, not that anyone wanted to listen to me." She took a second swing, this one about a foot above the first, opening up a space large enough she could force her way through. "I think that's good enough."

"I signed on to get a Blossom and get out. I knew what risk I was taking. All you knew was This Way Lies Bad. You had no idea the length, width, or breadth of the bad. All you had to do was follow instructions and repair your assigned ship, and today’s a perfectly normal day at work. So why go looking for trouble?" Trevor asked, squeezing through the hole she’d just made.

“I had to.” She scrambled through after him, trying to use his assumptions to cook up a convincing lie, "I knew it was going to crash. If it hit the town and I could have done something to prevent it... I'm  not much of a loss, but there's babies there, you know?"

"Teirw," he said, looking about for the equipment locker.

"And you know me to decide that?" She made a face. "Well, do you?”

"I know if you die, there's no one to pay off the rest of your family's debt and free your Mam," Trevor said. "No way some stranger is more important than that."

"I didn't say it was a stranger." She shrugged. "I said it was a baby. You assumed, like you've assumed everything else. But do what's easy for you. I know thinking beyond your nose is hard."

"Os dywedwch felly" Trevor continued to search for the equipment locker, kicking away boards and crates. "I'm just saying, at least I know I have a death wish, and admit it. Then again, I'm not living on borrowed time...." She saw him flinch as he said those last words.

For a moment, silence hung thick in the air between them. "At least you understood something I said." She growled, climbing into the growing jungle of pipes.

Another dense silence followed. This time, it was he who broke it: "I…" he said, and for a moment it occurred to her that he might apologize. But he did not. "I found it!"

"Found what?" Revi stepped back down. Though Trevor stood only a few feet away, she felt more alone than she had since this misadventure had begun. More alone than she had felt even this morning as she loaded the bullet into her stolen gun.

"The equipment locker," he said. "If you can help me bust it open, there should be rope inside!"

"Oh, I can bust it, move." Revi said, her tone flat.

"Yes, ma'am." Trevor gave a mock salute and stepped out of her way. She jammed the pipe into the handle and stomped down with her full weight. The door made a horrible sound and bent outward leaving a large gap between the doors. She shoved the pipe into the gap and pushed down against it, leveraging the doors open. Inside lay an assortment of tools and three lengths of rope. She made a noise that may have been approval, turning back to the maze of pipes. "Grab any tools you can, I'll be back."

"Am I gonna need any free hands for this plan of yours?" he asked.

Revi didn’t answer or even acknowledge his question. Instead, she studied the maze of pipes that led through the wall into the engine room where the Blossom was. The door was on the top side of the room. Even if she could make that climb in the time they had, there was damage to the structure. Her best chance was to push through the crawlspace. She shoved one of the intact crates closer to the wall, completely ignoring what she assumed was either Trevor digging himself in deeper or a his attempt at half-assed apology. The maze of copper pipes proved nearly impossible as she squirmed her way into the  hole, feet first. At first it was just tight, and then she hit something solid blocking her path, “Fuck.” She mumbled, kicking against it with full force and holding the largest of the pipes for balance. At first it didn’t seem like it was going to move, but a second jolt sent it flying, making horrible noises as it tumbled and rolled away. 

Well, the pipes aren't well-fitted or sealed, or I couldn't have done that. Who made this? A child with a wooden mallet? She cursed under her breath as she slid her body the rest of the way into the space. It was longer than she’d expected. There was no way she could have busted or kicked her way through the wall.  She took a deep breath and rolled to her chest, pushing herself further back, her best scraping against the sides as she waited for the horrible feeling of nothing beneath her feet. Finally the toe of her boot was hanging in the air, and for a moment of panic she was afraid the opening on the other end wouldn’t be large enough for her whole body. “Fuck all of this!” She said through gritted teeth, If I get out of this in one piece, I’m making Farnes clear our contract and McGoyne give me half of whatever they’re paying him. She slowly lowered herself to stand on the network of pipes that lined what should have been the walls. Each step sent up horrible scraping, popping, and moaning noises, as she made her way to the cocoon-looking place Trevor had put the Blossom. 

The handle was hot to the touch and it was still making that deafening noise when she finally reached the door. She scrambled around for a moment of panic, patting her hips for the gloves that usually hung from her belt, but they were gone. She groaned as she remembered she had taken off her belt to try and appease Farnes. She searched the room and found a piece of cloth hanging from one of the knobs a few feet away. It was enough to open the door, and she would figure out what to do with the Blossom once she got that far. She wrapped the cloth around the handle and pulled the door open to reveal the glowing mass that rested inside. Cautiously, she reached out to see just how hard it would be to recover. To her amazement, it felt no different than when she had held it earlier, so she lifted it out, taking care not to bump the cage that held it.

The humming immediately stopped and the room darkened. Only the glow of the Blossom allowed her to find the entrance to the crawl space. She put it into the opening and pulled herself up after it.

For several minutes, the horrible sound of metal on metal echoed through the orlop as she made her way back to Trevor. “Take this!” she snapped, holding the Blossom out towards him. "We need to be back before he comes around. Let's go." She carefully twisted around to grab the largest pipe again.

“How’re we gonna get him on the ground, anyway?” Trevor asked, taking the Blossom as she pulled herself out of the crawl space and lowered herself back to the floor. “He’s not exactly gonna be in shape for rope-climbing anytime soon.”

"With a counter-balance, sort of like a pulley. How do you think those beams get up in the air? You think we just throw them? You said you were a setter, you should know, ffycin dwp." She picked up the pipe she’d been using before she recovered the Blossom and crawled back through the hole she’d busted through the other wall.

“You’re such charming company. I don’t know how I’m going to handle saying goodbye when we get down on the ground.” Trevor sneered.

"The Crow is going to be pretty together when we come back, by the way, and pissed about, well... I'm sure you can guess." She shrugged, kicking at the wall they’d climbed down, "I can get him down, but you’ve got to help. That puts him at your mercy, at least for now. He's not stupid, I don’t think he'll do anything serious until we're on stable ground.” She paused, handing him back the knapsack and taking the pipe in both hands. “It’s getting complicated so I’ll explain the rest when its time.”

Revi took a hard swing at the soft spot where two of the floor panels met at the joist, knocking the board loose in a single swing. She recentered and knocked loose several more, each with a carefully placed hit. Then jammed the pipe into the space between the slats and the joist, prying them off to create enough of an opening they could squeeze through.

“The rest of what?” He asked, between the cracking sound of her swings. “The rest of—“

As she finished her destruction, she heard a  noise from beyond the airship. A high-pitched whining sound. She’d heard it before in Whitestone Falls, and she knew what it was. Conglomerate ornithopters.

Apparently Trevor knew what the noise meant, too: “…cachu.”

"That is why it's getting complicated," she said, her voice soft, "but you got a plan once I get us down, so we can have that goodbye you talked about." She disappeared through the opening.

Trevor’s voice came from behind her. "I’m just saying, this would go a lot quicker and smoother if we left the Straw Man behind."

“Well, we aren’t.” She picked up the knapsack and pulled out two of the ropes, tossing one in Trevor’s direction. “I need to clear my name. I’m innocent. Go tie him in, like a harness.”

Farnes was still lying prostrate where they'd left him. Though he was awake as Revi had promised, he showed no sign that he was aware that they had returned until Trevor leaned down to tie the rope around his waist. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"Saving your life, apparently." Trevor grumbled. “She’s in charge now.”

"That noise... Conglomerate?" Farnes shifted slightly, clearly uncomfortable with Trevor being so close.

Trevor nodded, continuing his work.

"Good." Farnes said.

Revi saw the hand ball into a fist at Farnes’s side. In a flash, she realized what was about to happen. She darted toward them, but not quickly enough to stop Farnes from punching Trevor in the jaw. “We’re done with that!” she said, coming to stand between them as Trevor staggered backward. “Both of you, are you children?”

Neither man answered.

Revi looked to Trevor. “I warned you he’d be in a temper,” she said as he pressed two fingers to his lower lip and pulled them away, apparently checking for blood. She shook her head, kneeling beside Farnes to finish what Trevor had started. “Farnes, you have exactly one choice right now. I suppose two if you’re stupid. Now we both know you should've sobered up by now so you got no excuse for being like that. He said he was saving you, he means it. We have to work together or we die. The people you hear coming? They don't care about us or about you. They are going to knock this whole thing to the ground so they can get the Blossom. Unless you want to be crushed to death when this comes down, shut the fuck up and keep your hands down. I'll explain everything when there's time because right now there isn’t."

She looked up at Trevor, who was still holding his face and seething. "If we had the time to fool around, I’d let you two at it just for sport. Unfortunately brawling isn't an option. We need to get us and whatever we're bringing to the ground before they get here..” She tightened the makeshift harness around Farnes, taking no care to be gentle.  "You're an asshole, you know that? An impulsive, stupid asshole. If at any point today you’d listened to any one person other than the voice in your head, not one of us would be here." 

"They're my people, the ones coming," Farnes said. "They won't hurt me. And I can convince them not to hurt you. If I tell them you saved my life, it may go a long way toward paying off those debts you've apparently got. Think about it. Only he has to die." Farnes gave her a begging look. "It works out for both of us. We go home heroes. You, the hero who saved a Scarecrow's life, and me, the hero who killed a Chargehand."

"If you don't shut up, we all die. I’m not letting that happen, not to any of us, not if I can prevent it. I don’t let people die. And I already told you the ones coming are not your people. To them we're worthless casualties. The folk on the ground who come later, those are your people. But if you want to die a useless death, go ahead, die. Make the effort I put into saving you meaningless.” She glanced at Trevor, and then back at Farnes. “Besides, if it was found out back home I saved you, they would likely kill me in the yard. You and your kind aren’t well liked. We fear you, we don’t respect you. Saving this bastard would hold more merit for me.”

"Conglomerate won't kill you if you're on their side," Farnes said, his voice full of conviction. "Why do you think I became a Scarecrow?"

"Because you could afford to." She snapped. “And even if they are your friends, they don't have confirmation we're here, do they? They don't care about what they can't see. We only have about three minutes left until this ship hits the ground. We need to move fast." 

Farnes appeared to think about this for a moment. And then: "Fine. But as soon as we're on the ground, I kill him," he said, shooting Trevor a glare that could freeze blood.

Trevor, in turn, just smirked. "Well, that's not much incentive for me to help you get down there, is it?"  He stepped closer and raised a booted foot to kick Farnes in the head.

Revi scowled. “Look, twpsyn – if you want my help or cooperation, you’d better pull your head out of your ass. Keep going like this, and I’m checking out again, because I’m not going out sober.”

Trevor paused mid-kick and appeared to think about this. “And how do I know you won’t help him kill me as soon as we’re on the ground?”

“Chance you’ll have to take. Now here’s how it’s going to work: You go down first. Leave the Blossom with me. The hen ddyn,” she said, pointing at Farnes, “will go second, and I’ll go last with the Blossom. Either of you hurts the other before I get down and I blow it up. Got it? Now Mewn cachiad.”

For a second or two Trevor was silent, biting his lip and appearing to consider his options. Then he sighed. “Fine, I’m hurrying!” He held the Blossom out toward her.

Revi locked eyes with Farnes as she reached out for the Blossom. "Farnes, I'd have been home with my family tonight if you hadn't had a stick up your ass, and you'd be dead now if I hadn't stuck with you. If you do anything, I'll take myself to hell and drag you with me, got it?" 

As her hand drew close Trevor chucked the Blossom out the window-turned-escape-hatch, "Stay warm by the fire, you two." He smirked and grabbed the rope, spit on Farnes, and flung himself towards the ground. 

She was just a moment too slow as she saw the events coming together. "Impulsive bastard!" She shouted after him.

"Give your Mam my love!" He shouted back as he hit the ground and took off at a run, snatching up the Blossom as he passed.

"Enjoy the gallows, Twpsyn!" She shouted back.  She was shaking, her fists clenched as she closed her eyes, trying to sort through everything that was flooding her head. 

"I fuckin hate both of you!" She rounded on Farnes, furious at him for hitting Trevor. She had needed his help. "If I leave your sorry ass I have no alibi. But if I don’t go after him, I lose my leverage and they won’t even wait to hear what you have to say about me. I’ll be dead. What is wrong with every one of you people?" Revi cried out in frustration as the Knowing filled her head with images, nearly all of them ending badly. "Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!" She shrieked, stomping towards Farnes, tears blurring her vision as she fought to hold them in. "I'll get you down and take the gamble, but I've half a mind to do it by the neck." 

Farnes looked up at her, pushing himself up to sit. "I meant what I said. If you get me back to the Conglomerate safely, I'll make sure they know you saved my life. I'll get as much of your debt forgiven as I can."

"You don't understand. Do you really think they're going to keep any promises to you and lose the contract, only part of me that's valuable? I'm not stupid. I know what I’m worth, to them I’m not human. I never was. I never had a choice in any of this, not the job, not the contract. Not anything. Maybe they'll tell you it's all good and rewrite the contract to a lower sum to make you happy,," she said, testing the knots in the makeshift harness she’d tied around him one last time. "and then when I die before the agreed date, because it always happens, they're gonna say Mam has to finish what I started. It’s how they keep the entire company staffed, why would either of us be important enough to be an exception?"

"They've made exactly one promise to me so far," Farnes said. "And they kept it."

“What promise would that be? You get three square meals and a fancy ass hat? Stand up." Revi pulled his arm around her shoulder and dragged him to his feet. He let out a loud yelp as she 

hauled him up. "I can't carry you.” She grunted. “You got to do some of the work. And one promise out of how many? If they kept their promises they wouldn’t have a company left, how would they?"

"They don't kill you if you cooperate." He puffed, trying not to put his full weight on her. "That's the deal. They don't hurt you if you cooperate. Not if you cooperate." He recited the words over and over like a chant.

"Maybe I should have let him kick your head, sounds like you knocked something loose there. What are you made of anyway, mud?" She limped him to the opening and tied the end of the second rope to the harness. Putting a length of it in his hands, she said “Don’t let go of that, now. Ready?”

He nodded, though the expression on his face suggested that he was not ready.

"This is gonna be fun." She grinned and shoved him backwards through the opening. 

Farnes fell, screaming as he went down. Revi heard the rope go taut and looked through the opening to see him bouncing up and down like a spring, still screaming at the top of his lungs. She untied the rope and lowered him gently to the ground.

"That was better than I thought it'd be!" She called down with a laugh. “The scream was a nice touch, I’d love to throw you out a window again some time!”

Revi took the third rope, looping it over the anchor point and then around her boot and tying it in a slipknot through the rings on her belt. She stood for a long moment, trying not to think about the distance, before deciding that backwards would be easier. She turned around, took a deep breath, and stepped back, letting the rope slide through the loop much faster than she had planned. She let out a pained cry as the rope ended her fall with a pop as she jerked it tight. There she hung perfectly still, turning slowly for a moment before her stomach caught up to her. Then she scrambled to her feet, cut herself free, and half-ran, half-crawled to the nearby bushes. "Dear god, why did I do it like that? I should’ve had better control. I would rather die with my eyes closed! ." She sobbed, heaving the contents of her breakfast into the bushes.

As she stood, pulling a kerchief from her pocket, and wiped her face, she could see the silhouette of the ornithopters coming over the treetops. The Conglomerate salvage team was almost upon them. 

"We have to move," she whispered, jogging back towards Farnes, who was trying to stand up and grunting every time he put weight on his injured leg. "If you want to wait here and see what happens, I can't stop you. I already know what happens to people like me. I can't risk it." She picked up her hat and dusted it off. "Make me a promise, please? I need you to tell three lies for me ..."

“L — lies?” Farnes paused, concern in his voice.

"Yes, three of them. Well, I guess only one is a lie, really." She pleaded, offering him her shoulder to steady himself. “Can you?”

“I can try… but lies don’t work … with them….”

"Them who? Never mind. You don't have the...ugh." She sighed, rubbing her face, "Tell my Mam I ran away with one of your people. Some rich, beautiful prince that swept me off my feet. Tell her that it was all a misunderstanding whatever Jim saw. Tell your people the truth, I traded my life for yours. As far as anything matters, I'm dead now. Are you understanding any of this?"

“Yes.”

"God, I hope so. Tell Jim..." She looked at the ground for a second. "Tell Jim the truth, actually. He can take it, and I've lied to him enough already. Tell him I'm sorry. Tell him I should have been honest about everything. I am not going to be able to outrun these bastards, and you don't seem to understand what happens to people like me when we get arrested. Whatever they have you believe, it's a lie." She shoved her hands in her pockets, looking completely defeated. “Promise me you'll do that. You owe me your life, after all."

Farnes’ face looked blank for a moment, and then he nodded. “I‘ll tell them. You sure you won’t give me a chance to save your life?”

"What life? The whole reason I was on that ship was to give back what the Good Lord gave me. Funny thing is that for a minute there, you two had me changing my mind." She laughed, though there was no mirth in it. "Just clear up the debts and pass those messages along. You live in a fantasy if you think someone isn't going to have to take the fall for-" she waved her hand above her head towards the broken ship tangled in the trees. "Now, we need to move away from the fall zone quickly, or we're both going to be dead." 

The ornithopters, great winged unicycles ridden by Conglomerate shock troops in metal chairs, descended upon them. Five in total, and while four seemed poised to land atop the wreckage, one was clearly heading for the ground.

"Fuck it all." She laughed, pulling the tin out of her pocket. At least she wasn't going to go out sober. "This time, I ain't sharing." She put a good bit under her tongue and jammed her hands, and the tin, in her pockets, casually walking towards the underbrush. 

"Wait!" Farnes called as she neared the treeline. He watched helplessly as her shoulders dropped.  "Wait! Lisbeth! Lisbeth!" Behind them the fifth ornithopter touched down.

"We both know that's not who I am. Ya dolt." She kept walking. "Ya never even told me what that meant."

Revi abandoned hope and any ties she had to reality as the drug began to take its hold. She'd seen the visions with the Knowing and had gambled on her ability to trust Trevor. A gamble she’d lost. She could have abandoned Farnes and gotten away, but then she'd lose any chance of setting the record straight and erasing the debt. She’d have been on the run for the rest of her life. Whatever choice she’d made, she couldn't win, but she didn't have to be there for the loss, so she leaned into the darkness and pushed further from sight.