The Mark of the Dragonfly (19 page)

“Go ahead and lie down,” Piper told her. “I don’t think Trimble will mind.” She fluffed up the fireman’s pillow and helped Anna slip off her shoes. The girl curled up on her side, and Piper sat on the edge of the bed next to her. She thought Anna would drift off immediately, but a few minutes later, she felt the girl’s fingers on her arm.

“You never told me what Raenoll said.” Anna looked up at Piper through half-closed eyes. “What did she see in her vision?”

Piper had been expecting—and dreading—the question, though she hadn’t expected Anna to ask it so soon, so it caught her off guard. “Raenoll? After everything that’s happened tonight, the seer is who you’re thinking about?” Piper forced a laugh, but she was just stalling.

How much could she tell Anna? She couldn’t reveal what Raenoll had told her about what would happen to Anna if Piper abandoned her, that much was certain. Piper didn’t know what to think of the seer’s cryptic words herself. According to Raenoll’s prediction, if she took Anna to Noveen, her reward would be that
something terrible would happen, something neither of them could live with. But what other choice did they have? If that mansion was where Anna came from, the answers they needed were there.

“I think she saw your home in her vision,” Piper said at last, hoping that it turned out to be the truth. She described to Anna the sculpted gardens, the fountain, and the beautiful columned house overlooking the ocean. Piper hoped that it was as beautiful in real life as in the vision. Surely a place like that was too huge and fine for someone like Doloman to live there. It was the perfect house for Anna, big enough for parents and a small army of brothers and sisters. Piper wanted desperately to believe that Anna had a home and a family like that, a place safe from Doloman and his slavers.

While Piper talked, Anna’s eyelids drooped, but she smiled when Piper finished. “That’s nice,” she said. “I don’t remember that house, but maybe it
is
home. I hope so. I’m glad we went to the seer, Piper.”

Piper didn’t answer, letting Anna drift off to sleep. In the silence, she found herself thinking not about Raenoll, but about Doloman. She tried not to, wanted nothing more than to block out all that had happened, but she kept feeling his hand at her throat. Piper’s fingers brushed lightly over her neck. Tomorrow there would be bruises on the tender skin. Doloman would have choked the life out of her if Gee hadn’t come when he did.

Gee, a chamelin. Imagine that. Though up until now
she’d never seen one, Piper’s father had told her stories about a chamelin who used to live near the scrap town. He’d said the creature was solitary, which was odd because chamelins were family oriented and protective by nature. They lived in large groups, establishing their colonies near archivist strongholds. When Piper asked her father why, he’d told her no one knew for sure, but the most likely reason was that the archivists valued protection too. They worked in groups to preserve the knowledge and culture that came from other worlds. Books, musical compositions, art—the archivists guarded all those objects as precious artifacts. The chamelins in turn protected the archivists.

Her father told her he felt sorry for the chamelin, that he’d probably lost his family group and was looking for another, but since the people in the scrap towns rarely interacted outside their own families, he wasn’t going to find what he was looking for there. Eventually, he left, and her father never saw him again. Piper wondered if Gee had had a similar experience.

The flickering gaslights in the suite made her sleepy. Piper was just contemplating lying down next to Anna when the door opened, and Gee and Jeyne walked in, grim expressions on their faces.

Piper tensed, unsure what to say as Jeyne came to stand in front of her. “You’ve both had a rough night, so I won’t keep you here long, but I need some sort of explanation,” she said. Her tone was businesslike, but there
was an edge to it. “Gee followed you from the train. He said those slavers didn’t just grab you at random. They were looking for you specifically, and they went to a lot of trouble to get you. I need to know why so I can protect both you and this train.”

She waited for Piper to speak. Gee leaned against the wall, but he wasn’t looking at Piper. He was pale, and looked sick from breathing in the dust. Piper felt the weight of the debt she owed him. She cleared her throat. “They were after Anna,” she said, then she started talking.

She told them what had happened the night of the meteor storm, about Micah’s injury, how she’d found Anna in the caravan wreckage and brought her back to her house, how the other caravan survivor had eventually tracked them there. “We jumped on the train right after he attacked us,” Piper explained. “The only thing Anna remembers clearly is the factory in the capital, so that’s where we’re headed.”

“That’s why you went to Raenoll,” Gee said, speaking for the first time. “You thought she could help Anna remember who she is.”

“That’s right,” Piper said, “but it wasn’t worth getting caught by the slavers. I should have listened to you,” she said, glancing at Gee.

Jeyne looked at her thoughtfully. “You’ve come a long way on your own,” she said. “You have family back north?”

Piper shook her head. “It’s just me.”

“And Anna has no idea who this man is who’s after her?” Gee asked.

“I found out tonight his name is Doloman,” Piper said. “That’s all we know.” She sighed. At least maybe that nightmare was over. With any luck, he was sitting in a Tevshal jail right now with the other slavers and couldn’t hurt either of them.

“Doloman?” Jeyne said. She looked at Gee and their alarmed expressions churned up dread in Piper’s gut.

“What is it?” Piper said. She rubbed slick palms together and tried to push back her growing fear. What else was about to go wrong?

“Well,” Jeyne said, “that makes for a thornier problem, doesn’t it?” Before Piper could speak, she held up a hand. “Your friend has the tattoo of the Dragonfly territories, is that right?”

“That’s right,” Piper said. “Whatever else she is, she’s protected by King Aron.” She glanced at Gee. “I wasn’t lying about that part.”

“That doesn’t solve anything,” Gee said tersely, but he was addressing Jeyne, not Piper. “We’re still obligated—”

“I’ll decide what I’m obligated to do on this train, thank you,” Jeyne said curtly. Her expression softened when she looked at Piper. “Gee here is upset because he knows the 401 is bound to cooperate with anyone who has the dragonfly tattoo on account of it being King
Aron who pays our wages and keeps this train running. The problem is that Doloman also has the mark of the Dragonfly.”

Piper’s heart stuttered in her chest. Suddenly, she couldn’t catch her breath. It was as if Doloman were there choking her again. “You mean …”

“Yeah, I mean.
Master
Doloman—that’s his title—is a member of King Aron’s advisory council. In addition to that, he’s the king’s chief machinist. That pretty much makes him the second most powerful person in the Dragonfly territories.”

Piper was at a loss for words. All she could manage to utter was a faint “I didn’t know.”

“There’s no reason you would,” Gee said. “You’re not from the Dragonfly territories, and Master Doloman’s very secretive about himself and his work for Aron. He hardly ever goes out in public.” He glanced at Jeyne. “We’ve never met him, but he was one of the men who built the 401.”

“He’s an engineering genius,” Jeyne said grudgingly.

“He’s your boss.” Piper gripped the edge of the bed for support. “That’s what Gee meant when he said you were obligated. When they find out who he is in Tevshal, they’ll let him go. Then he’ll come here, and you’ll have to turn us in.”

What would happen to her then? What would happen to Anna? Doloman would likely take her to Noveen, and Piper would be the one thrown in a jail cell for the
rest of her life for assaulting Aron’s chief machinist. She’d been an idiot to think their troubles with Doloman were over, but this was worse than anything she could have imagined.

Jeyne turned to Gee. “Why don’t you head up front and let Trimble know that we need to get under way as soon as possible. I’ll join him in a minute.”

Gee hesitated, his lips pinched as if he wanted to argue, but something in Jeyne’s expression stopped him, because he nodded and headed for the door. He shot one last, long glance at Piper that made her look down at her feet uncomfortably. When she looked up, he’d left the car.

“What are you going to do?” she asked Jeyne.

The older woman didn’t immediately answer, which made Piper’s stomach clench. Jeyne pulled a chair out from the desk and sat down across from the bed. She regarded Piper thoughtfully. “I haven’t decided yet,” she said finally. “On the one hand, Gee’s right. Now that I know that it’s Master Doloman after you, I’m required to turn you over to him. If I don’t and King Aron finds out, there’s a good chance this train will get shut down, and we’re all out of a job. Goddess knows we’re running on borrowed time already, what with the factories spewing out parts for airships and ocean steamers faster than you can say ‘exploration through innovation.’ ” She sniffed. “That’s King Aron’s favorite saying. On the other hand, Master Doloman’s guilty of kidnapping and consorting
with slavers, which is something I won’t tolerate no matter who he is.”

“But if he’s such an important person, why didn’t he just have the authorities in Tevshal pull us off the train as soon as we got to the city?” Piper asked, confused. “Why did he hire the slavers?”

“I’m asking myself the same question,” Jeyne said, rubbing her temples. “He must not want the authorities knowing about you two. Slavers take their coin and don’t ask questions, and if Master Doloman wants to recover Anna quietly and get rid of you at the same time, selling you to the slavers is the perfect way to do it.” She clasped her hands together, cupping metal over skin. “But if it’s true he doesn’t want to attract attention, it’s a safe bet he won’t risk coming on the train and demanding that we hand you over, especially after what happened tonight. And that gives us a reprieve.”

Piper considered this. Jeyne was probably right—if he hadn’t already, Doloman probably wouldn’t risk coming after them openly, but whatever sanctuary the train provided wasn’t going to last forever. “He’ll just wait and come after us when we get to Noveen,” Piper murmured. “He knows that’s the train’s last stop. He knows that it’s Anna’s home too, that that’s where she’ll want to go.” And how perfect for Doloman. Big city like Noveen—Aron’s chief machinist probably knew all kinds of unsavory types like the slavers who would be willing to help him kidnap two girls. The safe feeling
Piper had had earlier when they’d gotten back on the 401 fled her utterly. “We have to get off the train. It’s too dangerous to stay here—and we can’t go to the capital.”

“Hold on a minute.” Jeyne held up her hand. “You’re not caught yet,” she said.

“But—”

“No,
listen
. What if I decided to pretend you didn’t tell me that it’s Master Doloman who’s after you?” Jeyne said. “The train can stay on schedule to the capital, and once we get there, we’ll come up with a plan to hide you from him. What do you think about that?”

Piper hesitated. Jeyne’s plan sounded reasonable, but why would the woman go out of her way to help them, and defy one of King Aron’s advisors in the process? It seemed too good to be true. “You’d be risking a lot.” Piper’s voice quavered, betraying fear and hope. Would Jeyne and the others really stick their necks out for them like that? And if she did, how was Piper ever going to square all these debts?

“You took a risk too,” Jeyne said. “You could have handed Anna over to Master Doloman that night he showed up at your house, saved yourself a world of trouble. Why didn’t you?”

“I’m not that kind of scrapper,” Piper said. “She was alone and scared. Who else was going to help her?”

Beside her, Anna shifted and sighed in her sleep. Piper started to pull one of Trimble’s blankets over her, but Jeyne came and knelt beside the bed, stopping her.
Piper realized she was looking at Anna’s tattoo, which was exposed when Anna rolled over.

“That’s the Dragonfly’s mark, no mistake there,” Jeyne murmured softly. “Can’t figure why Master Doloman’s hunting one of his own, though. Doesn’t make sense.”

“That’s what Anna always says.” Piper smoothed the hair out of the girl’s eyes where it had come loose from her braids. “Nothing makes sense anymore.” A thought occurred to her. “Doloman said Anna is his daughter. Do you know if that’s true?”

Jeyne raised an eyebrow. “Master Doloman’s got no daughter that I’ve ever heard of. He’s married to his machines.”

“He looked at her like she was his daughter,” Piper said. She thought back to when he’d appeared at her house. He’d been overjoyed—beside himself—to see Anna that night. But the crazed look had been there too. “Doloman scares her. I’ve never seen anyone that scared of another person.”

“Then it’s a good thing she found you,” Jeyne said. She stood, drew a handkerchief out of her pocket, and mopped her face with it. “You should go and get some rest. Leave Anna. When she rouses, I’ll have Trimble take her back to your room.”

Piper hesitated. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. If she wakes up and I’m not here …” Piper stopped herself. Since when had she become such a mother hen?
What was it Anna had called her, a mother goshawk? Not much better—she really was going soft.

“I’ll check in on her every now and then,” Jeyne assured her. “She’ll be safe. As long as the two of you stay on the train, you’ll both be safe. I can promise you that.”

Looking into Jeyne’s determined face, Piper believed her. “Thank you. I—” She swallowed. She couldn’t promise repayment because she had no money now that Anna’s gold had been taken. Simple gratitude didn’t seem like nearly enough, but for now, it would have to do. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Jeyne stuffed the handkerchief back in her pocket and nodded at the door. “Go on, now.”

Piper stood and wobbled a little on her feet. Jeyne reached out with her metal arm and steadied her. Piper expected the steel prosthetic to be cold, but the metal was warm against her skin. She nodded her thanks, cast one more glance at Anna, then left the car.