Constantine Capers: The Pennington Perplexity by Natalie Brianne (new ebook reader TXT) 📕

the best view. They walked along the corridor looking at paintings or out the observation windows in silence. Midway through the corridor there was a hallway going back into the inner wall. Countless doors led to crew and passenger quarters. They rounded the bend and came to the main observation lounge. Glass nearly surrounded the place, with armchairs and couches provided. Several people already occupied them. A hall continued past and back around to the rear of the ship. The back wall of the observation room held a door that led to the ballroom and dining areas.

As she explored, she sensed Byron’s gaze on her. She made a mental note and became increasingly curious as to why they were there. He would tell her eventually, right? After looking in the ballroom she came back to the observation area and took a seat near the glass exterior. Byron joined her. She bit her lip and averted her gaze.

“This is entirely wonderful, but I am wondering. Why are we here?”

“I thought it would be a nice change in routine.”

“It is nice, but don’t we have a case to solve?”

“We’ll have plenty of time for that.”

“Shall we?”

“Yes. We shall. You see, this ship is making a round trip today. It starts here, and then it flies to Bristol. Once there it will refuel and drop off some passengers, and then it will turn around and fly back probably before seven tonight. I certainly hope you didn’t have any plans.” His eyes twinkled.

“I do now.” She smiled. “But that doesn’t answer the question about the case.”

“Ah, yes. I figured that this would be ample time for you to ride an airship for the first time and do your sightseeing, and then with however much time that leaves us, this does happen to be the airship that our friend Pennington was working on. The Horizon. I thought we might have a friendly chat with his previous coworkers.”

“I knew you had a plan.”

“Always do. Course this outing was a surprise, was it not?”

“Yes. It was. A lovely surprise.”

“There you have it. I’m also investing in my secretary’s well-being.”

“Thank you.”

A megaphone crackled above them. “Good morning, ladies and gentlemen! This is your captain speaking. We have just finished our preliminary checks and shall soon be underway. Just thought I would let you know before we start up the engines. Our flight is round-trip from London to Bristol. Happy flying!”

The megaphone died down. Mira noticed that her hands were gripping the armrests of her chair. This was it. They were about to take off. Being on the airship itself wasn’t much of an issue. After all, it was entirely safe on the ground. But the addition of air and height made it potentially lethal. She closed her eyes. She knew that was a lie. Her parents’ accident had happened on the ground, after all. But none had happened since then. She would be fine. She felt the engine rumble beneath her, and she trembled ever so slightly. Then, out of nowhere, she felt a hand fall on top of hers.

“Mira?” Byron said. She opened her eyes and looked at him. “It’s alright Mira. We’ll be fine.”

Her breaths became steady again. Something in his voice soothed her, and his expression was so sincere. He shifted his hand, so he held hers and gently pulled her to a standing position, then steered her to the window. The airship rose, and she felt a type of weightlessness. They drifted higher and higher until they were at eye level with the clouds. It was exhilarating. It was liberating. It was safe. She glanced at Byron and he quickly looked back out the window. She smiled softly and watched as London got smaller and smaller.

“Thank you.”

He nodded, not looking at her, but at the clouds outside. Then he let go of her hand. “Shall we go and explore some more?” He grinned at her.

They spent a good portion of the day looking over every inch of the airship that they could. They ate in the restaurant, and Mira couldn’t tell if the French toast really was better on the airship, or if it only tasted that way because they were flying. The views from the observation windows continued to astound her. She sketched clouds and other passengers in the observation deck while Byron searched for a steward. They needed permission to go below the main deck and talk to the crew. She just finished the shading on one drawing when he came back.

“They gave us permission. Shall we?” He offered an arm. She took it.

“Yes. We shall.”

He led her around the main hallway towards the center of the ship where all the passenger quarters were. They turned onto that hallway and made their way past door after door until they reached the center. A door marked “Crew Only” stood there. Byron paused.

“I must warn you; We shall be going outside.”

She nodded, and he opened the door. A gust of wind pulled at her skirts as they descended a spiral staircase.

The engines and crew quarters were slightly detached from the main chassis. The design was an attempt to eliminate noise and rumbling for passengers on the main deck of the ship. The chassis containing the engine rooms and crew quarters was suspended from heavy cables that ran all the way up to the balloon about twenty feet below the passenger deck. In order to reach it you had to take a set of stairs outside of the confines of the airship in the open air.

The wind bit at her skin and pulled her hair and skirts in every direction, but she grinned, nonetheless. Byron kept a hold of her hand to keep her steady as he led her into the belly of the beast.

The closed door snuffed out any exterior light. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and she felt queasy from the smell of sulfur. When her eyes adjusted, she found that everything was made of metal, presumably aluminum. Byron led her