The Dream Thief by Kari Kilgore (books for 10th graders txt) 📕

but he felt a lot more confident after surviving even a disrupted night up in the air.

He pushed the door to Loretta's room open a tiny bit. She was still asleep, brown sheets pulled up to her chin, or at least she looked like it. If she was pretending, he was better off letting her.

He closed the door and headed toward the front of the ship, wanting to find the way up to the deck. Nervous as he'd been about flying, he was still excited to be so far from Waldron's Gate and getting farther by the minute.

Once he was away from the cramped smuggler's rooms and the narrow corridor he’d hauled Rullin through the night before, the cargo hold opened out into a larger space than he'd expected. Most of it was empty on this return trip, and Karl wondered just how much would fit inside. He guessed it was easily two stories tall, but he had no guess how long in the dim light.

He'd been too afraid of getting sick the night before to eat much. Right now his rumbling stomach hoped whatever food was available would turn out to be as well cared for as the rest of the ship.

Karl climbed the narrow metal stairs built against the outside wall of the ship, holding the rails against the swaying motion. The door at the top was made of heavy wood, but it swung open easily. He gasped at the view all around him.

They were over a vast, flat stretch of land, far larger than Karl had imagined existed in Alterra. He recognized huge farms with plants or trees in neat rows, but the great stretches of forest looked unreal to him. He walked toward the front of the ship, keeping one hand on the polished black rail beside him.

They were easily two hundred feet off the ground, and the wind was fierce and constant, making his eyes water terribly. The view at the front end of the narrow deck was even more spectacular.

Mountains bigger than Karl thought possible loomed far ahead, most of the peaks covered with snow. He hoped it would still be daylight when they were flying over them.

He heard voices above and to his left and climbed another set of stairs to the smaller level, much more conscious of his grip this time. This had to be the working deck of the ship.

Several men were busy adjusting the huge airbags overhead, some scrambling up or down shifting rope ladders fast enough to make Karl's insides recoil. Others tended to the great propellers in the back or the smaller ones on the sides that controlled their direction. A few were cleaning or repairing the gleaming black ship itself. That's where he spotted Rullin with a mop in his hands, not looking nearly so sure of himself as the night before.

A few bruises were visible on the boy's arms and face, and he moved as if he were sore all over. Thoughts of what he'd do if he were in the same situation with his younger brother made Karl's stomach knot up despite his hunger.

Andy would never do such things, but someone probably thought the same of Rullin years ago. Karl couldn't quite manage to feel sorry for him, though, and that was only amplified when the boy glared at him.

"Good morning, Karl," Bill said from right beside him. "I hope you slept well the rest of the evening."

"I slept just fine, thank you. I hope you did the same."

Bill smiled and shook his head.

"I'm afraid I had a rather long night," Bill said. "I'm not sure it was a benefit to anyone. But sometimes these things can’t be helped. I've never hired an enforcer like so many of the other pilots do. On the rare occasions that it's needed, the work falls to me. Have you eaten?"

"I was going to ask you about that. Where would I find food around here?"

"Across there to the port side," Bill said, pointing to the left. "Take those stairs down. That leads to the kitchens, such as they are. I hope you're not accustomed to fine dining."

Karl laughed out loud, surprising himself.

"Hardly. I generally eat out at the Columns. Unless I'm at my mother's house, I don't expect much more than fuel."

"So you were serious about that after all," Bill said, nodding slowly. "I'm not sure if I want to know more, but I’m tempted to ask you all the same. Perhaps later. Have you seen Loretta this morning?"

Bill's grin made it clear he'd made the same assumptions she had the night before about where Karl would end up sleeping.

"I peeked in on her before I came up," Karl said. "She's still out."

"Ah, well." Bill closed his eyes for a second. "I'm sure she needs her rest. I hope you'll both join me for dinner this evening. It would be my pleasure. On the unusual occasions that I do have passengers, they're rarely the sort I actually want to speak with."

"I'd be glad to. I’ll let Loretta know when I see her."

"Well done last night, Karl. Though I wish it hadn't needed doing. Rullin can be an ass, but he's never tried to harm a passenger before. I'm truly sorry. He's always calmed down for weeks at a time after I've had to discipline him. He won't bother you or Loretta again. Enjoy your breakfast."

Karl did his best to enjoy it, but the porridge was far closer to fuel than gourmet fare, even if a step above the cafeteria at Joffrey Columns. At least the cafei was strong and plentiful.

Loretta walked in just as he was finishing his second cup. She didn't look nearly as bedraggled as he was sure he did.

"Quite a setup our friend Bill has here," she said, sitting at the rough wooden table across from Karl with her own bowl of thick stewed grains. No one else was in the compact dining room. She took a long drink of the cafei he handed to her.