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

"What's this one?" Loretta said.

She pointed to a complex pulley-and-gear mechanism anchored to the long stone countertop. Belts looped along the wall and ceiling and back down to another cauldron.

Gemma reached up to a high shelf and grabbed a whisk, the kind Karl had seen his mother and her cooks using to beat egg whites. This one had bare, sharp metal at the top rather than a handle. When Gemma snapped it into place and adjusted a lever he hadn't noticed, he understood why. The whisk whirred in a tight circle, faster than even Karl's mother could manage.

"This is the heart of my kitchen," Gemma said. "Something every woman would have if I had my way. Every tedious task made easy. I can beat, whip, knead, all those chores that were making my old knuckles ache."

She reached up again, pulling down a flat metal square. What looked like several knives were attached to a bar at one end, and to a tiny crank at the other. She flipped the lever back down, stilling the whisk, and attached the metal box.

"Karl, would you fetch me a carrot from the larder there?"

He followed her eyes and saw a small wooden door with metal straps across it, set right into the stone wall at what would be Gemma's waist level. When he pulled the handle, he was amazed at the cool air flooding out all around him. This was every bit as cold as the modern coldbox in his mother's kitchen, with no trace of gears or pulleys to make it work. Several types of vegetables, a jug of water, and a bottle of what he thought must be milk were inside. He grabbed a thick carrot, not wanting to miss this demonstration.

"Thank you, dear," Loretta's grandmother said. "Now you must be careful with this chopper. Not for the faint of heart or those with curious children still underfoot."

She slid the carrot into the open end of the box until it was nearly all inside, then flipped the lever. After a blur too fast to see and a clatter too fast to understand, she turned the thing off. When she lifted it, the carrot looked intact. Gemma touched it with her finger, and it fell into perfect orange circles.

"I'm making one now that spins instead of chops. Anything I can figure out how to attach, I can make work."

All Karl could manage to do was nod. Gemma continued around the open room, showing them one device after another. One washed clothes; another spun them in a barrel over another fire pit until they were dry. A nearby sewing machine, not much different than the one Karl's mother used, attached to another pulley to save the user from having to pump the treadle.

He had to duck under what Gemma called a fan in the middle of the room, a series of elongated wooden blades attached in the middle. When she flipped the lever for that one, the blades spun, and a warm breeze filled the room.

"So much better than one corner broiling and the other freezing, isn't it?" she said. "And it's pure bliss on a warm day when the fire still needs to be going. I'm working on a smaller fan to blow the warm air right out the window at times like that. Still, I can see from my towering guest here that I need to make it adjustable. Easy enough."

She wasn't the least bit daunted by the idea of reworking what looked incredibly complex to Karl. A bright smile lit her features, and he couldn't help smiling in return.

"Where do you get all the materials for this, Gemma?" he said.

"Oh, that's part of what my lovely granddaughter takes care of for me. The same young man who brings my food and such takes the list and sends it off, usually to right where you live. Then a couple of weeks later, he brings everything back for me. I've been waiting ages for the wire you brought me today."

She reached out, and Loretta took her hand.

"I'm happy to take care of you, Gemma," Loretta said. "While we're here, just let me or Karl know if you need anything done that you aren't able to do. He's almost as clever as he is strong."

"Oh, handsome is what he is," Gemma said. "Looks like a fine match to me. Come sit with me. Tell me why an ordinary day brings such a wonderful surprise."

Karl followed the two women to the other side of the room where a surprisingly comfortable sofa and two chairs waited. One of the bright bulbs that should never be glowing so far past any city hung in the middle of the space, and a low table was covered with neat drawings on heavy paper.

Another table under the window held what looked like the new food chopper. This time, six blades were arranged almost exactly like the overhead fan. Comparing the two made Karl's flesh crawl at thoughts of a larger version.

"I'm happy to see you for any reason at all, Gemma," Loretta said. Karl was impressed at how honest she sounded. He hadn't gotten the impression she was glad to be here at all. "And I'm delighted for you to meet a friend of mine. But we do need your help."

The woman's strangely unlined face glowed nearly as bright as the electric lights.

"You know I'll do anything I can for you, bobbin."

Loretta sighed. "I'm afraid my gyro-compass has had a bit of an accident."

Loretta pulled it out of her bag, and Karl recognized the loops of copper, tiny as they were. This wasn't much different than the thing over the fire that produced such grand displays of electricity. Gemma frowned and took it in both hands.

"Oh dear, this has taken quite a knock," she said. "I might not be able to repair it. See how the wires are broken, there?" Karl nodded, trying to look like he understood. "I