Cold Copper

Chapter Forty-one

“Hold your fire!” Alun Madder called out loud enough Rose thought his voice could be heard in the next county. “We have found the children gone lost in this town. There will be no shooting.”

The gunmen hesitated.

“My baby!” a woman cried out. “You found my baby.” The woman was short and thin, with dark hair caught back under a blue silk-flounced bonnet. She broke out of the crowd and ran toward the children surrounding Rose.

The woman plucked up a little boy and pulled him into her arms, standing there rocking and murmuring comforting words.

Then a flood of people came forward, pulling their children toward them, crying, hugging, holding. More than one man clapped Hink on the shoulder in thanks as they walked by; more than one man shook hands with the Madders.

Rose found herself overwhelmed by the surge of happy people, and did her best to see that the children fell into the hands of family and loved ones. The sheriff was surrounded by townspeople and was receiving congratulations too, and several of his men had youngsters in their arms.

The gunmen were fathers, brothers, and uncles. They put their guns away.

The Madders stood near Rose, staring at the sheriff across all the happy people.

The sheriff glared at them. But he couldn’t just shoot the men who had solved his city’s greatest mystery, couldn’t kill the men who had brought happiness back to families who had been wrapped in grief.

The Madders looked like three pleased foxes who had dined on prized hens.

The sheriff holstered his gun.

Rose was relieved that the children had been found and returned. But there was still more that wasn’t settled. The children weren’t talking. None of them seemed to even recognize their families.

Something was missing. And she wasn’t the only one who noticed. It began as a small murmur. One or two people asked their child what was wrong. And then it grew. They knew. They knew their children might be there in body, but that some part of them was still lost.

“What the hell now?” Hink muttered.

“It’s the kids,” Rose said. “Some Strange has a piece of them. We haven’t found it yet. Haven’t found the Strange. Well, haven’t had a chance to look for it. I thought…I thought you were dying, so I just ran.”

“Sheriff,” Cedar said. “May I speak with you?”

Rose looked over and was shocked to see both Cedar and Wil Hunt striding down the road. Wil had on borrowed pants and boots, one hand rested in his coat pocket as if he carried something there. His grin was wicked and his eyes glittered.

Seeing the two of them together, as men, was such a rare thing, she had to admit to being a little caught by the sight of them.

They were of a height and build, though Wil was leaner and narrower than his older brother. And whereas Cedar Hunt looked like he could bear the weight of the world’s troubles across his wide shoulders, Wil looked more the type who might enjoy stirring up that trouble.

The brothers passed Miss Dupuis and Wicks, and Cedar told them both to get aboard the ship that hovered to one side of the ruined church. Neither of them argued, though Wicks opened his mouth, but closed it quickly when Miss Dupuis tugged him by the arm to the Swift’s ladder.

The sheriff met Cedar in the center of the road. Close enough Rose could hear them over the townsfolk and airship fans.

“We came to this town with no animosity toward the town or these people. And though my companions have been jailed, and escaped, it was to do this great good. To find the children of this town. And if you want the children to laugh and grow and thrive, to have their reasoning minds, you will let us go.”

“What game are you playing, Mr. Hunt? Are you holding our children’s minds hostage for your release?”

“It seems I am.”

Rose glanced around. She couldn’t believe Cedar was standing there blackmailing the sheriff. She slipped her hand in her pocket and wrapped her fingers around her gun.

“Is there some kind of guarantee you’re going to give me?” the sheriff asked. “I’m not about to let you fly off on the strength of a promise.”

“Keep us here and those children will never recover.”

The sheriff frowned, glanced over at the children, many of whom just stared straight ahead.

“We’ll stay behind as collateral,” Alun Madder said. “My brothers and I.”

“No,” Cedar said.

“Now, now, Mr. Hunt,” Alun said. “You should know better than to turn down the best offer you’re going to get. According to the law, there’s still some reason Sheriff Burchell here might want to keep us. We’ll stay while you see to the children’s needs. And when it’s clear those children are once again their normal selves—something I encourage you to do quickly—then Sheriff Burchell will uphold his side of the bargain and let us all go.”

The sheriff nodded slowly. “You belong behind bars.”

“As you may have noticed, bars can’t hold us,” Alun said. “We will leave your town and give our promise to never return.”

“Agreed,” Burchell said. “Let some other lawman see you swing.”

“Just so,” Alun said happily. “Off with you, Mr. Hunt. If you do your job correctly, we’ll see you on the outside of town.”

Rose tugged on Hink’s hand and hurried with him to the Swift. The Madders always had a plan. She knew that if they had to, they’d find a way to get away, even if the sheriff wasn’t true to his word. And it appeared Cedar knew that too.

Rose climbed the ladder to the Swift as quickly as she could with a bum arm, Hink right behind her. He hollered for his crew to lower the basket.

Cedar and Wil helped Father Kyne into the basket.

Then Rose was up in the hustle and hurry of the ship, that beautiful, sweet ship, hugging Mae and helping to work the wenches to get Father Kyne aboard. She glanced up to see her airship captain walk up the narrow interior, already more steady on his feet as his hands grasped and released the ship’s metal framework, like a blind man gently stroking the face of a long-missed loved one.

Last into the safety of the ship came Wil, who was smiling, and Cedar Hunt, who looked exhausted and in pain. He took hold of one of the metal bracings and leaned against the wall a moment, breathing heavily from his climb.

She had never seen him so ill before.

“Tell us where to fly, Mr. Hunt,” Captain Hink said. “So we can put this town behind us.”

“A warehouse,” Wil said. Only it wasn’t Wil’s voice coming out of his mouth. Rose shot a glance at Cedar.

“Listen to him,” he said. “The Strange saved the children from following the Holder’s call and drowning in the river. But they put their bodies in that cave. Their minds are trapped with the Strange.”

“Strange are keeping the children’s minds?” Mr. Wicks asked.

“Oath given,” Not-Wil said. “To free your own. To free my own.”

“I don’t understand,” Miss Dupuis said. “What is…is that even Wil speaking?”

Cedar pulled himself together with what looked like extreme effort. He walked over to stand by his brother. “It’s not just Wil. I have a promise to fulfill. To free the Strange. They’re somewhere in this town, trapped.”

“And all he can tell us is they’re in a warehouse?” Miss Dupuis said. “There must be hundreds of warehouses in this town.”

“I know where they are,” Rose said. She pulled the broken battery out from under her blouse and held it out so Wil could see it. “Are they trapped in something like this?”

Wil’s eyes went wide and his lips pulled back in a snarl. He took a step toward Rose, reaching for the battery. Cedar clamped his hand around Wil’s wrist and Wil stopped.

“That looks like a yes to me,” Captain Hink said. “Take us northeast, Mr. Seldom,” he said. “Toward the airship field. Look for boxcars on a side spur with a warehouse to the west.”

Captain Hink’s crew scrambled to see to his orders and Rose took hold of a metal bracing, setting herself for the welcome speed of the ship beneath her feet.