Gods of New Orleans Read Free Page A

on cheeks.
    “C’mon, Alice. Stay here. Stay here with me. And with Aiden.”
    Aiden stooped and then kneeled next to his father, putting one hand on his ma’s arm and giving a little squeeze.
    “She okay, Pa?”
    “I don’t know,” he said, shaking her gently as he rolled her onto her back. “Alice? Alice!”
    She snapped out of it in flash and heaved in a deep breath. Her fingers clutched at the air and Aiden’s pa held her still with his hands on her shoulders. She bucked and shook on the floor. Her teeth clamped together and she whipped her head side to side as her eyes flashed open and seemed to stare at something far off in the distance.
    “Get her feet, Aiden!” his pa said.
    Aiden moved slow, like he was dreaming. He had to be. His mother didn’t get fits. As he reached to hold his mother’s feet, she kicked up with both legs, knocking him backward.
    “Dammit, son, hold her still!”
    Aiden rolled up onto his hip. Miss Farnsworth was at his ma’s side already. She had hold of his mother’s left leg while the other one kept swinging out and back in, like it was some kind of machine on a factory line. Aiden went forward again and got hold of his ma’s right ankle just in time to avoid a kick in the teeth.
    “Just hold her ‘til she’s through,” his pa said. “Just hold her.”
    Together the three of them kept the rocking, flailing form of Aiden’s mother down on the floor of the cabin. In a few moments, she went still and her eyes closed.
    “Ma?”
    “Alice? C’mon, honey. Come back to us. We’re here,” his pa said.
    “Mrs. Conroy?” Miss Farnsworth asked, and her voice came out all nice and kind, something Aiden figured she didn’t have in her. At least not where his ma was concerned.
    Aiden held his breath until his mother opened her eyes. She looked at each of them, one by one, landing last on Miss Farnsworth’s face.
    “I’m . . . okay now. I’m just t‌—‌ Sleep. I need to‌—‌”
    “Okay, Alice. Okay now. We’ll help you back to the bunk. C’mon everybody.”
    Aiden and Miss Farnsworth each held one of his mother’s legs. His pa lifted her under her arms and carried most of her weight. They shuffled back to the corridor leading to the bunkrooms. There, Aiden’s ma seemed to get her wind back and struggled to get her legs free. His pa said to let her go, so they did. Aiden and Miss Farnsworth stood back as his folks made a slow step into the bunkroom.
     
    ~•~
     
    Emma waited for the door to close before taking the Conroy kid back to the cabin. They were his folks, and even if she didn’t feel all that warm to them, they were all the kid had. She’d known enough of what it means to lose a family, and the whole experience had brought that pain right back into her heart. It was hell watching the kid’s face twist through those same feelings.
    For a moment, Emma let herself think about losing Eddie. He and Otis had been out cold since they got airborne back in Chicago City. She should go back and see how he was doing.
    It’d just take a minute.
    But they still had to get fueled up.
    “Can you work the fuel lines?” Emma asked the Conroy kid. “Can you run the pumps, and shut them off when I give the word? The gearboxes down there put the lines into the ship, but without anyone to work the station house radio, we’ll have to disconnect them manually. Can you do it?”
    The kid nodded, but his head turned slowly back so he was facing the corridor again. Emma followed his gaze with her own and then, quick as lightning, she snapped her face back around.
    Eddie’s fine. He has to be.
    “Kid, I’m talking to you here. I’m sorry about your mom back there, but I’m guessing you’ve already seen that vanishing act Brand pulled. You know what it’s about, or at least you know as much as I do. My father did it a couple times back in Chicago City. So now Brand’s in on the game. Fine. But how about we make good on the help he gave us and get this ship back in