Gods of New Orleans Read Free Page B

the sky?”
    “O‌—‌ okay, Miss Farnsworth. Yeah. Okay,” he said, sniffling a bit and then pulling it in, holding his head up and looking her in the eye. “What do I do?”
     
    ~•~
     
    A gust of wind came up as Aiden dropped off the airship’s ladder, making him hit the deck with a jolt. He stumbled sideways and just missed falling off the edge by hanging onto the ladder with both hands. The wind picked up again, but he was ready for it this time. He waited until he had both feet steady before letting go of the ladder.
    Aiden dropped to a crouch by the posts on the edge of the deck. He fished the two restraining cables and pins loose from their clasps. Then he manhandled the ladder into position and drove the retaining pins home on each post.
    The fuel pumps stood down the deck behind him; two great metal canisters attached by hoses to the storage tanks below the deck. Another pair of hoses extended past a set of stirrups beside the pumps. The hoses were joined to the fuel valves on the Vigilance . Aiden looked past the fuel pumps at the two automatons in their small, covered shed. They stood stock-still, like they were frozen. Something about the way they stood there worried Aiden. He’d always liked watching them work back in Chicago City. But these two . . .
    He wondered if they were still powered up. He couldn’t hear the clatter of their little two-cycle engines over the wind.
    Miss Farnsworth’s voice carried down to him from above and he cupped an ear to catch her words better.
    “Go ahead and run the pumps, kid. The valves are open.”
    Aiden stepped up to the pumps and ran his hands over the gauges and buttons until he found the handle he was looking for. These pumps were older than the ones he’d used before, but the system was simple enough to figure out. Aiden rotated the handle in its slot until the arrow at the handle’s end lined up with the word RUN. Aiden heard the fuel begin moving through the hose.
    While he waited for Miss Farnsworth to give him the word to shut down, he let his eyes roam the surface of the pump casing. The metal was scratched up but good, and someone had painted all the signs and letters back on. The hoses joined the pump casing with new collars, though. The gleaming aluminum rings stood out like a set of city bracelets, making Aiden think about what waited for them in New Orleans.
    Would they land safely? Would the coppers be there, holding out their jewelry? Or would they just shoot the Vigilance out of the sky?
    Aiden listened to the fuel sloshing and bubbling through the hoses. He wrapped his arms around him and kept wondering how this would all turn out.
    Miss Farnsworth’s voice broke in on Aiden’s thoughts.
    “We’re about full. You can shut it off.”
    He walked out from behind the pumps and waved up at the cabin, seeing her shadowy figure standing at the door. Back at the pump he flipped the handle to OFF and reached for the levers that would release the fuel lines. It took all his strength to move just one of them. When the second fuel line released, Aiden made for the ladder, but Miss Farnsworth reminded him they were still moored.
    “Get us loose. You’ll have to work the winch by hand. Can you do it?”
    “Yeah, I got it,” he yelled up at her, hoping his voice sounded more sure than he felt. The pump levers were a real doozy to work, and he knew the mooring winch took both gearboxes to operate. With the machines still standing pat in their shack, he’d have to manage it on his own. Maybe there was a trick to it though, like a‌—‌
    “C’mon, kid! Get us loose! They’re back!” Miss Farnsworth’s voice carried down to him in angry fright.
    Throwing a quick glance at the station house below, Aiden didn’t have to ask who had come back.
    “Move it, Aiden! Now!”
    Aiden ran to the ladder without looking at the station house again. He’d seen the slim line of light in the corner of his eye. Someone had copped the sneak from the little