2 - Saying Goodbye
Eleanor paused in the apartment doorway, unsure whether she should hug Charlie for being safe, or scold him for disappearing.
He waved the rolled newspaper at her. "Have you seen this? What did you do?"
"I haven't seen anything. I just woke up, because I was looking for you all over town last night. Where have you been?"
Charlie pushed past her into the apartment, and closed the door to the hallway. "I've been down in the catacombs, under the orphanage graveyard."
Eleanor noticed that spiderwebs and dust covered his rumpled black clothes. "How did you get down there?"
"Minnie gave me a set of lockpicks, and the lock on the entrance gate was pretty easy."
"Were you trapped?"
"No. I just stayed down there awhile, because I feel closer to Ma and Pa there, with the other dead people. And it's quiet. I can think there, without getting lectures about respect and extinction and planetary stewardship. That orphanage is really odd."
Eleanor nodded. "I'm trying to get you released."
Charlie smiled weakly. "And I'm trying to get kicked out. I wanted to live with you and Captain Minnie. But now she's gone."
Eleanor heard the finality in Charlie's voice, and felt chills. "What do you mean, 'she's gone'?"
"Here. I heard some boys talking in the cemetery about this, so I came out of the catacombs and swiped the director's morning newspaper."
Eleanor took the newspaper and began to unroll it. "Stealing is wrong, you know."
The headline declared, "Aerial Menace Returns, Departs Forever."
"Oh. This can't be..."
The front page illustration showed a scarred wooden airship with a patched balloon, sinking into the Pit, while half a dozen police cruisers blasted it with cannons from overhead.
"This can't be accurate."
The article quoted a Mr. Ezekiel Scurraff, who claimed that Minnie had gotten drunk and had skyjacked his ship to chase some long-lost lover into the Pit.
Charlie said, "The papers do exaggerate some, but I could hear gunfire last night, even underground."
Neither Eleanor's name nor Charlie's name were mentioned. The article ended with a recap of Minnie's previous dastardly crimes, and claimed that the whole country was much safer without her.
Charlie asked, “Were you and Minnie fighting?”
“No, of course not. She might have been joking about going into the Pit, because she thought you-” Eleanor stopped, realizing Charlie might blame himself for Minnie's drunken stupidity. “Oh, never mind.”
“What did she think about me?”
“It doesn't matter. If all of this is true, she's gone.” Eleanor wiped a hot tear from one eye.
Charlie said, “Don't cry. We'll rescue her, if she doesn't come back on her own.”
“It's impossible. Nobody ever returns from the Pit. And we don't know if anything is down there. It might just be emptiness, forever.” Eleanor sat down on the couch and pulled one of Minnie's handkerchiefs with ripped lace out of the pile of unfinished mending projects. She blew her nose on it.
“It isn't emptiness. Jack at the orphanage told me he saw lights down there once. At night.”
Eleanor wiped her eyes. “Why? Why?”
“Anna Marie dared him to look. She's gorgeous, although her grampa's a kook who thinks the whole country was kidnapped by Greenie aliens. But if Jack could see lights, then there must be something down there. But there might not be food, and Minnie might be getting hungry. So we should get some food and bring it to her.”
Eleanor shook her head, and tried to think of reasons why Charlie couldn't possibly fly into the Pit after Minnie. “No. No, we don't know if she's really down there. Maybe she could have jumped out of the airship before it dropped, and in the dark nobody could have seen her. She could be hiding right now. We'll have to wait for her. And even if she is down there, we have no way to get to her.”
“We do too,” said Charlie. “Pa's solicitor brought me the keys to Pa's racing airship yesterday, along with the keys to the country house. The ship is in a public hangar near here, and it's mine, even though I'm not old enough to fly it yet. But you could.”
Eleanor shook her head again. “If anyone goes, it will be just me. You need to stay here and finish your studies. You have your whole life ahead of you. And I can't bear to have everyone I love in danger at the same time.”
Charlie sat down beside her and hugged her. “Shh, Captain Minnie will be safe, wherever she is. You'll be safe. I'll be safe.” He hugged her tighter. “That's what Ma always told me when Pa was gone for a race. And he didn't die racing, so I guess Ma was right.”
Eleanor hugged Charlie back, and straightened up. She was a grown woman, and she should be comforting Charlie instead of upsetting him.
She wiped her eyes again, and asked, “Have you eaten breakfast yet?”
“No.”
“I'll make us some breakfast, and then you'll go back to the orphanage. And you'll stay out of those catacombs. And I'll wait here for Minnie, and she'll come back, and I'll come to the orphanage this afternoon and tell you she's safe. And we'll all be safe.”
Charlie stared at her, blinking. “You're not as convincing as Ma was. But I hope you're right.”
*
Eleanor waited at home all morning, but Minnie didn't return, and she didn't send a message. By noon, Eleanor was convinced that she would never see her wife again.
Eleanor dressed in her mourning clothes and went out, heading for the Pit so she could ask whether anyone had actually seen an airship enter the Pit last night.
As she passed a tavern, somebody called out, “Come in here, woman.”
She kept walking.
“Minnie's in danger.”
Eleanor turned around, and saw the man with the scarred nose, who Minnie had called Scurvy Zeek last night.
He grinned at her. “Come inside.”
She stayed on the sidewalk, and frowned at him. “What do you want?"
“Are you really Minnie's wife?”
“Yes.”
He looked her up and down, and shook his head. “You're not half feisty enough, for that woman. But you're gonna help me.”
“Why should I help anyone?” she demanded, trying to seem feisty.
“You'll help, because I found out who your Charlie is, and bad things will happen to the kid if you don't help me. Understand?”
Eleanor widened her eyes, trying to look scared, but realized she was somewhat scared without acting. “What exactly do you want?”
“I want you to dive into the Pit and find Captain Blodger. You'll find Minnie too, since she's looking for him.”
“Why is she looking for him?”
“Because I told her some lies and cheated her at cards.” He smirked, showing crooked teeth. “But I found another damn carrier pigeon this morning. Blodger wants this bag, too.” He held out a dusty doctor's bag. “You'll take it. You'll bring it to Captain Blodger. Or else.”
Eleanor took it, and frowned at the dust on her clean black gloves. “Why can't you bring it to him?”
“I'm a busy man, and your wife borrowed my best airship last night. You'll have to go. And if I don't hear within the month that Blodger got that bag, your cousin Charlie is going head first into the Pit without a parachute. Understand?”
Eleanor felt chilled as she nodded. “I understand.”
“And if you go to the cops to complain, they're gonna arrest you for piracy. I told them you were Minnie's accomplice. They're probably looking for you right now. So get airborne.”
“I'm going. But I have to get ship keys from Charlie. You won't hurt him if I talk to him, will you?”
Zeek shrugged. “I'm a reasonable fellow. As long as Charlie doesn't go to the cops, or give me any trouble, and Blodger gets his bag, I'll never even meet the kid. Do whatever you need to, but be quick about it.”
Eleanor nodded, and Zeek disappeared back into the tavern.
*
Eleanor changed course and headed for the orphanage. When she reached the tall fence around the grounds, she saw Charlie working in the snow-covered garden inside, removing snow from delicate bushes.
He saw her and hurried over to the fence. “Don't go to the front gate. The police were here a bit ago, asking me questions. They're looking for you. I didn't tell them your address, but I think the director has it.”
Eleanor nodded, thinking of papers she had filled out before the custody meeting. “Did the police say why they want me?”
“They think you're a pirate too, although I told them you weren't ever a bad person. They said they were going to raid your house, and look for anything piratical.”
Eleanor remembered the letter from Minnie's friend Gloria, and wondered how much more evidence was in the house that would tie Minnie to her old life. “I don't think I should go home.”
“Here.” Charlie showed her an airship key. “Go after Minnie, and find her. I bought some food before I came back here, and I left it in the ship. And the doctor's bag there is a good idea. She might need medicine.”
Eleanor glanced unhappily at the bag that Zeek had given her. She reached between the fence bars and took Charlie's key. “I hate this idea.”
“You'll be fine. At least you're not stuck in the orphanage with me. Take this too.” Charlie handed her a piece of paper with the alphabet and notes by each letter about flashes and pauses.
“What's this?”
“A code, like Morse code. Signal me with lights at midnight, if you're alive, and if you find Minnie. I'll sneak out and visit the Pit every midnight.”
Far behind Charlie, Eleanor saw two uniformed guards leave the orphanage's main building. They headed across the lawn in her direction. “Guards are coming.”
“So get going. Be safe.”
Eleanor turned away, but then turned back. “Don't trust a man with a scarred nose, named Scurvy Zeek. Behave yourself. Farewell.”
“Have a good trip,” Charlie called out.
Eleanor turned again and hurried away. She glanced back and saw Charlie talking to the guards, but they didn't pursue her. She headed for the airship hangar, wishing that she could think of a better plan.
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