The guard said, “Get that robot thing out of the dirt. The King will need to see it.”

Miss Locke and the younger man broke apart the clump of dirt, and pulled out the small kicking metal spider.

Eleanor pictured the ground overhead filling with burrowing spiders and eventually collapsing. She whispered to the Sergeant, “Do you think you can command your dog to return home?”

He whispered, “Maybe. Why?”

“We need to warn Perse and her family about the danger of the sky collapsing.”

He glanced at the guard, who was watching the inventors while Minnie told him about one of Captain Blodger's exciting adventures.

Eleanor pulled a wine bottle out of the wagon, and peeled off the label. She opened the bottle, and used the tip of Minnie's boot knife, dipped in red wine, to write, 'P - Warn C, Sky May Fall.' She pocketed the knife, and blew on the label until the wine dried.

The Sergeant took the note and rolled it into a handkerchief, and then tied a second rolled handkerchief to the first and made a collar around the dog's neck.

He fed the dog a piece of dried meat, and said softly, “Go home.”

The dog licked his fingers. “Go. Home.”

The dog looked at Eleanor.

She said, “No more soup from me, sorry,” and showed the dog her empty hands.

The Sergeant clapped his hands above the dog's head, and growled, “Go home.”

The dog lowered his tail and nose, but turned and walked slowly westward, avoiding large clods of dirt on the ground.

The guard turned and looked at the Sergeant, and then saw the dog. “Where is that mutt going?”

The Sergeant said, “I'm sending him home, so we don't have to feed him. I live by the Pit. You've met me before.”

“Yeah, I have. And your dog never had a collar before.” He whistled, and pulled something from his coat pocket.

The dog looked back at him.

He waved his arm, and shouted at the dog, “I've got a nice sandwich for you.”

The dog stopped, and looked at Eleanor and the Sergeant. The Sergeant mouthed some words, probably “Go home,” and Eleanor looked away from the dog. She saw Minnie step backwards, behind the guard.

He called, “Come here, you hungry fleabag. Nice juicy sandwich.”

The dog took a few steps back toward the guard.

A gunshot cracked through the air.

The dog turned and bolted toward home.

The guard crouched, and looked around.

Minnie, sounding deeply concerned, said, “Whatever that was, I think it hit your airship. Look.” She pointed up at the flyer.

Eleanor noticed that Minnie's other hand was just leaving her pocket.

Eleanor looked upward, and saw the flyer drifting lower, with its balloon beginning to deflate.

The guard shook his head. “You three are under arrest, for whatever you attached to that dog.”

Eleanor noticed that the inventors became far more concerned about the sinking airship. She doubted that one guard could keep all of them arrested. He would have to sleep sometime.

Minnie said, “Actually, I have nothing to do with your garbage dwellers here. I had only asked them to take me to the King. I have liquor and a good tent to deliver to him, as well as more ammunition and some fine winter clothing. So arrest them if you like, but I'm working directly for King Blodger.”

He looked at Minnie, probably realizing that her clothes were much cleaner than the Sergeant's ragged clothing and Jeanne's grimy old dress which Eleanor wore. He said, “Fine. I won't arrest you as a spy, yet, but I'm still keeping an eye on you.”

“I'll say good things about you to my old friend Captain Blodger.” Minnie smiled at him. “And I'm taking my property back from these ruffians.”

Eleanor stood by the wagon, unsure if she should take Zeek's bag out, or let Minnie take it.

Minnie strolled over and began to pat her down.

Eleanor acted offended. “Get your hands off me, sky lady.”

Minnie said, “I know you stole my knife.” She leaned close, and whispered, “Zeek's airship is behind a building near the Pit. If things get bad, go home without me.” She leaned back and pulled her boot knife out of Eleanor's pocket. “Aha! Thief.”

Eleanor stepped back, trying to look ashamed.

Minnie took the wagon handle and pulled it away, taking Zeek's bag and the kerosene lamp away with her own luggage. She hurried after the other three who had gone to meet the landing airship.

The guard glared at the Sergeant. “What did you attach to that dog?”

“It was just a note for my family, saying that I'm safe. They knew that I was bringing that sky lady to the King, and they'll have heard the explosion, and if they worry, they'll all come looking for me. I didn't want them to bother. Sorry.”

“Well, you're arrested anyway. Both of you. Don't wander off.”

“We won't.” He shrugged.

Eleanor nodded, wondering what Minnie's plan might be.

The guard led them after the others, looking around frequently, probably wondering who had shot down the airship.

The flyer landed fairly gently, and a young man wearing military goggles climbed out. Miss Locke questioned him and pencilled notes on her clipboard, while both the other men inspected a long tube mounted on the airship's nose. Eleanor guessed that it was some type of cannon for launching the robotic spiders.

Minnie asked, “Can we repair your airship and fly to the King's City? I'm in a hurry, you understand.”

The man with the goggles shook his head. “Not unless you're delivering coal. We only had enough fuel to get airborne for this test. The hole in the balloon is minor.”

“Ah,” said Minnie. “I'm afraid I have no coal.”

The man said, “Then I'm afraid we're all going to walk back home.”

Eleanor approached Miss Locke to ask where the airship had come from, but the guard snapped at her, “Spy, keep away from the important people. Walk in the back.”

She waited with the Sergeant until the others were done with their notes and inspections. Minnie kept talking to the guard, and soon had him laughing and relaxed.

Eleanor looked back at the crater in the sky layer, and was relieved that the dirt had stopped falling behind them.

After a few more minutes, the whole group headed east, walking around a buzzing factory building.

The Sergeant walked close to Eleanor. He asked, “What's the plan?”

“I don't know. Minnie just does things, and makes up plans as she goes. Just be ready for anything.”

“That is a terrible plan.”

“I know.”

They walked eastward until lunchtime, when Miss Locke insisted on resting. Feeling exhausted, Eleanor lay down on the cold ground, ignoring the dust on her hair, and fell asleep to the sound of the others eating.

*

Eleanor woke up in the dark, hearing a couple of people snoring nearby. She sat up and looked around, but couldn't see anything. Shivering, she checked her coat pockets for a note from Minnie, but found nothing. The Green Coal activator was still knotted into her skirt.

She walked close to the snoring people, and realized that one wore clothing with a faint odor of rotting garbage. She shook him awake.

“Huh?”

“Ssh,” she whispered. “Come with me.”

They walked a short distance before stopping. Eleanor whispered, “Where is everybody?”

“They left without us, ma'am, since you were asleep and wouldn't wake up. Your wife and the airship pilot agreed to guard the inventors until they reached the city. The guard with the club said he would stay with us.”

“Should we escape while he's sleeping?”

“I'd rather not. We'll look guilty if we run, and there's nowhere to go that they wouldn't find us. Plus they're taking us to prison, which is where my wife is. That will be the easiest way to make plans, if we're together.”

“How do you know she'll be in the same prison?”

“There is only one. I've been to this town to trade mushrooms for clean water. They call it a city, but it has maybe sixty people in it, at most. It's just a big camp around a water drip.”

“Oh.”

“We'll get there tomorrow. For now, let's go back to sleep.”

“Is there any food?”

“The guard has some. You'll have to wait for breakfast.”

“Oh.” She walked near the guard and lay down again, shivering, wishing that she was in her warm bed up in the sky city. She thought about Charlie, and about her departed aunt and uncle, and about friends who she might never see again. Eventually she fell asleep.

*

In the morning, the guard gave her the mushroom sandwich from his coat pocket. It was crumbly and squishy, but better than nothing.

Then she and the guard and the Sergeant continued east.

Late in the afternoon, they walked around a silent factory building and saw a town of shacks and makeshift tents. In the center of the camp, a large airship sat under a steady drip of water from the sky overhead. The airship had a bedraggled flag hanging over its side, showing a skull and crossbones.

A few men walked between dark tents, talking to each other.

Eleanor expected to go to the airship, but the guard with the spiked club said, “You'll wait in prison, spies, until the King decides to see you. This way.”

They followed him around the wall of the silent factory to a heavy door guarded by two large men.

Their guard said, “Lock these spies inside.”