We pushed past hordes of people up stairs and through golden stained-glass corridors to a great arching hall of stained glass. Morton hurried to a man in uniform and handed over his newspaper. "Which way to gate 19?"

"Over there," the man pointed to the far corner.

"You must stop that zeppelin," Morton said.

The man chuckled. "Be hard to do, sir," he pointed. Eighty yards away, the door to the outside was being shut. "If you hurry, they might let you on."

To our dismay, hundreds of people lay before us. But we ran through them, pushing people aside, straining to get to the zeppelin before it rose. Finally, we got to the counter. "You must stop the zeppelin," I panted.

The woman smiled. "I'm sorry. Once it's taken off," she pointed at the top of the enormous structure rising through the air, "we can't call them back." She glanced at Morton. "I can book you and your daughter another flight. Where were you bound?"

I turned away. Roy expressly forbade me to come here. If I revealed who I was, I was dead.

If Ma died, did it matter?

I took a deep breath and faced the woman. "I'm Mrs. Jacqueline Spadros. There's a bomb on that zeppelin."

The woman stared at me. "What?"

"There's a bomb on that zeppelin," Morton said.

This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

She blanched, then grabbed a microphone. "Bomb alert. Bomb alert. Jettison all cargo. I repeat, jettison all cargo immediately." She kept repeating the words.

Morton and I stared at the zeppelin as it rose, yet the cargo bay doors below stayed shut. Why didn't they jettison —

They knew people were in the hold.

"Um," Morton said, glancing down at the woman, "I —"

The zeppelin engulfed in flame.

Terror stabbed me. Ma!

A huge sound, as if the world exploded.

"LOOK OUT!" Morton pushed me under the counter at the same instant the stained glass windows shattered above us.

Huge sheets of glass fell to smash on the wooden floor, shards flying like bullets whistling amidst the screams of the panicked crowd as we huddled under Morton's jacket.

Silence. A huge sheet of glass crashed to the ground far down the concourse.

Then all was sobbing and wailing.

Morton held my upper arms, peering at me. "Are you hurt?"

I shook my head, tears running down my face.

Morton helped me up. I stood next to him watching the pieces of zeppelin fall burning from the sky.

Ma ... I tried so hard to get you somewhere safe. I sent you to your death. I leaned against Morton, weeping as he held me.

Then: Oh, Anastasia.

As the last pieces fell, I remembered the foolish big-eared man, Trey, who thought I might marry him.

Police and zeppelin officials swarmed the area shouting for doctors. People bled all around us. The floor was covered with glass, blood, bodies, crying children, people wailing as they knelt over loved ones.

Morton grabbed my arm. "We must leave before the police start questioning people."

We tried every door, every hallway, but they were all blocked, guarded. Finally, I put my hair up, my hat on, and tried to bully a guard into letting us out, telling him my name.

"I'm sorry, mum, but we can't let anyone leave. This is a police matter. I can call Mr. Spadros if you wish."

I turned away, terrified. What would Tony say? What would Roy do?

But what could I do? I turned back to the guard. "Yes. Tell him I was here to see Dame Anastasia off." I pointed where the zeppelin used to be. "She was on that ship."

"I'll have someone contact him right away."

Morton found some chairs which weren't damaged, and not too covered in glass, and brushed them off. There we sat while doctors and assistants, police and officials, families and the dead were moved about, until Tony came and they allowed him to fetch us.