Between a favorable wind and running the engine at three-quarters power, Airwitch, as Amelia had named the airship, had been moving far faster than she’d ever expected, with the landscape just rolling past. With the wagon and horses, they normally traveled about twenty-five to thirty miles in a day, but as far as Amelia could tell, Airwitch was moving that much every hour and with the sisters taking turns at the helm, they’d been able to keep moving even at night, though Amelia hadn’t spent much time at it, because she’d been too busy putting finishing touches on things, lest they be unable to deflate the gas bag when the time came. She’d reluctantly put off the last of her work to take a turn at the helm, however, because Father was too nervous to man it and her sisters needed some rest.
It was just after dawn, a little over two and a half days into their journey and she was finally getting her first glimpse of the Burning Slopes mountain range. The ominous line of smoking volcanoes filled her with trepidation and she began to doubt her plan to fly right over them.
She raised the small, brass-framed telescope that had been a gift from Mrs. Maccle, getting a closer look at one of the shortest active calderas, where lava pooled and poured down the side of the mountain, causing the slope to live up to the name of the range, because the grasses that had been barely holding onto the steep incline burned as the molten stone came near, because the air was hot enough to ignite it!
Yawning after a night’s sleep inside, Marta stepped beside Amelia and followed her gaze, commenting, “We’re going over that, right?”
Amelia shrugged, “That was the plan, but now I’m not so sure, because these mountains are taller than I expected. I figured we’d be safe this high up, but now? I’m wondering if we should just go around, because we’ll have to fly between them, rather than over.”
“How much longer would that take?”
Amelia shrugged and looked one direction, then the other, following the mountain range with her eyes, which disappeared beyond both the east and west horizons.
“At least a month, maybe longer, because we’d lose this favorable wind.” Amelia shrugged.
“And how dangerous could it be to go over?”
Amelia gestured at the interior of the airship, “We’re flying in a structure made of wood that’s been lifted into the air by a highly explosive lighter-than-air gas. If we’re forced to land in those mountains, it could go very badly for us, because we’re also carrying pressurized canisters of the same gas. There’s a reason I installed a heating system based on a steam engine inside, rather than a wood stove, and forbade you all from using the one in the wagon.”
“But why would we land?” Marta asked.
Amelia shrugged, “There’s no reason to, aside from some emergency I haven’t been able to predict, but regardless, I don’t like the idea. Still, it will be at least an hour before we’re there, so we ought to have a family meeting, to decide what to do.”
“I’ll wake Iris and Father.” Marta nodded and headed off, while Amelia shut off the engine, to buy them more time for a discussion.
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Ten minutes later, everyone was gathered around the helm and the situation was explained by Amelia.
She finished by casting her vote, “I’m in favor of going around the mountains. How do the rest of you feel?”
Father shrugged, “Better if I let the three of you decide, lest we end up in a tie.” He winked at his daughters, “Besides, I’m used to witches being in charge.”
“Over,” Marta voted, “because we only have enough rations to last a month and the map Mrs. Maccle gave us doesn’t show any towns this far out, so we’d have to forage from the land if we take the long way, which would slow us down even more.”
Iris was next, “While foraging might be an option, I’ve been occasionally looking down. The lands we’ve been passing over aren’t the kind Mother taught us to forage in. We aren’t likely to know what’s safe to eat. That may be far more dangerous than what’s ahead of us. I vote for over.”
Amelia didn’t like it, but the decision was made and she nodded, “Okay. We go over. Everyone, get ready for trouble at a moment’s notice.”
She pushed the throttle to full power and the propellors came back to life, while she aimed them for the gap between two volcanoes that seemed less active than most.
Behind her, the engine produced occasional puffs of steam, which wasted a bit of water, the main reason she’d been running it at three-quarters throttle, but since they were about to pass over some very dangerous terrain, she had no desire to linger and a little wasted water was a minimal concern.
As Airwitch approached the gap between mountains and got close enough that turning was no longer an option, Amelia was surprised by a powerful rumbling sound that came from the left-hand mountain.
She cursed and stared at the slope of the responsible volcano, which she’d hoped would remain quiet while they passed by.
“What’s that?” Father shouted!
Amelia waved her hand as lava poured over the lip of the caldera, “Our doom! Get ready for higher altitude!”
Hot air flashed past them all as the lava produced an updraft Amelia had no desire to ride, because they were already dangerously close to the maximum safe altitude of Airwitch! She adjusted the lever responsible for controlling the elevation flaps, in the hopes of keeping them from rising, but as they passed over the river of molten rock, the updraft got even stronger!
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
“Crap!” She screamed and fought to thread the needle between the mountains, while the whole airship tipped slightly forward, due to the elevation flaps!
Ever the most calm in an emergency, Iris demanded, “What can we do to help?”
“I don’t know!” Amelia shook her head, “I’ve got to think!”
Despite the flaps tipping them forward, there was a lurch as Airwitch fully caught the draft and rode it upward, until passing above the edge of the erupting volcano’s caldera revealed a whole lake of molten rock!
“Son of a-” Marta cursed!
“We’ve got to lose buoyancy,” Amelia screamed as she made up her mind on a solution, “or we’re dead, but I haven’t got the deflation system working yet!”
“Just tell us what to do!” Iris requested.
“Iris, take the helm and try to keep us from rising!” Amelia commanded, then turned to her other sister, “Marta, I need someone to climb the gas bag, to open the manual release valve at the top, but not too fast! Meanwhile, I’ll get ready to re-fill it once Iris says we’re safe!”
“Yeah, okay!” Marta called out as she headed for one of the ropes dangling from the gas bag.
Iris took the controls and nodded, “You got it.”
“What happens if we go too high?” Father nervously asked.
“The gas bag will turn brittle and rupture in the cold!” Amelia explained as she passed through the door to the ship’s interior.
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Tim felt responsible for what was happening, because Amelia had paused her work on the ship to take what should have been his turns at the helm, all because he was too nervous to take control of Airwitch. All the levers and things looked so complicated that he’d shied away from it, but now, with doom looming, knowing it was his fault and his oldest was getting ready to risk her life to save them all, he knew he had to make it right.
He dashed to Marta’s side and laid her out with a single punch, demonstrating why everyone in Daleshade had been afraid of his fists! The roar of the engine was so loud, Marta’s brief cry of surprise as she fell from the knotted rope went unheard!
She lay on the deck groaning softly and clutched her jaw as Tim leaped into the air, caught the rope and lifted himself with ease, climbing as if it was second nature!
Within two minutes, he was lying on top of the gas bag, holding onto one of the wooden safety handles. He’d been a part of making the dang thing and knew all about the manual release valve, because Amelia had made of point of teaching everyone how it worked, but he wasn’t quite sure where it had actually ended up.
Looking backwards first, he didn’t see it. Glancing the other way, he was quite disturbed by the view. After all, they were extremely high in the air and the whole ship had angled forward. It hadn’t seemed like much of an incline from the deck, but up top, the angle combined with the natural slope of the gas bag to make it even worse.
Ahead of them was a veritable sea of greenery, more lush and dense than anything he’d seen before. He had a brief bout of terror and vertigo, but stubbornly pushed past it, until he spotted a little, brass handle attached to a small pipe that stuck up out of the rubberized cloth of the gas bag. The valve was kept securely closed with a little pin on a chain designed to keep hail from knocking it open.
He crawled forward on his belly, using the safety handles that had been mounted for just that purpose, until he reached it.
As he pulled the safety pin, he remembered Amelia’s words and turned the valve cautiously, until he heard a hiss of gasses escape from the pipe! He felt slightly lighter as the airship’s ascent slowed.
“It’s working, Marta,” the voice of Iris magically boomed, “but open it a little more!”
Again, Tim moved with great care, adjusting the valve handle the tiniest fraction of an inch.
“Good! Keep it there!” Iris commanded.
Tim tried not to look forward, but couldn’t help it, since he faced that direction. In a way, it was even worse than his prior glance, because they’d been rising at the time, but now they were falling, which didn’t really inspire confidence, though more logically, he knew that was for the best.
About five minutes passed and Iris used another magically-enhanced shout to order, “Close it up, Marta!”
Tim closed the valve, reinserted the pin to secure it and breathed a sigh of relief.
He turned around and crawled along the safety handles back to the rope he’d climbed, while the airship flattened out in the air. He moved more slowly and cautiously as he climbed back down.
The sides of the gas bag were slightly less rigid and more spongy than he remembered from the way up, but that was probably a matter of the lost lifting gas.
Tim tried not to look down, but as he dipped below the gas bag, he couldn’t help but notice how close and large the trees were! They were at least two-hundred feet tall, with strangely colorful birds resting in them, as well as little furred apes! Airwitch was no more than three-hundred feet above them!
Iris finally shouted, “Now, Amelia!”
The background drone of the propellors was joined by the familiar sound of whooshing gas! Tim recognized it from back in Macclesfield, when the gas bag had been filled. There was a lurch as their fall was arrested and Airwitch began rising back into the air.
Tim hadn’t quite been prepared for the change in acceleration and lost his grip on the rope!
Before Tim fell below the tree line, he looked up at Airwitch and spoke a quiet prayer, “May the Gods protect my daughters!”
In a strange way, he was at peace. He knew the fall was going to kill him, but he was content to die, knowing he’d saved the lives of his children.
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Amelia emerged into the light, pleased they were flying level over some surprisingly large and densely-packed trees.
“Great job, Iris. Is Marta back down, yet?”
Iris glanced back at her sister and shrugged.
Amelia looked around and headed toward the rope Marta had climbed, only to find her lying on the deck, clutching her jaw, which was quite obviously dislocated and badly bruised! She was in tears, most likely from the pain.
“What happened?” Amelia asked.
Marta just moaned, since she couldn’t speak.
Amelia screamed, “Iris! I need you!”
Iris reluctantly left the helm, while Amelia rushed to take her place.
Iris took only a moment to examine Marta, reached into her apron pocket and produced a small vial sealed with a cork.
She tipped the contents into Marta’s mouth, then commented, “This is going to hurt.”
Iris grabbed hold of Marta’s jaw and applied pressure from both sides, guiding it back into place, producing an absolutely blood-curdling scream from Marta! Amelia glanced over at them with concern, but the potion Iris had given Marta did its job, both relieving the pain and healing her bruises.
Iris helped Marta up and they joined Amelia by the helm. Despite the fact she’d been healed, Marta was still in tears.
“What happened?” Amelia asked.
“Father punched me and took my place.” Marta sobbed, “I saw him fall overboard!”
“No! No! No!” Amelia burst into tears, because she knew how lethal such a fall would be.
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Iris ran to the back of the airship and looked out at the sea of greenery behind them. She had some vain hope of rescuing Father and was hoping he’d landed in a tree, but as she looked on the erupting volcano they’d left behind, it became obvious that was a hopeless idea, because it was getting more active and the periphery of the forest was already aflame.
She balled her hands into fists and slammed them into the railing, screaming out her mixed frustration and grief! Her screams turned to sobbing and she collapsed to the deck, holding her face in her hands.
After a few minutes, Marta stepped over and scooped Iris up in her rather muscular arms, cradling her like a child. Marta headed back toward the front, where the sisters mourned together as they put some distance between themselves and the forest fire.