Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight


Nicolas froze as he saw the scene happen in slow motion. He couldn’t believe that she had jumped in front of the gun, and he definitely couldn’t believe the guard had actually pulled the trigger.
“No!” He heard himself shout. But he was too late.
Miss Smith collapsed onto the cobblestone, blood already staining the bodice of her dress.
“What have you done?!” He screamed as he ran forward, sliding on the wet stones ‘til he was kneeling next to her. He gently pulled her up against him, and pressed a hand on her wound, hoping to stop the bleeding.
“You are not allowed down there. You are to be taken into custody.”
Nicolas couldn’t believe it, he couldn’t believe it.
“A young woman is bleeding in front of you and all you can think about is your job?! Are you insane?!”
The man was still holding his gun at Nicolas’ head, but was obviously indecisive on whether he truly wanted to take the shot or not.
“Miss Smith? Miss smith please, please open your eyes. Come on, come on, come on, come on.” He moved her head back and forth gently.
Georgiana groaned, and her bright green eyes fluttered open.
“I’m sorry…” She whispered.
Nico looked confused and leaned closer to her as she continued to speak.
“For calling you by your Christian name.” She said.
Nico rolled his eyes and dug into his pocket.
“You can call me by my Christian name when ever you like. If we’re to become partners we might as well.” He muttered.
Georgie didn’t respond, and her eyes drooped.
“No, no, no, no! Stay with me, stay with me.”
“You need to come with me sir.” The guard ordered.
“Would you shut it! A girl is bleeding in front of you and you - !” He groaned in anger. “You are all the same you idiotic Wasters!”
He pulled out his pocket watch and clicked it open.
“What are you doing?” The guard asked. “Put that down, and put your hands up.”
Nicolas would have come up with some sort of comeback to the man, but more blood was seeping through Georgiana’s bodice.
He glanced down at the pocket watch, and sent up a prayer.
“You had better work this time you bloody thing!” He hissed. He willed the Vortex to wrap around the two of them, and transport them to his home, transport them in only a few seconds.


When he opened his eyes, he found himself surrounded by familiar pipes that had been home to him for as long as he could remember.
He could hear the usual hustle and bustle of Lower Station, the children crying with glee, the parents trying to keep them in order. Adults calling out for things they needed. But above all that noise, all that joy, all that which conceived a form of normal to him, was the scream of the bleeding girl in his arms.
Nicolas shoved his watch back into his pocket and checked the young girl’s pulse. It was steady, but slow. He then noticed the all too familiar blue light that he only saw when he activated the Vortex. But he wasn’t activating it.
He quickly grabbed Georgiana’s right hand and starred in shock as a line slowly burnt into her skin, like a hot knife being dragged along it. Georgiana’s back arched as the pain shot through her body, her teeth clenched and her hand gripped his to the point all circulation was cut off.
“Not possible.” He mumbled. He forced her to let go and ripped the bottom part of his shirt, taking the material he wrapped it around her right hand before lifting the girl up and carrying her through the Common Ground full of people who hardly took notice of him, and into the Orphan’s Corner.
“Gran! Gran you need to get out here!” He shouted over the usual lull of noise. Heads poked out of the walls, curiously at first, then in horror as their eyes caught sight of the fading girl in his arms.
He moved past the curtain that covered the entrance to Gran’s tunnel. Inside he was greeted by the smell of incense, and dim light.
Gran’s outline was visible as she sat on her low bed that rested on the floor. She rose, her large body creaking slightly as her old bones took on the strain.
“Goodness gracious my boy, what happened?” She asked in a state of shock at the sight of so much blood.
“Gran there’s no time to explain, but she needs help. She’s been shot, I’ve tried to stop the bleeding but I’m not sure it worked though.”
“Yes alright, place her on the bed.” She moved aside as Nicolas placed the girl on the bed. “What’s her name?”
“Georgiana Smith.” He answered as he watched Gran place a hand on Miss Smith’s forehead, then place her fingers on her throat.
“Go beckon Jade and Gracie. I’m going to need their help, hand me that bag on the desk.”
He moved to the desk towards the back of the blocked off tunnel and grabbed the black bag.
“Now, out you go. I shall call you when I know more. Shoo!”
She shoved him out of her tunnel and then closed the curtain after him.

~ +++~

Axel and a few of the older orphans had left for work a few hours earlier, leaving Nicolas alone with the younger ones.
The young ones had seen the bleeding girl in Nico’s arms and knew immediately that something had gone wrong.
“Do you think we’ll have a new sister?” A little girl asked her friend on their way to the well that stood at the heart of the Common Ground.
“I don’t know, I do hope so, I would love have a bigger sister.” Her little friend responded as the two skipped out of the alcove.
Nico’s head jerked up when he heard the girl’s question. The thought hadn’t occurred to him, he didn’t realize that she would have to stay. Though now that it had been brought to his attention it was logical. She had gotten shot in the abdomen and that would take time to heal, longer than he realized.

Life had reached it’s usual lull. The elders and the younger children that were each unable to work, were preparing the evening meal for the others when they got home. There was a circle of little children that were listening to some of the elder ladies teaching them about history, or English, or some other great lesson they learned in life. That was their school, if it could be called school. And it only lasted until the children turned twelve, at that point it was off to work in one of the nine factories in Lower Station.

Nico’s leg bounced up and down as he sat on a wooden box, waiting to hear from Gran, but ever since Gracie and Jade had gone in, no one had come out.
“Nicolas?”
He looked up and saw Lacey standing over him, a concerned look on her face.
“Would you like something to eat? You look as if you’ve been to the grave and back.” She handed a small bowl of simple soup, and a wooden spoon, which he took gratefully.
“Thanks Lacey.” He said with a smile.
“What happened to the girl?” She asked.
“Oh nothing for you to worry about.”
“Is she going to be alright?”
He looked into the little girl’s eyes and saw concern as if Georgiana was already her dear sister.
“I hope you’re right. It’d be a shame to loose one so shiny.”
Nico laughed and ruffled up the young girl’s hair.
“Aye, shiny she is, now off to your studies!”
Lacey ran off giggling, leaving Nicolas to eat his soup in silence.
“I’m such a rusty idiot!” He yelled at himself, jumping up suddenly and upsetting his soup that spilt over. “First time we’re out on our own and I go and blotch things up! Blast it!” He ripped his cap off his head and threw it onto the ground, then almost pulled his hair out.
He sighed, and pulled out his watch and starred at it. Everything in him wished to go back and change what had just happened, but he knew it was against the rules to interfere in his own timeline.
“Hang on,” He said thoughtfully. “How come you worked now? And not before?”

Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven


“So you are trying to tell me that Uncle Jack and you can…you can…” Georgiana failed to find the right word to describe what Nicolas had explained to her.
“Time travel.” He supplied for her.
“Yes! Time travel. This is actually possible?” She looked to her father, who was now sitting down on the other side of the desk. The candles had burned low down to almost nothing now, and it was beginning to grow light outside.
“Yes, I’ve done it myself. I lost count how many times I walked through the Vortex.” Her father replied.
“What’s this about a ward? Or protection the watch has over it?” She asked.
“Well to a normal person, if they took the watch and opened it,” Nico started, from beside her. “It would look like a broken clock face. But the ones who can use it, can teach someone how to look past the ward to see what is truly there.”
Georgiana nodded slowly. She was still questioning it all, but the more they talked of how it worked, and explained what they could with the time they had.
“It is getting late, your wife will be waking in a few hours.” Nico said, glancing out the broken window. “I need to know, was there anything…anything my father said before he…” The boy seemed to choke on his words, but Mr. Smith understood his meaning.
“There is another reason why I wrote that journal. In it, there are mysteries we could never solve, we were running out of time. These mysteries carry a heavy burden, and have to be solved for the sake of humanity. But when we knew time was running out, we had to make arrangements.”
“What sort of arrangements?” Georgie asked.
Mr. Smith looked at her daughter evenly, and gave her a look that said he was about to tell her something that would be heavy to bear.
“It’s up to you two, to finish our work.”
The two young ones exchanged glances, not sure what to think of this.
“I do not mean to be disrespectful sir,” Nico started. “But why can’t you finish it? I mean I would help you of course, but to involve your daughter?”
Georgie immediately grew defensive.
“Are you saying this because I’m a girl? Because you think I wouldn’t have the strength or courage to do it?”
Nicolas looked startled by her sudden outbreak, and scrambled for a way to fix his mistake.
“No, no that’s not what I meant. I just meant that perhaps your father would not want to risk harm coming to his only daughter and child.”
Georgie’s anger deflated and she dipped her head in a sign of submission. Knowing full well that she shouldn’t have spoken out of term.
“You are right in a sense young Nicolas,” Mr. Smith said. “I would not like to risk my daughter’s life, but I am too old to do such things anymore. I will always wish to see my daughter out of harm, but this is what I entrust to you. If you are to take on what your father and I started, you must swear to me that you will do all you can to keep her safe.”
Georgie felt as if this was too much to ask of a stranger. She had only met the boy once, and she hardly felt that was sufficient enough to know if this young man was trust worthy.
But she knew her father was an excellent judge of character, and would not ask such a request from someone who would not keep it.
But Mr. Howler understood what Mr. Smith was asking, he knew that if he was asking, he trusted him.
Nicolas nodded solemnly.
“I give my word. If she agrees to work with me I’ll do all I can do to make sure she stays safe.”
“Could we please not pretend I wasn’t standing right next to you? I’m not invisible after all.” Georgie sighed.
There was a noise from down stairs, and the three looked towards the door.
Georgiana looked out the window and saw how high the sun had risen.
“Anna will be making breakfast soon, we must hurry. You have to get back to Lower Station before the city awakes.” She said in a hushed whisper.
“Right, Nicolas, listen to me.” Mr. Smith rose, and clasped the young man’s shoulders. “You must find this journal, use the recourses open to you. If you find it, you may read it and see the weight of what I have told you.”
Nico nodded and placed his cap back on his curls.
“Georgiana my dear,” He took his daughter’s hand. “Lead him back to the Gate, you know the streets well, take him the back route, and keep out of sight.”
Georgiana nodded and gestured for Nicolas to follow her.
As the two moved to the door, Mr. Smith called out to Nico.
“Son,” Nico turned to the man. “This what your father would have wanted.”
Nico looked down at the ground for a moment, then followed Georgiana in silence.

~ +++ ~

“No not that way!” Georgiana pulled on Nico’s coat, pulling him back into the shadows.
“The city is waking, people will soon spill out onto the main streets.” She explained, quickly leading the way down an alley.
“But the lights are still lit.” He said.
“Yes but see? Down the street?” They peeked around the corner of a house and watched as a man came and put them out.
“Now come, quickly.” She continued towards the Eastern edge of the city. “We must use the back ways, keep to the shadows. Wipe the grime from your face as best you can, and walk more confidently. Act like you belong.”
She watched as he took her advice, but she knew they would have to keep to the shadows, he was still quite noticeable.
“Do you always do as your father says?” He asked, looking around a corner of an alley before beckoning to her to follow.
“I beg your pardon?”
“Well, he tells you to escort a stranger, risking your own safety to make sure he gets out. Now if that’s not upside down and sideways, I don’t know what is.”
Georgiana couldn’t help but laugh as she gathered her skirts and ran from shadow to shadow.
“You say such funny things. Is that expression normal in Lower Station?” She asked.
Nico shrugged, coming up beside her and quickly pushing her into a doorway as an early riser moved past.
“I can’t really put my lifestyle in Lower Station into words that would do it justice. You’d have to see it.” He said finally.
“I shall, if I have a say in what I want to do with my life.” She remarked, pushing her dark hair out of her eyes.
“And what is it that you wish to do with your life miss?”
He stopped and looked her in the eye, and for the first time in her life, she realized there were people out there that actually cared about what she wanted to do. He genuinely wanted to know what she wished to do, he wanted to know her dreams.
“To have adventures.”
Nicolas grinned at her.
“I don’t think that will be a problem miss. With whatever our fathers have planned for us, I think we’ll have more adventures then we’ll ever want.”
He glanced down the street and saw the guards that stood at the entrance of it.
“Go back home, you stay away from here, don’t try to go looking for me.”
“Wait! No! don’t you -”  Georgie grunted in annoyance as the boy ran off down the street.
Georgie stayed hidden in the shadows, as she watched the boy duck into doorframes and allies.
She felt like she should be doing something to help him, but she couldn’t think of anything.

Nico neared the guard post, and the Gate. He paused behind a wall of a bakery and watched as the guards walked out to stretch their muscles.
He knew he had best get past them while they were still drowsy, but how? There were two on each side of the two pillars, and the only way to get through the Gate was to go through the pillars.

He glanced around and saw that few people were up and about, and then he saw a young woman walking calmly, and with determined steps down the street, strait to the Gate.
Nicolas groaned and punched the wall in frustration.
“Why can’t girls ever listen?!” He hissed.
He watched as Georgiana walk towards the guards, but there was something slightly off about her, she kept glancing over her shoulder, as if she was worried someone was following her.
Finally, she picked up her skirts and ran the last few yards to the guards in obvious distress. Nico looked around and saw no one following her, no one he could see anyways.
The guards saw her running towards them and one of them left their post.
“Ma’am what is the matter?” He asked. She collapsed in his arms with tears streaming down her face.
“Someone…someone’s broken into my father’s house…they’re armed, and are threatening my parents I don’t know what to do! I managed to get out but…they’re still in there!”
The guard turned to his companion and shouted for him to come and take care of her. He got her address and the other two ran off with the first down the street and to her house.
She glanced Nico’s way and gave him a subtle hand gesture to hurry up.
He ran across the street and towards the Gate, he thought he had made it when the guard helping Georgiana yelled at him.
“Oi! You’re not allowed down there!” He shouted.

Georgiana watched in horror when the guard pulled out a gun and pointed it at Nicolas.
“Nicolas look out!” She shouted as the guard pulled the hammer back. All her instincts went into overdrive, she wasn’t thinking clearly. All she knew was that this was a boy that couldn’t die, there was something special about him that drove her to do what she did.
“No! Don’t!” She heard him shout, but she had already jumped in front of the gun, pulled the man’s hand down just as his finger pulled the trigger.

Chapter Six

Chapter 6


“You did say he would be here at nine o’clock didn’t you Georgie?”
Georgiana sighed calmly, and peered at her father over the top of Tom Sawyer.
“Yes father, I did say he would be here, and it is not yet nine o’clock.” She reminded him, gesturing to the large clock tower that loomed overhead, keeping a watchful eye on the city of London.
Mr. Smith paced back and forth in the flower beds that lined the yard at the back of their house.
Georgiana was sitting on the grass, reading by the bright moonlight. She knew her mother would have a fit if she saw her dress, and grass stained stockings, but Georgie liked to pretend she was still that small girl she once was.
“And you’re positive it was the exact same watch yes?” Her father said for what must have been the hundredth time.
Georgiana closed her book rather impatiently and forced herself to contain her frustration. It would be disrespectful to snap at her father, and she knew it.
“Father, could you please trust me? What I told you was true, and if Mr. Howler is a man of his word, he’ll come at nine o’clock tonight.”
Mr. Smith walked over to his daughter and gave her an apologetic smile.
“I do trust you Georgiana, I didn’t mean that. You know how I get when I get nervous.”
Georgie smiled in appreciation to her father, he was always the most understanding of her parents.
There was a rustle in the bushes and they both froze.
Georgiana turned, rising to her feet slowly. The fight in the library flashed through her mind, and her breath hitched in her throat as the sound repeated it’s self.
Her grip on the book became so hard her knuckles whitened, and she subconsciously raised it, though rationally she doubted she would use it to harm the source of the noise.
But then, there’s a first time for everything. She thought.

Just then, a body came crashing through the bushes and stumbled a few steps before coming to a halt.
He finally stepped into the light as he glanced over his shoulder, wiping his face off with his sleeve.
Georgiana let out a sigh of relief once she saw his face.
“Mr. Howler, you came.”
The boy looked up at her in surprise, as if shocked to see her standing there in her own backyard.
“I thought you said the library…” he said slowly. “I did read it correctly, right?”
Georgie nodded eagerly.
“Oh yes you did, but father didn’t want you breaking into the house again.”
Nico crossed his arms over his chest and looked at her with an expression that she couldn’t quiet put a name too.
“I would have knocked.”
“And woken my mother up. That would have been very messy.”
“I didn’t say I would have knocked on the front door now did I?”
Georgie turned to her father to hide the growing smile and blush on her cheeks.
“Father, this is Mr. Howler. Mr. Howler, my father, Mr. Smith.” She quickly made introductions.
Nicolas dropped his arms and held out a hand.
“Sir.” He noted, giving a nod as Mr. Smith shook his hand.
“Mr. Howler, I trust you have a first name son.”
“Yes sir, Nicolas.”
Mr. Smith nodded and seemed to be deep in thought as he reclaimed his hand.
“Well, Mr. Howler, I do believe you came here for a purpose.”
Nico nodded in agreement and cast a glance at Georgiana who had once again buried her nose in her book.
“Well let’s go up to the library so we can talk, I have a few things to say that you will want to hear.”
Mr. Smith led the two children through a set of French doors and into the parlor.
Georgiana dropped her book onto the round table, before falling in line behind Mr. Howler.
He glanced back at her, and she had to force herself not to stair at his golden eyes that were so mesmerizing she had to dig her nails into her palm to drag her back to reality.
They followed Mr. Smith up the stairs, to the second landing, quietly creeping past the master bedroom where they could hear snoring, and then they went up the attic stairs.
When they were all in the library, Georgiana, being the last one in the room, carefully closed the door behind her.
“Well now, you sure do look a lot like him.” Mr. Smith remarked, as he examined the young man before him. Nico’s eyebrows pinched together in confusion.
“Like who? Sir.”
“Your father.”
Both Georgiana and Nicolas looked at him, stunned and speechless.
“You know his father?”
“How did you know him?” The two children asked in unison, they glanced at each other when they heard their voices mix and she gestured for him to go ahead, knowing he was more curious than herself.
“Your father and I worked a great many cases together.” Mr. Smith said after a moment. He was leaning against his personal desk, his hands out on either side of him against the top of the desk.
He was looking at Nicolas with a sad sort of look. Georgie knew that look, it was a look he gave people when he knew their sorrow, when he felt their hurt, when he shared their burdens.
Her eyes moved to Mr. Howler, who seemed to be trying to hold back tears. She wanted to do something, to comfort him, tell him a lie and tell him it would all be fine, even when they both knew it was far from fine.
Instead she just gently laid a hand on his arm for a brief moment. Just so he knew he wasn’t alone.
“What - what do you mean by cases, sir?” He choked.
“Your father and I were trying to figure out the great mysteries of life. We could do it too you know, we could travel anywhere we wanted, in any time we wanted to.”
Georgiana’s head shot up. Her father was giving Mr. Howler a look that said he knew something. Something Georgie was dying to find out, and she knew it had something to do with that pocket watch.
“It was you.” Nicolas cried excitedly. “It was you, father was always talking about! I always thought he was talking about someone from the past, or in a far away place, I never believed him when he said you were closer than I thought.”
Georgiana looked at her father with a questioning expression.
“What are you two going on about? Both of you should know very well that one can not simply go back into the past.” She spoke up.
Nicolas looked at her, his expression still giddy and excited.
“True, one cannot simply go back into the past. It’s much, much more complicated than that and it took me years to figure it all out.”
Georgiana threw up her hands and walked a way.
“You’ve both lost it. Completely bonkers. It’s not possible, and only foolish men think it is.” She rambled on to herself. She was trying to convince herself that it was impossible. Whenever her father believed something, it always made her believe it too, but this, this was something her rational, mathematical brain could not except.
She pulled a pouch out from the gathers in her skirt and dumped it’s contents onto the closest desk. Immediately she began to assemble the various cogs and screws, her hands flying in such a flurry Nicolas couldn’t keep up. As she worked, her lips moved rapidly, but no sound came out of them.
He started towards her, but Mr. Smith put up a hand, and shook his head.
“This is how she thinks, let her be. She’ll stop in a minute.”
Nico turned back to Mr. Smith.
“She said she saw a sketch of my pocket watch in your journal…”
“Ah, yes. I would show it to you, but it seems that that intruder stole my journal last night.”
Nico kept his mouth shut, so he didn’t point out that he too, was an intruder last night.
“But to answer your unsaid question,” Mr. Smith went on. “Yes, there is a sketch of a pocket watch. May I see yours?”
Nicolas pulled his only valuable out of his vest pocket and handed it over, knowing this was a man he could trust.
Mr. Smith cleared off a section of his desk and set the watch down carefully.
Georgiana stopped her building and moved over to the two men, her curiosity getting the best of her.
Mr. Smith opened the watch, and studied it for a moment. It had been a long time since he had tried to get past it’s ward.
“What is that?” Georgie’s sweet, quiet voice asked.
“Well, to you it would look like a broken watch -” Her father started.
“No, that!” She interrupted.
Her father looked up at her in sudden horror, and shock.
“What do you see Georgie?” He asked.
“It’s - it’s huge! So many colors, so many stars, all trapped inside such a small cage.” Her eyes were starring at the watch, captivated and unblinking.
“She can see it.” Mr. Smith marveled.
“Quick, shut it! Looking into the Vortex too long can cause damage to her brain, she cant process what she’s seeing, and it will hurt her permanently.” Nicolas jumped on the watch, slamming the cover closed, and cutting her out of her trance like a knife.
“What… Was that?” She whispered.
Nicolas exchanged worried glances with Mr. Smith.
“That is what’s called the Vortex…” Nicolas started slowly. His eyes still on Mr. Smith, who nodded for him to go ahead and explain to her.
“The Vortex is time and space, it’s then and now, it’s what could have been, and will be. It’s everything and nothing all at the same time.”
Georgie tried to force her mind open to the possibilities, but it was so hard when something like that was scientifically impossible.
Nico noticed the dilemma on her face and quickly moved to reassure her.
“I know it sounds impossible, and extremely far fetched, but it’s true.”
She turned to her father who nodded in agreement with Mr. Howler.
“His father and I would travel all space and time trying to figure cases out.”
“So you’ve…you’ve seen this Vortex?” She asked, the strange name rolling off her tongue like she was tasting it.
“Yes, it’s beautiful, in a sad way.”
She agreed with her father with his description of the Vortex.
“And she’s never seen this before? When my father had it?” Nico asked Mr. Smith.
“No, your father was very careful not to open it in front of her.”
Georgie had a flashback to years long since gone. She remembered Uncle Jack, his friendly smile, dark hair, and gold eyes.
“Uncle Jack….that’s his father?”
“Uncle?” Nico looked at her in shock. “You called him uncle?”
Georgie nodded.
“He was around so much, he insisted. Once he brought his…son a long…”
The two locked gazes as they remembered the same memory.

~ +++ ~

Nicolas’ father held his hand tightly as they walked down a street in Upper Station.
“Dad, I don’t play with girls. They are too disagreeable, and never get their hands dirty.” He said.
His father laughed as he opened a white garden fence.
“You’ll like this girl. She’s just your age, and she loves to get her hands dirty.”
Nico’s eyes flew open at this impossible notion.
“Really? She would run around with me?”
“Of course! You just have to talk to her first.”
His father ruffled up his curls, before taking him around the back of a fancy house on King’s Street.
“Orville!” His father let go of his hand and embraced a man in a black fancy suit.
“Ah! There you are Jack, I wondered when you would be coming.” The man said with a friendly grin.
“Have I ever been late?”
“No, but you’ve been early before.”
The two laughed and Nico felt strangely out of place. But that’s when the motion of something behind the stranger caught his eye.
He saw a girl  peaking out from behind the man’s leg as her small hand clutched on his pant leg.
“So this is your son you talk so fondly of.” The man said upon noticing Nico.
“Yes, Nicolas, meet Uncle Orville.”
“Nicolas, this is my daughter, Georgiana.” the stranger moved aside, revealing the small girl who looked a bit shorter than himself, but the same age.
She looked at her father in fear, and then quickly back to the boy standing in front of her.
He glanced up at his father, who nodded encouragingly. He bowed formally, as he had seen his father do to his mother, and the girl giggled slightly, before curtsying back at him.
“How do you do miss?” he asked politely.
“I’m fine thank you.”
Then he couldn’t help himself.
“Do you want to play tag?”
The girl’s eyes brightened and she nodded eagerly.
“Oh yes please!”
He quickly ran past her, tapping her shoulder as he passed.
“Your it!”

~ +++ ~

“It was you! You were that little boy I played with when I was little.” Georgiana cried in recognition. She had been pondering over Mr. Howler since the other night. There was a feeling of remembrance but she couldn’t place where she might have seen him before. But now all the pieces fell into place.
“You were the only girl I knew that would play tag in your Sunday best.” Nico confirmed. “Still are the only girl I know that would do that.”
Mr. Smith smiled as the children remembered each other.
Yes, everything would go just as planned.

Chapter Five

Chapter 5


“No. Absolutely not.”
Nicolas groaned as he shoved a cog into place, and let go of the leaver that held the other gears around it, out of the way. Once the lever slammed back in place, the surrounding cogs crashed together.
“Axel, she’s different. She’s not like the rest of them.” He knew it would do no good to try and convince his friend, but he still had to try.
Nico turned to his best mate and rubbed his work glove on his goggles to try and wipe the grime away.
Axel was taking a break from oiling the axels of the cogs.
He was hatless, unlike Nicolas, and his usually bright blond hair was now dulled with ash and dirt. He was taller than Nico by half a foot, and was a bit more muscular than he was.
At the moment he wore a harder scowl then usual, and was studying Nicolas.
“Nico, you do realize that her  society threw us down here right? You do realize that it was her  society that beats us and throws us in jail when we get caught wandering around up there right? And it’s her society that takes away our basic rights, right?! You do know all this don’t you Nicolas?!”
All Nico did was nod his head.
“Then why are we even having this conversation?”
Axel went back to oiling, laving Nico to think over his angry words
“Just because she was born into that society, doesn’t mean it’s who she is. Our society doesn’t define us Axel. It’s our thoughts and actions that define us.”
Axel kept quiet and went on working.
“Nicolas, you always do what you want. It’s always been up to me to keep you out of trouble. I am not going to  stop you, I never have before. I am not your mother. But I will say I don’t like it.”
Nico knew that he would have gone whether Axel agreed to him going or not. But it always gave him a piece of mind when Axel gave him his blessing. This wasn’t exactly a blessing, but it would have to do.

He glanced at the large clock that was built into the factory’s wall. It said five-thirty. The ‘end of the day’ horn blared through Factory One.
Axel and Nico put their loads down, and followed the stream of workers through the factory and out into what they called the Tunnels.
The tunnels weren’t the kind made out of rock, instead it was made out of massive sewage pipes that hadn’t been used in years.
It got almost unbearably loud as the crowd talked amongst themselves. Nicolas pulled his goggles off, and stuffed them in his coat pocket.
“So when are you going to do this?” Axel asked in a low voice.
“Nine o’clock tonight.”
“That soon?”
“Well I’m not the one who set up the meet okay.” Nico grunted.
Axel sighed and shook his head, keeping his mouth shut as they came out of the Tunnels and into a large “room”, known as the Common Ground.
It was large enough to put King’s Cross Station in it twice over. A hazy light seemed to reach almost every corner of the area. It’s origin coming from a massive power source, that was naturally fuelled by the coal the Junkies produced themselves.
The rooms in which families lived, where old pipes that poked out of every inch of the walls. Smaller, flat boards, long and thin connected the various different areas. They seemed to become a web if one looked strait up.
Upon these boards, people walked on getting to their small hole in the wall.

“I’ll have to cover for you I suppose.” Axel stated.
Nico nodded.
“You can’t have the boys knowing I’m going to see a girl, let alone a Waster.” He whispered back as the two rounded a corner, coming into an alcove of honeycombs  that had been set off to the side of the Common Ground.
Axel pulled his work gloves off before bringing his fingers to his mouth, letting out an ear piercing whistle.
As the tune bounced off the walls, several dirty, small faces popped out of the holes in the walls.
“Hey! Axel and Nico are back!” A voice ran gout.
Nico watched as Axel’s face relaxed when the children spilled out of the Tunnels.
 He always seemed to lighten up when the rest of the gang was around.
Before the two could even reach the Common Ground in middle of the alcove, hundreds of children, of various ages and both genders, surrounded them.

This particular alcove was only home to orphans. The orphans were taken care of by London officials. London paid the people in food and basic goods such as cloth, leather and such. Most were traded or bartered for when one needed a particular thing, the factories also gave certain products to the workers.
Because there was so many people, and so few supplies, the other families could not afford to take care of the orphans, so the responsibility fell on the shoulders of the officials.
This meant, however, there was hardly enough to go around to the large number of orphans.

“Did you bring anything back Nico?”
Nicolas looked down and smiled at the tiny face beaming hopefully up at him.
Nico knelt down and enveloped the little girl in a warm hug.
“Well it was a close call, but - hang on…” He moved the girl’s black hair away from ear.
“What’s this?”
He pulled his hand away, revealing a sweat.
The precious girl rain off giggling, warming Nico’s heart as he rose.
“It’s always the same old trick with you.” Axel muttered with a grin.
“At least it makes them happy.”
Axel nodded in agreement.
“Come on, lets see if Gran has something to eat, eh?”

Chapter Four

Chapter 4


When one has had a particularly hard night, it can be cured by a good cup of tea. Or perhaps several, as it was in Georgiana’s case.
Upon the morning after her very peculiar encounter with Mr. Howler, it had taken her two cups of tea to get her out of bed, one to help her change, and then another during breakfast.
“Oh darling you’ll get yourself sick if you keep drinking cup after cup.” Her mother exclaimed dramatically, setting her own tea cup down with a loud clatter on the saucer.
Georgiana dipped her head in an apology as she buttered her toast.
Louisa Smith, Georgiana’s mother, was the noble kind. She had long brown hair that always stayed up in a fashionable bun at the nape of her neck. Her high arching eyebrows gave her a sort of look that one would not dare lie to her.
She was a women in the highest society, a very respected women. She attended every garden and tea party, every ball and baby shower.
In Georgiana’s lowest opinion of her mother, she thought she was a busybody.
In her highest opinion of her mother, she was one of the most caring mother’s in the world. Even if it didn’t come out in a way most would think, it still came out.


“Your father, and I have been invited to a ball next Saturday night. How exciting!” Mrs. Smith cried with obvious glee.
“We shall have to go shopping today to get a dress -”
“But mother, you have several very beautiful dresses already. Is it really necessary to go and purchase another?”
“Yes of course it is, this invitation was given to us by Lord Rupert and Lady Rachelle. And have you seen their manor? It’s the most exquisite place I have ever seen. Right outside Kingston, in the country. Beautiful place I have ever seen. No, I must get a proper ball gown. One suitable for the occasion.”
Georgiana smiled sweetly at her mother, and knew that she would never be able to talk her mother out of it.
Dress shopping it was.

The afternoon seemed to drag on for poor Georgiana. Her mother had dragged her through almost every dress shop in town. And through it all, Georgiana only commented on two patterns. Mrs. Smith was the one who picked out the dresses for the pretty parlor girl to put on so they could see it. Since it was never proper for a young lady to try on a dress that might have touched another women’s skin, Georgiana felt she wasn’t needed, other than for her mother to ramble on about the latest laces.
By the fifth shop, she was dying to find a way out of going to another one.
However, it seemed that luck was on her side.
In the very next shop, Mrs. Smith found the dress she fell in love with.
“Oh yes! It’s perfect!” She cried. “Don’t you think dear?”
Georgiana turned her gaze from the window to the girl on the dais.
“Yes mother. It’s very beautiful.” She agreed. The dress was very pretty indeed, and Georgiana didn’t want to think of the price tag as her mother ordered the dress.

Once they were done with the ordering, they’re footman helped them into the carriage waiting for them on the side of the street. Georgiana settled onto one of the embroidered benches as her mother did on the one opposite of her. They’re dresses filled up a good bit of the carriage, and Georgiana was glad no one else was traveling with them.
She leaned out the window and watched as the people passed by, going on their way of life, never bothering to stop and smell the roses as she said.
The saddest thing, she thought, about the society she lived in, was that everyone was in a rush. They had to earn more and more money, they had to buy a new and bigger house, they had to get this, they had to get that or they feared they would never be happy.
It had always bothered her. She always thought there was more to live for, always some adventure that was yet to be had. Of course, she could never say such things in the presence of her mother, but her father knew what kind of longing she had. He had it once, when he was younger. In fact, it was him who told her tales of the world he had visited. Paris, Hong Kong, New York, Dubai. He showed her all the treasures he had gathered over the years, and this had sparked her imagination.
Yet it seemed that she was the only one who had these dreams. All of her friends, all of her governesses and people she knew, were as content as could be sitting in their comfy little homes, ignoring the world, while they sipped on their tea, and went to a ridiculous number of tea parties.

“Georgiana, sit down and close the curtains.” Her mother ordered in a harsh tone.
Georgiana did as she was told, and sat in silence as they drove on. Her mother went on talking about the latest gossip in her circle of friends. Who was engaged, or having babies. Georgiana tried her best to be interested in the conversation, but it proved futile.
“Mother, do you…” She hesitated a moment, trying to figure out how to best phrase the question. “Do you ever grow tired of this life?”
Mrs. Smith’s face immediately turned hard, and Georgiana knew instantly that she had made a mistake.
“Georgiana, we are very blessed to be where we are. We never want for anything, we’ve got loyal servants, and enough money for us to live comfortably for the rest of our lives.”
“But don’t you ever wish there was something more to it? Don’t you ever get bored of all the tea parties and the gossip? And the wasteful spending? I mean there are thousands of people who could need the money for food or clothing because they have none! Couldn’t it all be put to better use?”
“Georgiana that is enough!” Mrs. Smith’s tone rose to a dangerous level. “No more talk of wanting more. You have everything a girl could want. Do not make me regret keeping you, young lady.”
Tears sprang to Georgiana’s eyes and she quickly bit her tongue and starred out the window.
She couldn’t have been more relieved when the carriage pulled up in front of the house. Not even waiting for the footmen, she bounded out of the carriage and almost tripped over her skirts.
Cursing very un-ladylike under her breath, she wrenched them up in her hands and walked into the house.
In side, the maid, Anna, took her coat, and gloves. Then Georgiana marched up the stairs and shut the door to her room quietly.
Sitting down at her vanity, she removed the pins that held her hat in place and tossed it onto the table. She caught herself, examining her face. It was very plain. Her cheekbones were defined, and she had a soft jaw. Her lips were small which never bothered her, she had light eyebrows above shockingly green eyes.
Her almost purple hair had been curled tight, her natural ringlets falling down against her neck, though most of it was piled up at the top of her head.
It always stressed her neck, and gave her a horrid headache, which was just beginning. And though she appreciated Anna’s hard work, it wasn’t really necessary around the house.
Her hands shook slightly as she pulled the pins out of her hair, each ring falling back down to it’s full length at her waist.
Once her hair was down, and pulled away from her face, she went to her closet and pulled out a pair of men’s work boots. Because of the length of her dress, she knew that the boots wouldn’t be noticed once she traded them out with her own heeled boots.
She let out a sigh of relief and then left her room, and ventured up the attic stairs.

“Father?” Her voice came out as a whisper though she didn’t mean for it too.
“Yes dearest?”
She entered the library, and looked around.
The window was still broken, and the curtain still slashed in half. The fire poker even laid on the floor where Mr. Howler had dropped it.
Mr. Smith was rummaging through the desks that were in between the overflowing bookshelves, and then the piles of more books on the floor.
“What is it you are looking for?” She asked, in desperate need of a distraction from her mother’s harsh words.
“My journal. I can’t find it anywhere, and when you told me about the man last night I fear he might have stolen it.” Her father answered.
He paused his search and looked his daughter over.
Orville Smith was a handsome man, even though he was past his prime. His salt and pepper hair was slicked back, and he hadn’t shaved in several days. Though Georgiana liked the look on him. It gave him an air of mystery, like he had just come back from an adventure in the Amazon jungle.
His black trousers were wrinkled, and his white linen shirt looked as if it had never been pressed.
But to Georgiana thought he was one of the most handsome men she had ever seen.
“Georgie are you alright?” He asked. “You look as if you’ve been upset.”
Georgie sighed. She did not wish to talk about her mother just yet, so she veered the topic of conversation away from herself.
“Why is it so important in your journal that you’re under such stress that you can’t find it?” She asked.
Her father didn’t notice the change in subject as he eagerly expressed to her his dilemma.
“I wrote down everything I ever found interesting in that journal. And some of those things theories would be very dangerous in the wrong hands. Now, can you tell me exactly what you saw last night darling?”
He leaned against the table and studied her intently.
Georgie nodded, and walked to the broken window.
“Well I heard a crash last night while I was…working. And so I came up here to see what it was. And…”
She bit her lip and knew she could not tell what happened last night, with out either telling her father about the strange boy, or lying. She so hated lying, and was scared her father would have a stroke if she told him about the boy, but it was one or the other.
“Father, can you promise me something?” She asked, turning to Mr. Smith with wide, innocent eyes.
“Yes of course.”
“You can’t tell mother, it won’t do any good and she’s already in a foul mood.”
“I promise this will stay between you and I.”
“And you promise not to have a seizure?”
With this question, Mr. Smith suspected there was something very important she was about to tell him.
He gave her a nod, and watched her closely as she took a deep breath.
“The man in the library wasn’t the only stranger in the house last night.” Georgiana said finally.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, there was a boy in the house. I think he got in by the window in the hall. Anyways, he came up stairs, and was snooping in my room.”
She could see the question arousing in her father’s mind and quickly answered it.
“Don’t worry, he was quite proper. We had a conversation, and then we heard a crash from upstairs, so we ran up here, and he took up the poker as a weapon. He found the strange man hiding behind the curtain, hence why it’s torn. They fought, though it didn’t last long, and then he shoved the man out the window. Hence the reason why it’s broken.”
For a long moment, her father didn’t say anything. And the longer he didn’t, the harder she bit down on her lip, ‘til she could taste blood.
“And you’re being truthful that he didn’t do anything indecent?”
She nodded eagerly.
“Yes father.”
“Why didn’t you come get me?”
Georgiana hesitated, and decided to tell it all to her father.
“Once I saw a glance of your journal, and I saw this…this sketch of a pocket watch. It was an ordinary pocket watch and I didn’t think much of it. Well, I told the boy, Mr. Howler, to empty his pockets for me, so I knew that he hadn’t stolen anything. His pockets were empty, except for a pocket watch. The exact same pocket watch that was in your journal.”
Her father’s eyes lit up as she spoke, and he suddenly cried with joy.
“You’ve found it! Oh darling you’ve done it!”
He scooped up his daughter and spun her around the room. She squealed from joy and hugged his neck tightly.
When he set her down, she was beaming like the little child she still was in many ways.
“We have to find this boy,” her father stated, pushing his hair back into place. “I must tell him something very important. Something he will want to know.”
“Well then it’s just our luck. He’ll meet us tonight back in the library.”
Mr. Smith ran his fingers through his daughter’s hair like he use to do so often.
“That’s my girl.”

Chapter Three

Chapter 3


Georgiana didn’t wait for Mr. Howler to catch up, though it  did cross her mind that maybe he wouldn’t come at all. In that case, it would have been wise for her to turn around and get her father. Yet, when this thought occurred to her, she was already at the library’s door in the attic.
It wasn’t long though, before Mr. Howler had joined her.
“Oh thank goodness.” She cried in evident relief. “I was scared you wouldn’t come.” she explained. He gave her a funny look, his strange gold eyes mesmerizing her for a moment, as he reached up to push the door open.
“Of course I came Miss Smith. Do you know how much of an embarrassment it would be if I didn’t?” He asked, shocked that she would even have assumed he wouldn’t come for just a second.
“I would never be able to live it down.” He added quietly as he pushed open the door. Gesturing for Georgiana to stay behind him, he entered the darkened library.

Because it was such a dark night with hardly any moonlight, all Georgiana could see, was the vague shapes of the numerous bookshelves, desks that were always full of maps and notes.
She stuck close to Mr. Howler as he moved soundlessly around the large room.
“What are all these maps for?” He inquired. Walking over to one of the cluttered desks and sifting through papers.
“I don’t know.” Georgiana answered, coming up beside him. “Father keeps himself cooped up in here most of the time. When ever I ask him what he’s doing, he’ll go on ranting about some great discovery he’s made. Something that’s going to change the future he says. I don’t know what he’s talking about in the slightest.” She spun the globe around thoughtfully. “Mother doesn’t like to talk about him anymore. I think she’s scared that he’s lost it, and thinks that if she doesn’t acknowledge it, it will just go away.”
Nico watched her with sadness in his eyes as she told her story. But she wasn’t looking. She quickly went to another table and rummaged through it to try and find her father‘s journal.
Nicolas froze as his heightened sense starting blaring alarms at him.
Down below in the badly light factories, and then where they all lived, everyone’s sense of balance, smell, sight, hearing, all grew to pass the average person’s strength in their senses. If they didn’t it could mean a life or death situation.
At the moment, he could hear a faint breathing pattern that didn’t belong to himself, or Miss Smith.
Closing his eyes, and forcing all his concentration on that pattern, he found that it was coming from behind the curtains on the far window.
As he moved towards it, passing the empty fire place, he picked up the fire poker as silently as he could.
His eyes flashed to Miss Smith as she moved to watch him, her mouth opening up to say something. He put a finger to his lips and she fell quiet.
Georgiana watched as he moved towards the window. Her heartbeat racing harder every time he moved closer. She was surprised to watch how the strange boy moved. The way he moved reminded her of how she imagined a lion to move when he was stalking his prey.  Silently, and with a strong air of deadliness.
Georgiana wanted to ask what he was doing, but knew that if he was walking that quietly, and was holding a poker like a weapon, she had best keep her mouth shut.

When Nicolas came up to the curtain, he pounced at it, slashing the iron through it, cutting the curtain in half. There was a rage filled scream as someone hidden in shadows jumped at him. Nico spun out of the attackers punch, but didn’t see the knife until it sliced through his upper arm. Nico grunted in pain, but pushed it from his mind as he brought the poker down on his back. The attacker groaned, and doubled over. Nico took the opportunity and shoved the figure out the window.

Georgiana stifled her scream by stuffing her fist into her mouth. Gathering her senses, she rushed over to Nico and almost touched his bleeding arm before she remembered her manners, and knew it would be unacceptable.
“Are you hurt?” She asked for the sake of breaking the silence.
He looked up at her in disbelief.
“Oh alright, I guess that’s an obvious answer. If I may, I’ll bandage your wound.” Georgiana offered, forcing herself to ignore the awkwardness of the situation.
Nicolas gave her a curt nod and she quickly went to a drawer in her father’s desk.
Bringing back a bandage and a bottle of rubbing alcohol, she guided Nico to the broken window so she could see better.
Nicolas let his breath pass between his clenched teeth as she helped him out of his coat and pulled the torn shirt out of the wound.
“Do you not have linen shirts in Lower Station?” Georgiana pondered aloud as she dipped a clean cloth into alcohol.
“Uh…” Nicolas was taken by surprise with her strange question. “No. We don’t. Cotton’s much cheaper to buy and -” He cut himself off by biting his tongue when she pressed the cleaning alcohol onto the wound.
“Sorry.” She whispered sincerely. He realized that the reason why she had asked him the strange question was to get him distracted from watching her dab the alcohol on his wound.
Smart girl. He thought.
Georgiana was busy wrapping his arm when she heard her father’s footsteps on the attic stairs.
“Quick! Hide!” She hissed, ushering him under the table. He heard her scramble for something on the desk above him, followed by the scratching of a pen. But then she moved away just as the door burst open.

From under the table, among the stacks of books, Nicolas wasn’t able to see much except for the hem of Georgiana’s nightgown, and the slippers of who he assumed was her father.
“Georgie!” A masculine voice cried. “What are you doing up here child and -”
“Oh father!” Georgiana’s voice sounded like she might burst into tears any minute. “There - there was a man and he -”
“Hush child. Lets get you back down stairs and get you a cup of tea to settle your nerves.” Her father soothed. The two people walked to the door, Georgiana let a piece of paper drop from her hand as she walked out of the room.
Her father hesitated at the steps. His eyes taking in the torn curtain and broken windows.
“Oh Lord please say they didn’t take it.” He whispered before closing the door and joining his daughter at the bottom steps.

Chapter Two

Chapter Two


“A girl?!” He almost cried out.
The girl didn’t seem to hear luckily for him, as she went to smoldering two pieces of metal together.
He realized she was just in a white nightgown, and a red robe that seemed a bit big. Her long black curls looked almost purple in the pale light in her room.
Nicolas took a step away from the door, but tripped over a trunk that had been placed near the wall of the hallway, falling onto the floor.
This time she heard the noise.
She turned around, her hair fanning out around her shoulder. Her eyes were hidden behind a pair of goggles, which she quickly pulled off as her jaw dropped when she caught sight of him.
He didn’t know what to do. He considered running down the stairs and jumping out the window. But she moved before he could.
With the iron still in her hand, she moved towards him and beckoned him to come in as she glanced nervously up and down the hall. After a stunned moment when he didn’t move, she groaned and caught a hold of his sleeve, and dragged him into her room and shut the door quietly behind him.

Once it was close, she turned to him and starred at him in wonder.
“What? Who are you?” She asked, in a surprisingly calm tone. Which was more than he could say for himself.
“I - uh… I’m Nicolas Howler.” He said, bowing at the waist in a traditional fashion. Her cheeks flushed, though he could not figure out why. She pulled out the tips of her robe and dipped into a curtsy.
“It’s nice to meet you Mr. Howler. I’m Georgiana Smith. The only daughter of Orville and Louisa Smith.”
Well, so much for coming away empty handed. He thought to himself. Then she rose to her full height, which was just a couple inches shorted then Nicolas. Her eyebrows rose in curiosity as she looked him over, as he did her.
Mr. Howler was as one might except from a fifteen, sixteen, year old boy. He was tall, but evenly proportioned. Though she did notice he had some upper body build, even if it was hidden under a filthy shirt, and a tattered coat. What fascinated her most about the strange boy in her bedroom, was his face. She wouldn’t have been able to pick out just one thing about his face that attracted her most, but his face in a whole, was one she thought to be strange on a boy.
When he blinked, his thick lashes curled on his high cheekbones. He had an angular chin, and bright…golden eyes. She looked again to confirm that indeed, his eyes were a deep, rich, gold. Framed by dark brown curls that fell onto his sweaty forehead in wet clumps.

While she had been studying him, he had done the same to her. He judged she couldn’t be more than fifteen years old. She was slender, and tall for her age, but then so was he. She was of small build in every possible way, and her midnight purple hair was a tangled mess, but somehow, she looked beautiful anyways. Her bright green eyes, were a shade he had never seen before. So bright and vibrant that they seemed to imprint themselves behind his eyelids.

“So may I ask,” Georgiana said, slowly. “What exactly are you doing in my house?”
“Um… I’m - uh…I’m investigating.” He responded, instantly cursing himself for sounding like an idiot.
Her brow creased in confusion.
“Investigating what?”
“Um…” His eyes wandered the room, ‘til they found the source of the only light in the room. “Gas lamps. We’ve heard they’re acting up lately.”
She instantly glanced at the lamp on her work table.
“Gas lamps,” She echoed. “At this time of night? And why didn’t you let father know? And how did you even get in?”
Nicolas bit his lip.
“Ah…well…this is the only time I’m allowed to come up here.” He answered her first question. Hoping she wouldn’t notice that he had skirted around the others.
“’Up…here’?” Her eyes lit up as she suddenly realized what the statement meant.
“Wait a moment, you mean you’re a…you’re a…” She suddenly burst out laughing, followed by her jumping up and down like a little child on Christmas day.
“You’re a Junkie!”
Nicolas groaned and rubbed his forehead with a fist.
“I dislike that particular term…”
She could hardly keep her excitement in.
“I can’t believe I’ve actually met one! I mean it’s mostly just rumors up here. Most don’t want to believe you all exist. But now I’ve actually met one! Hahaha! I have so many questions to ask… and the first one is how did you get into my house again?”
Nico sighed, thankful she had come back to her sense. And he would have answered, if she hadn’t jumped to another question.
“Can you please empty your pockets for me?”
He drew in a deep breath.
“Do you always jump from one thought to another so rapidly?”
“Oh! Yes, yes I do. I’m sorry. It’s just the way my brain works. Always on the highest gear and never slowing down. Even when I sleep. It can be quiet irritable at times as well.” She replied, her eyes suddenly sad.
“Hmm…” He emptied out his trouser pockets, showing her that nothing was in it.
Then she pointed to his vest.
“And that one?”
Nico clenched his teeth, as the thought of her knowing what was in his pocket ran through his mind. She noticed the flash of fear in his eyes, which only made her more persistent.
“Nothing. There’s nothing in it.” He replied quickly.
She arched an elegant eyebrow, and placed her hands on her hips.
“If you don’t show me I’ll scream of my parents.” She threatened with a hard tone.
Nico gulped and with a shaky hand, pulled his treasured watch out of his pocket.
Georgiana gasped, her hands flew up at her mouth.
Nicolas’ eyes widened.
“I’ve seen this before…In my father’s journal.”
“Where is it?” Nicolas asked. His curiosity heightened, as he wondered why her father would have mentioned his pocket watch.
“In the library.” She responded, just before another crash echoed through the house.
Georgiana’s eyes slowly found Nico’s. The fear was evident and he suddenly wanted to do something to comfort her, but nothing came to mind.
“It’s coming from the library.” Georgiana stated, suddenly taking off out of her room and down the hall.
Nico was left standing there, in shock that she had gone first instead of him. The thought of a girl going into danger he wouldn’t face himself spurred him into movement as he raced after her.