An Improper Derailment Chapter Thirty Nine
Start the adventure from the beginning.
Marshall watched in disbelief…as the rope slithered around the tree branch before slipping away.
The kid fumbled over and over and for all appearances, had no idea how to use his hands.
Captain Forsyth proved yet again to have achieved his status through connections and finances rather than via competency. The man displayed precisely none.
“Stop that!” he yelled. As if his air ship would listen and follow voice commands like a trained dog.
Mary’s pale face appeared, a mask of terror, over the edge of the gondola. At least she had the presence of mind to jump to action. She grabbed a hold of the ladder and it looked as if she was struggling to get her leg over the side. The ship rocked, and she was pitched back away from the side.
“Grab the rudder!” Marshall called out as he ran toward the air ship.
It seemed to float in place, and then dart to the side with a gust of wind. Asif it were playing a game, waiting for him before dancing away, out of his reach.
“What’s the rudder?” Mary’s yells were like a soft whisper as the wind snatched her volume away.
Marshall waved his arms around trying to indicate she needed to move toward the rear of the flying boat. His motions were jerky and not helpful as he was also failing at catching up to the ropes The Profound name trailed behind. “It will let you steer the airship!”
“I know what a rudder does. I can’t tell which of these levers is it. There’s no wheel.” It sounded like she continued to complain about what kind of ship doesn’t have a wheel, but her words got lost as the wind shifted and the airship was carried away at speed.
There was no way for Marshall to keep up with it. Mary was being carried away from him. He needed something as fast as the wind.
In the middle of the commotion a stranger rode into the clearing on horseback. His attention on the airship. “I missed it. I had wanted to see what people were talking about.”
In a few strides, Marshall was next to the horse. He reached up and grabbed the man from the saddle.
“What the hell?” The man’s complaint was ignored as Marshall jumped into the saddle and kicked the horse into action.
The horse was fast, but the damned airship was faster. Uttering more curses and smacking the horse on the flanks with the tails of the reins, Marshall willed them to speed faster.
Luck was on their side. The wind calmed momentarily. The Profound Name slowed, and listed to the side. No longer aligned to the wind, it was buffeted around as it stayed relatively stationary.
Marshall reached out and leaped from the saddle. In a single swift motion he grabbed, and wrapped one of the trailing ropes around his arm.
“Marshall!” Mary called out to him.
“You can’t get away from me that easily, Mary,” he teased even though he was wrestling to climb up the rope while the air ship spun and shifted form side to side in the increasing wind. “Are you all right?”
“I will be.” Mary reached out and grabbed onto the fabric of his shirt in an attempt to help haul him over the side.
She fell back onto her rump as he rolled over the edge and onto the airship.
She gestured with wild hand motions toward the back end of the boat. “I can’t figure any of that out. Nothing looks like any boat I’ve ever been on. I have no idea if this thing even has a rudder.”
Marshall wanted to grab Mary to him and confirm with touch what his eyes told him, she was fine, unhurt. But He needed to figure out how to steady this boat, or they might capsize.
A fall from this height would surely result in a few broken bones, if not worse.
“I think I saw Forsyth use this the most.” He reached up and pulled one of the many levers that occupied this area of the boat.
The airship responded.
“Good.” He adjusted his grip and pushed against it until the airship turned and faced the direction the wind wanted to take them.
“What are you doing?” Mary demanded.
“I don’t know how to land this thing. All I can do is try to keep us from falling out of the sky. You’re welcome to take over, if you like.”
“We have to go back!” She pointed ahead of them. “You have us headed into that storm.”
“Then you had better hold tight, because I can’t get this boat to turn around.”
Will they survive the storm? Tune in next time…
©2025 Lulu M. Sylvian
