Chapter 17: Chapter 17: The Manor

Will sat with Eelock and Merk near the manor wall tossing pebbles at the stonework.  An hour before, they’d watched the taxman enter, all three thinking their search was over.

Eelock had been right.  Mr. Putter had given the young man the task of informing the Society of the latest news, along with a few less than savory comments about their mysterious associate.  Merk and Eelock had stood stone-faced as the two men discussed which experiments to send Dai through once she was caught.  Then he was off, along with three inconspicuous shadows.

Will’s heart sank with each stop the man made.  Some he didn’t know, but others were people he talked to every day, neighbors that helped him when he needed a little extra coin.  Thinking back, he could pinpoint moments where they’d ignored Chleo in favor of him or dismissed her comments out of hand.  At the time, he’d thought it was because they disapproved of him seeking help from a girl.  Chleo was right.  Luna was the worst.

At each house, Merk would pull up his sleeve to reveal his wristlet, complete with all but an ID badge.  In its place was a strange flexible glass.  He would point his fist at the home and a skeleton of the building would appear on the glass.  

The first time Will had peppered them with questions.  A few glares and non-answers later, he’d stopped.  The contraption let them search every room without stepping a foot inside.  He was determined to find one for himself.

Stop after stop, they failed to find Jack, until finally the taxman approached the manor.  It was… unexpected.  Will assumed they would all be commoners.  His neighbors were a surprise, and it was disappointing, but the high-born were supposed to be above groups like the Scorps.  They were tasked with the care of all of Luna, including relos.  Barring that, he couldn’t imagine any of them wanting to rub shoulders with the likes of taxmen and D.I.M. agents willingly.

Once he’d recovered from his shock, his heart raced.  Where better to question a low key prisoner than the manor?  No one would search it, and if they did, no one would question the Duke.

Will was bursting with energy as Merk scanned the grounds.  He started remembering as much of the Manor as he could from another visit in another life.  He would tell Eelock and Merk to sneak through the forest and into the gardens.  It would lead them straight to the servants’ entrance.  No one should recognize them.  The high-born never let their help off the grounds, a measure strictly enforced to keep secrets and avoid scandals. Will had a detailed path leading to the most likely rooms holding Mr. Mathews when Merk dropped his arm with a sigh.

“It’s clean.” He sounded as disappointed as Will felt.

“Are you sure?” Eelock asked.

Merk gave a sharp nod.  “I checked twice, the second for shielded spaces.  Nothing.”

Eelock pursed his lips in frustration and settled back to wait for the taxman to exit.  Will copied him.  An hour later, he started tossing pebbles to give his hands something to do.

One, two, three, he counted the number of times he could hit the same spot on the wall.  Leaves rustled behind him.

Will spun, the others already stepping toward the undergrowth.   There was another rustle as one of the shrubs shook.  Merk sprang forward, nimble as a panther, and grabbed, hauling a figure into the clearing by the wall. He tripped over his feet and fell on his back staring up at them.

“Mr. Mungow?” Will asked, shocked to see the man outside of Sugar Shoppe.

“Will, my boy,” he said his jowls shaking along with the words.  His plump hand clutched his Timekeepers piece to his chest.  He eyed the two strangers.  “Could you, perhaps, explain to these fine, upstanding men I mean them no harm.”  He rolled himself onto his knees, lifting a hand in defense.  “I’m just a simple shopkeeper, I am.”

Eelock put a hand on Will’s shoulder.  He took it as a command to stay quiet. His mouth snapped shut.

“What are you doing this close to the wall?” Eelock asked, his voice hard.

“I could ask you the same thing, I could,” Mr. Mungow said, shoving his watch in his pocket.

Eelock raised an eyebrow and glared.  Mr. Mungow fidgeted shooting a silent plea at Will.

Will opened his mouth.  Eelock’s hand gave a soft squeeze, and he closed it.

Mr. Mungow’s eyes grew hard. “See if I let you slip any more candies in your pocket, my boy.”  It was the first time Will had ever seen him without some kind of jovial expression.  “Just wanted a closer look at the wall, I did.  It’s a beautiful piece of stonework.”  

Something distracted the shopkeeper.  Will followed his line of sight to his own pocket.  Rolling his eyes, he pulled his watch out.  Green burst from the cover reflecting off his hand.  

“Unbelievable,” he muttered as he popped open the cover.  The normally blank surface started to etch a drawing.  He stared making sure none of his surprise touched his face as a colorful rock appeared.  Will blinked and snapped the watch shut, stuffing it back into his pocket.

“Mister.” Eelock paused.

“Mungow,” Will supplied earning another glare from the shopkeeper.  It was unnerving, like seeing a koala growl.  

“Mr. Mungow, we know you aren’t here for a closer look at the wall,” he said.  Merk stood over the man crossing his arms, muscles bulging.

Grinding out a sigh, Mr. Mungow pulled his watch from his pocket.  His thick fingers fidgeted with the clasp and the cover flipped open.  “Mrs. Melody, made me something of a special design.  Quite the lady, she is.” His face softened for a moment before reverting to stubborn defeat.

He showed them the open cover.  It was a compass, the needle pointing toward the trees.

Will focused on keeping his face blank and his curiosity hidden.  He glanced at the watch and pulled his own compass from a pouch on his belt.  The needle spun until it settled in the opposite direction.

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“Odd,” he said, his high-born accent strengthening as he tried to seem indifferent.  

Mr.  Mungow rolled his eyes and pulled a foil pouch from his pocket.  Grabbing something from the top, he replaced it and held his hand out to show them.  It looked like a rock except for the color.  A deep red painted the sides occasionally interrupted by blue or purple.  

“Rock candy?” Will asked, remembering the etching on the inside of his own watch.  That’s what it was trying to show him?

Mr. Mungow nodded. “My favorite.” He moved the candy over the compass.  The needle followed.

“There are mines of it everywhere on Luna,” he said. “I used to carry chunks of sweet dust to drop on walks through the forest.  They’re attracted to each other, you see.  I would drop a chunk and follow it as it floated toward a mine. I mentioned to Miss Melody that I hated how I kept losing batches, see.  The chunks would connect with the rock and turn entire vanes into dust, they did.”  He snapped the watch closed and shoved it in his pocket.  His stomach jiggled at the movement.  “Miss Melody made me a better way, she did.  Now, you won’t be telling anyone, will you?  The king hasn’t claimed the mines, but I don’t want to be attracting attention.”

Merk clapped him on the back sending a ripple through his shoulders. “You didn’t see us.  We didn’t see you,” he said amicably.

“Sure, sure.” Mr. Mungow nodded his head as he tossed the piece of candy in his mouth. He peeled Merk’s hand off.  “I’ll just be going, then.”

He turned and bumbled into the trees, crashing his way toward town.  Will watched him go thumbing the watch in his pocket.

They waited ten more minutes before the taxman reappeared.  It was agonizing… and boring… and Will was up to fifty consecutive pebble tosses against the top stone.  He jumped to his feet, more than ready to leave.

The taxman walked down the lane to town.  They were hunched in a side alley between two monstrous row homes, when they saw him hail a wagon.  They were close enough for his voice to carry.

“The palace.  There’s an extra coin in it for you if we get there in less than an hour.”

The wagon driver raised an eyebrow but took off.

Will’s stomach dropped.  The palace.  The taxman was going to the palace… and they would follow.

Will didn’t need to search to know Mr. Mathews was there.  If the high-born were involved, of course, the king was, too. Nothing escaped his notice.  The manors wouldn’t join without permission.  Will couldn’t believe it took him so long to think of it.

Then again, denial would that to a person.

Will searched for his center.  He was calm.  He was in control. He couldn’t go back.  Will leaned against the alley wall, his face blank, his eyes dead, while Eelock and Merk discussed the best way to Main City.  The Palace Guard would catch them.  They would recognize him and throw him in the dungeon where he couldn’t help anyone.  Eelock and Merk would lose their heads for knowing him.  His heart ached for Mr. Mathews, but there was no way.

The others grew quiet.  Will looked up hoping they’d come to the same conclusion on their own.  Breaking into the palace was suicide.

They stared at him, concerned. 

“We just heard from Dai,” he said, his voice soft.  Will forced himself to breathe normally. He was calm. He was in control.  The Pits, curse the Star.  If Chleo was dead, he’d- “Chleo was arrested.  It wasn’t just Agent Miles, and,” Eelock hesitated before continuing, “Dai and Mic tracked them to the palace.”

Will blinked.  He. Was. In. Control.  He swallowed his feelings. Chleo was at the palace, and he needed a plan.  He needed to think logically.  The king had Chleo, and they were hours away…  by foot.

He met Eelock’s eye.  “I have a way to the palace.”

~*~*~*~

The hover board jolted under their weight.  Will sat, the pedals beneath him, with Merk at his back.  Eelock was pressed against the propellers in a position only attempted by necessity.  He pushed more steam through the board and sent another press to the fans.  They jerked higher, the board surging forward.

The month of practice guided his actions.  He knew how to wring every ounce of speed from Chleo’s machine, so he did.  They shot toward the palace.

It had taken too long to walk to the Shack.  He’d grabbed the board and threw Eelock and Merk a couple of spare goggles.  They assured him they fit.  He wouldn’t know.  Like the ear piece they’d let him use to communicate with Chleo at the Pits, the goggles had disappeared under their hoods, the same goggle-free faces staring out.  

Will had spared them a shrug and a quick thought that Chleo would kill to know how they did it.  Thus, began the most uncomfortable flight to date.  They touched down in Main City a half hour later, Will cutting the normal flight time in half despite the two giants behind him.

Eelock seemed impressed by Chleo’s ingenuity.  Merk grumbled about his sore back.  

They hid the board on one of the roofs in the northern district and went to meet Dai and Mic’s bird near the palace gate.  Will kept his hat and goggles firmly in place hoping they would do enough hide his identity.  He glared at the palace towers standing proudly in the center of the courtyard. They’d already stolen everything else from him.

He refused to give them Chleo, too.

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