“What were you looking for?”
“Mostly same as you, I reckon,” he said. “Looking for the Holder. Heard tales of it. Heard it’s valuable. I’m a man who recognizes valuable opportunities when they present themselves.”
“It’s a weapon,” Cedar said.
Captain Hink glanced down at him. “You know that for sure, or you seen it with your own eyes?”
“Both.”
“A man who’s seen the legendary Holder? That’s what I call a valuable opportunity.”
“Depends on whose hands it falls into.”
“True. You suppose you’re the sort of man who should be responsible for that kind of a weapon, Mr. Hunt?”
“No. And neither are you.”
Captain Hink chuckled. “True. Wait.” He held very still, his body as taut as a plucked string. “Do you hear her?”
Cedar Hunt did indeed hear the ship. Coming in from the south. He pulled his goggles over his eyes and peered at the sky. “How many ships know about this bolt-hole?” he asked.
“Too many. And they know the Swift can pocket it.”
“Do they have charges?” Cedar asked.
“They shouldn’t. Glim harvest isn’t like shoveling for gold. No need for dropping dynamite when you’re digging the skies.”
“There she is,” Cedar said. The airship skimmed the edge of the chasm, lights flashing from the windows in her sides like stars stuck on a wedge of night.
“Doesn’t look like the Bickern, too small,” Cedar said.
“The Saginaw?”
“I didn’t get much of a look at her. Distinctions?”
“Narrow hull, three steamer, so you should be able to see three stacks if she shows her rump. She’s an open deck, so you’ll see sunlight between the hull and the airbags.”
“What type of propellers on her?” Cedar asked.
“Quad. Two front, two rear.”
“I see fans, front and rear, but I only see one stack…no, two.” The ship tipped out of sight, but for a bare second he caught the flash of sunlight between the deck and bags. “Open hull.”
“It’s the Saginaw,” Captain Hink said. “Hear the cough in her throttle?”
Cedar listened. The ship gave off the strange chugging and hum that all airships emitted. “No.”
“Well, I do. It’s Captain Smith. Don’t know what I did to cook his cockles.”
“Maybe he’s looking for what you were looking for,” Cedar said.
“The Holder?” Captain Hink started down the tumble of rocks, kicking pebbles free. “Don’t think so. Most men think that’s just a bluff. A contraption to keep men spooked and under the president’s thumb.”
“The president?” Cedar asked. “What’s his part with the Holder?”
“He owns it, Mr. Hunt. Or so much as. This is his country, and to keep the peace, he has the right to control the weapons.”
“And what makes you think the Holder’s not a bluff?” Cedar asked.
“Besides you saying you’ve seen it? Records. Drawings sketched out by men learned in the wild sciences. I came across a man once who swore he’d seen it. Said it was headed out west in the possession of a peculiar aristocratic sort of man. A railroad tycoon.”
He stopped next to Cedar. “The power a man would carry in the palm of his hand if he had the Holder is enough to take all the states, and the world beyond for the spoils.”
“So how well do you know the president?” Cedar asked.
Captain Hink paused. He considered his answer just long enough for Cedar to know he’d hit a nerve. Regardless of what Captain Hink might say, he knew the president. Possibly had served under him. Maybe still did.
“Not well at all,” the captain lied cheerily. “But if I get my hands on the Holder, I’m going to march right up the hill and sit down to tea with the gentleman himself.
“We’ll need to patch the Swift enough to get her to a repair site,” he continued. “Old Jack’s isn’t too far off. We’ll have to do it quiet and slow. Crawl the cliffs and stay out of the clears, but we might make it by nightfall.”
“Then what?” Cedar asked.
“Then I drop you and yours off at the nearest town, we shake hands and let our paths take us where they may.”
Cedar didn’t think there were towns in these parts big enough to offer up the mounts and supplies they’d need to make it to Kansas. There might be a doctor for Rose, but if what Alun had said was true, they’d need the Holder to get that piece of tin out of her.
He’d promised the Madders he’d find the Holder for them. And he planned on doing just that. But he’d also promised he’d do anything necessary to get Rose the medical attention she needed. This was his last bargaining chip for her life.