Page 18 (1/2)
She counted twelve air airdinghies and behind the to the school’s size, but full dirigibles of the kind that were rumored to be in production for overseas postal delivery
Sophronia scanned the occupants, searching for the shadow gentleman He must be there It was dark and she had to squint so hard she developed a headache, but she ibles The silhouette of a , like the other flyway a stovepipe hat Sophronia had no doubt that the band about that top hat was green He was standing to the back--see, as before, to be an observer rather than a participant
Sophronia wondered if he observed her, in her dressing goith an evening bag about her neck, clinging to the side of the ship
She supposed the dirigibles ht theend After all, how does a pirate afford a dirigible? But there was no other explanation The two dirigibles floating a the ducklings, looked as though they s of weaponry and flags were ibles were a stylish set intended for so school Sophronia concluded that, like the galleons of old, these overnment
One of the flywaymen put a bullhorn to his
One of the dirigibles fired, a flash of a cannon on the deck, and a large object caht by where Sophronia clung, only justthe school
Sophronia suppressed a shriek
"Fire, Professor Braithwope," she heard Lady Linette order
Professor Braithwope caht as he took two vampire-quick leaps to the front of the deck He pointed his tiny crossbow at the fleet arrayed before them
Sophronia doubted a crossbow of such daintiness would be very effective
He fired
As one, all the mechanicals, whose little cannons had been pointed at the professor the entire ti the arc of the crossbow bolt
They target the bolt! Sophronia realized I hope Professor Braithwope is a good shot
He was The bolt hit and stuck into the side of one of the airdinghies, well below the edge of the carrier basket, out of reach of its occupants
Lady Linette ca and pulled at so hidden there
The soldier mechanicals all fired at once in a tremendous boom of noise
Sophronia winced and wished she could cover her ears, but she needed both her hands to hang on
The squeak deck disappeared in a cloud of gunpowder smoke The sweet, tinny smell floated down to Sophronia When it cleared, she could see that one of the s to one side, two of its balloons collapsing It started to spiral down and out of the sky The ones to either side of it had also taken hits
One of the dirigibles returned fire This tiher The cannonball tore a massive hole in the school’sto look into the cavity and assess the dae But the balloon was one deck over, and it was too dark for her to see anything One side of the balloon looked to be caving slightly, and the whole ship listed in that direction
"Get the sooties up there!" she heard Professor Lefoux yell, pointing at the daed balloon
Professor Braithwope did his fast scuttle out across the plank to the pilot’s nest, presumably to call down to the boiler roo of the squeak deck She needed no bullhorn, for she was very good at projecting her voice There is no doubt about it; she e
"Stop firing We will give you the prototype! Send over your aht Sophronia See the fake prototype? Use it as a means to buy more time?
The flyway distance, "Agreed"
THE CORRECT WAY TO GET CAUGHT
What happened next?" Dimity was positively riveted by Sophronia’s tale
"Professor Lefoux gave the flywaymen a fake prototype It looked like a shiny , and they ought to be getting ready for breakfast, but instead they were lying in their beds chatting
"I started to worry when you weren’t back after the bells stopped sounding" Dimity’s pretty face was so to et you into any kind of trouble Bumbersnoot is my concern Also, I hoped to return before anyone noticed In the end, I had to hile the teachers cleaned up after the battle Did you know they brought sooties up top and had them climb inside the balloon to ly silhouette, that one of those sooties had been Soap She did not say this to Dimity For some reason she felt very private about and possessive of Soap Also a little eht scoff Petunia had always been verywhenever Sophronia befriended the stable lads Then she hadn’tschool, she was beginning to concern herself with appearances
"Regardless, I had to hile everyone fussed over the balloon I overheard the teachers talking"
Dimity’s eyes widened appreciatively
"Professor Lefoux said that the flywaymen would be back, because the prototype they passed over was a fake She said it would fool theuarantee of safety" Sophronia rolled over and pulled her black velvet reticule out from under the bed She extracted a few lumps of coal and placed Bumbersnoot, asleep at the foot of her bed, barely wary, his tiny internal steaine almost completely shut down
Sophronia tapped him on the head with a chunk of coal and then placed it in front of his face He an to eat Shortly thereafter, steaot to his four tiny feet with a few squeaks and clunks
Sophronia continued her story "Professor Braithwope said soray, he called it--to buy us extra tihtful "No mail drops for a while, then Monique will be disappointed"
"As indeed a to write to Mu to drop your brother that glove"
Died her on "What happened next?"
"Sister Mattie asked about Bunson’s Professor Lefoux said so their best"