Steven Harper - The Impossible Cube

“If that’s what you want,” Gavin said. “Right now we have to collect Kemp and find Dodd.”

The first show of the day was just finishing up in the Tilt. A sell-out audience of all ages applauded and cheered from crowded bleachers while the Mysterious Yins, clad in red, went through their routine in the ring. Gavin thought of Feng and tried not to feel sick. Maybe Ivana was just holding him for now and hadn’t started in on him yet. He tried not to think of Feng clamped to an operating table with Ivana Gonta looming over him, tools at the ready, but worry and guilt continued to gnaw at him. This was taking so long .

A roped-off section down in front kept a group of dignitaries and their families and attendant automaton servants separated from the rabble. Many of the men wore red military uniforms and carried wicked-looking dress swords, and the women wore rich dresses in bright blues and blood reds, with heavy brocaded skirts and fur jackets. Even the children were carefully outfitted. More than one little girl carried a clockwork doll. And then it slapped Gavin in the face. This was what had been bothering him since he had arrived in Kiev: These were the first children he had seen in public. In all the crowds he had seen in the city, every person had been an adult. No children walked with their parents, none played in streets or alleyways. Except for the wealthy ones Gavin had just noticed, none attended this very circus. The only children Gavin had seen were among the families Alice had cured and zombies on the night streets. He thought of Ivana Gonta and her chocolate. Did all of Kiev keep their children indoors?

Three Yins boosted high poles upright while three others leaped from one to the other with the agility of lemurs. The audience applauded again. Off to one side waited the clowns, ready to gently shoo the audience away once this act was done. Gavin, Alice, and Kemp slipped behind the bleachers to the place where Dodd waited between acts and found him. He wore his usual red-and-white striped shirt and red top hat.

“He’s not going to like this,” Alice said in Gavin’s ear. “How are you going to persuade him to take a circus parade to the Gonta House?”

“The Gonta House?” Kemp said. “That would be dreadfully dangerous, Madam!”

“I don’t know how,” Gavin admitted. “I’m flying blind.”

Dodd saw them approaching and gave them a quizzical look.

“We need to talk,” Gavin said quietly. “I’m not-”

“Can it wait?” Dodd interrupted. “We’re all about to be very busy.”

“Busy?” Gavin said. The audience laughed at the antics of the youngest Yin. “I thought the show was almost over.”

“This arrived halfway through the second act.”

He showed Gavin a letter. In neat handwriting with a strange slant was written:

Come with circus to Gonta House for private performance immediately. Bring magnificent elephant.

Gonta

“Oh,” Gavin said.

“It came with a bag of money,” Dodd added. “Linda spouted some nonsense about the three of swords, but for that much money, I’ll face the hundred of swords. We leave in ten minutes.”

“Might Gavin and I ride the elephant?” asked Alice.

The elephant lumbered down the gritty, twisting streets at the head of another parade. Dodd, never one to give up the chance for publicity, insisted on a show. They had even installed a gaudy brass gondola atop the elephant. Normally Gavin would have enjoyed the experience-he was riding atop the elephant at the head of a parade with Alice next to him-but all he could think about was Feng.

Somewhat over a year ago, before the Third Ward, before the clockwork plague, before Alice, Gavin had been busking in London’s Hyde Park. A young man from the Orient-Feng-had rushed out of the fog and begged Gavin to help him. Gavin hid Feng and persuaded the young man’s pursuers that Feng had gone off in another direction. In gratitude, Feng gave Gavin the clockwork nightingale that re-created sounds. Much later, Gavin learned that Feng was the son of the Chinese ambassador to England and nephew of the emperor. When the ambassador discovered Gavin and Alice were fleeing to China, he asked them to take Feng along, since Feng clearly wasn’t suited to carry on his father’s career. Since none of them spoke a Chinese language, it seemed a good idea to bring him along. Besides, Gavin liked Feng. He was funny, and had a wistful air about him. It was only lately that he’d become surly, for reasons Gavin didn’t understand. Maybe something was bothering him, something more than just being housed among acrobats. He should have spoken up.

But did you ask? Gavin thought. Some friend you turned out to be.

“I still think this seems terribly fortuitous,” Alice complained. “Much too fortuitous.”

“Why can’t we have a piece of good luck for once?” Gavin countered, then added, “Don’t answer that. I agree with you, actually, though Ivana Gonta did say last night that she had guests to entertain and she wanted to see the elephant. It’s not that much of a coincidence. Maybe we actually are lucky. Those particles Charlie mentioned flipping at the same time to help us.”

“Hm,” was Alice’s only response.

He shifted the pack on his back and checked his wristbands for the fifth or sixth time. Alice’s parasol, newly repaired, gleamed as she waved it at the people crowding the sidewalk. A whistle dangled from a silver chain around her neck. Calliope music tootled behind them, drawing along stilt walkers, acrobats, horse acts, and animal cages. The parade scribbled a stream of bright colors through the gray city to the wide courtyard Gavin remembered from the previous night. By now it was noon, and Feng had been in Ivana Gonta’s clutches for twelve hours.

Hang on, Feng, Gavin thought. We’re coming.

The automaton guard flung the gates open and Alice guided the puffing elephant through. Its brass back was warm, almost hot, from the boilers contained inside it. Beyond the gate lay another wide courtyard, again all cobbles and stone. The blocky white mansion bent itself in a square C to make the courtyard. It reminded Gavin uncomfortably of a prison, and he remembered that the Gontas built the place at least partly in defense against the Zalizniaks across the river. An impressive set of steps rose up to a columned portico. At the base of the steps looking out over the courtyard were a series of long tables all set with fine linen, gleaming silver, and faceted crystal. A crowd of people dressed even more richly than the dignitaries at the circus occupied benches and divans and chairs placed all about the tables, and they were laughing and talking. Food-roast pork and hams and birds and fruits and dumplings and potatoes and soups-crowded serving platters, and the mingled delicious smells made Gavin dizzy. His stomach reminded him that he hadn’t eaten since yesterday. Automatons of many shapes bustled about. Human-shaped ones replaced food and refilled glasses of kvas and vodka. Spiders scampered about, cleaning up spills and delivering fresh napkins. Several clockwork cats similar to Click lounged among the dinner guests.

When the circus paraded through the gate, the dinner guests stared and pointed. A few clapped. Dodd trotted smartly to the forefront as Ivana Gonta emerged from the crowd to meet him. She wore a pink afternoon dress with a low neckline more suited to an indoor spring tea than an outdoor autumn banquet, but the chill in the air didn’t seem to bother her. A red haze settled over Gavin’s vision and he realized he was growling.

“If she’s up here,” Alice pointed out quietly, “it means she isn’t doing anything to Feng at the moment. Maybe she’s been busy arranging this little event and hasn’t had time to touch him.”