Free Deep Roots by Beth Cato Page A

Rivka.
    â€œHelp, how?” Broderick looked between them.
    â€œCan you get us in?” Tatiana offered a bright smile.
    â€œIs this one of those games where we keep answering questions with questions?”
    â€œWe’re not sure what we can do yet.” Rivka frowned and worked her lips together as she tried to articulate her emotions into words. “But down there the other day . . . all those little gremlins, missing parts . . . seeing Lump like that, knowing he’ll be sent into the Arena to maybe die . . . and the jockey would be at risk, too. Tatiana’s brother was the rider in that last Arena bout. She understands the dangers involved!”
    Rivka looked to her for support, but Tatiana’s expression was unreadable. Maybe she couldn’t bear to think of her Alonzo in such danger.
    â€œI get it.” Broderick’s voice was soft. “I don’t like it, either, but you two shouldn’t do anything aether-­brained.”
    â€œWe won’t!” said Tatiana with another smile.
    Broderick grunted. “I’ll be there early tomorrow morning to tend the gremlins and set things up for Miss Arfetta. I can’t guarantee you’ll get in, but I’ll see what I can do. Meet me at freight door A on the east side at nine.”
    â€œThank you!” Tatiana almost sang. She headed toward the door while Rivka lingered by the table.
    â€œThank you for this. Really. I don’t want to get you in trouble,” she murmured.
    â€œYou won’t.” His tense smile said otherwise. “I don’t know what you really hope to achieve, though. It’s not like we can stop working on it—­Lump—­in the middle of the process. That’s no life. Nor can you release the little gremlins. In their conditions, they have no chance in the urban wild.”
    She tucked down her chin and stared at her hands. “I’m a mechanist. Not certified yet or anything, but it’s what I do. I fix things. I’m just not sure how to fix this yet.”
    She envied him, his magic. He, like Miss Leander, had a power that she could only imagine. They could save ­people. What could she do? By Tamaran academic standards, she was yet another ignorant Caskentian refugee. To Grandmother’s dismay, Rivka’s writing skills were abysmal. She had a knack for mathematics and machines, true, but had no comprehension of the advanced skills required to work on a behemoth chimera. That entailed decades of training under a true master craftsman.
    â€œYou might regret this, though,” he said. “Working on the chimera won’t be pretty. This is surgery, of a sort.”
    â€œI’ve seen blood. Death, too. That’s why I don’t like to see others suffer.” She shrugged away images of her bloodied past. “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
    Tatiana awaited her in the hallway, beaming like an electric light. “That went well!”
    Rivka grabbed her by the arm, looming over her. “You had no right to imply Miss Leander would instruct him. You could have just asked him to help us.”
    â€œI could have, and he would have said no. What else would we do? Approach Mr. Cody directly? How do you think he’d respond? We have to get him to like us again—­or even better, respect us—­before we dare ask him for anything. Besides, if you’ve been around Miss Leander, you know she’d help him. She helps anyone ,” she said with a sneer.
    Tatiana was like a feral cat Rivka once knew on a tower roof—­pretty as could be, and claws quick to swipe if you got too close.
    Rivka released her hold. “She helped your mother, too.”
    Tatiana’s eyes narrowed. “Do you want to save the gremlins or not? And Lump. What kind of name is Lump ?”
    Rivka felt so tired all of a sudden. Tired of Tatiana and her manipulations, of the sneer that crept into her voice. Tired of