Free The Lightning Key by Jon Berkeley

with fins at one end and an enormous propeller mounted on either side. The wooden hull of a small ship was suspended from the underside of the balloon by a web of ropes and cables, and the whole contraption floated above a field, moored to a stake in the ground. A number of figures in black and white gazed up at the airship. Some of them were people in their best eveningdress. The rest were cows.
    â€œA ship that flies?” said Baltinglass with a snort. “We’ll stick to the deep blue sea, thank you, Mr. Barrett.”
    â€œIt’s a sort of giant balloon,” said Miles, looking up from the photograph, “with the ship suspended underneath it.”
    â€œI was rather hoping you would join us, Mr. Baltinglass,” said Barrett. “To be perfectly frank, Captain Tripoli has entered into a bet with Captain Savage of the Albatross . Captain Savage boldly claimed that he could reach Al Bab a full day ahead of us, and there is a large stake riding on the wager, not to mention the pride of both men.”
    â€œAnd what does that have to do with us?” demanded Baltinglass of Araby.
    â€œIt’s a condition of the bet that both ships can set sail as soon as they have a full complement of paying passengers aboard. Captain Savage sold his last two tickets this morning and can leave as soon as visibility allows, but we are still three passengers short.”
    â€œShe’s beautiful!” said Little, who was still staring at the picture and had heard nothing of wagers and tickets.
    Miles looked at her. Her eyes were shining, andhe could almost see the clouds in the photograph billowing beneath her gaze. She looked up at him, and he forgot Baltinglass of Araby’s skepticism and his own misgivings at once. “There are three berths left?” he said.
    First Officer Barrett laughed with delight. “Not if you have your way, I suspect. Three bunks for the voyage, and three meals a day, all for the knockdown price of twenty-four shillings a head, and half-price for the under-sevens.”
    Miles’s face fell. He had not even thought about how they would pay for their passage, and . . . let me see . . . twenty-four plus twenty-four plus half of . . . forty-eight . . . seventy . . . no, sixty shillings seemed like a lot of money. “We’d love to fly, but it sounds very expensive,” he said doubtfully.
    â€œThe money’s not a problem!” said Baltinglass. “I’m not short of a few sovereigns, but you won’t catch me dangling from a bag of air in a wooden box. If we were meant to go sailing through the sky why would nature have bothered filling the seas with perfectly good water?”
    â€œIndeed, you’re probably right,” said First Officer Barrett with a twinkle in his eye. “The skies can be a daunting challenge, even for a much younger man. Hundred-mile-an-hour winds, lethal ice crystals,storms that make a sea squall look like a bubble bath. A man of your towering reputation has no further need to prove himself, and a gentle sea cruise would probably suit you much better.”
    Baltinglass of Araby stiffened in his seat, and his bristly chin extended itself in Barrett’s direction. “What do you mean by that?” he demanded. “I’ve been struck twice by lightning, young pup, and I still have all that energy fizzing and popping inside me. I’ll still be off gallivanting when you’re drooling in your rocking chair. Gentle cruise, my backside! Stop your flimflamming, man, and sign us up!”
    Miles looked at Little and grinned. He felt pleased, but strangely tired. Little squeezed his hand, but the smile on her face suddenly froze, and she turned quickly and glanced over her shoulder. The door had swung open again, and two figures stepped into the bar. They wore long duffel coats, and their feet made no sound on the floorboards. Miles could make out