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“Damn. Damn. Damn.”
By happy happenstance both Boy and Robbie were near enough to Liberty to stare at her mouth. With her working on the friction engine, Boy knew it was only a matter of time before something was going to happen that would set her off cursing again. So far neither he nor Robbie had been successful in seeing the poison darts but that hadn’t disheartened either of them.
Robbie leaned forward to get a closer look. “I don’t think that word means what she thinks it does.”
They both inched yet closer still.
“She has created her own word usage where each one has its own meaning.” If Boy had been smarter, he might have tried to keep his distance. Liberty hadn’t been happy at all about him letting Robbie and Mender onboard. But even though she had ranted on and off during the night after Robbie and Mender had gone back on board their own vessel, Boy got the impression Liberty really wasn’t as upset as she pretended to be. After all, she had let them keep their airship tied up to Airus and had even allowed them to come back this morning. Of course, it might have helped that Mender had shown up with freshly baked bread.
Robbie elbowed Boy. “Which ones?”
Liberty glared at him so Boy lowered his voice. “She says ‘damn’ when she’s frustrated. ‘Damn it’ whenever she drops something. ‘Shit’ if she stubs her toe. ‘Holy shit’ if something goes horribly wrong. ‘Hell fire and matches’ whenever I do something wrong and ‘damnation’ when everything goes wrong. And we never ever want to hear her say ‘bloody hell’. That means Airus is either going to blow up or fall out of the sky.” He lowered his voice even more. “I haven’t seen any poison darts yet, though, have you?”
Boy nudged Robbie and they both turned to look at Liberty’s mouth. Sooner or later one of them was bound to see something. Secretly, Boy hoped it was him. After all, she was his sister.
Liberty stared at them both before throwing up her hands. “How many times have I told you? The words don’t really cause actual poisoned darts to come out of my mouth.”
Mender burst out laughing. The other three turned and looked at him, which only made him laugh so hard he snorted out through his nose, slapping the rail when he couldn’t stop laughing, as if that would help.
When Mender continued to chuckle and snort, Liberty threw the wrench she’d been using into a nearby toolbox and stomped off toward the galley. It might have been an excellent way of expressing just how angry she felt, but she accidently tripped over a box of spare engine parts. She now filled the air with a long string of swearwords.
Boy looked over at Robbie, too excited to speak. As if reaching an unspoken agreement, they both took off after her. If they didn’t see something now, they never would. Robbie must have gotten too excited because he straightaway ran up onto the back of one of her heels.
She turned and glared. “Damn it to hell! There aren’t any poison darts coming out of my mouth!”
Boy turned to Robbie. “A new one to keep track of.”
Mender snorted again, earning yet another glare from Liberty, although she said nothing, this time stomping off without incident. Mender waited for her to leave before heading over to Boy and Robbie. He placed a hand on their shoulders.
“Leave this to me. I’ll fix it.”
“Is she broken?” That thought worried Boy, because if she was, did they have the tools and spare parts to repair her? Since Mender said he would fix her, he must believe he could. But Mender didn’t stop at the toolbox. Maybe he had the necessary tools on him.
Robbie turned to Boy. “I didn’t see any poison darts, did you?”
“Now she’s claiming they’re imaginary. Either they are or she wants us to stop looking.” Boy hated the idea of giving up but it was also possible she might still throw them all overboard if they made her angry enough. It was probably safer for everyone if they stopped looking – or maybe they should try to be a little more discreet in future.
“Liberty is my sister. Is Mender your brother?” He had only met Mender and Robbie the day before but already liked them. Robbie’s body had some odd angles to it and his metal covering was tarnished, but Father had always said there was more to someone than how they looked.
Boy liked Mender because he always carried a most pleasant smile and went out of his way to say and do nice things to and for them all. Boy had also seen Liberty looking at Mender as if she liked what she saw. Maybe Mender and Robbie would stay with them and they could become a family. He would have two brothers and a sister then. But Liberty probably wouldn’t let them stay. There was still that problem with her father’s rule about not letting anyone but family members onboard, but since they were already here, what would be the harm in letting them stay?
“I don’t know. I’ve been with his family from before Mender was born. No one ever said we were brothers, but now I think about it, we’ve always done everything together.” Robbie blinked several times. “His mother once said we were two peas in a pod. Do you think that means we’re brothers?”
“I think it must.” Boy heard voices and so looked over toward the galley doorway. Liberty and Mender pushed through – one after the other. It was a good sign that they weren’t arguing but chattering and smiling. They didn’t seem to notice Boy and Robbie as they walked past and headed down into the storeroom.
Boy turned to Robbie. “That’s a good sign. She wasn’t cursing and he was eating her apple. Maybe they’re becoming friends.”
“His mother always said he could eat a person out of house and home if given half a chance.”
Robbie tilted his head even further, making Boy fearful he was going to fall over completely. “Are Mender’s parents still alive?”
“Oh yes. They’re the caretakers of the only library that we know survived The Great War.” He blinked before adding, “Of course, since the world’s so isolated, no one can know for certain what’s survived and what hasn’t.”
Boy had heard of libraries and had seen photos of them, but had never dreamed there was a possibility he might ever see one. “Do you think Mender would take us home with him so we could look inside that library?” He was too excited to blink.
Robbie nodded. The action sent him off balance, but Boy caught him before he could fall.
“Thank you. I’m always doing that.”
“You’re welcome. I hope you don’t mind me asking, but why doesn’t Mender straighten your neck? It would help with your balance.”
Robbie stared at Boy, and for a moment Boy thought he had gone too far and hurt the other robot’s feelings.
Robbie finally said, “I don’t think he’s ever noticed. I’ve been like this before he was born so I guess he’s just got used to catching me before I fall.”
“You should say something to him then.” Boy looked at the storeroom door. “He seems very nice. I’m sure if he knew it bothered you, he would fix it.”
“It doesn’t bother me. Caleb was only ten when he built me so I’m not as straight or as handsome as you. I like the way I am, though, because he was always so proud of me.”
“Who’s Caleb? You’ve never mentioned him before.” Boy was now ashamed he’d been so judgmental of Robbie’s shortcomings and for assuming it bothered him that he was always on the verge of falling over.
“He was Mender’s uncle, but he died when his aircraft crashed a couple of months before Mender was born. I’ve been with Mender ever since.”
Robbie and Boy turned as the storeroom door opened and Liberty and Mender came out.
Boy leaned over and whispered, “We’ll ask Mender if the two of you are brothers. It sounds to me like he loves you.”