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The wrench slipped and caught Liberty’s thumb between the friction plate and rollers. “Damn.
Damn. Damn.”
While she ranted, Robbie turned to Boy. “I don’t think that word means what she thinks it does.” His voice matched the rest of him, squeaky.
If her thumb hadn’t hurt so much, she might have laughed.
Boy inched closer to Liberty and Robbie followed. “She has created her own word usage where each one has its own meaning,” Boy told him.
Robbie eyed Liberty before asking, “Which ones?”
“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 horribly 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. “And the best part is that with each curse word, poison darts shoots out of her mouth.”
In unison, both robots turned to stare at her mouth.
Liberty sighed. “How many times have I told you? The words don’t really cause actual poisoned darts to come out of my mouth. They’re just imaginary ones.” When both robots continued to stare, Liberty huffed and threw the wrench back into the toolbox. She turned and glared when Mender dared to laugh.
Her glare did little to stop him, though. “It’s not my fault. You’re the one who told Boy that. He’s never going to understand that the poison darts are all just pretend.”
It really hadn’t been that long ago when her life had been peaceful. Her first mistake had been to let that damn robot follow her onboard the airship. “It seemed like a good way of explaining why I cuss so much.”
Mender leaned on the stern rail and grinned. “I’m surprised Robbie and Boy haven’t taken up your bad habit, you do it so much.”
She scowled at him before picking up the toolbox. “I don’t cuss all the time.” She tried to block out the sound of his laughter, and might have done so if she hadn’t tripped and filled the air with another string of swearwords. That only made him laugh even harder and had the robots following close on her heels, trying to get a good look at her mouth. She finally turned and shouted. “Damn it to hell! There are no poison darts coming out of my mouth!”
Boy blinked. “A new one to keep track of.”
That set Mender off into another fit of laughter. To get away from them all, Liberty stomped off to the galley for an apple. She had half a mind to bring it back out and eat it right in front of Mender, just for spite.
Once there, not only did Liberty grab an apple but she cut off a couple slices of cheese. On her way to the table, she grabbed a slice of the wheat bread Mender had brought over that morning. Even though the man was annoying as hell, she was going to miss him when he left. She and her father had always been loners so it was surprising how much she looked forward to waking up each morning these days.
“You plan on sitting in here and sulking all day?” Mender slid into the seat next to her.
“Yep.” She took a large bite out of the apple.
“You going to let me have a bite?” He looked so hopeful Liberty handed the apple over without thinking, and was surprised to discover that, when he took a large bite himself, she only experienced a little regret over the loss.
Mender returned the apple before asking, “So, when are you going to show me below deck? I would love to see the artifacts you’ve found in the Forbidden Lands.”
Liberty stood and motioned him to follow. “It’s mostly glass jars and bits and pieces of whatever metals I can savage.” She talked as she walked. “The jars are needed to store the honey, applesauce and cider, that’s why they are in such high demand by Polly and Waters. I haven’t been able to collect as many since Father’s death. It’s not easy hauling them onboard without his help.”
“My father warned me about traveling out that far. Maybe you’ll let me tag along the next time you go. I’ve been thinking that, if we put our heads together, we could extend our trading into something bigger.”
She stopped on the stairs, turned and look up at him. “How so?”
He shrugged. “I know the people who are growing wheat, corn and potatoes, and you know the ones who have fish, apples, honey and cheese. With the two of us going into the Forbidden Lands together to salvage the things they need, and by cross trading everything, we can connect more people together. With the way things are now, it’s like everyone’s on their own little island, afraid of everyone else. Maybe, just maybe, we have the power to change that.”
Mender’s words found a home as they continued down into the hold, and for the first time in a long time, Liberty felt hopeful. “Do you think we can really accomplish something that big?”
He grinned. “Why not?”
Liberty stood back and watched Mender inspect the things she had stored here. “I’m afraid to take you with me to the Forbidden Land.”
He pulled his hand out of a jar and looked up. “Why?”
“You wouldn’t stop looking long enough to load anything.”
He grinned, sheepishly. “I’ve just never seen so much stuff collected in one place before. It’s amazing.” Mender looked thoughtful for a moment before asking, “You don’t really mind if I tag along do you?”
Liberty leaned on the nearest crate. “Why would I?”
He waved toward the items around them. “It just occurred to me you might not want anyone else going after this stuff.”
She shook her head. “You wouldn’t say that if you had ever been there. Even after all the destruction, there are still buildings standing there, filled with this kind of stuff, and for as far as the eye can see. No matter how often I’ve flown over it, I’ve never seen it all. The truth is, I have no idea what else might be in the Forbidden Lands to salvage, but there must be lots. Since Father died, though, I’ve been too afraid to stay on the ground long enough to find out. It would be nice to have a second pair of eyes there with me.”
“So what do we do first?”
Liberty scratched an eyebrow. “My usual route is to head straight from Shatters to Waters, to trade for dried fish, and from there to Billy’s for goat cheese. I put off going to Golden’s until I know her apples are ready to harvest. She doesn’t like visitors and only agreed to trade with me because I bring her the jars she needs for her cider and applesauce. I go to Polly’s last since it’s on my way back to the Forbidden Lands.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to take you with me to see her. She might shoot you on sight.”