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“What are you doing?’ Harmony jammed her long hair under her hat.
Boy opened his fingers, revealing a hand filled with nuts and screws. “That damn robot is losing these faster than I can pick them up.”
When he looked toward the helm, so did Harmony. Griffin sat in the captain’s seat, Molly in the co-captain’s. “I’m surprised at you,” Harmony said.
Boy turned and did a slow blink. “Why?”
She nodded toward Molly. “You never let anyone sit in your seat. I can’t believe you’re letting her get away with it.”
Boy glanced over at Molly and then back at Harmony. “I’m afraid to ask her to move.” He nodded at the screws and nuts. “She might fall apart if she stands up.”
Harmony laughed. “Well, go over and offer to put them back where they belong.”
Boy stared at the pieces in his hand and then at Molly. “I don’t think so.”
“Why not? Who would know better than you where they should go?”
Harmony would have given anything to know what he was thinking at this moment, but all he said was, “I see.”
She followed him over toward Griffin and Molly, anxious to see what was going to happen next. She wasn’t disappointed.
Boy stopped next to Molly. “Madam, you’re missing a few screws.”
Harmony giggled but stifled it when Boy looked at her. She patted him on the head. “Way to go, Romeo.”
Boy stared without blinking before saying, “So, you do remember something about those bedtime stories I told you, and here was I, thinking you were nothing more than a girl with only wind between her ears.”
When Griffin dared to laugh, Harmony leveled a red-hot glare at him. It was enough to sober him.
“How could I possibly forget the tale of a young couple committing suicide? It wasn’t exactly the type of tale a ten year old forgets. It kept me awake for the rest of the night.”
Harmony motioned for Griffin to get out of her seat, but as he did, she noticed the weariness in his features. “Go to my cabin and rest for a while. When you wake, I’ll ask Boy to fix you a bath and some food.”
Griffin glanced over at Molly then back at Harmony. “Could we talk first?”
Harmony nodded and turned to Boy. “Why don’t you take Molly somewhere and see if you can find where some of those screws go?” She looked over at Molly. “That’s if you don’t mind Boy helping you out a little?”
Molly slipped out of the chair. “Of course not. My arm is feeling a little loose. Maybe Boy wouldn’t mind starting there first.”
As the robots headed off toward Harmony’s cabin, she nodded toward Molly. “She doesn’t talk very much, does she?”
“Not much. She’s more of an observer.” Griffin slipped into Boy’s chair.
Harmony leaned toward him. “I’ll warn you now that Boy hates it when people sit in his chair. If I were you, I would be certain to be out of it before he returns.”
Griffin chuckled. “I’ll make a point of it.” He glanced away, peering off into the distance before saying, “I need to go back.”
Not certain she’d heard correctly, she said, “You need to go back where?”
He looked her in the eye. “To Freedom.” To his credit, his eyes never wavered.
“You’re joking, right?” Harmony couldn’t imagine any good reason for returning to face the Overseers again. They’d got Walker and Journey back, so why would they want to?
He rubbed his chin. “I stirred up a hornet’s nest back there. All I could think of all last night was, now the Overseers know we aren’t afraid of leaving the city, they’re bound to guard it like a fortress now. The people there will suffer because of me. I have to go back and see if I can fix it.” He shrugged, as if he already knew it was a stupid idea.
At the sound of raucous laughter, Harmony glanced across at her brother’s airship. No way her would her father let her go back to Freedom. It was an insane idea, but the expression on Griffin’s face was heart-wrenching. As crazy an idea as it was, he had obviously given it a lot of thought.
“What do think you can do that would be of any help? The moment you return, they’re bound to lock you up, or worse.” Her stomach knotted just thinking about facing those ugly, spider-like robots again. She was certain, if he decided to return, she’d offer to help him in any way she could, but “if” was a mighty big word at this point.
Griffin shrugged. “Over the years, we gave the Overseers their power. I can’t help but think there must be some way of reasoning with them, and getting at least some of our power back. In their own way, they’re good to us. They make certain the city is running properly and we are all clothed and fed.”
“Yeah, but at the cost of your freedom. Is that what you want to go back to? You know what their plans are for you. If they don’t lock you up for good, they’ll take away your chance of having the family you want. They’ll take away your future, and why? I don’t see how you're going back can possibly change anything.
He sighed. “But what have I taken from the others by escaping?”
Harmony shook her head. “Nothing they didn’t give up without a fight. If they never tried to leave then they must be happy with their circumstances. You losing your future will do nothing to change theirs.”
He crossed his arms and settled back into Boy’s seat. “So you won’t take me back to Freedom?”
“We can’t go anywhere without water. We’re heading to a nearby lake and will be there by tomorrow morning. I’ll talk to Father about it then.” She bit her bottom lip and then said, “I can’t make you any promises, though.”
“You told me, when I offered to help rescue Walker and Journey that you would take me anywhere I wanted to go afterwards.” He looked at his folded hands. “I want to go back to Freedom.”