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Boy and Molly spent the better part of the day cleaning whilst Harmony leaned over the rail, shouting at Rat to keep swimming. All three of them were on her shit list so it was a tossup who she was going to shoot first.
By the time the deck was cleaned to her satisfaction and Rat looked as if he might drown from exhaustion, Harmony’s temper finally cooled. She slipped the pistol back into the waist of her skirt and called over her shoulder to Boy, “Go and see if Walker or Journey left some of their clothes behind.”
Boy and Molly joined her at the rail where Boy asked, “So you’re not going to kill him then?”
Harmony shook her head. “Probably not. Anyone who has had to put up with being named after river rat should probably catch a break or two before he dies.” She patted Boy’s head. “Let’s get him back on board and see if he’s worth redeeming or not.” She grinned. “Besides, we can always shoot him later if need be.”
Before heading off to look for the clothing, Boy asked, “You still angry at me?”
She sighed. “It’s hard staying mad at you. I forget how trusting you can be if you think someone’s an underdog. You want to take them in and keep them safe.” She pointed a finger at him. “But one day you’re going to get me killed doing that.”
Boy peered over the railing at Ray still trying to stay afloat. “There’s some good in him. I see it in his eyes.” He looked back at Harmony. “You humans can’t hide what’s mirrored in your eyes. Good or bad. It’s all right there if you look hard enough.”
“I hope you’re right about him. I don’t like thinking I’m leaving someone here to die but I also don’t want to be stupid and get killed in my sleep for the favor.”
Boy carried on peering over the railing. “Rat just needs someone to teach him what it means to be human. Clearly his family was sadly lacking in that regard.” With that, he headed toward the storage room.
Molly soon took Boy’s place at the railing. The ancient robot was smart enough to wait for Harmony to speak first.
“I keep forgetting to ask if you and Boy figured out a way to get us back home.” The near loss of Airus had scattered Harmony’s brains. They should already be on their way there but here she was, trying to get a Rat clean. Of course he thought she was trying to drown him, but the more he feared her the better off they were all going to be.
“Yes,” Molly said. “If we follow this river for three days and then head east, we should make it back to the homestead in four or five days.” She looked down at the wide river. “If we stick to the river, we’ll have a good source of water for the better part of the way home.”
“Help!”
Harmony and Molly looked down at Rat.
Molly asked, “Are you going to let him drown?”
“Nope.” Harmony ran over to the helm and lowered the airship until it was only a few feet from the surface of the river, then dropped the ladder over the side. “You’re going to have to grab hold of it. I’m not coming down there to get you out.” It gave her a lot of satisfaction to see Rat struggling to pull himself up out of the water. She wanted to yell down to him, “And that’s what happens when you mess with the wrong damn person – you get your comeuppance,” but she figured he had already been humiliated enough for one day. Now what he needed was an attitude adjustment, and she was just the person to give it to him.