“Come in, come in, my boy.” Professor Hartman ushered Robert to a comfortable chair, moving a sheaf of papers to make room for him to sit down. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be more specific before, but there’s something rather delicate I wanted to discuss with you.”

He held the papers aloft for a moment as if he wasn’t quite sure where to put them. Finally, he settled on a side table beside an old battered gong suspended between a pair of tusks. Then he returned to his desk, banging his knee on its underside as he sat down.

While the professor was fidgeting, Robert glanced around the study. It was his favourite room in the house. The oak-panelled window and the glass-fronted cupboards somehow reminded him of his old shop home, and its myriad display cabinets. At the far end of the room, on the mantel of a big stone fireplace, stood a small brass urn. Above it a large gilt-framed portrait of a woman smiled down at them both from on high. She was Lily’s mama, Grace Rose Hartman, who had died when Lily was only six years old, and she had a kindly and understanding face that Robert rather liked.

Robert’s da had never told him the reason for his own ma’s departure. She’d left when Robert was only three years old, and when he was big enough, Robert had felt such resentment towards her that he never asked. At least he’d had Thaddeus – he’d cared for Robert; he’d stayed. But now his da was gone, Robert felt entirely alone.

The professor had finished his fussing. He leaned forward and looked at Robert with his piercing bright eyes. “I’m afraid,” he said, “we’ve received no answer to the classified ad I placed in The Daily Cog searching for your mother. And the police have apparently had scant luck tracing her. I’ve asked about the village too – they’re all terrible gossips, of course, but none of them have any information. Except the rector. He remembered your parents’ wedding in the church, and I thought it might be useful to get your mother’s maiden name from their records. But when we searched the marriage register, it was the oddest thing… The page where they should’ve been recorded was nowhere to be found. It had been ripped out.”

Robert leaned forward in his chair. “What does that mean?”

“It means someone removed it illegally,” John said, “perhaps because they didn’t want your mother’s maiden name to be found.”

Robert took a deep breath and slumped in his seat. He felt rather deflated by this new revelation. “How curious,” he said finally.

“Isn’t it?” John said. “Is there anything else you remember about her? Anything that might help us?”

Robert thought again. Hard. There was one other thing. “I think Da said when they met, Ma spoke to spirits, and that she was an actress in the theatre.” Was that right? Surely not – it sounded far too strange… And yet he remembered it distinctly.

“The truth is,” he told John, “Da barely talked of her after she was gone. And why should he? It was she who left us. What I don’t understand is why he gave her the shop.”

“I couldn’t tell you.” John sighed. “But at least we have something more to go on. Though I don’t hold out much hope of sorting this mess, if I’m honest. It seems Selena, or someone associated with her, has been attempting to keep her whereabouts secret for a long time.” He gave a cough. “Ironic, really, since I’ve been trying to keep this family hidden too. Maybe she also had troubles in her past that she’s still trying to escape.”

Selena’s story just got stranger and stranger. Was John right, had she disappeared deliberately to escape some unknown trouble? Robert couldn’t even begin to guess at the truth.

John capped a fountain pen which lay across the blotter on his desk. “Anyway, Robert, without any new information about your ma, there seems little more we can do to find her, despite my best efforts.”

Robert shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “What does that mean for me?”

John sighed. “That you’re left an orphan, I suppose. But I have another suggestion to solve that problem…”

“And what might that be, Sir?”

John smiled, his brown eyes twinkling behind the half-moon lenses of his glasses. “No ‘Sirs’ any more, please, Robert, my boy. You can call me John, or…” He cleared his throat. “You can even call me Papa, if you like – we’re practically family. And that’s what I wanted to speak to you about…the practical part, I mean… That is to say… I’ve been thinking a lot about your place with us at Brackenbridge since your da…since poor old Thaddeus died… And I’ve decided the best thing for you – for us, Lily and myself too, you understand? – would be if we…if I…adopted you. How would you feel about that?”

Adopted! The word was an electric jolt he’d not been expecting, not in the least. The truth was he’d barely come to terms with the changes that had taken place since he’d moved here. Then to think they’d be permanent…

John had been so very kind, and Lily too, everybody in fact. And it was a beautiful house… But, if the past was anything to go by, life might fall apart at any moment… Surely it was safer to keep things as they were?

He opened his mouth to speak, but John raised a hand. “Uh, now, you haven’t to decide immediately. While I’m away I shall speak to a lawyer, then if you resolve to join our family we can make the formal arrangements.”

John blew out a deep breath. It seemed he’d planned all of this, this speech, far in advance and had finally got through what he wanted to say.

Robert tried to formulate a reply. The words were on the tip of his tongue, but they wouldn’t quite come. A gulf of silence was opening up between them and he didn’t know how to fill it. He liked the professor very much – felt nearly as fond of him as he did Lily. It was almost as if they were family. But there was still that almost there. A bump in the road. Or a brick wall, stopping him in his tracks.

“The thing is, Sir,” he said, and as he did so, he realized he was supposed to call John “John” – not Sir, or Professor Hartman. “It’s not… I would like to, a lot, but, to me, it doesn’t quite feel like my da is gone. I don’t mean to be ungrateful. But it’s just…”

He didn’t know what else to say; he hated to seem rude. A part of him would love for John to be his father and Lily his sister. But another fragment felt it would be a betrayal of his da. And a small insidious voice whispered in his ear: And what if my ma comes looking for me, what then?

To be part of another family would feel wrong, he realized. He wanted his old life back, to be where he belonged. Though he was angry at Selena for abandoning him those many years ago, for leaving without saying goodbye, and for the fact he’d not heard a peep from her since, to be her son was somehow to still be Da’s son as well. And he didn’t want to let Da go, not yet.

He knew it was likely, from the way things stood, that his mother had made her choice long ago and never wanted to see him again. They were strangers, and she’d probably reject him if he ever did find her. But he had to keep trying. He had to know why she’d left. Had to tell her everything that had happened since. Give her one final opportunity to change her mind. Or, if not, then at least hear her side of the story. Learn how she came to meet his da so he could fill in the gaps Thaddeus’s death had left unanswered. Because, at the moment, his life was a cogless machine – an empty home – and how could he be expected to function with so many pieces missing?

No, before he accepted John’s offer, he would have to find his ma – get to the bottom of where she’d disappeared to. And he should start by investigating the shop. His da had said Ma talked to spirits, perhaps he could too? If the figure really was a spirit – maybe it was more of a vision, a sign there was something he needed at Townsend’s? Either way, he’d visit tonight and find out. John would’ve set off on his trip by then, the mechanicals would be wound down, and Lily asleep – no one would realize he was gone.

“I don’t think I’m ready to give up the search for Selena just yet,” he said. “I need to close one door before I open another.” He stood abruptly, and as he turned to walk away, he glanced back at John. The professor smiled at him, but, behind the lenses of his half-moon glasses, his eyes looked sad.

That afternoon, Lily found Papa in his room, packing.

“You’re leaving already?” she asked, as she watched him take down his shirts from the wardrobe and fold them away in his suitcase.

“I have to,” he replied. “The Jubilee’s in four days, that’s barely time to complete the work.”

It was disappointing to see him going off alone. Lily held out a hand for Malkin, who butted his wiry head against her palm. “Take us with you,” she said. “The work will be easier with our help.”

Papa paused halfway through folding a shirt. “I’ve decided Captain Springer will accompany me for that purpose. He’s the most practically minded.”

“Robert and I are practically minded too.”

“Lily, I don’t want to argue. There isn’t time. I have to get this done, or I’ll miss my airship.” He gave up folding and stuffed the shirt into his case. “Besides, you and Robert would never be packed and ready to leave in time.”

“I thought you might say that,” Lily told him. “So I prepared a bag while you two were having your talk. It’s got everything we need, both of us, and it’s waiting in the hall. See how practical I am? I made sure we’d be ready, and with as little fuss as possible. You’ve got to stop treating me with kid gloves, Papa.”

Papa shook his head. “Why don’t you listen, Lily? You’re not coming, and neither is Robert. He’s still hurt about his da, and as for you, the worst threats to you may be gone, but we can’t be sure that Silverfish, or those murderous blackguards, Roach and Mould, didn’t tell others about your Cogheart. After all, they were prepared to stop at nothing to try and steal it. We must assume there are still people who wish you harm.”

Lily helped Papa close his case and buckle up the straps. Why did he always treat her like a little girl? She’d done more this past year than she’d ever thought possible, and yet he was too shortsighted to see it. Was he going to hide her away for ever? What kind of a life was that anyway?

She slammed herself down on the bed. “I don’t care, Papa. It’s time we stopped concealing things. There’s no point living in fear of what might be when it prevents you enjoying the freedom of what is.”

Papa took his case from the bed. “It’s not just that someone might try to steal your heart – as if that wasn’t bad enough! Mechanicals are property; hybrids are disapproved of – I’ve even heard of cases where they were harassed in the streets.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Lily said. “And I think you underestimate my ability to cope.”

“Perhaps,” Papa said. “But it’s easier this way. I’ve made up my mind and nothing you can say will change it.” He paused and gazed at her. “There’s something else I haven’t told you, Lily… I asked Robert if he wanted to be a part of our family permanently. While I’m in London, I intend to speak with a lawyer about the possibility of adopting him.”

Lily jumped up from her seat, excitedly. “That’s a splendid idea,” she said. Then she remembered how sad Robert had seemed lately, how she guessed he was aching for his old life. “But shouldn’t we give his ma one last chance to find him?”

“Robert’s mother made her choice when she abandoned him. I’m not sure she’s ever coming back.”

“Everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt, surely?”

“Look, I must go,” Papa said, “or I’ll be late for my flight.”

Then, when he saw the cloudy, confused thoughts flitting across Lily’s face, he stopped, dropped his bag and came over to her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eye.

“Robert needs time without me around to think about what he wants, to get used to the idea that this is his home. And you need to get used to how things are changing too. I don’t want to pressure him, Lily. I want him to decide. Meanwhile, you must make him feel welcome, let him know he belongs.”

He squeezed her into a hug. “This is your mission while I’m away. Do things together, treat him like a brother.”

“Is that all?”

“That’s all.” He kissed her forehead.

Lily felt her anger still bubbling as they walked together to the top of the stairs. Being nice to Robert wasn’t a mission. She would do that anyway because she liked him. But them both going to London with Papa, that would’ve been a real adventure.

She hated being sidelined like this. She hung back and lingered at the bannisters pretending she’d something else to do and observed Papa descend the staircase, alone, to greet Mrs Rust, Miss Tock, Malkin and Robert in the hall.

Papa kissed Robert goodbye, nodded to the mechanicals and ruffled Malkin’s ears. Then he looked round for Lily, and when he realized she was still standing on the landing, gave an amused smile, before he waved and blew her a kiss.

Lily’s heart softened a little, but let her face stay set, and folded her arms across her chest so she wouldn’t be tempted to wave back to him.

She watched as he stepped into the porch, and out the front door, held open by Mr Wingnut.

When she ran to the picture window, Papa was already climbing into the passenger compartment of the steam-wagon, along with Captain Springer. Meanwhile, Mr Wingnut had settled himself in the driver’s cabin. He had some trouble starting the engine as this wasn’t his usual job.

Malkin slunk in beside Lily and jumped up onto the window sill. He cocked his head and regarded the steam-wagon as it puttered away down the tree-lined drive.

Lily stroked his ears and stared at the plumes of smoke emanating from the wagon’s chimney. She suddenly wished she’d gone down to see Papa off properly. She’d tried hard to be the daughter he wanted, but it made no difference because he never seemed to notice.

If he’d only stop treating her like a broken machine, then maybe she’d stand a chance. He needed to let go, quit being so stubborn and, most importantly, stop believing he was the only one in the world who could fix things.

Next time they spoke, she would prove him wrong. Make him realize she could be her own person, beyond the doors of Brackenbridge Manor. She was strong enough to take care of herself. And fearless too – braver than him, anyway.

What was it Robert’s da had said…? No one conquers fear easily, it takes a brave heart to win great battles. Yes…that was it! And though Papa might fear the fact that people would dismiss her as only a hybrid, deep down Lily knew she could achieve anything she set her heart to.