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watched
her. “Why do I have a feeling you have something more than
questioning pirates in mind?”
    Smile broadening, Kali patted the seat
again. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. Now, are you
getting on or not?”

Part VI
     
    Kali huffed up the steep stump-filled
incline behind Cedar. The airship had long since disappeared from
the sky, but he seemed to know where he was going. Thanks to the
steepness of the valley wall, they’d had to leave the SAB by the
riverbank below. For the first fifty meters, Kali kept glancing
over her shoulder, making sure nobody was sneaking up to bother it.
Fortunately, the boat traffic had dwindled with evening’s
approach.
    After more climbing—and huffing—they reached
the crest of the ridge. This time, when Kali looked back over her
shoulder, the view gave her a start. A couple of years had passed
since she had reason to climb up there, and the difference in the
landscape was astonishing. Where verdant trees had once lined both
rugged valley walls, hillsides of stumps now stretched. Oh, a few
sturdy spruce and pines remained, those with trunks too thick to
entice a miner searching for easy firewood, but the barrenness of
the scene made Kali’s gut twist. Too many people were pouring out
of the south, changing the face of the only home she had ever
known.
    She shook her head and reminded herself she
wanted to leave anyway. Come winter, firewood would be scarce, and
that was a good incentive to double her efforts on her airship. Or
to acquire an already-built airship that only needed
modifications….
    “ I smell a fire,” Cedar
said. “We might be close.” He was not breathing hard. His longer
legs must mean he took fewer steps.
    Ahead of them, the land rose more gently,
and evergreens still stood, stretching for the sky.
    “ What’s the plan?” Kali
asked. “Wait until dark, sneak in, and look around the
airship?”
    He eyed her over his shoulder. “I was
planning on dragging a guard away to question, not strolling
through their craft.”
    “ There might be clues
inside.”
    Cedar raised an eyebrow.
    “ What?” Kali smiled
innocently.
    Cedar pointed through the trees to a fallen
log ahead and crept toward it. He stayed low, and Kali followed,
mimicking his movements. She hadn’t seen anything yet, but Cedar
seemed to think they were close.
    Kali crouched beside him behind the log.
“What do you think we’ll find when we reach the pirates? Were they
victims, too, or could they be responsible for the murders?”
    “ Victims?”
    “ There are female pirates.
Maybe one of them got a throat cut and the killer left that same
fake talisman.”
    His eyebrows drew together, and Kali guessed
he had not considered that possibility. It did seem unlikely. Those
thieving bandits had tried to kidnap her, and they’d killed at
least one person and probably stolen gold from countless
others.
    Kali shrugged. “Or maybe we’ll find they’re
keeping a bear on board for mauling people.”
    “ If they are responsible
for the murders, that’ll make things simple.” Cedar jerked a thumb
over his shoulder, at the hilt of his sword.
    “ You seem almost as
determined to find this murderer as you are to deal with Cudgel,”
Kali said.
    Cedar said nothing.
    “ Do the girls mean
something to you?” Kali asked. “There’s not even a bounty out for
the murderer yet.”
    “ I don’t like seeing women
killed.”
    “ Just in general—a notion
with which I agree, by the way—or because…? Is it
personal?”
    Cedar gave her a sharp look. “What do you
mean?”
    “ I thought maybe there was
something similar in these murders to that one in San Francisco.
Something that’s haunting you.”
    His gaze shifted away, back toward the trail
and the top of the ridge. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
    Kali considered him for a
long moment. She wanted to pry, she admitted it, but it was for a good
reason. If she got the story out of him, she could fight for him,
tell this