Read Online The Broken Sun by Darrell Pitt - Free Book Online

waiting,’ she said.
    â€˜ She ?’ Jack said.
    Mr Doyle smiled. ‘Who do you think?’
    He led them to the far end of the building, which opened out onto a balcony. A set
of stairs took them to the roof where they found an airship moored—the Lion’s Mane .
    The vessel had been badly damaged after they had pursued one of the world’s most
deadly assassins, a man known as the Chameleon.
    The Lion’s Mane was thirty-feet long with a gondola made from brass and timber. Steam
propelled the airship from two tubes beneath the gondola, and beneath these were
four other pipes that discharged smoke from the engine and a pair of skids for landing.
    â€˜She looks wonderful, Mr Doyle,’ Scarlet breathed.
    â€˜As good as new,’ Jack echoed.
    â€˜ Better ,’ said the detective. ‘I’ve made some improvements. There is now a refrigerator
on board.’
    â€˜A refrigerator?’ Jack said. ‘That’s amazing.’
    Mr Doyle nodded. ‘Refrigeration is one of the wonders of the modern age,’ he said.
    â€˜Will you be using it to preserve forensic samples?’ Scarlet asked.
    The detective looked surprised. ‘What a wonderful idea,’ he said. ‘I just thought
it would store cheese.’
    The engine had already been brought to the boil.
    â€˜I need both of you to pack bags,’ the detective said. ‘We will be away for a few
days. And Jack, can you see to Bertha?’
    Jack headed to his room, a neat and tidy chamber with an en-suite bathroom. Back
at the orphanage, he had shared a room of this size with a dozen other boys. A duck
egg sat in the middle of his bed; Mr Doyle was always leaving items in his room to
test his powers of observation.
    Jack had fallen into the habit of keeping a small bag packed with a change of clothing,
which he grabbed before retrieving Bertha from the kitchen. He walked through to
reception where Gloria was typing.
    â€˜We’re going to be away for a few days,’ he told her. ‘Will you be able to—’
    â€˜â€”look after the girl?’ Gloria said, smiling. ‘Of course.’ She placed the cage on
her desk. ‘Looks like it’s you and me, my dear.’
    A few minutes later Jack, Scarlet and Mr Doyle were high above the streets of London,
heading north in a line of airships. Jack loved watching the passing scenery. The
new Houses of Parliament were on the Thames, several hundred feet east of Westminster.
One hundred stories high, they were shaped like two domed drums stuck together. The
top of each was decorated with a huge brass lion.
    Soon the city was behind them and they were crossing farms and green hills. Jack
watched fields filled with pumpkins the size of steamcars and eight-legged horses,
inventions courtesy of the Darwinist League. He pointed them out to Scarlet.
    â€˜We live in an incredible era,’ she said. ‘But I suppose there are some things that
will never be improved upon.’ ‘Like what?’
    â€˜Steam, for example,’ she said, her red hair glowing in the afternoon sunlight.
    Jack’s eyes settled on her. She really was the most beautiful girl he had ever seen.
    â€˜You’re right,’ he said dreamily. ‘You can’t beat it.’

CHAPTER EIGHT
    â€˜Welcome to Scotland,’ Mr Doyle said.
    While much of Britain was industrialised, great swathes of it still remained wild
and remote. Scotland was like this, where most of its people still lived as they
had for centuries. Some grew crops on small landholdings—oats, wheat and rye—tilling
the ground with wooden ploughs dragged by draft horses. Other farms kept sheep and
goats. Many towns were small, with no more than half-a-dozen homes, a pub and general
store.
    Jack had toured Scotland a few times with his parents in the circus. He felt a pang
of sadness, touching the compass and picture in his pocket. They had been hard times,
but some of the happiest in