Steampunk Fairy Tales (7 page)

A knock interrupted his musings.

He lumbered up the stairs from the basement
and into the foyer. Another solicitor. They had been coming by
every day since Fermin had been locked away. Damnable fools. As if
they didn’t know. Well, two could play at the charade.

“
Doctor Fermin and I are
under quarantine!” Wolfe coughed into his paw, a hacking sound that
rumbled into a growl. Damn. The effects of the potion were
accelerating more rapidly than expected. “You will have to return
another time!”

“
Doctor Wolfe?” a woman’s
voice called from beyond the door. “My name is Eliza Fermin. Doctor
Fermin’s daughter.”

“
His … daughter?” Did
Fermin have a daughter? The old man had mentioned something before
he was incarcerated. What had it been? Had it been that his
daughter was coming to visit?

That fool just
had
to go shooting his
mouth off at the club, hadn’t he? In Inspector Grant’s presence no
less. To think Wolfe’s last human days had been spent ensuring
Fermin was placed in an asylum instead of jail!

“
Correct. May I come in?”
the woman replied.

Lights. He had to kill the lights. And close
the curtains. Then let her in, tell her what happened to her
father, and get her on her way. “One ... one moment please.”

The foyer was properly shaded when he undid
the locks and cracked the door open for her, allowing him to
retreat back into the shadows. A slim young woman stepped into the
hall, the light streaming in behind her. She wore a heavy motoring
dress, with a scarf and flap cap covering her blonde hair. A pair
of goggles were perched above the brim of her cap.

Setting down a small bag, she pulled off her
heavy canvas gloves. “Invigorating day for driving, don’t you
think? The new aether engines are much smoother than their
predecessors.”

“
I would not know, madam.
Driving has never been a hobby of mine.”

“
Ah, well, you’ll just
have to take my word for it then. Now, I have a bag here and a few
things in my car that need to be brought in, if you’d be so kind
….”

Wolfe cleared his throat. “My apologies, but
I must be blunt. I don’t know what your intent here is, but if it’s
to visit your father, I am afraid that—”

“
He’s been locked up? Oh,
that’s old news.” She waved her hand dismissively.

He frowned. How had she known that? He had
made sure to keep it out of the papers, and he was sure the
solicitors came because Grant was looking for an excuse to raid the
premises. “Then I am sure you understand that I must ask you to
leave. The impropriety of—”

“
Is this not my father’s
house? If anything, I should ask you to leave. There was an
inspector who was quite surprised I would be heading this way. He
seemed highly interested in the goings-on here.” She smiled in his
direction, her lips tight, teeth showing. The fur on the back of
his neck rose. But then she laughed. “I wouldn’t do that though.
There’s work to be done, isn’t there?”

What sort of woman laughed
off a threat like that?
“Madame, I am not
at liberty to say. If you can come back when your father has been
released, then I am certain that—”

“
You are hedging, good
sir. I despise that.” She slapped her gloves in her palm before
smiling again. “But I know all about my father’s work. In fact, let
me see you. In the light. We mustn’t skulk about in the
dark.”

“
Madam, I—” He’d frighten
her, and then all
would
be lost as Inspector Grant would have his excuse
to come rushing in.

“
Please?” She tilted her
head and held out a hand, imploringly.

He breathed in deeply, taking in her scent.
What was that perfume she was wearing? Fruity with a hint of
something tantalizingly musky …. No! He should force her out. Deny
her request and make her leave. He breathed in again. Strawberries.
That’s what he was smelling. But what was the harm? She was
Fermin’s daughter. Perhaps she’d have a key to fixing her father’s
mess among her belongings. Or know where to look among
Fermin’s.

He stepped out into the light.

She gasped and covered her mouth. Wolfe
restrained a wince. He could only imagine how he looked in her
eyes, towering over her, his body covered in fur, the muzzle full
of teeth jutting out, the pointed ears and claws. Fortunately his
dignity was spared thanks to a large pair of pants and a now torn
lab coat.

“
You mean … you really did
it? You and my father—?” Her mouth opened into the shape of an O
before she clapped her hands. “How wonderful!”

“
Wonderful? As a first
step, I suppose, but the formula was flawed. Your father’s half
failed, and now I can’t reverse the effects!” He slammed his fist
against the wall, leaving a cracked indentation. He took a deep
breath and let it out slowly. “Apologies. Since the transformation,
I find it hard to control myself at times.”

“
Oh, don’t apologize to
me. I should be apologizing for my father. He never could follow
through.” She stepped closer and touched his muzzle, guiding it
gently this way and that as she looked him over. “It is an
amazing
transformation
though. Your work?”

He should step back. But it had been years
since a woman touched him. “Yes, madam. Some of my best.”

“
Undoubtedly. Which is why
we must fix it!”

“
Fix it?” He chuckled, the
laugh rumbling through his chest like a purr. “Reversing your
father’s formula and correcting it is what I aim to do. Which is
more reason why you must leave. It is simply too dangerous for a
young woman to remain here, with me!”

“
Can you read
them?”

“
Read them?” He
frowned.

She crossed her arms. “My father’s notes.
Can you read them?”

“
Well, no,
but--”

“
Fortunately for you, my
father taught me his work and his cipher.” Taking a small step
toward him, she slowly put her hand on his arm. “Please. Let me
help. With my father confined, this is an opportunity for me to
correct his work! An opportunity to put it to a greater
use!”

Wolfe looked down at her and then at the
sunlit street framed by the open door. A small silver two-seater
was parked out on the lane, its aether crystal still unhooded and
warming in the sunlight. Fermin had meant to betray him, prevent
Wolfe from using the formula on his own instead of taking on the
Crown together, Wolfe was sure of that. Fermin had made his move
just before Wolfe made his. But if his daughter thought this mishap
was a mistake, and if she knew her father’s code, well, who was he
to disillusion her? “There’s a small garage in the back, madam. If
you bring your automotive there, I would be happy to help you
unpack.”

“
Oh wonderful!” She
twirled to the door, pausing in the opening to look back at him.
“And please, call me Eliza.”

II.

The pink liquid in the flask bubbled and
churned over the burner as Wolfe delicately pieced more glass tubes
to the distillery. Just a little bit more ....

The door opened, slamming into the wall with
a sharp crack, and the tube shattered in his paw. He yelped in
pain.

“
Oh dear, I’m sorry, did I
startle you?” Miss Eliza asked in a breathy voice, rushing over to
grab his paw. “That’s my fault, isn’t it?”

Wolfe breathed in deeply, as much from her
touching his wound as to take in her delightful scent. Though it
had only been a short while since her arrival, he had decided that
strawberries were most heavenly. “It’s nothing, Miss Eliza. It will
heal itself in a moment.”

He gently removed his paw
from her hand and placed the other on her upper back, guiding her
to a plush high back chair. Books were piled around it: Fermin’s
notebooks, his own, and books for Miss Eliza’s own amusement. The
books on perfumes he could understand her reading, but why she
found Whitaker’s
Hormones, Pheromones, and
the Senses
a fascinating read, Wolfe
couldn’t comprehend. Whitaker was barely literate! And his theories
nonsense. As if any rational being would fall for such bestial
trickery.

He turned his attention back to her. “You
seem agitated though. What’s wrong?”

“
Oh, it’s Inspector Grant
again. He seems to think we’re hiding evidence of my father’s
wrongdoing or some such. He’s threatening to condemn the house!”
Miss Eliza flung herself into the chair, taking a moment to arrange
her skirts. Wolfe kept his mouth shut, lest his tongue loll out
like a common dog and betray his amusement. “I’ve only been here a
few weeks and he says the payments aren’t up to date! You have been
keeping the payments up, haven’t you? I don’t want to be out on the
streets and have another of my father’s partners locked
away!”

Had he? He seemed to recall putting the
payments in the post, but the days were a blur of experiments. He
was the verge of the solution!

Miss Eliza hadn’t noticed his distraction.
“... and he wants to court me! How could I when—?”

“
Court you? Who?” Who
would dare to take his Eliza away from him?

Wait.
His
Eliza?

“
Inspector Grant. Do try
to keep up. But I shan’t see him as long as the work remains
unfinished.” She laid a hand on his arm.

Wolfe growled. “Would you like me to take
care of him?” He blinked and straightened. Take care of him? That
wasn’t what he should do. But now that he thought of it, it would
be easy to do and an easy solution.

She gasped. “Oh no, you musn’t, Doctor
Wolfe! But … would you really be able to take care of him? Just for
me?”

He stiffened. “As your
father is currently ...
incapacitated
, it falls to me to
protect you in his absence.”

“
Even if I said I could
protect myself?”

“
I … I would insist, Miss
Eliza.” And he would. It was the proper thing to do, after all. One
couldn’t leave a lady to face an unwanted suitor on her own. It had
nothing to do with her being far more competent than her father,
with a much more delightful laugh, or that he found himself
following that strawberry scent around the house when she went out.
Or even that it was so rare to find a woman who could hold a proper
scientific discussion. No, this was simply a matter of proper
etiquette. Even if he was planning to skip right to a
duel.

“
I shall keep that in
mind, good sir. However,” she waved a hand towards his distillery,
“I think you’ve left your chemicals over long. Weren’t you trying
Campion’s distillation and tincture arrangement today? I do believe
that has a shorter boiling time.”

Wolfe rushed over to find the liquid had
boiled over. He nearly threw his muzzle back to howl in fury, only
to catch himself and slam his paws on the table, rattling the
beakers and tubes. “Drat it all! It’ll have to be redone!”

“
May I help this time?”
Miss Eliza approached, her skirts gently brushing the carpet with
the sway of her stride, and stood at his elbow. “It’s the least I
could do after causing you injury. Besides, didn’t I tell you
Campion’s methods were outdated? While traveling in France I heard
of this amazing new method to combine chemicals, but we’ll need to
modify my aether engine.”

The scent of strawberries intoxicated him.
“For you and science, Miss Eliza, I am willing to try
anything.”

III.

The bright blue liquid in the flask sat calm
and still. Wolfe eyed it warily. Had they done it? Was it right? He
couldn’t remember what color the original potion had been.

It was stable though.

He had followed all the instructions as Miss
Eliza had read them.

It smelled delightfully of strawberries.

So it had to be correct, right?

His head ached. Thank goodness for Miss
Eliza. The—what had she called them?—formulas he once knew looked
like arcane scrawling now. Words slipped off the pages of his books
and he had to be careful not to rip them apart in a fury. Why was
his mind abandoning him now? Now at the edge of victory?

But it would be all right after this. Drink
the potion and everything would be fixed the way it should be.

They would go forth and
take the Crown from the silly queen upon the throne, and he would
prove to Fermin and all the scientific heads what
true
science
meant.

Then he would ask Miss
Eliza to marry him. She would be
his
.

The door opened and she stepped in. “Haven’t
you taken it yet?”

He shook his head. He was getting ahead of
himself. “I’m not sure if it’s right. It doesn’t look
familiar.”

“
It’ll be alright, Wolfe!”
She walked over, the swish of her skirts sounding enticing over the
hum of the aether engine in the back of the room.

They had ended up using it to … to …. He
groaned. Word. What was the word? They had twirled it. That worked.
Twirled it in a circle to separate some of the components better.
Her idea. She’d make an amazing assistant for any man. However she
was in front of him, holding up the flask.

“
We followed my father’s
instructions perfectly, and yours as well. This will make
everything right. Your head will stop hurting.” She laid a hand on
his arm.