“But?”
She kept her calm. “But there’s one more thing I’d like to try.”
“All right...” He looked at the machine. “Seems you’ve put it all back together. Lost cause, huh?”
“Let’s see...”
Dorothea prayed her fingers weren’t shaking too badly, because this was the final live-or-die moment, and if she’d messed it up...
Carefully, she flicked the switch on the side of the Mistletoe machine, then pressed the green button on top of it. A light flickered weakly...then brightened and glowed steadily as a gentle hum emanated from inside.
“Well then,” she said, her voice a little shaky. “Here goes.”
Reaching for the large lever on the side, now shining and clean, she eased it forward, making sure that there was an adequate supply of filament materials to run a test.
The hum gave way to a rhythmic thump, the access lights shone brightly...and from the output chute the first strand of Mistletoe appeared, waving as it cooled, waiting for its fellows, and moving toward the berry container which already had several small white balls ready to go.
Within moments, the Mistletoe machine was happily doing what it had done so many decades ago.
It was making mistletoe.
*~~*~~*
“Are you jesting?” Hiram stared at Silas.
“No, my friend. Would I jest about something this important?” His library seemed to be full of people, thought Silas, and it also looked a lot...tidier. “Nelson, did you have a chuff cleaner in here? I was going to get to it, I told you...”
“Cogblast it, man, the Mistletoe machine. What the coggles happened?”
“I did,” announced Dorothea, head held high.
“Are you...”
“No, Hiram, she is not jesting. Stop asking that, will you?” Silas all but growled.
“Stop! Everyone stop shouting.” Lyra struggled awkwardly to her feet. “Weallwant to hear about this, but if you keep talking and yelling over each other, we’ll never find out anything.” She put her hands on her hips and stared at everyone. “Now be quiet. All of you. And only one person talks at a time.”
Surprisingly, everyone obeyed, and even Gen stared at her, open-mouthed. “Mama,” she breathed. “That was...amazing.”
“Right then.” Lyra suppressed a grin. “Miss Thea. Tell us what happened today, if you would.”
“Of course.” Thea nodded agreeably. “After Silas took me to the Mistletoe machine, I unfastened many bolts that were rusting. I cleaned them, of course, using a solution that I found quite useful...”
“Oh, coggles,” moaned Hiram, rolling his eyes.
“She fixed it,” said Silas bluntly. “I don’t know how, and I suspect I never will, but by the Great Gear in the sky, this amazing woman repaired our precious Mistletoe machine.”
He strode to Dorothea’s side, picked her up by the waist, and kissed her. On the mouth. With enthusiasm. Then put her back on her feet.
Coooooo.
“I couldn’t agree more, Thim,” said Nelson calmly. “However, if this conversation is to proceed in any kind of civilised manner, may I suggest you all go into the dining room? There is food ready, and one can only hope that if most of you are eating, then perhaps one person might relate the details of today’s adventure without interruption.”
Thus chastened, the entire party followed orders, and soon found themselves seated in front of a rather tasty-looking meal.
Dorothea tucked in. “Forgive my manners, but I have had little more than a couple of biscuits all day.” She buttered bread lavishly. “It’s difficult to eat when you’re up to your elbows in forty years of old grease and thick, dirty oil.”
“Eeeuuuw,” Gen made a face.
