Before I could further upbraid myself, a loud crack disturbed the quiet. The marble slab split down the middle before swinging inward. A small antechamber lay beyond the door. Benches sat on either side beneath huge murals of giant gears.
Oss snorted. “At least we don’t have to worry that this is the wrong place.”
“Nope,” Thorne agreed.
The next barrier lay ahead. A copper-faced door with a large metal ring hanging in the middle. Silver words were scrawled across the front as if written by an elegant hand.
“I open to those with a brave heart and an adventurous mind.”
I almost turned back. I had serious doubts about the braveness of my heart. If given the choice between confrontation and avoidance, I always chose the one that allowed me to live another day. I think cowardly was a better word for the condition of my heart. Memories of Buster lying on the bed accepting his fate flashed through me. I couldn’t walk away. I couldn’t let that kind metal man die because I didn’t dare try to turn a simple wheel.
“This isn’t going to end well,” I whispered as I grabbed the ring and pulled. The metal chain the loop hung from moved easily with a series of clicks. After the fifth click, the chain stopped coming through.
“Now what do I do?” I released the ring to study the mechanism. As soon as I let go the door cracked open, enough for me to get my fingers through and yank it the rest of the way.
“Wow!” My mouth dropped open as I examined the incredible vision before me. The Gear Master’s workshop was more wonderland than workspace. If I had this sort of place to build my creations, I would have messengers bring me food and put a cot on the floor next to the enormous workbench. Curious, I stepped farther inside. The others crowded at my back, but I didn’t spare them any attention.
The ceiling rose high above me hollowed out like an enormous cage formed of wood, glass, and metal. Bare scaffolding covered one wall and dozens of projects dangled from metal hooks in various stages of completion.
With access to a wide variety of materials and the tools to work them, my dearest dreams were alive on the walls of this workshop. Below the enormous workbench were marked drawers that, if labeled correctly, held a fortune in goods to build whatever I could imagine. I pressed a hand to my stomach to steady the twin butterflies of excitement and anxiety battling for supremacy.
“Gear. I need a gear.” I forced my mind back to the task at hand. I could spend hours indulging in my rare good fortune, or I could return to the world above and save Buster. The clock was counting down to his destruction and I had to hurry if I didn’t want to be a murderer.
Squinting a bit, I spotted bins of parts mounted to the walls on either side of the walkway where another set of benches sat one on each side and allowed more space to create.
“What size do you need?” Thorne asked.
I jumped at his approach. My mind had already slipped into planning my next glorious invention despite knowing I had limited time. I shook my head and tried to get back on track.
Opening my satchel, I pulled out Buster’s dented gear. “Like this.”
“Hmm.” Thorne eyed it a moment. “I’ll take the cabinets on the upper left. Oss, you take the right. Marbrey, you and Justin look around here. With the four of us, we are bound to find it quickly.”
“Good idea.” I didn’t mind Thorne taking charge. If we found the gear, it didn’t matter who was the one to discover it.
Justin went toward his assigned area with only a nod in my direction.
A desk in the corner caught my attention. Rolls of papers covered the surface as if Torren had just stepped away for a moment and planned to return to his project.
Were those designs?
Mouth dry, I raced to the desk. With shaking hands, I culled one parchment roll from the papery herd. I unrolled it with the thrill of unwrapping a present on Christmas morning. Once uncurled, I barely held back a scream of excitement. This was the blueprint for a machine to carry people from place to place. After a cursory examination, I shook my head and reluctantly returned it to the pile. I could spend days, weeks, centuries, down here just looking everything over, but I had a deadline and a gear to find. After I fixed Buster, or did my best, I planned to come back here and wallow in my newfound treasure.
“I found them!” Oss shouted. “Marbrey, bring the gear.”
I jerked around, dropping the last design back onto the desk. Oss waved from the floor above.
“Coming.” I raced to the bottom of metal stairwell and paused.
“I’d never been particularly fond of heights, so although this workshop was a marvel of design, the first thing I would do when I took it over was move all the gears to the lower shelves and maybe design a mechanical monkey to fetch my items. It would take a lot more skill than I currently had, but I would happily accept the challenge if it stopped me from crossing the rickety walkway or climbing the spiral iron stairs. They were cast in an elaborate filagree, and I could see through each pretty step. I snapped my head up. Best keep my eyes on what I’m seeking. Determination more than courage would see me through. Or at least I hoped it would. When I reached the top where Oss had indicated, I found that the larger gears were stored in the center of the back wall. A place unreachable from the safety of the stairwell. I walked to the middle of the narrow walkway, and if my hands gripped the rail until they were white, no one commented.
I took a few slow breaths before I ventured onto the death bridge. My shaking knees caused more vibration than my footsteps, but I persevered. I’ve never been responsible for another being’s life before, and I hated the idea that I might fail him. When I reached the exact middle, my eyes widened at the grouping of controls I found there. There was a small wheel in the middle and the markings for up or down along with a lever that stated it would disengage. No doubt it would break the bridge away from the sides. I unwisely leaned over the bridge to search for the mechanisms holding it up. There weren’t any. It must be built with more magic than metal.
“Careful, Marbrey.” Justin grabbed my hips and pulled me upright.
“Sorry, I was trying to see how this bridge was put together.”
“I’d rather it remains a mystery if you are going to dangle off the side,” Justin commented.
