As always, the first twenty feet made him feel as if his stomach were dropping to his knees. Then the surge of excitement sent his blood racing and his pulse pounding.
Whenever he flew, he didn’t have to remember. The scenery wasn’t as important as the freedom he felt, untethered, and alone. Every flight, after that first adventure six years ago, he’d felt the same. Being airborne, the sensation of being poisedbetween earth and heaven, was almost like taking a drug. Being in his airship made him feel both insignificant and powerful.
There, he could forget Virginia, could push back the specters of the last five years. There, even Alisdair, James, and Caroline did not follow.
As he hovered above the waving crowd of Scots, he realized he wouldn’t be alone. Not as long as people from Doncaster Hall were watching: anxious, excited, and amazed.
He was their laird, their leader.
They’d welcomed him, all the people of Doncaster Hall, with a great deal more grace than he’d accepted being there. Not once had he heard any grumbling. He was the 11thLord Fairfax, and they’d simply acknowledged that circumstance had made him, temporarily to them, an American.
The hills around Doncaster Hall were so deeply green they appeared almost blue, the lushness appealing to the planter in him. Too many damn sheep grazed on the far hills, clinging tenaciously to the rocky ground at the base of the mountains. Had it not been for sheep, his grandfather would have remained in Scotland. Had it not been for sheep, Montgomery might have been a crofter himself. Or employed at Doncaster Hall, serving another Fairfax.
He should ask Edmund about the other employees at Doncaster Hall. What kept them here? The clan system was long gone. Or did they simply have a feel for the land, the country, the place?
Veronica felt the same tie.
I’m a Scot, Montgomery. I belong here.
The time had come to test his navigational design. He was hovering between Doncaster Hall and Ben Wyliss. If his prototype worked, he would be able to direct the ship back toward the house. If it didn’t, he’d basically be at the mercy ofthe winds, like a balloon, and his landing would be accomplished by releasing the heated air from the envelope.
He began his first pass, hearing the cheering and feeling like shouting himself as he guided the ship over the house. Damned if his design didn’t work! The second turn was as effortless as the first, and his smile felt permanently affixed.
The sudden sputtering sound caught his attention. Montgomery glanced up, saw the flame go from bright blue to orange to nothing. Reaching up, he fired the burner again, but the flame didn’t catch.
At least no one was shooting at him.
The last time he’d experienced a problem with a burner had been over Fort Monroe. On that occasion, they’d gone down in the Elizabeth River, a descent that might have killed both him and his helper if it had been over land.
The burner didn’t catch again, but the ship would still stay in the air for a few minutes, long enough for him to coast to a landing somewhere level. He wasn’t panicked; years of training had equipped him to think of all contingencies in a hurried yet orderly pattern.
Everything would have been fine if he hadn’t been too close to the damn mountain.
Of all the idiocy, to survive four years of war to die on a beautiful day in the Highlands.
Chapter 26
One moment, Montgomery’s magnificent ship was silhouetted against the sky, an enormous man-made blue cloud. Her throat closed, her heart swelled with pride. Montgomery had done this. All on his own, he’d harnessed the air, become a god in the machine he’d devised.
As if to demonstrate how talented he was, the airship veered to the left, circling Doncaster Hall. The crowd around her shouted, arms waving in pride and excitement.
Veronica stood where she was, smiling, thrilled at Montgomery’s achievement. How proud he must be. His navigation system was working.
If he could steer his ship, then they wouldn’t have to have outriders following them. He’d know where they were going to land, not too close to the River Tairn like last time.
She studied the envelope as it passed the second time, wondering if she was imagining what she saw. Wrinkles were appearing on the smooth surface of the silk. The oval shape of the ship changed as she watched, became rounder, like the inverted teardrop of Montgomery’s balloon. Seconds elongatedto hours as she watched him, the silk growing more puckered as time elapsed.
Around her, the crowd began to murmur, the pride of earlier moments transformed to worry, then fear.
Montgomery was on the far side of Doncaster Hall, no longer flying in a circle. If he didn’t change direction, he would head directly for Ben Wyliss.
A woman in front of her screamed as the bow of the airship abruptly dipped.
A second later, the ship fell from sight.
There was no time to think. His hands automatically performed the duties learned over years. He tried to fire the burner, but nothing was happening. He let go the last of the emergency ballast bags, but that didn’t lessen the speed of his descent.
In the end, all he could do was brace himself against one of the supports and prepare for the impact.
