I Will Breathe (Forbidden Book 1) Read online

  She hid it behind her back. “I could but I won’t. It’s my apple. My ship. My shit.” She was pleased by how stern she sounded, but then blew it all by adding, “I only have a few apples left and it will be a couple of months before I can replace them. I’ll give you a jar of applesauce if you leave.” That didn’t come out sounding stern at all. Damn. It was a good thing pirates didn’t board her ship every day. “Why are you really here? I know it’s not for my apple.” She took another bite, just to show Mender he wasn’t getting it back.

  He shrugged. “I saw your airship and couldn’t believe my eyes. I’ve never seen any others besides my own, not in all my travels. I thought I had the only one. Would you be willing to show me where you acquired your apples? If you do, I’ll show you where I was able to procure my wheat and corn.”

  She wrinkled her nose in thought. “Boy showed me photos of wheat and corn but I didn’t know they still existed. What do you do with them?”

  He grinned and clapped a hand on her shoulder. “You’re in for a special treat. I’ll be right back.” Mender jogged toward his own ship and jumped across as if the gap between were nothing.

  Liberty shuddered to think what would have been his fate had he lost his footing and fallen. Of course, she had no idea in the least why the thought of his death bothered her, not since they had only just met and he was probably going back to get a weapon so he could kill her. Maybe he had an entire ship of men hiding there, waiting to board her airship. She was getting all set to go fetch her pistol when he reappeared and jumped back aboard, carrying a bundle.

  Mender wasn’t even breathing hard, but he was grinning when he reached her side. He offered her the small wrapped package. “I’ll trade you this for the rest of your apple.”

  Without thinking, Liberty did as he asked, but then laughed at the look on his face when he saw how little was left. She might have apologized if she had been the least bit contrite, but as far as she was concerned, a deal was a deal. After opening the package, she asked what it was.

  “Cornbread and wheat bread. Robbie made them yesterday.” He popped the rest of the apple in his mouth and closed his eyes. He smiled as soon as he swallowed it down. “I’ve never tasted anything so wonderful in my entire life.”

  Liberty broke off a bite-sized piece of the round yellow bread and let it rest on her tongue for a moment before chewing. It tasted so good she broke off a bigger piece and munched on that before trying the brown one. Without thinking, she smiled. “Do you know what would be good with this?” She didn’t wait for an answer but jumped up and motioned for Mender to follow. As she led him toward the galley, she said, “I bet honey would taste great on both of these.”

  Mender fell in beside her. “Honey. I’ve never heard of honey.”

  “There seems to be a lot of things you haven’t heard of. I thought you said you sailed an airship.”

  He laughed. “I knew about wheat and corn and you didn’t. How come you’ve flown everywhere in your airship and never heard of them?”

  “Smartass.” Damn. He had a point. “Who’s Robbie? You said Robbie made the bread yesterday. Are there more people on your airship?”

  “Just me and Robbie. Robbie’s my robot. I made him out of whatever I could find. He’s not as good looking as yours, but he comes in handy when I need a second pair of hands. Are you going to let me try this mysterious substance you call honey?”

  “Yep. It’s either that or shoot you. I haven’t quite figured out which one to do yet.”

  They found their robots in the galley, every drawer and cabinet door pulled open. Liberty turned to Mender. “I’m not cleaning this shit up.”

  “I guess I should have kept a better eye on them.” He slipped into the chair behind the table.

  “Damn straight you should have.” She smacked Boy on the back of the head before grabbing the jar of honey out of the cabinet. “How could you let this pirate come aboard? I’m never leaving the Airus in your control again.”

  Boy had the grace to look as shamefaced as a robot could. “He asked nicely.”

  “He asked nicely. It’s good to know you have standards.” She pointed at the cabinets. “Clean this mess up. We’ll talk about your punishment after we throw these two overboard.”

  The only sounds that came from Boy were a few rapid clicks, as if some of his gears had been stripped. He finally said, “This is my friend, Robbie.”

  For the first time since entering the galley, Liberty focused her attention on Mender’s robot. Next to Boy’s shiny metal and beautiful glass head, complete with metallic eyes, Robbie was an awkward piece of junk. She had actually seen objects in the Forsaken Land in better condition, but in an odd way, the little guy was sort of endearing. The way his legs were connected to his body meant he didn’t stand straight but leaned off to one side, as though any minute he could fall over. Not knowing what else to do, she patted the top of his head before joining Mender.

  Liberty sat the jar of honey on the table and swallowed back a laugh. Out of the blue, the entire situation struck her as totally bizarre. She found it impossible to believe she was actually sharing her honey with a pirate, and that two robots now stood on the other side of the galley, trying to figure out what use a fork could be put to.

  Chapter Six

  The wrench slipped and caught Liberty’s thumb between the friction plate and rollers. “Damn. Damn. Damn.”

  While she ranted, Robbie turned to Boy. “I don’t think that word means what she thinks it does.” His voice matched the rest of him, squeaky.

  If her thumb hadn’t hurt so much, she might have laughed.

  Boy inched closer to Liberty and Robbie followed. “She has created her own word usage where each one has its own meaning,” Boy told him.

  Robbie eyed Liberty before asking, “Which ones?”

  “She says damn when she’s frustrated. Damn it whenever she drops something. Shit if she stubs her toe. Holy shit if something goes horribly wrong. Hell fire and matches whenever I do something horribly wrong and damnation when everything goes wrong. And we never ever want to hear her say bloody hell. That means Airus is either going to blow up or fall out of the sky.” He lowered his voice. “And the best part is that with each curse word, poison darts shoots out of her mouth.”

  In unison, both robots turned to stare at her mouth.

  Liberty sighed. “How many times have I told you? The words don’t really cause actual poisoned darts to come out of my mouth. They’re just imaginary ones.” When both robots continued to stare, Liberty huffed and threw the wrench back into the toolbox. She turned and glared when Mender dared to laugh.

  Her glare did little to stop him, though. “It’s not my fault. You’re the one who told Boy that. He’s never going to understand that the poison darts are all just pretend.”

  It really hadn’t been that long ago when her life had been peaceful. Her first mistake had been to let that damn robot follow her onboard the airship. “It seemed like a good way of explaining why I cuss so much.”

  Mender leaned on the stern rail and grinned. “I’m surprised Robbie and Boy haven’t taken up your bad habit, you do it so much.”

  She scowled at him before picking up the toolbox. “I don’t cuss all the time.” She tried to block out the sound of his laughter, and might have done so if she hadn’t tripped and filled the air with another string of swearwords. That only made him laugh even harder and had the robots following close on her heels, trying to get a good look at her mouth. She finally turned and shouted. “Damn it to hell! There are no poison darts coming out of my mouth!”

  Boy blinked. “A new one to keep track of.”

  That set Mender off into another fit of laughter. To get away from them all, Liberty stomped off to the galley for an apple. She had half a mind to bring it back out and eat it right in front of Mender, just for spite.

  Once there, not only did Liberty grab an apple but she cut off a couple slices of cheese. On her way to the table, she grabbed a slice
of the wheat bread Mender had brought over that morning. Even though the man was annoying as hell, she was going to miss him when he left. She and her father had always been loners so it was surprising how much she looked forward to waking up each morning these days.

  “You plan on sitting in here and sulking all day?” Mender slid into the seat next to her.

  “Yep.” She took a large bite out of the apple.

  “You going to let me have a bite?” He looked so hopeful Liberty handed the apple over without thinking, and was surprised to discover that, when he took a large bite himself, she only experienced a little regret over the loss.

  Mender returned the apple before asking, “So, when are you going to show me below deck? I would love to see the artifacts you’ve found in the Forbidden Lands.”

  Liberty stood and motioned him to follow. “It’s mostly glass jars and bits and pieces of whatever metals I can savage.” She talked as she walked. “The jars are needed to store the honey, applesauce and cider, that’s why they are in such high demand by Polly and Waters. I haven’t been able to collect as many since Father’s death. It’s not easy hauling them onboard without his help.”

  “My father warned me about traveling out that far. Maybe you’ll let me tag along the next time you go. I’ve been thinking that, if we put our heads together, we could extend our trading into something bigger.”

  She stopped on the stairs, turned and look up at him. “How so?”

  He shrugged. “I know the people who are growing wheat, corn and potatoes, and you know the ones who have fish, apples, honey and cheese. With the two of us going into the Forbidden Lands together to salvage the things they need, and by cross trading everything, we can connect more people together. With the way things are now, it’s like everyone’s on their own little island, afraid of everyone else. Maybe, just maybe, we have the power to change that.”

  Mender’s words found a home as they continued down into the hold, and for the first time in a long time, Liberty felt hopeful. “Do you think we can really accomplish something that big?”

  He grinned. “Why not?”

  Liberty stood back and watched Mender inspect the things she had stored here. “I’m afraid to take you with me to the Forbidden Land.”

  He pulled his hand out of a jar and looked up. “Why?”

  “You wouldn’t stop looking long enough to load anything.”

  He grinned, sheepishly. “I’ve just never seen so much stuff collected in one place before. It’s amazing.” Mender looked thoughtful for a moment before asking, “You don’t really mind if I tag along do you?”

  Liberty leaned on the nearest crate. “Why would I?”

  He waved toward the items around them. “It just occurred to me you might not want anyone else going after this stuff.”

  She shook her head. “You wouldn’t say that if you had ever been there. Even after all the destruction, there are still buildings standing there, filled with this kind of stuff, and for as far as the eye can see. No matter how often I’ve flown over it, I’ve never seen it all. The truth is, I have no idea what else might be in the Forbidden Lands to salvage, but there must be lots. Since Father died, though, I’ve been too afraid to stay on the ground long enough to find out. It would be nice to have a second pair of eyes there with me.”

  “So what do we do first?”

  Liberty scratched an eyebrow. “My usual route is to head straight from Shatters to Waters, to trade for dried fish, and from there to Billy’s for goat cheese. I put off going to Golden’s until I know her apples are ready to harvest. She doesn’t like visitors and only agreed to trade with me because I bring her the jars she needs for her cider and applesauce. I go to Polly’s last since it’s on my way back to the Forbidden Lands.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “I’m not sure I’ll be able to take you with me to see her. She might shoot you on sight.”

  Chapter Seven

  “What on earth are you holding?” Although Liberty didn’t want to ask, curiosity finally got the better of her. Sometimes, Boy’s explanations could be long drawn-out affairs, and they almost always had her doing something afterwards that she didn’t want to do.

  Boy handed her one of the two sticks. “I made us each a fishing pole.”

  “You did what?” She took the pole before the robot poked her eye out with it. She’d already backed up a couple of times trying to avoid such a calamity. The damn robot was going to be the death of her. “What am I supposed to do with this?”

  “Catch fish.” He blinked.

  “You want to go fishing?” She looked back and forth between the waves and the robot. “Are you waterproof?”

  “I don’t know.” He used the end of his fishing pole to draw in the sand.

  “Do you have any idea how we’re supposed to go about using these short poles in those large waves?” It was impossible to keep the skepticism out of her voice. Even though she knew how to swim, she had only done so in the calm waters of a lake or pond, never out in the rough waves of the ocean. It was beautiful to look at from above, but she was afraid of its vastness and power.

  “Please. I’ve always wanted to go fishing but Father never had the time.” Boy held up a small container in his other hand. “Waters caught bait for us to use.”

  Liberty eyed the raised rusted-out container. “What’s in it?”

  “Roaches.”

  Liberty backed up even farther. “I’m not touching a roach. They’re nasty.” She hated all variety of bugs. They made her itch and gag.

  Boy took Liberty’s fishing pole back. “I’ll bait the hooks and promise not to get in the water.”

  It was disconcerting to realize that all Boy had to do was stare with his big metallic eyes and she would do whatever he wanted. She had no idea, not since he’d come into her life, where that hard-ass woman she used to be had disappeared to. She tried to channel the old Liberty by squaring her shoulders and firmly stating, “I’m not taking the fish off the hook either.”

  Those words were barely out of her mouth before Boy took off walking toward the water’s edge. Not that he was listening, but Liberty called after him anyway, “Not too close. If you fall in, I’m not pulling you out.”

  Before following after the adorable but annoying robot, Liberty looked around for Mender and Waters. Both had disappeared after loading the dried fish onto Liberty and Mender’s airships earlier that morning. On the surface, the two men couldn’t have appeared more different. Mender was overly fastidious whereas Waters just smelled of fish and sweat, but for some odd reason, the two men had liked each other on sight. They were probably in Waters’ shack right now, chatting away over a loaf of wheat bread.

  Liberty giggled just thinking about the look on Waters’s face when he first tasted Mender’s wheat bread. His expression had been priceless. The old man couldn’t agree fast enough, trading a load of dried fish for several bags of wheat. They had spent the rest of the day and part of the night with Mender teaching Waters how to grind and bake bread. Mender’s proposition about trading in each other’s territories grew on her, especially if Polly, Golden and Billy had the same reaction to the wheat as Waters.

  Caught up in her own thoughts, Liberty didn’t notice how close to the water Boy had got. He had one pole standing in the sand and was baiting the other. The waves were rolling in, and every now and then, one would cover his feet. That was a little worrisome, but instead of telling him to move back, she laughed at his enthusiasm for trying new things. For nothing more than a collection of metal, wires and circuit boards, Boy had more joy for life in him than any human she knew. He wanted to know, see and experience everything. Of course, most of the time he wanted all these things at once, so she found it exhausting keeping up with his eagerness.

  It finally occurred to her that seawater might not be good for his metal, and so she called out, “Back up. The tide’s coming in.”

  Before she had time to see if he’d heard, a voice called out, “Wait up!”

  Liberty tu
rned to see Mender and Waters heading toward her. She waved to let them know she had heard, and looked back to make certain Boy had obeyed her. A roach must have crawled out of the container and up his arm because the pole was now in the sand and the robot was swiping furiously at his arm. She laughed at the sight but then saw a large wave head toward him.

  “Back up! Back up!” Liberty took off running, but had the sinking feeling she wasn’t going to get there in time. She almost had her hand on his shoulder when the wave swept in and snatched them up, as if they weighed nothing. She lost sight of Boy when the air left her lungs and she made the mistake of gasping. Swallowing a mouthful of seawater, she panicked. Time slowed. All she wanted to do was breath but was too disoriented to know which way was up. It wasn’t until the wave finally crashed onto the shore that she first dared to hope. She kicked and thrashed about, trying to stand, but was unable to do so until arms came out of nowhere and wrapped around her waist, pulling her out of the water.

  As soon as he had her on her feet again, Mender pushed Liberty’s heavy, wet curls away from her forehead and out of her eyes. “Are you okay?”

  Sucking in a much needed breath, Liberty nodded but then immediately looked around for Boy. “Where’s he at? We have to find him.” She turned to run back into the water but Mender grabbed her shoulder.

  He pointed in the opposite direction. “Waters was able to get Boy out.”

  Liberty ran to where Waters knelt over the robot. “Is he okay?”

  Waters looked up but didn’t answer, so Liberty knelt to check for herself. One look was all it took to see how much trouble Boy was in. His head was filled with sand and water, and his eyes were stuck open in a stare.

  She turned to Mender when he knelt next to her. “Please help him. I don’t know what to do.”

  He lifted Boy’s head to get a better look but then lowered it back onto the sand. “I’ll do my best but I’ve never worked on anything as complex as this. We need to get him back onto Airus. I don’t want to get more sand in him than there is already.”