Chapter twenty: Intermission

Trigger warnings for those who need them

Vivid descriptions of kidnapping.

The next day the assessors have to grade all the tests to see who’s allowed to come to the famous Bloacker flight simulator for the practical test.
Meaning there’s an off-day in between the theory and practice.
I had Alice pick on where to go and she decided on ‘the museum for racing and racing culture’ which makes me suspect Alice means to open up another case before she even solved the one she’s tackling right now.
That or she’s just interested in learning about something she isn’t very familiar with.
Either way, to me, it sounds like it’ll be good fun.
The museum is located in an old shipyard with high ceilings and a pervasive layer of oil and grime on each and every steel beam that makes up the construction.
It’s busy despite the early hour, I bet we’re not the only ones killing time before the results of the test are released to the public.
The ground floor of the museum is divided into a history section, a temporary exhibition and ‘highlights from the racing circuit’.
Alice immediately follows the sign for the temporary exhibition. I shouldn’t be surprised the exhibition is on the same three personages that have lined newspapers for weeks now.
Jimmy and Mildred Hope and Nicholas Cain.
I guess Mildred didn’t like being in the spotlight because all of the photographic material only features the two rival men.
It turns out Mildred was her brother’s mechanic, taking care of his race-car The Red Stallion.
Which is indeed a very handsome car. To the point they’re selling small mass produced facsimiles in the museum shop.
Alice pulls out her notebook and pencil I know she’ll be busy here for at least a good long while.
I think I rather look at the cars myself.
“Do you mind if I go on ahead?”
“No, that’s okay.”
“I’ll see you in a bit.”
She waves at me.
I have a look around for myself.
The history of race-cars is fascinating.
It started with the yundo, rudimentary, steam-powered vehicles used for hauling war-supplies off and onto the battlefield in Jaobai.
Then after the war the two Charan men who designed and made it took it back home to Charalia. Expanding on the project to work inside the city-centers as well.
They lobbied for roads wide enough to have two of their massive vehicles to pass one another and claimed the introduction of cars would make the need for walking obsolete. Either by man or horse.
Self-funding the project with the considerable wealth they had acquired during the war they managed to turn their home city of Helliar into a place with more road than greenery and claimed it to be the future.
And then they started selling their new ‘automatic carriages’, redesigned to fit people rather than rifles and provisions.
Funnily enough half the population refers to the machines as autos, while the other half refers to them as cars. Each abbreviating a different part of the far too long trade name.
Even today the machines are prohibitively expensive so driving them is usually reserved for only three classes of people.
The rich, trying to flaunt their immense wealth.
The business owners, using them for transporting goods and services and writing the machine off as a business expense.
And race-car drivers, who directly earn money from winning races.
And for this class, of course, the men created a new, specialized line to be a light and fast as possible…
“Hey Dana” Alice says as she joins me amid the cars.
“Did you finish with the exhibition?”
“Yes. It turns out that while Cain was visiting Calahaggy for the race he and Hope shared a garage at the track.”
“Odd, normally racers each get their own garage unit.”
“The exhibition mentioned that too. But the reason was just that there wasn’t enough room to house all the cars separately and these two contestants were the least likely to gouge one another’s eyes out. At least the exhibition says so but I have a different theory.”
“Are you going to pick up the case?”
“Not yet, I still have Donna’s murder to solve. Finding Valentine Garcia would be the next step there and I have a suspicion Tashi Sashou knows where that man is hiding. I just need a different angle to get him to tell me.”
“Confessions collected under torture aren’t admissible in court.” I remind her helpfully.
“I wasn’t gonna go that far, I-“ She stops as her attention is grabbed by something in the room.
We made out way to the ‘highlights’ section of the ground floor.
Around us are the steel beasts of the best racers in history as well as some of their incredibly luxurious leisure vehicles.
Alice walks slowly towards a black car with a long nose and big round lanterns for headlights with an expression of shock on her face.
“Alice?” I ask.
No response.
I touch her hand. She jumps, eyes bewildered as she looks at me “Sorry, I, I’m fine. I just. I need to go and find the water-closet for a bit, I’ll be right back.”
She rushes out the room leaving me confused.
I look at the car.
It doesn’t look like anything special, tall grill, leather interior. The sign mentions it used to be the car of a racer called Misty Smooker.
Does she know Smooker? If so I don’t know how?
Maybe I should have asked?
But I don’t think that would have helped much, besides she’d probably make a scene if she didn’t want to say.
I push my hands into my pockets.
And go look for the restrooms.

There’s a nice big round couch by the restroom with peacock feathers sticking out the top.
I want patiently for her to be done.
I hope I’m being paranoid, that it’s nothing serious.
The door opens.
I look up.
It’s clear as day Alice cried, despite her attempts to hide it by looking away from me.
“Dana?”
“Yes.”
“I think I’ve seen enough cars for today.”
We barely made it through the ground floor of the museum. I wish I knew what the problem was so I can help. I want to ask again and again until she tells me. But instead I say “Sure, you want to go and get a cup of tea somewhere?”
I don’t think pressing her would do much good for either of us. She nods.
We leave.
We find a little Jaobaian style place and order two cups of white tea.
She seems significantly calmer now that she’s no longer surrounded by cars.
Her eyes are peering deep into the teacup as she thinks.
I let her be for now, just listen to the housha music and wait for her to take the initiative.
“Dana?”
“Yes.”
“I’m sorry.”
“What for?”
“For making us leave early. Admission wasn’t cheap and I think you would have liked to see the rest of the museum.”
“I’ll go another time, it’s not a big problem.”
“I guess.” She takes a sip of her tea, then a deep breath “I want to like cars because you like cars. I thought if I knew more about them I’d appreciate them more. Think they’re less…”
“Less…?”
“Scary.”
“You’re scared of cars?”
“Don’t laugh.” she tells me sternly, crossing her arms.
“I’m not.” I assure her. Then carefully add “Do you want to talk about it?”
Her eyes drop down to her tea.
She swallows. “When I was little father I spent my first year in Choumuri stuck inside the locked city. I was bored to tears in that place. So when some official or other told my father about the festival happening, I threw a temper tantrum until he let me go outside to see it. I had to stay close to him. And I promised that I would. But once I got out it all looked so magical. I strayed from his side like a little brat and got kidnapped as a result.”
My eyes widen. “Can I ask how old you were?”
“I think I was five, maybe six. I’m not enitrely sure.” She takes a sip from her tea before taking a breath and continuing. “At the festival there was this stall with little porcelain animals. And I wanted one but the man kept talking to me as I tried to leave to get father. I assume he saw the value of the govenor’s daughter and needed to distract me so some lackey could get behind me to knock me out. Next I know, two kashuya men take me away in a yundo. I was frightened and angry at the shopkeep but moreso at myself for not listening to father. They brought me to some den or other and locked me in a room. I wasn’t there for long, they just needed me to extort father out of some cash or something. You know Shayu, I presume?”
“The palace’s butler?”
“Yes, he came and picked me up in a car that looked just like the one in the museum.” Her mouth crumples into a watery grin “It’s so silly that the car that brought me to safety is so frightening to me.”
I shake my head “It’s not silly, You went through something awful when you were very young. It’s completely normal that something that reminds you of that makes you feel bad.”
“I guess…” she falls silent. I leave her some room to continue but she continues drinking tea instead.
“Thank you for telling me.” I tell her.
She shrugs “Thank you for listening. You’re really good at that.”
I smile “I try my best.”
We drink our tea in peaceful silence and it’s only as we head outside I remember I have a question.

Outside the sky is dark but countless lantern lights and lit-up windows make the place feel cozy rather than cold.
“Can I ask a question?”
Alice blinks at me “Sure, what is it?”
“Did you sleep well tonight? You mentioned not sleeping well yesterday but we got interrupted by that newsie before I could ask you how come?”
“Oh! Uh.” she wraps an escaped lock of hair around her finger “I slept better than yesterday I suppose but-“ She averts her eyes “I’m not used to sharing a bed with someone. Or a blanket for that matter.” She scratches the back of her head “It’s just that I’m used to wrapping the blankets around me and I can’t when I’m sharing them with you. But it’s okay, it’s only two more nights it’ll be fine-“
“Or I can ask the tenant for another blanket. I don’t think he’d hand me an extra bed but a blanket shouldn’t be much of an issue.”
“That’s- I feel silly for not thinking of that myself now.”
I pat her on the head “I’ll ask him when we get back.”
“Thank you.”
I check my watch “Now it’s two more hours until the results are in how about we go have a stroll around the market to find some things to eat for dinner, check the results and after that we go back to the Dancing Dog, get the extra blanket and play some xaitu until it’s time for bed.”
“You brought xaitu?”
“I figured it’s good to have in case we get bored.”
“Excellent thinking.”
I’m not surprised Alice made it to the practical test.
I’d be surprised if she hadn’t.
Now everything comes down whether she has gotten used to the controls of a machine that’s not the Royal Griffin.
And that will be decided tomorrow at the Bloacker flying simulator.
I look forward to seeing it.
But there are some things that need doing first at the dancing dog.
“You set up the board I’ll get the blanket.” I instruct Alice as I take away the last wrappings and boxes that used to contain our dinner.
“Aye aye captain.” She salutes me with a smile on her face.
I nod sternly, then head down.
“Good evening Mister, do you happen to have a second blanket for our room?”
“I’ll see what I can do.” he gestures me to the back of the room, in the corner of which stands a large blanket chest. As he rummages through he asks “Did you go to my daughter in law?”
“I did, but I didn’t help her clean the house.”
“What? Why not?” he sounds annoyed as he pulls back a large mass of wool.
“There was no need, the house was perfectly all right when I came in.”
“Impossible, the woman is a slob.”
“I don’t think I can make any judgment of the sort after seeing her only a single time but I can say that my assistance wasn’t needed. In the end we just drank tea and talked.”
He scoffs “I didn’t ask you to drink tea, I asked you to help her clean.”
“And I think I helped her more by talking to her.”
“Then I bet she said all sorts of nasty things about me. Here I try to help and she just slanders my good name all over the place.” He drops the pile onto the front desk and starts pulling multicoloured blankets from them.
“What makes you think that?”
“Because she hates me, that woman married my son and then promply pulled him away from me. And now that he’s dead she’s trying to do the same thing to my grandson.”
“That sounds very serious and I’d like to explore that thought more with you but if it’s all right with you I like to bring the blanket upstairs first and come back at a later hour. I promised my companion some quality time and she’ll probably go to bed after an hour or two. I can come down after that.”
“What?”
“If you want of course. Talking can do a lot to ease the mind after all.”
“Oh sure.” He hands me a pale blue and yellow blocked specimen.
“Thank you. I’ll be right back.”