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Cly lifted the panel and pulled the lever with its rubber grip and rusting hinge With a creak and a lowout, and Cly descended the uneven steps down into Briar’s living quarters in a baseround

Three

Night at the Café du Monde was illuas laht enough for beignets and coffee blended with chicory root These save the iht be seen, but theywith the kitchen fryers and workers calling back and forth, taking and filling orders The café always hummed with the noise from the river off to one side, and the street on the other--ships’ horns and paddle wheels, horse carts and singing, drunken partiers, the patrols and bickering of soldiers, and thefor their supper within half as many blocks

Josephine Early was careful to keep the lace froloves away from the candles, and the napkin in her lap was covered in powdered sugar--but not a drip of coffee She was joined by Marylin Quantrill and Ruthie Doniker, both of whoether they chatted about virtually nothing, and at length, until the four slowly sobering Texians at the table beside theered back to their barracks

Marylin raised the whiteto her lips, blew at the steae, and said, "We aren’tmuch luck at the airyard, ma’am Lots of fellows are interested in us, but only for the usual reasons"

"And we aren’t finding useful foreigners, either" Ruthie, darker and by sohed and discreetly adjusted her bodice She was thin as a waterbird, and twice as graceful "Nothing but Rebels and Texians And a very pretty Spaniard, but he wasn’t a pilot Perhaps a new custo and an eyebrow at the same time, and hid her smile behind her coffee

"A new one for you?" Josephine asked "Be careful, love"

"A new one for me, maybe He is very beautiful, and the Spanish … they are als"

Marylin asked, "What about you, ma’am? Have you found anyone to fly for us?"

Josephine wrapped both hands around her drink, even though the night was alht’ve been too much for a wora to ine a man would say no," Ruthie insisted

"Hainey said no"

"But he had, hoould you say? Extenuating circulish, but she practiced at every opportunity, working to expand her vocabulary She said extenuating with the accents in all the wrong places She was a voracious reader who had seen the word spelled, but never heard it spoken

Josephine corrected the pronunciation with context, rather than rebuke "This other pilot co circu And for another, I suspect he does not wish to see me"

"Why?" Marylin frowned

"We haven’t spoken in many years" That was all she offered "It doesn’t ood one If he’ll come, we’ll be lucky to have hirah Mr Hainey, and wait for the ton?" Marylin gasped "That’s practically the other side of the world!"

"Practically, yes Realistically, it’s only two or three thousand , and a hint of mirth "He must have a very iood equipment, and last I knew of hi And I know you don’t like pirates," she cut off Marylin before the protest could be mounted, "but we can trust Cly if we have to"

To return to their previous conversation, Marylin asked, "Is he perfect?"

Josephine considered the question "No, he isn’t perfect He’s just about the biggest , he could’ve had a career in a circus, easy as you please He could’ve been the world’sood The craft we need hiiant inaround his size, and unless he’s collected sufficientin cramped quarters today"

Marylin pondered aloud, suddenly sounding ton, ma’am He’s not a Rebel or a Texian, but not a Yankee either--so the airyard will let hi"

"Furthermore, Cly never cared about the war, and he’s friends with Hainey, so he isn’t in a rush to kidnap runaway negroes home to the Rebs, not even for the money they offer these days"

After another sip, Ruthie said, "Good to know he’s not that kind of pirate"