Suspicious people had been seen near the clock towers in both Meerut and Lucknow. One city was east of Agra, the other south.
“It’s clear we need multiple eyes in both locations,” Dryden said. “As much as I would like you three to stick together, I believe we need to split our forces. Perhaps Kamir—”
“Kamir is sick,” Meena interrupted.
“Ah, well. I’ll let you three decide among yourselves, then.” The Major left to speak with his officers.
“I suppose Meena could go to Lucknow with Akash,” Danny ventured, but Daphne shook her head.
“We should both be with someone who’s more familiar with the surroundings.”
“It would be better to go with either me or Akash,” Meena agreed. “Danny, why don’t you go with Akash to Lucknow? He can take the Silver Hawk—”
“No,” Danny said. “Absolutely not. I’m not getting back in that godforsaken plane of his.”
Daphne sighed. “I’ll go to Lucknow. I don’t mind the plane ride.”
Danny didn’t like the thought of Daphne and Akash alone, but he didn’t like the thought of another plane ride more. He shared a look with Meena.
“I suppose we’ll go to Meerut,” she decided.
Major Dryden came back a minute later and seemed pleased with the result. He rubbed his hands together in excitement.
“Spiffing. Miss Richards, you’ll fly to Lucknow with an escort. Mister Hart, you and Meena will take the train up to Meerut.” Danny contained a sigh of relief. “I’ll make arrangements immediately.”
The next morning, they assembled before Major Dryden, who outlined their journeys and named the soldiers who would attend them.
“You two will be escorted by Captain Harris,” he told Danny and Meena. To Daphne he said, “You will have Lieutenant Crosby.”
Danny gave Daphne a triumphant smile. She grimaced back at him.
“This will likely take several days,” Dryden warned. “Perhaps a week or more. You will report daily on what you find. In the meantime, some of my men will be on the lookout for that rebel airship.”
The reminder sent a shiver down Danny’s spine. At least he would be on the ground this time; the blessed, sturdy ground.
He caught up to Daphne when they left to pack their things. The sun was bright and hot, stinging his skin despite the new tan he had developed. Daphne joined him under the shade of an awning.
“Promise me you’ll be careful,” he said.
She rolled her eyes heavenward. “You are not my guardian.”
“I’m aware of that, but if you don’t recall, we were already attacked once on this assignment. In the air you’ll be at more risk. If that ship comes after you—”
“I’m sure Akash can evade it.”
Danny grunted. “We’ll see.”
Daphne eyed him a moment. She was close enough that he caught the faint scent of bergamot that always seemed to cling to her. “Be safe, Danny. No running off like you did last time. You have someone important waiting for you to return home.”
“I know.” He brushed a thumb against the cog in his pocket. “I don’t spend a moment here not thinking about it.”
Daphne gripped his forearm, and he returned the pressure. Standing there with her, Danny marveled at the distance they had traveled together. She seemed to be thinking the same thing, and managed a small smile that he couldn’t help but mirror, as if they shared an unspoken secret. They went their separate ways to gather their things.
Meena found him an hour later. “The major asked if we’ll be ready to leave soon.”
“I’m ready.” He was borrowing one of the spare packs from the cantonment supply house, since carrying his trunk would be too much of a bother. He gave the pack a light kick. “I have all I need.”
They set off to report to Captain Harris. The captain’s quarters were in a large building where bachelor soldiers resided en masse. Across the way was a similar building for officers with wives. There were no children here; British children were at home in the care of relatives and governesses. Danny and Meena passed by gardens tended to by the officers’ wives, although their stubborn attempt to cultivate British flowers went unrewarded, the foxgloves and honeysuckles wilting in the heat.
A couple of wives sat in wicker chairs outside, lazily fanning themselves. They sent Danny and Meena disapproving looks as the pair passed.
“They do not like seeing me with you,” Meena said. Danny heard a hint of amusement in her voice, verging on contempt. One of the older women, who had gray streaking her hair and a puckering set of wrinkles between her eyebrows, seemed to sense her hostility.
“Quai hai,” she said loudly. An Indian servant appeared. “Bhisti, I require more water.” The servant bowed and went to fetch the pitcher.
“They like doing that,” Meena whispered, her amusement gone. “They enjoy reminding themselves who’s in charge.”
Meena took off her shoes before she walked into the bachelors’ compound, adding them to the sepoys’ shoes that lined the outside wall. Danny had noticed the Indians didn’t like to enter buildings with clad feet. Danny and Daphne had once asked if they were expected to follow this rule, too. Meena and Akash had simply laughed.
Lower officers hung about in their shirtsleeves. Some smoked in a shaded compound behind the building. They glanced at Meena, but like Daphne, she ignored them.
“This is the one,” she said, pointing to a door at the end of a hallway. Danny knocked.
“Captain? We’re ready to leave.”
He began to open the door, which was already ajar, but stopped immediately, frozen by what he saw. Captain Harris was inside, and clearly preoccupied.
He held another man in his arms—the Indian sepoy, Partha.
They were kissing.
The soldiers looked up to find Danny and Meena standing stricken on the threshold. Captain Harris turned scarlet, and Partha pushed away from him, hiding his face in his hands.
“Come in,” Harris whispered urgently. They stepped inside, closing the door behind them. Partha murmured to himself in his own language.
“Oh, God.” Harris clasped his hands together pleadingly. “Please, please don’t tell anyone about this. I didn’t mean for you to see—for anyone to know—” The sepoy groaned and retreated to the corner. “Partha, stop that!”
“Captain, it’s all right.” Danny held up his hands, as if he could physically push down the tension in the room. “Your secret is safe with me.” When Meena did not speak, he nudged her foot with his own.
“And me,” she added in a low voice.
Harris licked his lips nervously, his gaze flitting between the two of them. “I’m so sorry.”
“Please, don’t be,” Danny said. “We’ll forget this ever happened.” When the captain didn’t look convinced, Danny tentatively tried to form a bridge between them. “I understand, Captain. I really do.”
Harris met his eyes, and his own widened slightly. Danny gave him a faint nod. The man’s shoulders lowered.
“Partha, it’s all right,” he called to the sepoy. “They won’t tell.”
“I’ll be discharged if the major knows,” Partha whispered. He was barefoot, like Meena, and this made him look even more helpless. “I’ll be disgraced. I’ll have no family.”
“None of that will happen,” Harris said, his voice getting stronger with each word. “We’ll be fine.” He turned to Danny with a small, sad smile. “I’ll meet you at the auto.”
Danny and Meena walked back outside, stunned and silent. Danny could tell that this had been more of a shock for her than for him.
He wanted to say something, but they were passing the disapproving wives again. The mechanics remained silent until they arrived at the autos, which were being loaded for the trip. A group of soldiers milled around, a mix of British and Indian.
Harris was committing two taboos: being with another man, and being with an Indian. In London, this wouldn’t have been anything new. Here in India, the rules of living were harsher. Rules were lifeblood in the army.
And Danny could relate all too well, just replacing “Indian” with “clock spirit.”
Captain Harris soon joined them, looking much more like himself in his uniform, save for the faint redness of his face. Looking at Danny and Meena made those points of color bloom.
Major Dryden wished them luck and imparted a few bits of last-minute advice. Danny, trusting Meena and Harris to remember it all, instead gazed around the yard in the hopes of seeing Daphne, but she had already left with Akash.
Please be safe.
As Danny and Meena were driven to the station, he kept thinking back to the terror on Harris and Partha’s faces, a reflection of the terror that had rattled his heart when his father found out about Colton and him.
The fear that something was about to become undone.