Airship Stowaway

Discovered

The steep downward angle of the airship together with the screaming engines meant that they were virtually diving down to the storm. The little Spitfire reappeared and renewed its desperate attempts to get the airship to turn around, but Joanna knew that anyone foolish enough to risk flying into a stormcloud would not be put off by a few close passes. 

As they drew closer to the towering black mass of cloud the ship began to be buffeted by patches of turbulence. The bunk lurched and swayed beneath her, causing her to hit her head on the window, and then gasp as the ship dropped, leaving her virtually floating for a few seconds. 

As gravity returned and she crashed back onto the mattress, she saw the Spitfire flung towards the ship by the invisible turbulence. She almost screamed as she watched the pilot fight for control. 

The port wing of his little fighter seemed about to smash through the window when he at last managed to raise it and slip sideways away from the airship gondola. She saw him shaking his head, and then he turned steeply away and climbed back into the sky with a roar of aero engine. 

She knew he had given up, scared off by the turbulence. But she was trapped on this airship which seemed to be piloted by a madman. There was nothing she could do as the ship made its way into the storm. 

The cabin grew dark as the shadow of the black cloud fell over the ship.  The buffeting was continuous now, and she lay down on the bunk, clinging to its edge to control her movement. 

Suddenly the cabin was lit for an instant by a brilliant flash, followed almost immediately by a deafening clap of thunder. Her heart seemed to stop from the spike of fear that lanced through it. Lightning was the thing she was most afraid of, ever since the airship that had burst into flame on the main deck of Aeropolis in front of her eyes. 

Although it had been years before, the image of the blazing gas envelope came back to her in an instant, and she saw again the flames greedily consuming the fabric until only a blackened and twisted metal frame remained, its hoops and girders like the skeleton of a globe. 

She shut her eyes tightly, whimpering, but the flashes were still visible. She covered her eyes with her hands, but the flash outlined her fingers against her eyelids, it seemed that nothing would stop them. In desperation she buried her face in the mattress, ignoring the foul smell, and at last was free of the lightning. But there was nothing she could do to stop the blasts of thunder. 

After what seemed an age, she became aware that the ship was no longer being buffeted as much, and she cautiously raised her head. The noise of the thunder was now a dull rumble. 

The cabin was filled with an ethereal filtered light, and when she looked out of the window, she saw an extraordinary sight. 

The airship was flying serenely through calm air. Far below, concentric waves roiled the aquamarine sea. And off in the middle distance, the clouds had formed an enormous curving wall that seemed to surround the ship. 

The cloud wall stretched up as far as she could see, giving way to a light patchy layer that extended across the sky above. It was as if the entire world had contracted down to this little bubble of calm air, with the airship the only inhabitant. 

A gruff voice outside the door broke her reverie. With a start she realised it was the voice of the shabby man. 

"Airship is fine! I rest now. Wake me when we get to eye wall!"

The door opened abruptly, and the shabby man stepped in, stopping dead on the threshold, his eyes wide. 

"Thomas? Why there is boy in my cabin?"

The sound of running feet was followed by the head of the greasy lad, peering around the door frame. His eyes widened as well. 

"Nuffink to do wiv me, guv. I ain't never seen 'im before."

The shabby man advanced into the cabin. "Who are you, boy? What you do on my ship?"

Joanna stared back at him with as much defiance as she could muster. Ever since her father had abandoned his wife and child, her mother had kept Joanna's hair short. Better to be thought a boy, she had always said. 

"My name is Jo. And I got onto your ship by accident." She swallowed. "I... got lost."

Thomas snorted. "A likely story! You were lookin' fer summat to steal, weren't ya?"

Joanna shook her head furiously. "I was not! I got lost!"

Thomas simply rolled his eyes at that, but the shabby man just stared at her from under his bushy eyebrows. He seemed to be deciding something, so she felt she should press her case. 

"Can you take me back to Aeropolis please?"

The shabby man's frown deepened, and he shook his head. "No. We not go back. I leave you in London, you find airship there to take you back."

Dismay flooded through her. "London? Please, no, I've never been to London, I wouldn't know what to do--"

"Is not my problem. Now please to get out of my cabin." The shabby man pointed at the door, and she got reluctantly to her feet, and walked out. The door slammed behind her.