A Trip To Tuanaki

Chapter 4

Alice, however, is not expecting to see a clockwork foot being extracted from Mal's work boot and slipped into the rubber boot beside it.

"Um," she says.

Mal looks down at his leg. "Oh, yes. I lost a leg. Got it replaced with this nice clockwork one. The clockwork really hates the rain, though, so..." He shrugs. "I gotta keep it dry."

"You have a clockwork leg," Alice says. She sounds more than a little pained. Well, there goes that, Mal thinks.

"Just part," he says. "The knee and down. Well, not all of the knee, just most of it. I didn't actually lose much of the knee, but I did remove it, to get it replaced with this one that allows me to flex my toes."

"I'm sorry," Alice says. "I still can't quite get over the — a clockwork leg? Really? An entire leg — lower half, yes, yes, I know — but a good portion of leg that's just made of clockwork?"

"It's really not as weird as you're making it out," Mal says. "Here, look."

With a sigh, he pries the boot off. It's more work than he'd like, separating rubber from polished bronze, but he doesn't have much choice in the matter, he can tell. Alice is far too engrossed with the whole concept to put it aside, so he lets her have her moment. He's learned that things are more likely to go his way if he does.

So Alice comes over to inspect. She doesn't know much about clockwork, or prosthetics for that matter, but even to her untrained eye the work is exquisite. The overall shape of the shin and calf are formed by long bronze rods, carefully drawn into the natural curves of a limb. Inside this frame is a knot of gears that Alice has little hope of understanding. The ankle has been replaced by something that looks like it was designed by a madman with no idea when to stop tinkering. However little she knows about clockwork, there's one thing Alice can say for certain: it works damn well. She never would have guessed that inside of Mal's boot was a foot made of metal with only two toes. "You don't limp," she says.

"Hmm?"

"When you're walking, I mean. You don't — limp. The people I've seen with fake legs all sort of... limp. Is it because it's shaped like a real leg, or is it — magic?"

Mal laughs. "There's no such thing as magic," he says.

Alice rolls her eyes. "You're an elf. And there used to be magic. Who says this couldn't be it? And anyway, if it's not magic, what is it?"

"Very fine craftsmanship," Mal says matter-of-factly.

"Where did you — who would make such a thing? How would they make such a thing?"

"I don't know much about the how — just what I need to keep oiled and what to look out for. Oh, and a couple weird... quirks, I've learned, about having a metal leg."

"Such as?"

"Wooden soles are not the worst thing in the world if you can't feel your foot."

Alice gives him a strange look. "Fine then, not how. But who? And where?"

Mal looks her over critically. Something about her question seems — insincere. As if she's already knows the answer, and she's fishing for it — or perhaps she's just trying too hard to act interested in him. "The who is probably the most interesting part — and timely, as a matter of fact. You want to know how I know the Professor originally? Well, you're looking at why now. Professor Hedgewick made it for me."

Alice's face lights up suddenly. "So he likes you, then? Do you think he'll help me find my father? Or would you be willing to—"

"Alice," Mal says, in the grown-up tone she hates. Don't throw a tantrum, but I'm about to tell you bad news is something she gets rather frequently, and she's not sure she could handle it, now. She's got to wait until she meets the Professor and finds out what he knows, and then she'll decide what to do next. Because even if he can't lead her directly to her father, he should at least be able to lead her to someone who might.