Summer of the Moon Flower (The de Vargas Family) (2 page)

Merde, merde, merde. They were so close
to an outcome.

Sofia clenched her bare fingers in the cold
as her mind worked furiously. If she were caught by the mysterious man and his
automaton henchmen, it would all be over anyway, so she was better to take the
risk and claim she had dropped the glove on another occasion, if indeed it were
even discovered. Deciding to settle in and wait them out, she pulled the folds
of her thick woolen coat around her and leaned against the door once more. The
cold air was creeping through the tear on the shoulder of her coat and she
folded the material over for warmth. The restaurant was open to the elements on
the northern wall and the cold wind whistled down the corridor. Her head and
neck were warm, protected by the tight fitting helmet, although her eyes were
stinging as the cold settled around her. Her goggles were in the carriage with
Henri, her manservant

Placing her bare hand over her face, she
cursed the events of the night. Not only had she almost been caught, she had
not achieved the goal for her foray out in the cold pre-dawn.

Henri would be concerned when she did not
return to the carriage as expected after the train’s arrival. She had not been
able to raise him through the mouthpiece on her helmet, and was loath to try
again, while ever the dark stranger was on the other side of the wall. It had
been imperative that she know who was travelling on the train this morning with
the latest delivery.

Her brother-in-law, Captain Zane Thoreau,
Sheriff of Cornwall and official keeper of the Queen’s peace, had sent word her
operation was under surveillance and had possibly been infiltrated but it was
not known who was interested in their activities. Zane had sent her word a
person well known to her—someone she would apparently least suspect, would
accompany the latest cargo on the Paris train. A person who would be most
interested to follow the cargo to its destination. No further clue to their
identity was given and that was why she had come here tonight, and not sent one
of her trusted servants. It had been emphasized the suspect would be clearly
recognizable to her.

She had used the Paris train to move their
products for over two years. Hidden amongst the fabrics and fashionable
accoutrements for the salon of the highly respected Sofia de Vargas, it had
been the perfect hiding place for the products destined for the laboratory in
the lower level of Vienna University.

Society matrons and their daughters came
from afar to visit her salon, to be dressed in the latest fashion as decreed by
one of the most highly respected couturiers outside Paris. She even provided a
dirigible service for the ladies of the colonies to visit Vienna and be
outfitted in the latest European fashion. This had proven extremely valuable
for importation over the preceding years.

Now thanks to the unexpected appearance of
the stranger from the dirigible and his clockwork men this morning, she had achieved
nothing and seen no one.

Were the two incidents related? Had it
all been an elaborate trap? Had their indeed been anyone on the train? What was
the stranger in the dirigible seeking? If
—

Her reverie broke when the door pushed
slowly against her back. The cogs of the knob rattled and clicked as someone
attempted to push the door open behind her. Sofia held her breath, praying the
bolt would hold as the door strained forward. The pressure on the door stopped
and she let her breath out as the sound of footsteps faded.

* * * *

Some hours later, Sofia pulled her cloak up
around her neck and dropped her chin into the folds of the soft vicuña wool as
she stepped from the side entry of
Westbahnof
onto the footpath of
Neubauguertel. The high glass windows of the apartment buildings reflected the
mid-morning sunlight and she quickly rounded the corner into Mariahilfer
Strasse. She had stayed locked in the station corridor until the morning light
had pierced the darkness and waited another hour before carefully unbolting the
door leading back to the departure lounge. It had been timely. She had passed a
man laden with trays of food, obviously heading for the restaurant when she had
descended the stairs to the street level. He had looked at her curiously and not
greeted her as she still wore her helmet and Sofia had put her head down and
scurried past him.

Stepping into Mariahilfer Strasse, she
paused in the shadow of a doorway and quickly scanned the street around her.
All appeared normal, the steam tram was making its way along the street past
the small businesses and delivering fresh produce from the outlying farms, and
the shopkeepers were putting their wares on tables in front of their shops in
the warm spring sunshine. There was no sign of automatons nor black garbed
figures, nor were there any small dirigibles flying low over the street. Sofia
removed her cloak and helmet, twisting her hair into a loose knot as she
stepped out into the bright morning sunshine.

“Guten Morgen, fräulein.”

“Good morning, Hans.” She returned the
greeting of the baker as he opened the doors of his establishment and the smell
of fresh baked pastries wafted out.

“You are early this morning, Sofia. I
didn’t realize you were about as I saw Henri with your carriage only a short
while ago.”

“Just out for a stroll in the lovely
sunshine,” Sofia replied, pleased to hear Henri was still out in the carriage
and obviously looking for her. As they chatted, the baker’s wife came bustling
through the doorway and passed her a steaming
mélange.

“Danke.”
Sofia
gratefully sipped the steaming concoction of frothed milk and coffee and smiled
as Hans pushed a small croissant, still warm from the oven, into her ungloved
hand.

“Are you setting new fashion, Madame
Couturier? You are only wearing one glove?” He smiled at her.

Sofia laughed. “I dropped one as I was
walking and I could not find it. Luckily it is monogrammed and hopefully will
be returned to me if it is found.”

Finishing her coffee, she bid them farewell
and strolled along the street as though she had not a care in the world and was
a highly respected couturier out taking a stroll before her morning
appointments. Hooves rang out on the metallic tram track in the middle of the
road only a few hundred yards from the turn to
Lindengasse
where her
apartment was located. Placing her hand over her chest to still the pounding of
her heart, she paused and turned slowly. For a brief moment, it had sounded
like the clicking of the automaton’s talons and she sighed with relief as Henri
brought the horse and
barutsche
to a stop beside her. He climbed down
and held her gloved hand assisting her into the open carriage, whispering close
to her ear.

“Madame, I have been so worried. I have
been searching for you since first light.” Her trusted manservant glanced at
her as he flicked the reins and the horse broke into a light trot.

“It was a trap…but I am all right,” she
reassured the elderly man as a look of concern crossed his face. “I am tired
but I have appointments all day. I must meet with Professor Schmidt and the
others as soon as possible. I need to find out what has happened and we must
take extreme care.”

“When shall we meet, Madame?”

“Organize a gathering for eleven this
evening please, Henri,” she replied as the carriage pulled up in front of her
salon. “At the university.”

“Are you sure, Madame? Will that be safe?”
She quelled him with a steady look as she stepped down from the carriage and
her voice was terse.

“At the university,” she repeated. “Have
the carriage ready at eight. If the stable staff ask where I am going, I shall
be attending a music recital at the
Musikverein
and you shall return the
carriage in the morning.

* * * *

Sofia glanced into her salon as she made
her way to her apartment above. Pulling the glove off and placing her cloak on
the cloak stand in the foyer, she cursed once again at her carelessness in
dropping the glove. As she moved through her apartment, her thoughts turned to
the meeting tonight. It was most unusual for a woman to participate in any
activities at the University; women were not allowed to enroll there and there
were no female staff involved in any of the research. Sofia’s involvement at
the university had begun when she had read the research notes her father had
bequeathed to her when Indigo had passed them on after her marriage to Captain
Zane Thoreau ten years ago.

Sofia smiled as she remembered Indigo’s
wedding. It had scandalized society as she had been heavily pregnant with the
twins, and Indigo in her usual brash manner had thumbed her nose at the society
matrons who had expressed their displeasure. Nevertheless, curiosity won out
and the ceremony and reception in the tropical biome was attended by all who
were invited… with the exception of Duke Lorca.

Sofia had stayed in the manor with Mr. and
Mrs. Grimoult to oversee the operations of the holiday complex while Zane and
Indigo had travelled to Scotland for a brief honeymoon. She had enjoyed her
time there and Sofia had spent the following year in the household assisting
with the twins when they were born. Jago and Jory had their mother’s lust for
life and created a multitude of work for the household.

She had been fascinated by Indigo’s biomes.
Word of the passionflower pharmacologicals and their healing properties had
spread across Europe and the colonies.

Indigo had shared the research notes with
her and Sofia had been intrigued by their father’s writing on the properties of
the moon flower and his belief that human life could be extended if the liquid
from this rare white flower from the alpine region of Austria could be
extracted. For years, she had carried the idea with her and a chance meeting
with Professor Schmidt, an old colleague of her father in Vienna three years
later had resulted in her acceptance into the elite ranks of Vienna University.
A small group of scientists allowed her to became a part of their secret
society in exchange for Professor de Vargas notes and Sofia had eventually led
the research and still held control

A recent missive to Indigo had described
how close they were to achieving their goal. Sofia now wondered if she had been
foolish detailing their progress in writing and trusting the missive would
travel safely from Vienna to Cornwall, although she had camouflaged the true
content in sociable family news.

My dearest sister

I trust this finds you in good health
and I trust that Captain Thoreau and your four sons are also well. It is hard
to believe that Jago and Jory are attending boarding school. I certainly enjoy
reading their adventures in the letters I have received from them. Are young
Kit and Ruan still enjoying their nursery studies?

I shall try to visit you in late summer
as the twins tell me that their scientific experiments at New Cross College
will be on display. It is amusing that although they are attending a naval
school, their interests lie in the botanical research of their grandfather!
Jory tells me they are researching the effect of the full moon on their
experiments and that they are close to a result.

I am sure the officers of the naval
college are less than amused, unless they see a future for the boys in
botanical exploration, following in the footsteps of our dear departed papa.

I recently had an enjoyable trip to the
Alps, and I made some new contacts in society for the salon. Business is
blooming as the boys would say...and I have many new matrons taking up the
dirigible flight from the American colonies, although the new war over there is
causing some uncertainty.

I look forward to visiting you, my dear
sister, and shall come and stay in the late summer after I visit the twins at
New Cross.

Kind regards to Captain Thoreau and Mr.
and Mrs. Grimoult. (And of course the boys.)

Sofia knew Indigo would decipher the
information from the letter that her recent trip to the Alps had sourced enough
of the moon flower, and the full moon experimentation were bringing them close
to a culmination of their research. They anticipated success by the end of
summer.

The ringing of the bell in the salon
brought her back to the present and Sofia quickly dressed and proceeded down to
the salon to meet her first customer of the day.

The full moon illuminated the University of
Wien
as they passed the
Rathaus
Park. Henri had opted for a
closed carriage from the stable, still concerned by the events of the preceding
night. He smiled at her as he looked down into the carriage. Sofia had come
from the music recital and in an aside, Henri had commented on her alertness
after she’d bid farewell to her acquaintances. He had turned the carriage
toward the
Landstrasse
district in case anyone was taking notice of
their direction

“Rest, madam, we are still early and I will
do a few circuits of the
Ringstrasse
in case we are under observation. I
will be able to check if any vehicles or airships pay particular attention to
us.”

His mistress was now dozing with her head
resting comfortably against the padded side of the velvet-lined carriage. He
glanced down occasionally to check that she was comfortable. Only a couple of
airships dotted the brightly lit sky as he guided the two horses around the
road ringing the inner district and the Hapsburg palaces, constructed when
Emperor Franz Josef had ordered the demolition of the city walls and moats four
years ago.