TCB Part 17: Chapter 5: Thursday Evening (Cont.)

Go to the Beginning of the story

< Part 16

Phineas looked over his shoulder in both directions and lowered his voice. “There’s a good reason. Hear me out.”

The guard paused with handcuffs in hand. “Talk fast.”

“I wanted to get on the roof, but it’s not sinister. You see, I wanted to surprise my ladyfriend, and the roof of this building at sunset is a pretty romantic thing, am I right?”

The guard stood with his arms crossed and sad nothing.

“So I was going to sneak past you and get the roof door open. She was going to meet me up there. I have a nice bottle of wine and some cheese; it was going to be a really romantic date.” Phineas unzipped his workman’s bag, and showed a bottle of wine to the guard.

“Sorry buddy. This isn’t your date spot. There are plenty of parks nearby, go somewhere else.”

“Aww, man. She’s going to be so disappointed. Between you and me, I was going to propose. But I understand, you’ve got a job to do, and you’re doing it. Good for you, man. Oh, there she is.” Phineas motioned with his head toward Anabelle who had just come out of the restroom and was trying to walk past them without noticing the man being arrested near the stairwell.

“Wait, Rose? She said she was trying to find the Albert Trust building.”

Phineas smiled. “Yeah, her job was to distract you.”

The guard grinned at Phineas. “That’s quite the dame you’ve got.”

“You’re telling me. I can’t let this one get away.” Phineas laughed heartily.

The guard joined his laughing. “Alright. I’ll let you past.”

“Rose!” Phineas shouted and Anabelle stopped walking. Slowly, she turned to face him. Phineas waved his arm to beckon her. She walked back to him slowly with a skeptical look on her face. “Rose, sweetheart, the guard caught on to our plan, I guess it just wasn’t clever enough.” He winked.

Anabelle made a sour face. “Darn.”

“But he agreed to let us up on the roof anyway. What a great guy, eh? Isn’t that great, honey?”

Anabelle smiled sardonically at Phineas before turning to the guard with a genuine smile. “Oh John, you’re too kind. Thank you so much. To think anybody would believe that my darling Theodore could possibly know his way around a machine.”

The guard escorted Anabelle and Phineas up the stairs to the roof. Once they were at the top, he opened the door and the three walked out onto the roof. John spoke up, “Listen, I can’t let you be up here alone, but I’ll just stay near the door and leave you two lovebirds be.”

Phineas gave him a firm handshake and a nod. He put an arm around Anabelle’s waist and led her over to the half-wall at the edge of the roof. They sat down on the wall together and spoke in low voices.

“Well, now what, genius? You got us to the roof, but there’s a guard watching our every move.” Anabelle somehow could sound angry while still smiling like a woman in love.

“I’m still working that out. Give me some slack. Your clever ruse got us caught until I talked us out of it.” Phineas took Anabelle’s hand in his and looked deeply into her eyes.

“You know, Phineas, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you enjoyed holding my hand.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Belle. I was right, by the way.” He pointed to a distant airship floating above the horizon.

Anabelle turned to look at it as if basking in the pleasure of a romantic evening. She laid her head on Phineas’s chest. “What were you right about?”

He put an arm around her shoulder, squeezing her tightly. “You were going to walk out of that lobby without me, and let me take the heat. Your self-interest was greater than your desire to help me out of a tough situation.”

“Do you blame me?” Anabelle looked up at Phineas with a sinister smile.

“Not a bit. I would have left you behind if I thought I had to.” Phineas stood up and walked in front of Anabelle, still seated on the wall. He took her hand again.

“What are you doing now?”

Phineas got down on one knee in front of her. “Proposing to you.”

“But I thought you didn’t like me.” Anabelle cocked her head flirtatiously.

“I’m warming to you.” Phineas reached into his pocket and pulled out a ring box. He opened it up to reveal a diamond ring.

“Do you always carry an engagement ring?” Anabelle said before covering her mouth with both hands and affecting a look of surprise on her face.

“It comes in handy.” Phineas said with a smile. “Now you’d better say yes.”

Anabelle nodded her head and put out her hand. Phineas pulled off her glove and slipped the ring on her finger. “It’s the right size and everything.”

Phineas simply smiled. “You’re going to have to kiss me.”

“Clever. I’m beginning to understand your plan, but I have no idea how it’s going to get us into that bal…”

Phineas grabbed Anabelle by the shoulders and kissed her passionately. He mumbled to her “You’d better pretend like you mean it.”

“Who says I’m pretending?” Anabelle said as she kissed him back.

She was good. For just a moment, Phineas forgot the ruse and got carried away in the kiss. He wondered if somehow, in a different life, or another time, he could love Anabelle. She was far and away the most beautiful woman he’d kissed. And she had a certain spirit that he appreciated. Then he snapped out of it and remembered his plan.

He pulled away from Anabelle who just smiled passionately at him. He reached into his bag and pulled out a bottle of champagne. Popping the cork, he poured the wine into two glasses. He handed one to Anabelle. He raised his glass in the air, “I have never kissed a woman as beautiful as you. If this night is my last, I will die a happy man. Shall we steal this blimp?”

“I can drink to that.” Anabelle raised her glass, tapped it against his and took a big drink.

Phineas took a drink of his own, and then waved at the guard. “John! She said yes!”

“He was in on the proposal?” Anabelle asked with a laugh

“Why else would he let us on the roof?” He said quietly. Then louder, “John, come on over here!”

The guard walked over to Phineas and Anabelle. He shook Phineas’s hand in congratulations. He took Anabelle’s hand and kissed it gallantly. She smiled coyly at the guard. Phineas held up the bottle to the guard. “Care for a drink?”

“I shouldn’t. I’m on the job.”

“Nonsense. It’s only champagne. It doesn’t count. Drink to our happiness.” Phineas handed his own glass to the guard.

He took the glass tentatively as Phineas poured more wine into the glass. The guard tipped the glass back and downed it in one gulp. “Congratulations, you two. You make a lovely couple. I will give you a couple more minutes up here, then we should return to the lobby.”

The guard handed the glass back to Phineas, then turned to walk back to his post at the door. Halfway there, he fell face first to the ground.

“What did you do to him?” Anabelle asked, slightly shocked.

“No worries, my love. It was merely a sedative. I slipped it in the glass when you weren’t looking. He’ll wake in an hour with an unfortunate headache. In the meantime, help me tie him up. I would prefer if he cannot get help before morning.”

The pair gagged and tied the guard in the corner of the roof. Phineas took the handcuffs off his belt and attached one to the guard’s wrist, and the other to one of the mooring rings for the airship. Satisfied, he began to unclip the four mooring ropes from the roof. Anabelle had already removed the hotwire device from the bag and was heading toward the airship cabin. She found that the door to the cabin was locked.

Phineas approached, “I can pick that lock. I’ve done it a few times. Do you have a hairpin?”

Anabelle shook her head. “Nah. Too futzy.” She turned and booted the door hard. It swung open and she walked into the cabin. Phineas laughed as he followed her in.

Once in the cockpit, he saw that the controls were basically as he expected from his research. He found the six-way controller that moved them through the air. He found the ballast controls and took inventory of the various gauges. The steam engine ignition should be to the right, and he would need to install the hotwire device there to start the engine up. “Belle, do you have that device? I’ll install it now.”

He heard the steam boiler start up and looked down under the instrument panel to see Anabelle laying on her back in her gown. She slid herself out from under the panel. “Done. Could you help a lady up?” She winked at Phineas and extended a hand—the one with a ring on it. He took her hand and pulled her up. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

Phineas shook his head and took hold of the controls. He pushed the throttle forward and heard the steam engine rev. A little further and the ship began to creep forward. He pulled back on the control wheel and they coasted upward and forward above the city. He steered them to the East toward the edge of the city.

“The city is beautiful from up here, don’t you think?” Anabelle said softly.

“It is indeed.” Phineas put an arm around Anabelle’s shoulder. She hugged her arms around him as they looked out the window together. The sun cast a rosy glow on the sprawling city as it set behind the skyline of lifeless skyscrapers and billowing smokestacks.

“Do I have to give the ring back?” Anabelle asked.

“Nah, you can keep it.” Phineas responded quietly. “After tomorrow, neither of us will care about anything so small.”

“The rock’s a fake, isn’t it?” Anabelle smiled
“Yep.” Phineas threw his head back and laughed. Anabelle slapped him on the chest and laughed along with him. He turned the airship North toward the airport. The team would surely be waiting for them by now.

Part 18 >