Bitter Cold: A Steampunk Snow Queen (The Clockwork Republic Series Book 4) by Katina French Read Free Book Online

wildly.
    Taking advantage of his distraction, Greta slipped to the creek bed. It looked like someone had jumped from the bridge and run downstream. Was it Kit? Looking at the footprints, it could have been. Greta examined the soft mud near the edge of the creek and saw pawprints. But they were much deeper than they should have been, as if the animal had been heavier than even a great hound. The tracks all led down the stream bed and along its banks, towards the low trees and brambles hanging over the river.
    The more she saw of the pawprints, the more scared she felt. There were so many of them, at least a half dozen. Each print was perfectly formed, as if pressed into the earth with a metal seal. Kit's tracks were all but lost among them.
    She spotted something dark in the brush out of the corner of her eye, and bolted towards it, her breath held.
    Please be all right.
    Kit's jacket was torn to pieces.
    Greta screamed, falling to her knees. The people nearby rushed towards her as she howled in anguish. Someone had clearly slid over the edge of the cliff. A freshly-snapped tree branch was the only thing between the cliff and the churning water of the Mississippi.
    No kind brown eyes looked up at her. No voice called out from another ledge or handhold. A steamboat glided across the water a half mile away, careless of the fact that the world had stopped spinning.
    Gone.
    Dear God, no. He can't be gone! Not when . . . Not after. . . .
    Greta sobbed, her face buried in her muddy skirt. Murmuring voices surrounded her, and hands grasped her arms, pulling her away from the cliff.
    "Must be the girl."
    "Think she spurned him, and he jumped?"
    "Well, keep a good grip on her. Can't have her following him over."
    "There, there, chile. You just come along with me, honey. It'll be all right, girl."
    The old woman who'd been talking with the constable tugged her gently but insistently towards a nearby hill. She settled Greta on the grass and turned to the gawkers.
    "You all go on now. You're scarin the poor chile to death. Can't you see she's had a awful shock? I'll take care of her. Just find that poor boy."
    The constable whispered to the woman, glowering at Greta, and turned back to look over the river's edge. The mass of people moved towards the cliff, hoping to be the first to spot the body.
    "You all right, honey?" the old woman asked. "You back in yer right mind?"
    Greta nodded weakly. She was as right-minded as she'd ever been, which wasn't saying much.
    "Then don't make a peep. I'm gonna tell you somethin. Don't be screamin and gettin everybody's attention." The woman moved her head close to Greta's, as if looking for signs of injury, and whispered in her ear "Yer young man did not die in the river."
    Greta grabbed the woman's arms so hard she yelped in pain. "What did you see?"
    "There was wolves after that boy. If the good Lord lets me live to a hundred, I hope I never see the like again. Metal wolves, breathin smoke like the hounds of Hell." The old woman pressed a hand against her chest, glancing over her shoulder at the constable, who was doing his best to disperse the curious mob.
    "The boy went over the edge, but he didn't fall. I seen it from these trees. He hung on to them scrub cedars. I turned to run for help and saw a balloon come round. Came up quick as a wink, just like they was waitin, and pulled your boy aboard. I heard a loud whistle, and them wolves ran off."
    "But why?"
    "Why didn't they just set him down after the wolves left?" The woman glanced nervously over her shoulder again. The constable was out of earshot. "They wasn't rescuin that boy. They was capturin him. Those wolves run him to ground just like huntin dogs. Whoever took him on board that ship, they're up to no good. I'd stake my life on it."
    "How could you possibly know that?"
    "For one thing, the ship was painted white and blue. My old eyes are still pretty sharp, but I had trouble spotting 'em. You know what a bad mess it is when them airships