Masquerade ✔

Chapter 3

Dead on her feet, Clara gathered her things from the servant rest room and headed toward the transport that would take her back down to earth. Clara had worked hard to finish her work as soon as possible, and after getting the Llewelyns started with dinner, Araminta gave her permission to leave for the day.

Long before Clara began working for the Llewelyn family, they decided to put in their own private track to the transport station on earth. Most manor staff took the transports from the station on the ground to the public station in the air, and from there were further transported to their individual employers. The Llewelyns, unwilling to be inconvenienced by late staff if there was a problem with the public shuttles, built their own.

The transport manager, Andani, sat on his stool with his eyes half closed when Clara approached. At the sound of her footsteps, he opened his eyes and quickly stood up, giving her a nod of his head. "Miss Clara, going home so soon?"

It didn't matter who they were, Andani referred to everyone as 'Miss,' 'Mrs.,' or 'Mr.' He had worked for the Llewelyns longer than anyone, and the rumor was he had helped operate transport stations since he was only a boy. Now, probably in his 80s, he had slowed down, but was still excellent at his job.

"I don't know if soon is the right word for it," Clara commented.

"You didn't leave the manor last night." His words weren't accusatory, only curious.

"It would be preferable if no one knew that," Clara said, cautiously. Andani was the one hole in Araminta's lie, but Clara was fairly confident he wouldn't cause them any trouble.

Andani nodded. "It must be my memory, then," he said. "I can't remember who comes and who goes anymore."

Clara gave him a grateful smile. "Will the transport be here soon?"

"It should be." Andani peered out the window at the docking platform. "Someone called it down about 20 minutes ago, so it should be soon, 10 minutes or so."

Clara nodded and leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes. Usually she didn't have to wait, but she was also leaving earlier than usual. Andani always made sure the transport was up and ready during the time that most of the staff left.

"Miss Clara."

Clara opened her eyes and saw Andani approaching her, holding his arm out. Clara accepted what was in his hand and suppressed a groan when she saw the messenger mouse.

Andani gave her a sympathetic look.

Clara went over to the messenger port, unscrewed the top part of the clockwork mouse, and then plugged it into the port. A moment later, Araminta's voice rang from the speakers.

"I need you here half and hour early tomorrow," her voice instructed. "We have a lot that needs to be done tomorrow morning."

Suppressing a sigh, Clara held down the record button. "Yes, my lady," she said. Putting the mouse back together, she put it on the ground and clearly stated, "Lady Araminta." A moment later, the mouth scurried off, the sound of ticking clockwork fading away.

Clara returned to her position, leaning against the wall, displeased with the now early morning she was facing for tomorrow.

Perhaps it was a testament to how long Andani had been working in his job that it was almost exactly 10 minutes later that the transport arrived back up at the manor. It was just a minute longer that it took to properly dock, the few passengers coming up unloaded, and Clara could board.