Chapter 3: Chapter 3: Early Steps Part 1
The steam carriage pulled up in front of the city house where Sir Shillingsworth stayed on the rare occasions he wasn't out on a scientific expedition.
"Hans, the pressure isn't holding steady." Pentam jumped out from his seat.
"Must be a stuck valve. I will investigate." Hans opened the door and helped Cal out of the carriage, then stood out of the way while her father climbed out.
"Thank you, Hans. We will be heading out again soon, please notify our usual suppliers. Once you have done that, you may work on the carriage."
Whatever else I could say about Father, he treats everyone the same.
"Very good, Sir. Miss DeBantiche has not yet left on her trip to the Baths. Shall I call her back?"
"There will be no need for that. She has earned her time away."
I'm not that hard to live with, am I?
Cal followed Sir Shillingsworth and Pentam into the house. They hung their coats in the closet. Sir Shillingsworth didn't believe in maintaining a large staff. Hans for the outside, his wife as cook and cleaner, and Miss DeBantiche as chaperone for Cal when he travelled.
"Cal, it is imperative the specimens from my last expedition are recorded before we leave."
"Yes, Father." Cal headed to the drawing room where the light was best and the specimens were laid out. "I'm more than half-way complete."
"Do not rush."
"I will take the same amount of care I always do." Cal couldn't keep the edge from her voice. She knew her work was essential to the scientific value of her father's expeditions. No shoddy drawing would risk his reputation.
Her father nodded at her, then dragged Pentam into the study.
The drawing room, a lovely ironic name given what Cal used it for, flooded with light from the north windows. Tables filled the room. Animal skins and skeletons covered them. Plants and flowers were pressed in heavy journals. Insects floated, pinned to boards. Cal picked up the large sketching board and moved to where she'd left off when her father had called her that morning.
"Miss Calliope." Hans knocked on the door.
"Hans, please call me Cal."
"Your father would have my head."
"How may I help you?" Hans was determined to preserve a dignity Cal didn't care about, but she wouldn't bother him with argument.
"Do you have time to draw some parts for me?"
"Certainly." Cal lay down her pad and pencil.
Out in what used to be the stable, the steam carriage sat, parts laid in exact order on a table. On the wall, Hans had pinned a schematic Cal drew for him back when they bought the machine. She'd copied it from the original on the wall of the man who built the carriage.
"Here." Hans pointed to a part still attached to the carriage. "This is the leak. It's supposed to control the amount of steam driving the gears. On a locomotive, it would be massive and properly sealed. This is too thin and the steam is finding even the slightest flaw in the metal. I need you to draw it in place and to scale so I can show the machinist what I need, and what space I have to work with.
Hans had been with them as long as Cal could remember, his stocky frame apparently ageless. He'd secretly let her help with the horses, and now with the steam carriage.
"Certainly." Cal picked up the sketchbook she kept in the stable for this purpose and took a pencil from her pocket. In a few minutes, she'd sketched the part from several angles and added a scale to the drawings. "What does the inside look like?"
"The inside? I'm not sure. This lever is attached to some kind of plate which opens and closes to control steam pressure and flow. I suppose it's a flat circle just enough smaller than the pipe to turn."
Cal pushed the lever back and forth. She closed her eyes to envision the mechanism. A plate wouldn't be strong enough against the pressure. She'd make a ball, with a hole one way through the middle. It could pivot and close off the valve securely. No leaks.
"There's something which stops it from going too far. Makes sense, the driver wouldn't be able to exactly line up the plate to seal the pipe." She drew what she imagined inside. "Ask him if he could build something like this instead of using a flat plate. It won't leak nearly as much. The extra cost will be balanced by having it more reliable. If this works as well as I imagine, get him to make each valve this way."
"I'll ask." Hans ran his finger across the sketch. "I have no idea how you come up with these things, but you've never steered me wrong yet."
"I get pictures in my mind about how it should work, and how it could break. I can't explain it. I'm just glad to help."
"Thanks, Miss Calliope."
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