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By Root 563 0

It was 103 feet in diameter and could lift twelve tons. Before the war, he used it to make a successful flight from Philadelphia to New Jersey, but his first attempt to cross the Atlantic was halted when its skin was ripped open by a wind.’ He shrugged. ‘The start of the war meant that Professor Lowe’s plans were halted. He formed the Union Army Balloon Corps at the express request of President Lincoln. Wars are strange things. On the one hand they drag men of intellect away from their pursuit of progress, but on the other hand they also accelerate the need for progress, Without the War Between the States, would the President have been interested in the possibilities of balloons?’

‘Sherlock!’

The voice was female, and young. It was Virginia. Sherlock turned, to see her standing a little way off, in the lee of a lifeboat. She was still looking pale, but she was smiling.

‘Excuse me,’ he said to the Count. ‘I need to go.’

The Count bowed stiffly again. ‘Of course. The fair sex takes precedence over everything.’

Are you married?’ Sherlock asked.

‘I am engaged to be married,’ von Zeppelin said. His stern face lit up as he smiled. ‘Her name is Isabella Freiin von Wolff, from the house of Alt-Schwanenburg, and she is the most beautiful woman in the world.’ He glanced towards Virginia, then back to Sherlock. Although you would not think so, I think.’

Sherlock smiled at him. He quite liked the German Count.

‘I’ll see you later,’ he said.

‘It is a small ship,’ the Count replied, ‘and there are only so many of us on board. We are bound to bump into each other again.’

Leaving the Count behind, Sherlock walked towards Virginia.

‘I was afraid you were going to spend the entire voyage in your cabin,’ he said awkwardly.

‘So was I,’ she replied. ‘I hate bein’ cooped up in a small room, but I don’t see as I had much choice.’ She blushed, the colour suddenly flooding into her pale cheeks, and she looked away. ‘I guess . . . I guess my pa told you that this voyage reminded me too much of the last voyage we took together, when my ma died.’

‘He did,’ Sherlock confirmed.

‘And, to make it worse, I get seasick. You wouldn’t believe that someone who rides a horse could get seasick, but I’ve been as sick as a dog.’

He couldn’t help smiling. That complete honesty was one of the things he liked most about Virginia. No English girl would have dreamed of discussing matters of the stomach like that.

‘How are you feeling now?’ he asked.

‘The lady I’m sharing a cabin with made me some herbal tea. This is the first day I’ve managed to keep any down, but I think it’s helping.’

‘I’m sorry about your mother,’ he said awkwardly. ‘And I’m sorry this trip reminds you of her. I think being in England keeps on reminding you of her.’

‘It does.’ She paused, ‘I don’t know if she was ill when she boarded, or whether she caught somethin’ on board, but she was mightily sick for a whole week. She got thinner an’ thinner, and whiter an’ whiter, an’ then she just slipped away.’ A tear slid from her eye and began a slow trickle down her cheek. ‘They buried her at sea. The Captain said he couldn’t keep her body on board, not for the rest of the voyage, so they wrapped her in a canvas sheet an’ said some pretty words an’ then just tipped her over the side. That’s the worst thing. I haven’t even got a grave I can visit.’ She gestured with her open palm at the expanse of ocean. ‘Just this.’

Sherlock was silent for a moment, then he said: ‘My mother’s ill.’ He didn’t know he was going to say that; the words just spilt out of him.

‘What’s the matter?’ Virginia asked.

‘Nobody will talk about it.’ He paused. ‘I think it’s consumption.’

‘Consumption?’

‘Tuberculosis. She’s pale, and thin, and she’s tired all the time. And I sometimes see blood in her handkerchief when she coughs, but I know my brother and my father try to stop me from seeing it.’ He couldn’t seem to stop himself from talking, now he had started. ‘So I went into my father’s library and I looked in as many books as I could until I found those symptoms. She’s got tuberculosis, and she’s going to