When we rounded the bend in the path and faced directly toward downtown, a vast object became visible in the sky. It was as though the moon had come down to hover just above the earth—that is, if the moon were shaped like a cigar. The largest airship I’d ever seen was flying over the city. It was several times as large as the ships that had brought the soldiers from Governor’s Island, and the Mechanics’ electric airship would have been a mere speck against it.

“I bet that’s the Hercules, over from England,” Rollo said, bouncing on his toes with excitement. “It’s the biggest military airship ever made. Can we go see it up close, Miss Newton? Please? I’m sure Uncle Henry wouldn’t mind. It’s not a school day, and he encourages my mechanical interests.”

“I don’t think we’ll have to go anywhere to see it,” I said, craning my neck. “It appears to be heading straight for us.” The sight of the giant airship blocking out the sky was awe-inspiring. The Mechanics had nothing that could match that.

We were now in the shadow cast by the giant ship. Unlike the rebels’ Liberty with its open basket, this ship had a closed gondola flush against the bottom of the balloon. It was flying so low that I could see windows in the cabin and people at those windows. Rollo jumped up and down and waved, and someone in the ship waved back.

Rollo grabbed my hand and tugged. “Can we go up to Belvedere Castle to look at it? Please? They’ve got a telescope in the tower, and we could see it so much better from there.”

“It would be long gone by the time we got there,” I said. The ship moved very quickly for something that massive.

“Then let’s go home. I’ve got binoculars. I could watch it out the window.”

“I don’t want to go home,” Olive said. “I want to walk in the park, not look at some ugly airship.”

“Olive, you can walk in the park at any time,” Rollo coaxed. “If we go home, then maybe we could come back out with a picnic for tea after the ship is gone.”

Olive turned to me. “May we have a tea picnic? Please?”

“I will see what the cook can put together for us.”

Rollo raced ahead, and I was just as eager to get home, but for a different reason. That ship made me nervous. It was an ominous cloud over our heads, forcibly reminding us of British domination, and it had brought with it soldiers to subdue the rebelling colonials. Its arrival was not a happy occasion.