There were other shouts and cries, and I glanced over my shoulder to see that some of the boys were throwing rocks and clumps of dirt at the soldiers. That made it nearly impossible for the officer to calm his troops, who must have felt like they truly were under attack. I lunged for the hand of a child running toward the commotion. When the child tried to pull away from me, I said, “Let’s go to the bus. There’s candy on the bus.” I raised my voice and shouted, “There’s candy on the bus! Come with me if you want some!”

That got the attention of most of the younger ones. To the older children, a row with the soldiers was more appealing. I herded all the children I could onto the bus just as another airship approached.

I turned back to see what was happening. Lizzie was still haranguing the soldiers, even as their commander tried in vain to make them stand down. More children ran toward the bus. Some of them were crying. Colin and a couple of the men carried the wounded. “See what you can do for them, Verity,” Colin said as he placed a bleeding child on the floor of the bus. Then he ran back, shouting for his sister.

The second airship had landed, bringing with it even more soldiers. Colin and Lizzie returned with the last of the children, and as Lizzie jumped on board the bus, Colin shouted to Alec, “Go!” He stood in the doorway of the bus, his goggles over his eyes and a pistol in his hand.

I ripped strips off my petticoats to bandage the wounded child in front of me. Lizzie tended another with a brisk efficiency. “How weak are those soldiers that they’re terrified of children?” she sputtered in fury as she worked. “Shouldn’t Imperial Regulars be made of sterner stuff than that? The kids only wanted to see the airships.”

“Seeing that bunch running at them must have been frightening,” I attempted to joke, even as my voice shook. More seriously, I added, “I don’t think their commander was very pleased with them.”

As we entered the maze of downtown streets, the bus slowed and Colin stepped aside from the door. One of the women came forward. “You know the message to send?” he asked her.

She nodded as she pulled a telegraph rig from her corset. “I’ll send to all, urgent.”

He bent to kiss her cheek. “Off you go, then,” he said, patting her on the behind as she stepped off the bus and ran for an alley. Colin signaled to Alec, and the bus sped up again.

A voice piped up, “Miss, what about the candy?”