The sweet chubby cheeked cherub that I called my grandson stormed into my quarters demanding a story. “Grandmother how did you meet Grandfather? He will not tell me!” The child nearly shrieked.
“And why does he refuse to tell you.” I asked
“He said that it was not a story for children! As if I was a child! ” The boy was nearly five, but much smarter that his age typically allowed.
“You are no child and have every right to hear this story. How dare he insinuate such heinous things,” I said with a grin.
I sat the pouting child on my lap; he knew when he was being patronized. “Oh do not fret so, I will tell you the story. It starts many, many years ago when I was still very young, only 17 years of age. Back then my name was Mary Edith Stone, but everyone called me Molly.”
“The year was 1839. Her Majesty had fitted her home with steam power and the rest of the kingdom was quick to follow suit. Steam powered horseless carriages were all the rage. My Father, Jack, was in the process of starting up the first robotics company. He had left me with our house which was in need of a major tune up…”
I stood back with a wrench in my hands, my fingers stained with oil and my brow drenched in sweat that was a second from running into my eyes. I was exhausted, but it was done. I had fixed, oiled, tightened, and modified every piston, cog, and pump in the engine room. The house should run at 125% efficiency now. I had updated the automated kitchen, and tea would be brought out every day at 2:15 on the dot. The clock work in the house was now all in tune, and the boiler that ran my steam powered home was in the best of shape. I sighed at the melodious sound that the machinery made. Best three months ever, just me and the house. And Hattie.
Hattie was the android that I had been working on with Father. We had completed her six months ago and I already loved her like a sister. She was made of brass but her face was gilded with gold. She had a lovely figure and thick, straight black hair from a horse’s mane. I could hear her shockingly dainty steps coming down the stairs.
“Molly, you have a visitor.” Hattie told me in her crisp, almost cold voice.
“Well do not let them in, Hattie,” I said just a bit alarmed. What if it what if it was that horrid Mrs. Blackwood?
If it was, then the whole city would know that I still wore trousers and sweat in the engine room over a hot boiler. The old Mountebank would make sure that the whole kingdom knew I preferred hammers and cogs to cakes and flowers.
“He insists on seeing you.” Molly said again
‘He,’ I thought to myself ‘Has Thaddeus worked up the courage to speak with me alone?’
“He sure does.” A strong male voice said. Though it was a bit different than it was when he had left, I knew that if I was with him I would see a playful smirk on his lips. That was not the voice of timid Thaddeus Blackwood. No, that had to be “…Ambrose?” I said cautiously, careful of letting myself hope my cousin was back.
“Why are you working in this smelly room when you should be greeting your favorite cousin after his long trip?” a teasing voice called out to me as he started down the stairs.
It was Ambrose! I charged up the rest of the stairs, meeting him halfway and threw my arms around his neck.
As he was not expecting this we both fell back on the stairs. When we recovered we were both laughing like children and Hattie was giving us a curious stare.
“I fear I will never understand the human condition.” Hattie said mournfully.
We got back up and I looked at him. His slanted green eyes shone with joy, and his strait blue-black hair was pulled back to the base of his neck with an emerald ribbon that matched his satin suit perfectly.
Ambrose was just as he was when he left to visit his mother last year, a regular dandy!
“How was your trip, darling cousin?” I asked. He had been in the Orient the past year visiting his Mother.
“Molly Dollie, there are no words to describe how fantastic it was. I love Mother and the people in her village. But I missed home. So now I am back.” He answered
“For good?” I missed him greatly when he was gone.
“We will see. So what’s on the agenda tonight to celebrate me and my wondrous return? Dinner and maybe a stop at the ballet hall? I hear Swan Lake is being preformed tonight.” Ambrose was always eager to be entertained.
“Neither, on the agenda this evening is a visit from Thaddeus Blackwood and his Mother.” Hattie reminded me. I sighed.
“I leave you for a year and you begin hanging around such bores?” Ambrose said with his nose upturned, as if he had smelled something bad.
I was not surprised at his words. The Blackwood’s were stiff, proper and highly respected. They followed suit with most of the high society types and were usually dreadful bores because they were always in the public eye and were well aware of it. One mistake brings shame and dishonor to your family name.
It did not matter to me though. I knew Thaddeus from when we were children, and though he was stiff and up tight, he was very sweet. He had a charming personality and a cunning wit. Over all he was very kind.
“It is not as if I want to, Thaddeus Blackwood wishes to marry me. Though Father has no problem with the union, but I have refused him every time he speaks of it.” There were days I wished to give in, Thaddeus was agreeable enough, and I was getting no younger. It was time to marry, but I could not. Not with his evil Mother still coddling him.
“What are you waiting for,” Ambrose began to flutter his eye lashes and said in a breathy voice “, true love?”
I rolled my eyes, “Do I look like a child to you. No I would not mind marrying Thaddeus; it is his Mother that keeps me away.” I asked Hattie to go and draw up a bath for me.
“His Mother wishes to marry you as well?” Ambrose asked confusion writ all across his face.
“No, she simply does not want me to marry Thaddeus.”
“Why not marry me?” Ambrose asked with a joking smile. We both were well aware of why no woman would marry Ambrose.
“Surely you are joking, why would I wed a man who would never be faithful to me?”
Ambrose shrugged. “You would already know what you would be getting in to.” This earned him a solid hit to the arm. “I am off to take my bath and dress; you may stay for dinner if you wish.”
I should have never let him stay for dinner, which he claimed was so splendid that he could not bear to leave. It had been nearly three months since then and Hattie and I still have not gotten him to go back to his own home.
The reason that my cousin was so entertained was that Mrs. Blackwood hated the very fact of my existence. Nothing I did, said, or thought was right.
And I had no business marrying her perfect son.
The only person at the table who did not seem to realize how much his Mother detested me was Thaddeus himself. Sweet, kind Thaddeus, who had gone from making one call a week to once or even twice a day. Ambrose declared he would not miss a single solitary moment of my opera like life.

We had just finished dinner with the Blackwood’s and during the course of the evening Mrs. Blackwood had managed to insult Hattie’s construction three times, my manners four times and Ambrose’s less than pious lifestyle six times. I was at my wits end by the time Thaddeus had convinced her to go home. Every night for three months now I prayed for my Father’s return so that he could end all of this madness. Even Ambrose had grown weary of her subtle jabs at all of us.
“Molly this has to end, that woman is insufferable. She is also the closest thing to a raving hell beast it has ever been my displeasure to encounter.” Ambrose complained. Though I still had no idea why, he could just go home. His house was nicer than my own and Blackwood free. Yet he stayed in this living nightmare with me. If he did not complain so much then I would be flattered by his loyalty.
“I agree. She is too hard to keep track of. Tonight alone she disappeared for a total of forty five minutes. I think she may have gone down to the engine room but I cannot be sure.” Hattie had reports like this every time Mrs. Blackwood was here, and they frightened me.
“See! Listen to the android! She is not right and she should not be plaguing your home.”
Ambrose was right of course, but we had no real reason to bar her from our estate. Other
than the fact that she made us all uneasy; that was not an acceptable reason. I told them this.
“We will have to tough it out. Now I am off to relax, tune up the house, and maybe see what Mrs. Blackwood was up to down there.” The dinner delivery has been slow as of late and tea had come in at 3:15 instead of 2:15. The house obviously needed a serious tune up, which was strange since I had turned it up just three months ago.
‘Maybe Mrs. Blackwood has tampered with my systems.’ I thought jokingly to myself as I donned my working trousers, goggles, and gloves then set out to fixing up my beloved house.


I had not been down to the engine room in some time and was not prepared for what would await me. I walked down the stairs, tool box in hand, and turned on the lights. Nothing looked too out of the ordinary; the lights were a bit dimmer than usual and some of the fixtures looked a bit dingy but other than those things the room looked fine. Walking slowly to the closest gage I could feel myself unwinding.




Peering at the gage I knew something was wrong. “That’s odd,” I said with a slight pause. The gauge was reading funny, according to it the kitchens main engine was at a near critical level of pressure. That was worrying. So I went to the next gauge. This one was for the parlor, where the tea had been delivered at the incorrect time. And this was even worse than the kitchen gauge! Another day at this pressure level and this piping under the parlor would begin to burst. So all around the room I want. Each gauge said the same thing; the engine that it was connected to was near, or at, a critical level of pressure. Had the house been allowed to go on like this for just a month longer then father would have no home to come back too. Because with the way the gauges were reading the house would have been blown strait to kingdom come; along with anyone in the house.



Well at least it had been caught, all that needed doing was finding what was blocking the pipes and causing so much pressure within the house. Now all that was left to do was eliminate the problem.
This would be simple. “Let’s get to work Molly.” I said to myself. I pulled a grating off to expose the dear wires and small pipes underneath. And what I found was just short of heart stopping.
The wires were not just tangled; they were in knots and twisted to the near braking point, blocking the flow of power. And with steam engines if the power is blocked explosions are imitate. My estimate was off, with the way things were the house only had a week before it exploded.
This was highly illogical. How had this been concealed for so long?! Who could have done such a thing? And why would the even want to? I sank to my knees and thought about this. Who wanted me dead? I did not have many enemies. I had rivals out of the wazoo because of Father’s and my mechanical prowess but not true enemies. I did not think I did anyway.
Tears streamed down my face and I stopped kidding myself. I knew who did this. Mrs. Blackwood. Destroyer of joy and fun, and perfectly positioned pistons! She must be stopped.


I had not bothered to change out of my trousers, I just instructed Hattie to get the carriage ready, and for Ambrose to put on his toughest looking suit. I suppose if you ignored the ruffled sleeves the crimson suit did make him look rather imposing.
When we arrived at the Blackwood estate we stormed through the doors scaring the staff half to death. “Where is she?” I roared when we came in.
“Wh-who Miss?” A timid young butler squeaked.
“That- that no good, rotten, machine murdering-” I roared before Ambrose joined in.
“Good time spoiling, overly pious, joy hating-” Ambrose shouted
“Conniving, hate filled-”
“Gambling, gossiping,-”
“Evil-”
“Mrs. Blackwood” Hattie clarified before we got out of hand. Or the poor butler, who looked pale as a sheet, fainted dead away.
“I-I-I- I do not t-think sh-she will-”
“Take us to her now.” Hattie said. Her voice was calm and clear, even as she lifted the little butler up and began to shake him. When she set him down he was dazed, confused and much more willing to help.
“Right away Miss.” The butler scampered off with us close behind.

She sat in her parlor, frowning slightly. She glared at us from her chair on the other side of the room, hatred for us dripping off of her very pores. Not unlike what I imagine Queen Bloody Mary must have looked at people she was going to condemn for heresy.
“May I help you, Miss Stone and…associates?”
“Yes, you will “help” by paying for the damage you have inflicted on my house. Then you will tell Thaddeus the reason I refuse to marry him is not because of short comings of any kind on his part. I will not marry him because of his cruel, horrid Mother!” I said almost trembling with anger.
The evil woman just glared at me. “You dare accuse me of such things? In my own home?!” But we stood firm against her, we would have none of her rubbish this time. She had gone too far.
Ambrose looked her in the eye and said “Confess your transgressions, witch.”
“Oh well now look at this, it seems as if I have been found out.” She said abandoning her earlier outrage.
“So you admit to your crimes against things most dear?” I asked and she nodded
“Not that it matters,” She again let a cruel smile grace her figures.
“Of course it matters! You have admitted guilt.” Ambrose said
“Yes, to a raving girl dressed as a man, a programmable android, and Ambrose. No one will believe us.” Hattie said, almost sadly. Or it would have been if androids could display emotion.
“There was an insult to my character somewhere in that statement Hattie, but I will let it slide for now.” Ambrose huffed
“The Android’s logic is flawless, you three came here shouting and raving into my home, no one will believe you. You instead will receive any blame of shame that comes with the events of this night. Scaring an old woman like me with those cruel allegations, no one will believe you when you say that I am to blame.” The old Harpy said with a smile.
“Save for the son who was awakened by the shouting, and when he came to check on his poor old Mother, he instead found a conniving old bat tormenting three innocent people that I care about, again. I cannot live like this anymore Mother the time has come for me to leave your house.” Thaddeus stood at the doorway behind us, his eyes sad and empty.
“Now son-”
“No, Mother! First my Father was driven a way, then each and every friend I have ever had. I will not let you do this to Molly as well. You have driven the important people that I love out of my life one by one; me staying the loyal and faithful son through it all. But to come between me and the woman I love, and you know how I really do love her, is unforgivable!” He continued, softer now. “I am a man Mother, and a man would not stand idle as his Mother drives everyone away from him.”

Mrs. Blackwood saw the finality in her son’s eyes.
Her smile was back again. “Oh, you cannot live like this? Let Mother fix it then.” She ended with a snarl and walked out of the room.
“She was horrid to us when Thaddeus still loved her, how bad do you think it will be now that he has rejected her?” Ambrose asked after a moment of silence as we watched the empty doorway.
With that in mind we all took off after her.

We found her in the boiler room disconnecting the engine from all of its wires. We stopped for a moment to gawk at the sight before I registered what she was doing.
“Oh my goodness! Someone stop her! She’s disconnecting the power circuits!” I shouted as I ran to try and pull her away. I did not think that I could catch her in time. She was fast and the boiler was on the other side of the room. If she was not stopped the engines would continue to make power but have nowhere to send it.
“Which means…?” Ambrose stared with Thaddeus unmoving.
“The boiler will explode.” Hattie clarified.
“Mother stop this!” Thaddeus shouted
“But dear, now you do not have to live in a manner which detests you. And you and the little tart can be together with God.” Mrs. Blackwood said with a smile.
“She is aware that she is in the house that is about to explode too?” Ambrose said to no one in particular.
“She has taken too many cables out. The engine is building up too much power with no where to send it.” I said sadly. Hattie suggested that we leave. Now.
“Quickly now we must warn the servants.” Hattie said. Hattie and Ambrose ran out immediately, but Thaddeus lingered. As did I.
“Mother not is too far gone to be saved, is she?” Thaddeus asked me. “Perhaps,” he started for her “Perhaps I could pull her to safety with us.”
“There is no time! That boiler is overheating quickly. We must go now if we wish to see the sun rise ever again.” I took hold of his shirt sleeve and began to pull him back to the exit with me.
Thaddeus turned from me. “Are you sure? Is there no-”
“We are wasting time! We will die if we stay; I have no intentions of dyeing today Thaddeus. I hope you will not either.” I turned and ran shouting warnings to anyone left in the house. To my relief Thaddeus was at my sided in moments. Though I could see the understandable salty sadness pooling in the corner of his eyes I also saw strength in them than I had ever seen before. I think that was the moment I fell in love with Thaddeus Blackwood.
Then the boiler exploded underneath our feet. Thaddeus grabbed me by my waist to prevent me from stumbling as the foundation began to crumble beneath our feet.
Debris of concrete and live wires and, of course, steam blocked our way and vision at times. But as if by some miracle from the Good Lord in heaven above, we escaped the collapsing house. We burst through the doors just as the house crumbled completely. We were thrown by the force of the collapse into the small group of people waiting outside. And Hattie. They did not make for the softest of landing pads.
As the smoke and steam cleared and we were surrounded by debris, and dirt and dust and what I hoped to God in heaven about was just gritty gritty oil. We lay on the ground panting for air, all except for Hattie who was checking her vitals.
“This may not the best time to ask,” Thaddeus said through his gasping for air, “but now that Mother is…gone and we have all just faced our own mortality…Molly Stone will you marry me?”
“This is the absolute worst time to ask! Your house exploded on top of your insane mother, we are currently lying in the street covered in filth and what is worse I think my suit has been ruined!” Ambrose shouted, which earned him a nice hit the the stomach from me. Expelling any air he had managed to get together.
“Yes, of course I will marry you.” Thaddeus had left his Mother for me. That was all I had wanted form him; though I had never expected it to come about in such a macabre way.
“Okay…okay,” Thaddeus said, as if he did not think I would have ever said yes. “I think every vital organ in my body has been moved out of its proper place. Hospital visits any one?”
“Please.” I groaned
“I, I think you may have popped one of my lungs.” Ambrose said clutching at his side.
“If that was true you would not speak.” Hattie said “I do not need a hospital, though a good mechanic would be nice.”
Thaddeus and I were married soon after, and that is how I became Mrs. Blackwood.
“That was many years ago, my sweet child. Many long years married to your wonderful Grandfather.” I said with a smile as I finished my tale. My grandson wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled me down to kiss my old cheek.
“Now run along now and see if your Nursemaid Hattie has super ready yet.” I said with a smile