Evie's Adventures in America

A steampunk voyage of peril, invention, and hidden enemies in Civil War America.

Prologue

Previously in the Evie's Adventure series...

Evie O'Donnell has survived deserts, jungles, and the deadly intrigues of empires. In Africa, she uncovered a conspiracy that threatened nations, forged unlikely alliances, and discovered just how far she was willing to go to protect the people she loves. She and Vic fought side by side, outwitted enemies who moved in shadows, and walked away with scars — some visible, some not — but stronger for having faced them together.

Now, with their mission complete and the world briefly quiet, Evie and Vic have taken a well‑earned week of rest aboard the Borealis. But peace never lasts long in Evie's world. A new summons has arrived... and this time, the path leads west, across an ocean, into a nation still healing from war and bracing for the storm to come.

***

England smelled of rain and coal smoke that morning, a far cry from the red dust and blistering sun they had left behind in Africa only weeks before. Evie still caught herself listening for the distant roar of lions at night, or the rustle of acacia leaves in the wind. Sometimes she woke expecting to see the endless savanna stretching to the horizon, not the soft green hills of home.

Vic said it would fade. Evie was not so sure.

The Borealis rested at her mooring like a great silver heron, wings folded, engines quiet — a strange sight against the gray English sky after months of African heat, danger, and wonder. The crew was still adjusting to the cold. Willie kept complaining his bones had forgotten what "chilly" felt like. Molly insisted England smelled like wet sheep. Wu Chong said nothing, but he had taken to wearing two coats.

Inside the McKnight estate's front hall, Evie stood on her toes to straighten Vic's collar. He endured it with the patience of a man who had survived storms, gunfire, and a charging rhino — but not her fussing.

"You look presentable," she said, smoothing the lapel.

Vic grinned. "Mustang, I always look presentable. It is my curse."

She swatted his arm, laughing, and for a moment they were simply newlyweds — bags half‑packed for a honeymoon in the Lake District, plans for quiet days and long nights, no danger in sight. After Africa, they had earned a little peace.

Then the knock came.

A firm, professional rap. Not a neighbor. Not a servant. Not family.

Evie's smile faded. Vic's did not — but it sharpened.

He opened the door.

Two men stood on the stoop, hats in hand, coats still wet from the morning mist. Americans — unmistakably so — with the posture of men who carried authority even when they tried not to.

"Captain Victor O'Donnell?" the taller one asked.

Vic leaned against the doorframe. "Depends who's asking."

The shorter man produced a small leather case and flipped it open.
A badge glinted inside.

"Pinkerton National Detective Agency," he said.
"We are looking for Mrs. Evangeline O'Donnell as well."

Evie stepped forward, chin lifted with that quiet steel she had earned in Africa. "I am Evangeline."

Both agents nodded with a respect that was not feigned.

"Your brother, Mr. Theodore McKnight," the tall one said, "spoke very highly of you. He said that if we needed someone capable, discreet, and fast, we should come to you."

Evie's breath caught. Teddy. Of course.

Vic's eyebrows rose. "Teddy sent you? Well, that is either very good or very bad."

The shorter agent cleared his throat. "Ma'am, sir... There are credible threats against President Lincoln—a conspiracy. We are following leads across the Atlantic. We need help. We need a ship that can move faster than any train. And we need people who can think outside the usual lines."

Evie felt the weight of it settle in her chest. A conspiracy. Lincoln. Teddy is trusting her with this.

Vic looked at her, eyes bright with that reckless spark she loved and feared in equal measure.

"Evie," he said softly, "we can honeymoon anytime."

She tried to hold her composure. "Victor O'Donnell, you are impossible."

He grinned, that crooked, irresistible grin. "But chasing down assassins in America? That might be a hoot."

Evie closed her eyes, exhaled, and laughed despite herself.

The Pinkertons waited, tense, hopeful.

Evie opened her eyes and nodded once. "All right. We shall help."

Vic clapped his hands together. "Well then! Gentlemen, welcome aboard the Borealis. Let's go save a president."

Outside, the engines began to warm, the great airship stirring as if she sensed adventure on the wind.

And just like that — their honeymoon could wait.

Chapter 1

The Atlantic spread beneath them like hammered steel, gray and restless under a sky the color of old pewter. The Borealis rode the wind with the confidence of a creature born to the air, her engines humming a steady counterpoint to the ocean's roar far below.

Evie stood at the forward rail of the observation deck, gloved hands curled around the brass. The cold wind tugged at her hair, but she did not mind. After Africa's heat, the sharp bite of the Atlantic felt almost cleansing.

Behind her, footsteps approached — light, quick, familiar.

"Mustang," Vic said, coming to stand beside her. "You're going to freeze yourself solid out here."

"I am perfectly warm," she replied, though her cheeks were pink from the wind.

Vic draped his coat over her shoulders anyway. "Humor me."

She did not argue. She never did when he used that tone — half teasing, half tender, all Victor O'Donnell.

Below them, the crew moved with practiced ease. Willie was checking the starboard rigging, singing off‑key as usual. Molly was arguing with the professor about the proper way to calibrate the barometer. Wu Chong stood near the aft rail, silent as a carved statue, watching the horizon with the patience of a man who trusted nothing but discipline.

It felt like home. It was home.

Evie exhaled slowly. "I had forgotten how vast the ocean is."

Vic leaned on the rail beside her. "After Africa, everything feels small."

She nodded. "Yes. Except this mission."

Vic's grin faded into something more thoughtful. "You're thinking about Teddy."

"Of course I am. He would not have sent the Pinkertons to us unless he believed it was necessary."

Vic bumped her shoulder gently. "Your brother is a genius, Evie. If he says there's trouble brewing, then there's trouble brewing."

She looked out over the endless gray water. "I only hope we are not too late."

Vic's voice softened. "We won't be."

Evie believed him. She always had.

A gust of wind rattled the rigging, and the Borealis dipped slightly before correcting herself. Vic glanced up at the sky, reading the clouds the way other men read newspapers.

"Storm brewing to the southwest," he murmured. "Nothing we can't handle."

Evie smiled faintly. "You say that about everything."

"And I'm usually right."

She could not argue with that.

A bell rang from the helm — two sharp chimes. Willie's voice followed, echoing across the deck.

"Captain! Something on the horizon!"

Vic straightened instantly. "Show me."

Evie followed him to the starboard rail. Willie pointed toward a dark smudge far ahead, barely visible through the shifting mist.

"Ship?" Vic asked.

Willie shook his head. "Too high. Too fast."

Evie's breath caught.Evie forced herself to breathe. Airships crossed paths in wartime skies more often than anyone liked — this could be nothing more than a wary stranger.

Vic narrowed his eyes. "Maybe. But she is not flying any colors."

Wu Chong joined them, silent as ever. "She is pacing us."

Evie felt a chill that had nothing to do with the wind. "Victor..."

"I see it," he said quietly.

The Pinkertons had warned them: Some men do not want Lincoln to live long enough to see the end of the war — men far from here, working in shadows Evie had never walked.

Evie swallowed. "Do you think they know we are coming?" Evie asked, though she knew it was more fear than fact.

Vic's jaw tightened. "Someone out there knows something," Vic said softly. "But not about us — not yet."

The dark shape on the horizon shifted, rising slightly, then dipping back into the mist.

Watching. Waiting.

Evie felt Vic's hand find hers, warm and steady.

"Whatever it is," he said, "We'll handle it."

And she believed him.

She always had.

Vic did not raise his voice — he never needed to — but when he spoke, the entire deck seemed to sharpen around him.

"Willie, pass the word," he said. "All hands on deck. Unknown vessel shadowing us."

Willie's eyes went wide. "Aye, Captain!" He sprinted across the deck, shouting as he went. "Unknown ship! Unknown ship off starboard! Eyes sharp!"

Molly popped up from behind a coil of rope like a startled cat. "Another airship? Out here? Who in blazes—"

"It is not one of ours," Wu Chong said, already moving to the portside rail to check the angles. His voice was calm, but his posture was coiled steel.

The professor adjusted his spectacles, squinting into the mist. "Fascinating. The lift profile is unfamiliar. She is heavier than she looks."

"That is not comforting," Evie murmured.

Vic gave a short, humorless laugh. "No, it is not."

Molly hurried to Evie's side, wiping grease from her hands onto her trousers. "Miss Evie, do you think it is one of them? The ones the Pinkertons warned us about?"

Evie kept her eyes on the shifting smudge in the clouds. "I do not know. But she is watching us."

Willie returned, breathless. "The Crew is ready, Captain. Engines steady. Guns primed but covered, just like you said." "

"Good man," Vic said. "No sudden moves. No threats. Let's see what she wants."

The Borealis hummed beneath their feet, her engines adjusting subtly as if she, too, sensed the presence of the stranger in the sky. The wind shifted, carrying the faint metallic groan of another vessel riding the currents.

Evie felt a prickle along her spine. "Victor... she is matching our speed."
"I know," he said quietly.

Molly swallowed. "Captain... if she is not flying colors, that means she doesn't want to be known."

"Or she wants us guessing," Willie added.

Wu Chong's voice cut through the tension. "She is closing."

Vic's jaw tightened. "All right. Eyes open. Nobody panic."

The crew gathered instinctively — Molly beside Evie, Willie gripping the rail, the professor muttering calculations under his breath, Wu Chong steady as a mountain. They were misfits, every one of them, but they were Vic's misfits, and they trusted him with their lives.

Evie slipped her hand into Vic's. "Whatever happens, we face it together."

He squeezed her fingers once. "Always." The dark shape in the mist rose again — closer now, clearer, unmistakably an airship but unlike any design Evie had ever seen.

Willie whispered, "Captain... she is signaling."

Vic's eyes narrowed. "What kind of signal?"

Willie swallowed hard. "I... I do not know this one."

Evie felt her heartbeat quicken. The Pinkertons' warning echoed in her mind.

Some men do not want Lincoln to live long enough to see the end of the war.

Vic exhaled slowly. "All right then. Let us see what sort of company we've found." A flicker of light pulsed through the mist — three short flashes, then one long. Not any naval code Evie recognized. Not any Pinkerton cipher either.

Willie leaned so far over the rail that Vic had to grab the back of his shirt. "Captain... she is definitely signaling us!"

Vic narrowed his eyes. "I see it. Hold steady."
The Borealis answered with a neutral lantern pattern — not hostile, not friendly, simply present. The other airship responded with another sequence, faster this time, almost urgent.

The professor squinted. "That is not Morse. Not a semaphore. Not any British code I know."

Wu Chong's voice was low. "It is a warning."

Evie felt her pulse quicken. "Victor... what if it is a trap?"
"It might be," he said. "Or it might be someone trying to help."

The mist thickened around them, swallowing the horizon. The stranger's silhouette loomed larger for a heartbeat — a dark, hulking shape with lines unlike any airship Evie had ever seen.

Then—

A metallic groan echoed across the sky. The lights flickered again — two short, one long — and then abruptly cut out.

"Captain!" Willie shouted, "he is dropping altitude!"

"No," Wu Chong said quietly. "She is disappearing."

And she was.

The shape dissolved into the fog as if pulled backward by invisible hands. One moment she was there — watching, signaling, pacing them — and the next she was nothing but a darker patch of cloud.

Molly's voice trembled despite her bravado. "Where did she go? Ships don't just vanish!

The professor pushed his spectacles up his nose. "Unless she has a propulsion system we have not yet encountered."

Vic stared into the mist, jaw tight. "Or unless she wanted us to see her... and then wanted us to wonder."

Evie felt a cold knot settle in her stomach. "Victor, I do not like this."
"I don't either," he said. "But we keep moving. Eyes sharp. No one wanders off alone."

Willie swallowed. "Captain... what do you think she wanted?"

Vic looked at the empty sky where the stranger had been.

"I think," he said softly, "someone out there knows we're coming."

The wind shifted. The mist closed. And the Borealis flew on — watched, warned, and no longer alone.

The deck slowly settled back into its rhythm, but Evie could still feel the tension humming beneath the planks like a second heartbeat. When the crew dispersed to their stations, Vic gently touched her elbow.

"Come on, Mustang," he murmured. "Let us get out of the wind."

They stepped into the chart room, the door closing behind them with a soft click. The sudden quiet felt almost unnatural after the adrenaline of the last few minutes.

Evie leaned against the table, arms folded. "Victor... that ship was not simply passing by."

"No," he said, rubbing a hand over his jaw. "She was watching us. Testing us."

Evie's eyes narrowed. "And she vanished the moment we tried to answer her signal."

Vic nodded. "Which means she did not want a conversation. She wanted us to know she was there."

Evie exhaled slowly. "I do not like being observed."

Vic stepped closer, resting his hands on the table beside hers. "Neither do I. But we are not helpless. We have the fastest ship in the sky, the best crew I have ever flown with, and you."

She looked up at him. "Me?"

"You," he said. "You see things I miss. You think in ways I do not. And you keep me from doing anything too stupid."

Evie's lips twitched. "I do not always succeed."

Vic grinned. "No one could."

She let out a breath she had not realized she was holding. "Victor... do you think the conspirators know we are coming?"

"I think someone knows something," he said. "But I also think we will be ready."

Evie nodded, though the knot in her stomach remained. "We should tell the Pinkertons."

Vic's expression darkened. "Aye. Let's see what they make of this."

The two agents were in the mess hall, poring over maps and coded telegrams. They looked up as Vic and Evie entered.

"Captain O'Donnell," the taller one said. "Mrs. O'Donnell. Something wrong?"

Vic didn't waste time. "We had company."

Both agents straightened. "You should have told us sooner," the taller one reprimanded.

"What kind of company?" the shorter one asked.

Evie answered. "An airship. Unmarked. She paced us for several minutes, signaled us with a code we did not recognize, and then vanished into the mist."

The taller agent's face tightened. "Vanished?"

"Like smoke," Vic said. "One moment she was there. The next, she was gone."

The Pinkertons exchanged a look — not confusion, but recognition.

Evie caught it instantly. "You know something."

The shorter agent hesitated. "We have heard rumors. Nothing confirmed." Pinkertons were notorious for withholding half their information until they were certain of it — not out of deceit, but habit

Vic's voice sharpened. "Rumors of what?"

The taller agent lowered his voice. "There are factions in the Confederacy experimenting with new airship designs. Faster. Heavier. Built for stealth."

Evie felt a chill. "Stealth? In the sky?"

"Not true invisibility," the agent said. "But enough to slip through cloud cover without being tracked."

Vic crossed his arms. "And you didn't think to mention this before we left England?"

"We did not know they were operational," the agent replied. "If one is shadowing us... Then someone knows we are coming."

Evie's stomach dropped. "Then we are already in danger."

The taller agent nodded grimly. "You were in danger the moment you agreed to help us," the agent said — not because of any leak, but because the mission itself was perilous.

Vic stepped closer to Evie, his presence solid and grounding. "We can handle danger. What we cannot handle is being blindsided."

The shorter agent swallowed. "Then you had better prepare yourselves. Because if that ship was who we think it was... this mission just became far more complicated."

Evie met Vic's eyes.

He nodded once. "We will be ready."


If you like the first two chapters, you may wish to purchase either the Kindle e-book or the paperback linked below.

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