#posting!

The world had never before seen such a wonder as the Flying Circus, owned and maintained by one Lord Sanger, who was just as much of a mystery to the circus members (and Fr. Kilburn) as he was to the rest of the world.

“Full of secrets, that one,” the priest lamented. “Almost as much as an enigma as our Lord and Savior, Archibald Fleet. Speaking of, I haven’t really seen any of them, since we took our little trip out to sea…”

The members of the congregation lamented their decisions to even attend the sermon in the first place.

Kilburn rambled on. “Do you think we should try to find out the whereabouts of our mechanical miracle, or should we wait for them to return.”

Someone in the audience, new, most likely, since no one really even wanted to be there in the first place asked: “Hasn’t anyone seen the Great Archibald Fleet?”

“Nonsense, my man, if we had seen him, the people present here today would truly understand what a miracle he is!”

The members present groaned. Another person, a child really, asked, “Weren’t we talking about Mr. Sanger a minute ago?”

“We were!” As he clarified the truth of the statement, the priest remembered something, a little piece of offhand information, that Sanger had shared with him, shortly before disappearing off to…

Kilburn knew exactly where.

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In the meantime, while the priest rambled about mechanical saviours and mysterious circus men, Lord Sanger disembarked from his cabin, landing up smack in the middle of the park. It was a funny feeling, being on ground, but he was a man on a mission, and that mission was to contact the Inspector.

He didn’t have to look very far. The Inspector and Ms. Entwhistle, atleast from where he was standing, appeared to be almost entirely drenched(in sea water, he’d assumed, since that was where he’d seen her last) waving off a hot air balloon, which after dropping them off, looked like it was headed toward the palace.

He wouldn’t have called himself athletic in the least, though the amount of time he took to reach there was praiseworthy, if he might say so himself.

He waved at them as he ran along. “Inspector, Ms. Entwhistle!”

She waved back with equal enthusiasm, while the Inspector cocked his head, looking slightly puzzled. “Lord Sanger? What are you doing he- on the ground?”

“Oh, I just came here to return something of yours actually.”

He looked even more puzzled, a surprisingly endearing expression, and asked: “Mine?”

“Well, I don’t know much about mechanics here, but I think this is yours.” He held out the strange part he’d just found lying around on the floor of the circus, mostly using it as an intent to talk to the pair. As far as he knew, it could just as easily belong the to the Inspector.

Ms. Entwhistle smiled at the part, and snarked, “I didn’t know you actually went about dropping flangers now, Fleet.”

He wasn’t sure he’d heard her correctly. Flanger? He blinked. “A flanger?”

Apparently, Fleet was also wondering the same thing, as he asked, with a strained smile, “Clara, what are you doing.”

“Just thanking Lord Sanger for being so kind as to COME ALL THE WAY HERE (it was a strange emphasis, even he had to admit that) to return your flanger.”

“Er. Thank you, Lord Sanger.”

He beamed at the pair. “Not a problem. Well. I suppose my work here is done.” With that, he began to walk back toward the park, not quite sure of this new feeling he had about the Inspector. Sanger knew he admired women, had loved many even. Was it really possible to feel this way about men at the same time?

It was quite the thought, and Sanger shook it away immediately. No, it just wasn’t right. Was it?

He had just about spent a long four seconds deliberating on this, when he heard Ms. Entwhistle call: “Could you wait a minute, please?”

“Yes?”

Maybe it was just in his imagination, but he could have SWORN that Ms. Entwhistle’s smile had grown bigger, even if just by the fraction. “I’m headed in a different direction, Fleet, goodbye!”

The Inspector glared at her, while Sanger chuckled to himself. He wasn’t quite sure what her motivations were, but he wasn’t about to question them any time soon.

“The coffee house, then?”