There is still magic to be found. Even in the bleakest of places.<br><br>Hank Goodenough has spent his entire life in the smoggy streets of London trying to keep his head down and not to get noticed. Not an easy feat when you’re the tallest one in the room and have a brass funnel protruding from your head. When he finds himself laid off work once again, his dad wants to drag him away on a crazy quest. Before he can figure out how to get out of it, he finds himself on a steam-driven airship in search of Odin, the old Norse God, and is sharing a room with Captain Elazar Steel, a man strutting around on one high-heeled boot and one peg leg.<br><br>Steel doesn’t care that the winks, smiles, and small touches he and Hank share might get them hanged once they land on the ground again. He is determined to show Hank there is magic in the world and that there is no better place to be than on his balloon ship steering towards the Arctic Circle.

Eight Feet of Magic

Steel straightened his jacket and righted his hat. With narrowed eyes, Hank studied him. He looked an awful lot like a pirate. The coat was the kind he’d seen in the wanted pictures around the city. And that hair... He glanced at Demetrius. Would he go on a trip with a pirate? Yes. Hank sighed—this was a terrible idea.


Hooves on cobblestone came closer, and Hank squinted at the alley they’d come through. The smeared glow of the gas lamps did little to light the horse-drawn carriage coming nearer. As soon as Hank could see it clearly, Steel threw himself behind him, his nose almost touching his back between the shoulder blades. His long black tresses were blowing in the wind until they caught on Hank’s sleeve.


Chapter 5