Emily knew how to get to Edelfelt’s Shop.

“We shouldn’t be out this late, if the authorities see us we’ll get taken in,” she said, “they imposed a citywide curfew due to the mafia.”

I thought back to the guy who had followed me: “Fuck..”

“What?”

“Someone chased after me, told me I should be in bed. I kinda.. shot him..”

“Damn..”

“I shot a man who was just doing his job..”

“No, no, you did the right thing,” Emily assured me, “he would’ve taken you to an orphanage, and Harald is known to have connections there. It could’ve taken you straight back to square one. What did you shoot the man with?”

“Always stay strapped,” I pulled up my dress to reveal the Schofield.

“At least it came to good use.”

Edelfelt was leaning against his shop smoking a cigar. The red garage door was open. A white cloth hung over the vehicle that had now been assembled. Grimmington, Mike, Ri, and Fu laid in a square formation where one person’s feet were the next person’s pillow. Their hands were black from oil smudges.

Emily stretched her hands out above Mike’s face, and clapped as loudly as she could, like a firecracker going off.

“Jesus Christ, don’t do that!” Mike put his hand to his heart to make sure he didn’t have a heart attack.

Mike noticed his feet were stuck under Grimmington’s head, and could therefore not get up. Took them a while to figure out that all they had to do was sit up so that everyone else could move their feet.

“Leah, you made it back. How nice. But, where’s the trunk?” Grimmington asked.

“Didn’t see it in the restaurant. Connor and his friend probably held onto it,” I said.

“They never came to the hospital,” Emily said.

“I knew we couldn’t trust that Connor!” Grimmington got furious, “they took our guns and ran off!”

“Let’s give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe they didn’t want to get lost and are waiting back at the ‘aeirship.’” Mike always thought the best of people. A mindset like that could get him killed.

“We’ll find out soon enough..” Grimmington replied, “are you ready to see our creation?”

Without waiting for a response, he pulled away the white cloth, revealing the vehicle. Two large wheels in the back, a smaller one in front. A bench had been attached to the wooden frame in between the three wheels, and a single crank stuck out the floor in front of it.

“Isn’t she the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?” Grimmington asked.

“Sure..” I said.

“Glad you like it, because you’ll be operating it!”

“But I don’t even know how to ride a horse!”

“This is so much easier than a horse. It doesn’t have a mind of its own, only goes where you want it to. It’s either you or Mike, and we know how well he handled the airship.”

Trying new things had been exciting thus far, so I went with it and climbed up onto the bench. The others rolled me out and parked me next to the Fumauto.

“Feinally,” Edelfelt tossed his cigar stub.

“Great things take time,” Grimmington said.

Edelfelt got into the Fumauto: “Zee track is simpul, follov zee rightmost trolly rails at all timez and vie’ll come right around in no time. Jast gif zis a minute to heet aph.” He had lit a little fire in the base of the Fumauto’s chimney.

“That doesn’t seem very practical,” Grimmington laughed as he spun something behind me a few times where the engine sat. It chugged like a miniature locomotive with every spin, and kept doing so once he let go.

“See this stick on your left? Pull it back when you want to go. Turn the crank in front of you left or right to turn,” he told me.

“And then?” I asked.

“That’s literally all you need to know.”

Easy.

“May zee bestest inventor vinn,” Edelfelt said.

Emily stood between the two vehicles with her hands raised in the air.

“Ready!” she announced.

“Set!” she held her hands straight out.

“GO!” she quickly brought both her hands down.

I pulled the lever backwards, the invention began rolling. Not a smooth ride, the bench bounced me up and down. Edelfelt kept up alongside me at first, he had an advantage as he had started on the right, having to make shorter turns. Didn’t matter because I overtook him before the first right turn, allowing me to turn the corner in front of him.

The machine chugged on at a steady pace. It felt fast, even if a skilled runner probably wouldn’t have had a hard time keeping up. One thing was certain, I was winning over Edelfelt. We got to the second turn, I took it easy as I had the disadvantage of only three wheels, and didn’t want to flip the vehicle. Edelfelt was right behind the entire time, then sped past me in the next straight.

“Told you it jast needet to heet ahp!” he yelled.

We passed someone on a horse. The chugging made the horse uneasy.

“Hey! Get inside immediately!” the person on the horse made a u-turn and trotted after us. I looked back and then it hit me, a police officer. He came up to the side of my vehicle.

“Halt!” he yelled. Edelfelt was now meters in front of me, and showed no sign of stopping.

“Sorry, I have to do this, for my sister!” I yelled back at the officer.

“If you don’t stop right now, I’ll make you!” He revealed a small revolver on his hip.

I could not lose. I would not lose. Stopping wasn’t an option.

“I don’t have time for you,” I said. If only there was a way I could outrun him.

My Schofield sat on my right leg. The officer was on my left side. His horse was pretty, its walnut brown coat seemed to have been well taken care of. It hadn’t done anything wrong, couldn’t help the situation it was in, but the same could be said for Maria. And right now, her life was a lot more important to me than a horse’s.

“I’m sorry horsie..” I got it in its right front leg, causing it to abruptly fall forward. The officer was thrown off, head first. His head hit the ground with that sound. The street was rockier than usual in that section. Just another walnut, I told myself, it was time to win over Edelfelt.

I pulled the lever further back with all my strength. Might’ve broken something, because the chugging tripled, and so did the vehicle’s speed. Edelfelt turned the corner ahead of me. We were more than halfway done. The steam from the Fumauto blew into my face. It was difficult to both see and breathe, I shifted lanes onto the trolley track. How stupid of me. The wheels slipped into the tracks, turning got me nowhere, but the tracks made me go even faster than the uneven street.

“You’re still alivf?” Edelfelt looked at me in surprise when I caught up to him, “I hat hopet zat officer had taken care of you!”

“You won’t get rid of me that easily,” I replied.

“Maybe zhat will do zee trick,” he said, looking forward.

A trolley just ahead of the next junction, coming towards us. I had to reach the intersection before the trolley did, otherwise the vehicle would turn into a pile of rubble, with me somewhere in it. I turned the crank, and closed my eyes. What more could I do but wait for the inevitable?

The horn of the trolley almost overtook the chugging. My body was pushed against the left armrest of the bench.

Nothing. I wasn’t dead. Opening my eyes, the finish line was not far from us. Emily stood ready to see who got there first. I was side by side with Edelfelt.

“Please..” I prayed.

The Fumauto’s smoke started thinning. It lost speed.

“Scheisse!” Edelfelt said.

I crossed the finish line, then pushed the lever forward, causing the vehicle to slow down, before coming to a stop. The Fumauto rolled over the finish line.

“You won!” Mike came up to me cheering.

“I ran out of vater!” Edelfelt complained, “I schould’ve vonn!”

“Sure bud, but you didn’t,” Grimmington said, “where’s that boat you promised us?”

“Yes yes.. Kommst wizh me..”