Chapter 2

The woman was cooking in the kitchen while the man was reading the newspaper.

Suddenly, two children quickly ran down the stairs loudly as they were both giggling.

“Leco, Adeline…settle down.” He said as he moved his paper to the side to look at them.

The boy had the same eyes as his father, short and thin brown hair, and puffy cheeks despite the rest of his body being lean and slender but still healthy. The girl had cool blue eyes with shoulder length dirty blonde hair that obscured half of her face as she had a massive and blinding smile with white teeth and thin lips. Both of the children had dry and dirty skin from playing in the dirt every day.

“Who’s hungry?” The Mother asked as she brought in four plates of food, two on each arm.

“What’s for breakfast?” The Father asked.

“I made baked beans, eggs, sausages, fresh mushrooms and tomatoes, and finally some bread.” She replied.

The Father softly chuckled.

“Lot of food.” He replied as he folded his newspaper very neatly until it was the size of a pocket square.

“Lot of energy you’ll need.” She replied with a wink.

The children quickly sat in their chairs and started to eat.

“Any ideas for dinner?” She asked as she sat at the table across from her husband.

“You’re the genius. I trust your judgment.” He replied as he slowly began to eat.

The children were quickly making their way through the food as the Mother smiled.

“So Father, what have you been working on?” Leco asked with an excited and curious tone.

He looked at Leco while chewing on beans, thinking before he responded.

“I am waiting for inspiration. After I gave them my light fixture design, I still haven’t gotten my payment. I will be heading up there today though.” He said.

“You never told me you were heading to London today.” His wife replied, tilting her head.

He looked at her and shrugged his shoulders.

“I didn't think it was a crucial thing that you needed to know.” He replied.

Her eyes opened slightly as she dropped her spoon loudly, creating a loud and dissonant clink. The man immediately looked apologetic and dropped his own.

“No…I…Lettice.” He got up as she quickly gathered her mostly finished plate and quickly made her way to the kitchen. He sighed and sat back down, quickly finishing before making his own way over.

Lettice was washing the dishes she used to cook as her husband put his plate down, hugging her from behind.

“I apologize…I should’ve told you.” He said.

She kept washing without responding.

“Honey…”

He took her arms until she shook free with ease, like he was holding back his strength.

“I don’t want you going to London…” She quickly turned to face him.

“It’s a dangerous place.” She said.

“Oh come on. I’m capable of defending myself.” He replied.

She crossed her arms and looked both angry and scared.

“What about…you know…” She asked as she checked to make sure their children weren’t listening.

“People are just paranoid. Trying to connect things that just happen. It will be fine.” He replied.

“Well…not just about…that…but…the other thing?” She continued to look worried.

He let out a heavy sigh and took her hands in his own.

“There is no such thing as a flying man. That isn’t possible.” He replied.

“Kenrick…” She whispered.

The two locked eyes until there was a thunderous and loud sound outside.

Everyone quickly ran outside and through the front door. A carriage was turned over with two metal colored horses laying on the ground. Steam and smoke was pouring from both horses and the carriage. Kenrick quickly ran over, but as he drew close the carriage door suddenly went flying high into the air with a loud gust of air. The door flew high in the air before crashing onto the ground with a loud thud. Kenrick fell back and looked forward at the carriage.

A person suddenly popped out, wearing goggles and a cap on their head.

“Oh, is this your home? Sorry about that!” She said as she jumped out of the carriage and onto the ground. Her accent was very thick and Irish sounding. She removed the goggles to show a face covered in freckles and dirt. She then removed her hat to reveal short and curly red hair. She was wearing fingerless gloves, a dirty white top, and blacksmith pants and boots. She had four different belts wrapped around her body with tools and pouches attached.

Kenrick took her hand and stood up slowly as he looked at her. She crossed her arms and looked him top to bottom.

“You’re a handsome one.”

She suddenly moved to the side and observed his body from behind. As Kenrick tried to turn, she kept moving too quickly for him to keep up.

“I don’t…who are…”

Kenrick kept spinning before he looked over at his family on the front porch. The woman was standing next to them and looked around.

“Good craftsmanship. Did he make it?” She asked Lettice.

“Yes. Now leave us alone please.” Lettuce said as she pulled her children back behind her.

The woman responded with a shrug before doing a cartwheel off of the porch and onto the ground.

Lettuce looked down to see her children smiling wide, but then stepped in front of them.

The woman walked with a pep in her step back towards Kenrick.

“What are you doing?” Kenrick asked.

She spun around him and made her way to the carriage.

“Okay so I’m gonna just try and dumb things down for you. I made these horses. Tried to make mechanical horses that don’t need food or water. Problem is they get too hot and well…this happens.”

She pointed at the two metal horses when one suddenly burst into flames. Kenrick immediately ran back inside his home, grabbing a large wooden bucket and filling it with water before running back out, throwing the water onto the horse.

“What the hell?” The woman shouted.

“Fire.” Kenrick simply replied.

“You don’t throw water on…”

Sparks and more fire exploded out, making the woman jump into Kenrick’s body. Kenrick cleared his throat as she stepped aside.

“I have stuff in my barn.” Kenrick said.

“Oh please, farming equipment isn’t going to do anything.”

Kenrick looked confused.

“Holy shit.”

She was standing inside of the barn looking around at the tables of metal and mechanical pieces. She then looked around at all of the light bulbs illuminating the space.

“I told you I’m not a farmer.” He replied.

She ran around quickly to observe everything, picking things up and holding a massive pile in her arms as she kept running.

“This isn’t a shop. I’ll help you fix your machines, but you’re not taking my stuff.”

The woman stopped and turned to look at him.

“Oh…um…okay.”

She dropped all of the parts as Kenrick recoiled from the sound.

“So…I guess the first thing to ask is…what is your name?” He asked.

She smiled and stood up straight with her fists on her hips.

“Name is Gisela. I am originally from…well what do you people call it?” She asked.

Kenrick held his arms up.

“I…how am I supposed to answer that…if I don’t know where you’re talking about.” Kenrick responded.

She seemed to be drawing a map in the air as she thought.

“So like…an island…southwest…no…northwest…well…yeah that’s right.” She said.

Kenrick’s eyes squinted.

“Ireland?” Kenrick asked.

She clapped, but then looked confused.

“That’s what you call it?” She asked.

“What do you call it?” Kenrick asked.

“Éire.” Gisela replied.

Kenrick shrugged.

“Well whatever. How’d you end up here?” He asked.

She started to walk around the barn, her hands gliding across every piece of metal that she passed.

“Came here with my parents when I was but a wee child. Been living here my whole life, but they only spoke Gaelic in accents thicker than mine, so that’s why I speak like this.” She shrugged as she got close.

Kenrick looked over at the entrance of his barn. Both horses were laying on the ground.

They were made entirely of brass and copper, gears covering the body while the torso was holding a large engine made from mismatched scrap. Kenrick kneeled down to look at it. It even had a skeletal structure made of metal with plates wrapped around like skin and gears covering most of it.

“How did you make the engine?” Kenrick asked.

“Found some metal. Used an anvil.” Gisela replied.

“You’re a blacksmith?” Kenrick asked.

“Yeah, what else would I be?” Gisela asked.

Kenrick looked inside of the horses and pried open their chest.. He reached inside and pulled out the engine sitting inside. Gisela skipped over, but then stopped.

“How did…how did you just…” She made her way over to the ripped open horse and looked inside.

“Strong. Now, how did you…”

Kenrick slammed the engine down onto a table hard, the table loudly shaking and nearly buckling from the weight.

“Well strong doesn’t do that…the ****?” She started to poke his arms before squeezing them.

“There is very little there yet they sure can do a lot.” She said.

“Please stop touching my arms.” Kenrick said.

“How are you…”

“What did you make this with?” Kenrick asked.

“I found parts to start, then whatever I needed I made.” She said.

Kenrick kept observing the machine closely.

“There are so many different materials, this won’t work at all.” He said.

“And why is that mister smarty strong man.” Gisela said.

“Well, even though metal conducts electricity and maintains heat, the problem is that when you use a variety of materials it will all be uneven. Thus you using whatever you found means that the energy will be contained in a specific spot instead of spreading out. The energy builds and builds until they overheat and become too much for the…horses to keep up with.” Kenrick said as he was taking the engine apart.

Gisela crossed her arms, but tried to hide her impressive gaze.

“Alright, I guess you do know things.” She said.

Kenrick subtly smirked as he opened the engine and looked inside.

“I need my goggles.”

He pointed over towards one of the tables. Gisela kept standing by him until Kenrick slowly turned to look at her.

“What?” She asked.

“Goggles?” Kenrick asked.

“I’m not your apprentice. Go get them yourself.” Gisela replied.

Kenrick sighed and rolled his eyes as he got up. He turned his back to her and walked, but the entire time he had a soft smile on his face. He grabbed the goggles and made the smile disappear as he turned around.

“You ever heard of a thing called manners?” Kenrick asked as he put the goggles on and kneeled down in front of the engine.

“Well yeah…but I don’t have to use them all the time.” Gisela replied.

Kenrick smirked again while he was observing the machine.

Gisela’s gaze was stuck on Kenrick as she softly smiled, a small amount of pink appearing on her cheeks.

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