Gears and Steam

The First Race

Edmund

"Why is it always so hot out here?" I groaned, glaring at the sun.

Fredrica, who was sitting next to me in our racing team's small alcove, snorted. "You think it's hot? Try wearing five layers of petticoats and a corset!"

"Freddie, you realize that you don't actually have to wear that stuff, right? You're already part of an illegal racing team; I don't think that anyone's going to care if you dress properly," I scoffed.

"I was raised to be a proper lady, and I intend to dress like one!"

"Whatever," I muttered. I would have liked to point out that she was a 'proper lady' knows how to take apart a car engine in under a minute, spent all her time around two boys that were usually covered in oil, and was clumsier than a horse on ice, but the fight didn't seem worth it at the moment.

Freddie took a small mirror out of the pocket that I had sewn into the side of her skirt and inspected her reflection in it, fixing her flaming red hair. "Appearances are important, my dear Edmund." She wrinkled her nose at my oil-stained clothes and messy brown hair. "You could learn a thing or two from my mother's etiquette lessons."

"Which is why I'm so thankful that she's back in Ireland because I'm sure I would be subjected to those lessons, were she here," I chuckled, shaking my head.

"Theo could benefit from those lessons as well," she added, glancing at our partner who was mingling with some of the members from Eternal, another racing team.

"No fraternizing with the enemy!" I yelled in Theo's direction.

Even from a distance, I could see Theo roll his eyes as he sauntered back over to our team's alcove. The members of Eternal returned to their own alcove as well, all the way across the track. Our workplace was small, but I was thankful that it was on ground level. The teams with higher alcoves had to push their cars down ramps that looked like they would snap if you stepped wrong. How hundreds of young engineers managed to build the best racing cars ever but somehow couldn't build a few ramps, I had no idea. There were a few lifts to get the cars in and out of the giant crater where the races were held, but they only led from the very top to the bottom level. When a lever was flipped, the platform raised to ground level or down to the level of the track.

"I was trying to make some friends," Theodore said, plopping down on the floor in front of the bench Freddie and I were on.

"Next time you try to make friends, don't do it with our opponents," I grumbled.

Theo feigned offence. "It's not like Eternal's as bad as Kismet!"

Freddie slipped her mirror back into the pocket in the side of her skirt. "They may not be as bad, but they're just as cocky. They think they're better than us just because we've only got three members!"

Theo sighed, pulling his umber hair back into a ponytail at the base of his neck. "We are going to be on top someday. Also, we would have more members if someone didn't scare everyone away!" he exclaimed, glancing pointedly at me.

"We're fine with just the three of us," I insisted, standing up and grabbing the wrench from off a small table to my right. "The only reason that you've stayed on this team for as long as you have is because we need a racer to, you know, race."

"I'm the one that started this team!" Theo shot up off the ground, glaring angrily at me.

I didn't bother responding. Instead, I turned my attention to the car that took up most of the room in our alcove. I rolled up the sleeves on my white t-shirt–not the best color for a mechanic, but whatever–and got to work tightening valves and adjusting gears. The sleek brass and silver car was my greatest achievement, which was honestly setting the bar kind of low. The brakes were faulty and needed to be fixed after every race, the multiple exhaust pipes on the back constantly clogged, causing the car to catch fire, and the steering wheel stuck if you turned too far to the right. All problems that we needed money to fix. In our line of work, the only way to get money was to win a race. Anonymous donors sponsored the grand prixs and sometimes even individual races if they were interesting enough. If a race wasn't sponsored, it was just for fun or it was to advance teams to further races in a tournament. Obviously, we didn't win many sponsored races.