Gears and Steam

Floyd Thompson

Jules

Floyd Thompson. So this was the assistant that had lasted a year with Edmund. I assumed that he was the reason Edmund hated Raven Key as well. The way the former assistants looked at each other...I almost couldn't describe it. Both of their gazes were filled with loathing but there was also something else, something hidden. As a police officer, I was trained to recognize these things, but I couldn't figure out just what the two boys were hiding between them. It wasn't my job to figure out Edmund's past but still, I was curious.

If I were just going by sight, I wouldn't think that Floyd would last long with Edmund. He was relatively thin, though he was taller than Edmund and I. The front of his auburn hair was tied back into two braids, not a style that you often see on a guy, and the rest of it fell to his shoulders. He was dressed similar to Edmund, with suspenders and tinker's goggles around his neck. The goggles looked closer to the ones I had on my head now though, just a device to protect his eyes rather than help with anything else. He looked, well, fragile, but as soon as he spoke I had no doubt in my mind that he was tougher than he seemed.

I watched the cars zoom around the track. The races all took one to two hours, according to Freddie. I could understand the excitement of the races. The cars were so close that the race could go to any team. Clearly, many other people had similar opinions, the stands were filled. Theo was in second, behind the purple and black car belonging to Raven Key. All we had to do was keep that spot and we'd move on, I didn't think Gears and Steam would take too kindly to losing to Raven Key though.

Edmund was standing next to me with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. I could tell he was trying to keep his bright eyes focused on the track rather than Floyd, who was standing about three meters away. I observed Edmund carefully, trying to figure out what was going on inside of the mechanic's head, but he caught me staring.

"What are you looking at?" Edmund growled.

"Just thinking, sorry," I squeaked, quickly focusing back on the race.

I saw Edmund's gaze flick over to Floyd one more time. "I'm going to go walk around," he said, turning away from the track completely. "Tell Freddie if she's looking for me." With that, he sped off, disappearing into one of the tunnels built into the walls surrounding the track.

Freddie, who was standing closer to the track, was focused intently on the race in front of her. Her flaming hair was still a bit of a mess from the trolleys, even though she had tried her best to fix it. I couldn't help but think she must be incredibly uncomfortable in all her skirts under the June sun. I was sweating in only one layer.

I figured that it was in my best interest to focus on the race as well. I needed to know everything I could about the races and the inner workings of the teams. I knew how Gears and Steam worked, but it was obvious that they were pretty different from all the other teams. My mission would be a lot easier if I had been hired by a normal team.

I watched the cars go around the track ten more times before I looked away again. Theo had fallen back to fourth place, but he definitely had enough time to regain a lead. I scanned the faces of the teams around me nervously. Something was wrong, I just couldn't put my finger on it. It took me another minute to figure out what was out of place. Floyd was gone from the crowd of Raven Key members.

It could be nothing, I told myself but I couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going on. Behind all of his anger, Edmund had almost looked scared of Floyd. Edmund definitely wasn't one to be scared of people, he was the one who did the scaring, but something bad had happened with Floyd in his past.

I didn't want to worry Freddie, so I entered the tunnels alone. The tunnels and staircases in the walls allowed people to move through the stands built into the side of the creator. I had no idea where I was going but I would be able to stop worrying if I found Edmund. Despite how mean he was, I really did like him and didn't want him to get hurt.