Brass Goggles

 

 He raced through the street, the tools on his belt smacking against his body. The ax was particularly painful. He winced. The Coppers were gaining on him. His chest felt stabs of pain every time he took a breath.

     His large boot tripped on the uneven cobblestones and he tried to catch himself, but his face planted firmly against the stone. His brass goggles were smashed up and his face fared a little worse than that. Blood trickled from his mouth. The good news was that his teeth seemed to be in tact. He saw the coppers in the distance, but the paperboy was much closer.

     "Hey kid!"

     The scrawny kid looked up, his ocular clicking as it adjusted to stare at him with interest. "Whatcha want mister?"

     "Can you get me out of here, hide me?"

     "For a price mister."

     "I can pay, just hurry up kid."

     The kid disappeared behind the nearby wall. He reappeared with a large mechanical cart that looked like a swift kick would reduce it to spare parts. He hollered, "hop in mister!" 

     Riley jumped into the cart. It strained under his rather light weight and rolled away. It was bumpy and the ax continued to chew away at his leg. He didn't care about his leg as long as IT was protected. The object that got him into this mess in the first place.    

     "What's in the bag mister?"

     Riley moved the bag closer to his chest. "Not your business kid, just keep the cart rolling away from the Coppers."

     The kid made sure to hit every bump. Riley's swollen mouth really hurt. This was not how he had planned to spend the day. "Hey kid, can you take it easy."

     The bumping improved. A good sign. "Kid?"

     "Yeah?"

     "Can you take me to the North side?"

     The kid stopped the cart abruptly and grinned at him. "Mister, you just raised your price."

     He laughed,  "Yeah yeah, I told you I can pay." 

     They took off again and went past the softly burning arc lights of the city. They passed the outskirts of town with steam powered motor bikes parked in the drives. When they reached the countryside, there were few houses scattered across the rolling hills.

     "Which place mister?"

     "The one just over the next hill on the left." They pulled up to a white house with a gray roof. There were flowers planted in front and overall the house appeared to be very welcoming. 

     Riley looked at the skinny kid and he saw a bit of himself. He knew he could have used a friend like him when he was the boy's age. "Do you want to come in?"

     The kid's eyes lit up and he nodded. Riley lifted the doormat to reveal a copper key. He opened the front door and they stepped into the house.

     The house was clean, but every wall was covered in aging books. They wound their way through the hallways until they arrived in the kitchen. A mechanical cat sauntered over to the boy and rubbed his leg.

     Riley took the bag he had been clutching and placed it on the table. A soft slow emitted from the bag. He pulled the bag away and revealed a luminous orb that contained a miniature view of the entire city. The boy's mouth opened in shock. Riley smiled conspiratorially, "we are going to have a lot of fun with this, kid."