GyroOboe

The sun rose high over the hill. I watched, mildly interested as it shone on the dew and droplets among the hedgerows, and I remembered how you'd hated going on the walks with me. I sat under the old oak tree at the top of the knoll, puffing away on my pipe and gently running my hands through the grass. I grinned as I realised I had nothing I had to do anymore. I could live as I wanted, within reason. The tarmac felt strange under my feet as I wandered aimlessly past the burnt out wrecks of cars and the tall weeds that strained against the cracked paving. Rain started pattering down as the heavy clouds above rumbled. I paused momentarily at

 The hammer clicked on the pistol as I pulled it back. I grimaced at Belle as the footsteps reached the door, and twisted the unresponsive handle. Ther was a muttered curse, and an order was sharply barked. Belles eyes widened, and she grabbed me and threw us behind the large desk as the heavy door buckled and exploded inwards, showering the rooom with inch-long, lethal splinters and blowing a sizeable hole in the wall behind us. "Cannon" I growled at Belle as I grabbed the chair behind me whilst tramping footsteps drove into the room. Flexing my arm I hurled the chair over the desk towards the direction of the door, as I stood and fired my p

"Come on Belle!" I shouted as I ran across the rooftop clutching my cane. Belle was running after me, her dress swapped for more practical leather trousers. Ahead of us a colossal zeppelin buzzed and roared, whipping up winds and creating plumes of dust in the street below. I reached the door and climbed inside, pulling Belle in after me. She beamed excitedly at me as the bespectacled pilot gunned the throttle and we drifted into the air. ...The fire crackled in the grate as I sketched on a sheet of paper. Belle leant over excitedly. "OK," I muttered. "The zeppelin will fly us over early, but we have to make our own way onto the roof, Rhys c

I locked and bolted the door behind us, shutting out the babble of voices beyond. Taking Belle's jacket I marched up the creaking stairs. I hung it on the hooks by the fireplace, and slumped down into one of the overstuffed armchairs. Belle slunk in after me and curled up in the other as I pulled out the money we had collected from the fake gems I had just pawned off. In the marketplace, a dishevelled trader pulled off his loupe and lowered a sparkling violet stone, and loped off into the crowds, screeching curses. I counted the pile of cash and handed half to Belle. She smiled and stood, placing some in her purse and the rest in a secure l

I ducked under market awnings and hanging wares as Belle pulled my arm through the thronging crowds. As we passed a fruit seller I quickly snagged two apples from the overflowing carts. "Come on Cornelius!" Belle cried, giggling. "I haven't eaten, and there are so many things to buy!" I smiled affectionately. "I'm coming, don't overexcite yourself. There's still plenty of time to look around." I pulled her to a stop near a jewellery stand, and handed her the apple. "OK then." I began. "What do you want today? A ring? Or a necklace?" Belle whirled around, poring over the sparkling trinkets and devouring her apple, while I looked at the h

The dawn light was creeping through the misted windows as Belle and I laughed our way through emptying the wallets, systematically drawing out notes, rolling them into bundles and wrapping them in wax paper packages. We kept theses parcels under soil, at the bottom of an old vase containing old, dead flowers. By the time the Sun had risen we had worked through all 67 wallets, and amassed about twelve hundred pounds in small bills. Belle yawned, and stretched back in her chair as I patted down the last of the loose soil in the vase. "So," she sighed, glancing at the large Grandfather clock across the room. "Do you think the streets are dry eno

I smiled thinly as lightning lit up my room. The thunder was tearing apart the sky and the rain was lashing against the window, obscuring from my eyes the street below. I could tell the water was rising in the river, far in the distance, though the trains that ran over it never ceased moving.I found myself pacing over the thick rug, idly polishing my spectacles as the floorboards creaked below my boots. Behind me, clocks ticked ceaselessly, showing how late Belle was. The weak gas lamps flickered on the walls, blown by the thin breeze that whistled thourgh the window locks. I sighed. However much finery i threw into the place, it was still a

The train pulled quickly into the station, snug between the platform and the carriages on the other line, hissing menacingly, like a steel snake as the passengers converged onto it. The monolithic vehicle wheezed as the drivers and coalboys doused the boilers and cooled the engine. Through the thick, rising smoke strode a tall, yet unopposing figure, clothed in a deep emerald greatcoat, with a great menagerie of trinkets and instruments attached, including various buckles and spyglasses, and even a few keys and coins in the stitching, as  though the man less feared pickpockets if all his posessions were not hidden in his clothing but rather w