Ellen took another look at the automobile. It looked just the same as when she had started to modify and tuned the motor. It looked no different at all, just like Jack wanted it.

He had said that no one should be able to spot anything that could point out the automobile along with other automobiles. Which Ellen really had succeeded with, at least she thought so but it would be up Jack to decide.

She had worked with the automobile for a really long time by now and Ellen had started to grow slightly tired at it. Sure it was still a challenge that she liked to face, but it was the fact that she couldn’t talk with anyone about how she could do to make a better job. If she just could have asked at least Chris about it, so could it have been going so much smoother. Not to mention that she would have found it so more interesting to ball the ideas between them.

Letting out a sigh she took a look at the motor again.

The work with the motor had gone so much quicker after the date with Jack two weeks ago. The motivation that made the work flow like a river, had slowly died out. And she wouldn’t have minded another date with him, but there was a risk that the job would be finished before there were any chances that she got invited to another one. Not to mention that it probably would be hard for him to actually date her. He still needed to hide from the guards no matter how much they both could wish for another date. So even if he had places that he felt safe, it could be a bad idea to overuse those places. It could after all end with that they got their hands on him and that Ellen never would see him ever again.

“Good day angel, how’s the job going.”

While thinking about him so did he arrive in the workshop, greeting her and asked about the automobile as soon he arrived. It had been the same during the whole time Ellen had worked for him, first ask about the job with the automobile and then ask about her.

“The automobile should go faster now, without increasing the risk of it breaking down.”

The tests she and a stranger had done had at least been giving them that result. The automobile should be able to go double the normal speed, so even if they didn’t succeed to really force it to its limits. So will it still go much faster than other automobiles.

“That sounds great.” Jack walked up to Ellen beside the automobile and looked at it. This could be the moment of truth, it could be now that he would decide if she had done a great job or not. Not only because she wanted to help him, but it was more because her pride as a cog technician was on the line. Which almost weight higher than her own wish to help him. Strangely enough.

“It seems to at least look good, It doesn’t show any difference at all. Great.”

That really was great, that meant it was one problem out if the way.

“I will take it out and try it later on, so you can take the rest of the day off and come back tomorrow to see if there is something that needs to get changed.”

It sounded good. At least he was satisfied with her work at it this far.

“If you will use it, please be careful. I don’t want my beloved to get hurt.” Ellen tried to sound just as charming as “that princess”, but it seemed to fail horribly. Jack only nodded in response without giving her more attention than the automobile.

She dropped a heavy and loud sigh before heading toward the door. It was no hesitation that he had heard her sigh, yet he didn’t pay her any attention.

Bitter about that he didn’t pay her any attention she started to think about the workshop to ease her irritation.

Ellen started to find it strange. According to Jack so were it a group that helped him to solve the false accuses. But that would mean that there have to be enough people that got falsely accused, for someone to get the motivation to start a group like that.

Ellen had thought about a few times earlier and found it more and more unbelievable. It could be that Jack had lied to her. But only to calm her worries for him, it did sound a lot better that there was a group helping Jack. Instead of him being all alone, it had to be like that.

Ellen was still thinking about it when she walked through the marketplace and saw a special person in the corner of her eye. A red little fox, carry things that clearly was far too much for her.

“Good day Sain.”

Ellen walked up to the fox and greeted her, thinking about offering her a hand. But by mistake scared her so she made a jump and dropped some of the vegetables that she held.

“Ohh, it’s you Ellen. You scared me.”

Scared, you didn’t say? Ellen could never have guessed.

She helped Sain to pick up the vegetables she had dropped and took a bag to carry from the fox to ease the burden for her.

Ellen still mostly remembered Sain because of what she did to her sister. Not that Ellen still held any grudge against the fox anymore, since it had been a mistake. Both Alice and Taija had pointed it out for her. And even if Ellen had problems accepting it from the beginning so had she matured up and accepted it as the time passed by.

During their talk toward the mansion, they came into talking about how the job at the mansion looked like after Ellen and Alice had left. Which only turned out to irritate her. Taija’s old fiancé had married Taija’s sister and got her pregnant, but was still flirting with other girls and maids. Without trying to hide the fact about the other girls. He did also threaten the maids to fire them if they told anyone about it.

Maybe Ellen had been to easy at the swine when she did beat him at the celebration, she would maybe also have castrated him somehow during that time.

The rest off what Sain told her was things Ellen already had heard from Taija, but she still listened without interrupting the fox.

“I don’t think that it would be a good idea if they saw you.” They had arrived too the mansion’s gates, and Ellen could somehow understand what Sain wanted to have said. The fat bowling ball was most probably still angry since she had beaten that swine.

Ellen arrived too their own house, still feeling sorry for that poor fox that needed to work in “that” mansion. If they ever would need a maid or a housekeeper, so would Sain be the first one to ask. But a time like that would most probably never come.

The door to the house was locked?

Of course, she had finished her job earlier this day. So neither Alice or the cat had come back. Checking her pockets for the key, checking more frankly. She couldn’t find it. Had she dropped it during her work? No. She would have noticed that, and so would Jack have done. She couldn’t have dropped it either when she helped Sain, the fox would without hesitation have noticed it.

It struck her, she had let Lapin borrow the key since she and Alice didn’t always end at the same time. So that meant that Ellen had to wait until one of them finished, or go to the clinic and get the key. Which reminded Ellen of Alice request two weeks ago. She wanted an “Angel” and the blueprint for the machine, so she could let someone else build the machine for her since Ellen hadn’t got the time back then.

Someone else would build ELLEN’s machine? That was something she couldn’t take, not as a proud cog technician. If someone else had or was building the machine, So did Ellen have to prove that she could do it much better than that person. And she had the time to do it now when the work for Jack was as good as done.

“Can I help you with something Miss?”

It was Angela behind the counter in Sour’s shop. Which had started to call her Miss after the last celebration at the bar.

“I would need to talk with Sour and order a specially made gear.”

It was best to order the purifying gear first since it could take a couple of days to get done.

“Sour is unfortunately out for the rest of the day, but do you think it’s something I can make for you.”

Angela shined up in hope when she asked if it was something she could make. Of course it should be something she could make, but the problem was that it needed to be good like last time or better. So it was better if Sour did make the gear for her. But since Angela seemed to be eager to get the possibility to help with specially made gears, so would Ellen try turn to her when she needed something. It couldn’t be wrong to turn to her instead of Sour, she was after all Sour’s daughter. Not to mention that Ellen found it easier to talk things through with her.

“That actually sounds kind of difficult.”

Ellen had got asked to come back the next day to talk with Sour about it. But just for the fun of it, so was she also telling Angela about it to give her a taste of it.

She was a really smart person, not because she followed what Ellen told her about it. But instead because she knew her own limits of what she could do by herself.

“I think it can be kind of difficult to make, but of course I haven’t seen how gears are made.”

“Maybe Sour can let you see how he makes them while you ask a thing or two?”

That way she could maybe pick up a thing or two that could help her later on.

Ellen spent some time talking with Angela before heading off to both Thom and Chris to see if she possibly could buy a few things on credit, only so she could start at the machine to Alice

Alice let out a big yawn while sitting in the kitchen area of the clinic.

She had been sleeping really bad the last days, but it was first this day that she felt too tired to concentrate on her work. She had been spacing out from time to time, so it had ended with that Lapin decided to take action. The girl had first asked Alice how she was feeling and upon hearing that she was tired the girl had offered to take over. Only so Alice could get some rest.

Lapin was just as kind and hardworking like always, even started to keep an eye at Alice. Not in a matter that showed she didn’t trust her, but instead only giving if a feeling that the girl cared about her.

The sleeping problem had started after Alice took the blueprint to the Clinic and “that woman” saw it, simply asking what she had for plans for it. Upon which Alice had told her, only to receive the question if she tried to make herself important.

That wasn’t the case, she would never try to make herself look important at the cost of her own sister. The stupid question had annoyed Alice, but she didn’t pay it much attention. Until she should try to sleep that evening. By then so had Lilly’s words echoed in her mind, connecting more and more to the horrible dream where she had been accused to use others.

It was all lies, she knew it herself. But yet so couldn’t she get the thought out if her mind, and it got worse and worse by every day. Until only a few days ago, when she started to only could get a few hours sleep every night.

She wasn’t using anyone to get what she wanted, she didn’t try to make herself important. It really was just lies.

“Do you want to go home now and get some sleep?”

Lapin had just finished the treatment of another patient. Alice hadn’t noticed that the girl walked up to her. It could have been nice try to get some sleep, but how would it look like if Alice left before her assistant? Only to get some sleep? It wouldn’t have looked good at all, but she was truly grateful that Lapin offered her the possibility.

After declining the offer, Alice started to think at last time when her mind had been in a mess. It had been when Ellen started studying to become a cog technician. Taija had made her open herself up a little and talk about it, eases up her heart. Maybe that could help again, but the problem was who she would talk with. She didn’t want to talk with Lapin about it, even if the girl stood up for her in the dream. Yet so would it be wrong by her to talk with her about it. Lilly wasn’t even worth thinking about since she wouldn’t understand anything. Taija would have been a good idea, but she was still hiding at Lilly’s office almost all of her time at the clinic. Ellen? Ellen… She was a very smart and strong person, but yet Alice didn’t want to open up like that for her beloved sister. Bothering her with any of her own small problems.

It turned out that she couldn’t talk to anyone about it after all, so she needed to find her own solution to the problem.

Nothing had got better when Alice had gone to bed.

Ellen came back to the house and went straight to her workshop, even locking the door behind herself. Which usually was something she never did. When it was time for them to eat, so was Lapin knocking at the door for a couple of minutes before she got any response.

Ellen seemed to be in a really bad mood, she said next to nothing during the dinner and locked herself in again after she was done eating. Something must have happened, otherwise she wouldn’t have acted like that.

Was it because of her work, or had she been at another date that had gone horribly wrong. Could it be that the person she met had done something wrong?

Alice tried her very best to ignore the bad thoughts before it got out of control.

Lapin entered the room, undressed and sneaked to the bed. Before she noticed that Alice was awake.

“I am sorry, did I woke you up?”

She was just as gently and kind as always.

“No, I just haven’t been able to fall asleep yet.”

“Thinkin’ about sister?”

She couldn’t tell Lapin about anything, right?

“You know, I talked a little with her before comin’ here.”

“I thought she was angry or somethin’, but it turned out that sister is a strange one.”

Ellen wasn’t strange, she was just a little special with some own traits.

Lapin hugged Alice from behind and talked calmly with her.

Explaining for Alice how she had been knocking constantly at the door until Ellen finally opened.

The girl felt that Ellen was strange since it turned out that she hadn’t even reacted to how she acted herself. Ellen had been engulfed by her own thoughts of something, which seemed to make her act strange. And the reason that she had locked herself up in the workshop was all because she had some work to do. And once again she hadn’t reacted at her behaviour, she didn’t even know she had locked the door behind her.

“Sister is a really strange one.”

Alice couldn’t help but think of herself as stupid. She assumed that her sister was in a bad mood since she acted as she did. But didn’t even once thought once about asking her about it. Instead she had only feed her bad thoughts until they filled up her mind. She really was an idiot, wasn’t she?

Alice knocked at the door to Ellen workshop and waited a short while before she entered.

Ellen was working with something and didn’t notice Alice until she first called out for Ellen.

“Are you also visiting me today Alice.” Just as Lapin had said so didn’t Ellen seem to be in a bad mood.

“How are you doing Ellen?”

Ellen took and looked at herself and then brushed off some dirt from herself. “It seems like I am just fine. If it’s that you wonder the same thing as Lapin, so wasn’t I even noticing the behaviour myself.”

“Okay. May I ask what you are working at?”

Some of Alice thoughts got to rest upon hearing that, so she turned her attention to what her sister worked with, What had made Ellen think so much that she acted differently from normal. It did somehow remind her of something she had seen earlier.

Ellen explained that it was the “Angel” that she had asked for two weeks earlier. But it was first now that Ellen had got the time to start working with it.

“So you are done with the other work?”

Ellen pointed out that she still would go there the next day to see if there was something that she would need to adjust. Yet she didn’t seem to be glad that the work was done, not even after working with it for so long. Was there any reason for that, could it be that it was at that work she daily meets the person she was dating?

“The “Angel” will be done in about two days, if nothing comes up.”

That was great, that meant that they could give even more patients their treatment at a faster pace.

Ellen said in a strong and sure voice that the machine she builds would be much better than the other one Alice had ordered, following up how with the question what Alice would do with 3 machines.

“Why would I have 3 of them when I only need 2? You aren’t thinking about making a third, right?”

Both Ellen and Alice seemed to be confused by each other’s statements.

It turned out that Ellen had thought that Alice had asked for the blueprint so someone else could build the “Angel” for her. An idea that Alice wouldn’t even think about, not as long Ellen could build it for her. It didn’t matter if it couldn’t be done in an instant, she had been able to work with only one “angel” for so long. So she could just as fine work with one for quite some time more.

Ellen made a very cute face when she understood that she had misunderstood why Alice had asked for the blueprint. Alice wished she always could remember that face.

“Then why did you asked for the blueprint Alice?”

Alice explained that she had decided to take a patent on it, since Ellen wouldn’t take her time to do it herself. So now it was only the two of them that was allowed to build it.

Ellen didn’t mind that Alice took patent at it, she was most probably knowing herself that she would take quite some time to take patent at it, is she even took the time to do it.

Alice knew her beloved sister’s weak points, which of one was that she was far too kind.

Ellen had simply said that she would take a small bath before she also went to bed.

“Isn`t it nice to have some “sister-time” from time to time?”

Alice hadn’t taken a no as an answer when offering Ellen to keep her company in the bath.

Ellen didn’t answer her question, but it was clear that she enjoyed that special time they could have together like that. Otherwise she would have declined Alice. Ellen was a really strong person after all, so there wouldn’t be any problem for her to do that.

Alice looked closely at her sister. If Alice just would have got a little of her sister’s beauty so could she have been able to live happily. With only a little of the beauty so shouldn’t she have looked like the corpse of a loose woman. And if she would have got a little of her sister’s strength too, then she could have been standing at her own. Instead of needing other’s support all the time.

Just why couldn’t it be like that? She could have been one of the happiest girls in the world.

“When will you date your friend again?” Alice was curious. She wanted her sister to be happy, and Ellen had also grown much more beautiful after the date. Both physically and as a person.

“I don’t date anyone.”

Ellen was embarrassed and answered in a panic-like matter. Denying that it had been a date, even if she had called it a date when they had asked her about it the very same day. But if course she was over the top happy during that time.

Alice couldn’t be happier that she had gone and talked with her beloved sister.

Lapin had already fallen asleep in the bed, sleeping deep and drooling. Yet she looked very cute and innocent. It had all been thanks to that girl that Alice had been able to spend that wonderful time with her sister.

Alice let out a yawn, it was really time for her to get some the sleep. If that was possible that was.

Ellen had found one problem the night before when she talked with Alice.

Just as Alice said, so was the job as good as finished. That had made Ellen think about if she still would be able to meet Jack. Of course it couldn’t be as regular as it was now since he didn’t need to come and check her process every day. But they still would meet from time to time, right? Or would he need to go into hiding again, just like when they lost their home? If it was like that, then she really wished that he should find problem after problem with the automobile.

“Welcome back my beloved angel!” Jack was strangely happy to see her, almost scary happy.

“You did a really wonderful job with the automobile. I am really proud of you. Thanks to you, I can solve all my problems quicker.”

That sounded great. If he could solve the problem quickly so was there a chance that he could get back to her faster. And then start to live together with her again.

Ellen felt really happy and got even happier when he walked up to her and gave her a tight hug. “I am really proud of you.”

Ellen’s face got warm and she felt embarrassed when she hugged him back. She had never believed that he would get this happy and proud for her to finish a simple job. It was after all only her job she had done, so was she even deserving this treatment from her beloved one?

He kissed her on her forehead. Ellen didn’t know how to react anymore. Would she even give him a reaction to this behaviour, what should she do in that case?

He hadn’t found any problems when he had been out and tried the automobile the day before. Even enjoying to be able to drive around once again to his heart’s content. He found out that everything was even better when he tested the highest speed, which was much better than he thought it should be.

“Since you did a wonderful job, would you like to spend the day with me in another city close by?”

He invited her on a date, in another city. It should be the first time for her to leave this city. But there was still a big problem that they needed to think about.

“Is it really a good idea if they still are searching for you?”

If it would be a big risk for Jack, so couldn’t it be a very good idea. She didn’t want to risk that Jack would disappear again and leave her all alone.

“You don’t need to worry, I know some places where I can move around without risking getting caught.”

How could there be so many places where wanted persons could walk around safe? Sure, Ellen didn’t want Jack to get caught and found it good that there were places he could be safe and get a chance to relax. But it also meant that there could be murderers hiding at those places, which would be a big risk for both Ellen and her beloved one.

“Don`t you want to go on a date with me?”

Did he really need to express it like that? Of course Ellen wanted to go on a date with him, but she as just worried about the risks.

“Will there be time for me to go back home and change clothes?” If she would go on a date with him, she needed to look pretty for him. Which she never could do in her working clothes.

Ellen sat in the automobile with Jack toward the other city.

There hasn’t been any time for her to get home and change clothes. If she wanted to go on the date with him, so did they need to leave right at the spot. Ellen almost found it strange until Jack expressed his worries that there could be someone that spotted him in the city.

The way he was driving on was in a really bad condition, and absolutely not made for automobiles to drive at them yet. But of course it was probably only a question of time before it was changed, it was after all not long ago that someone “created” the automobile.

Ellen could at least not deny that she was glad to be there with Jack. Even if Jack didn’t pay her any attention at all.

She had been thinking from time to time how interesting it could be to get out at journey just like Jill did. And this could be the first taste she could get of it. Which Jack only add a bitter taste too when he acted like that. Thoughts had passed from time to time about how she and Jack could get out on some journeys, while slowly growing grey together. but if he would act like now during those journeys, it would only have annoyed Ellen.

Instead of talking with her, so was he more or less in his own world. If this was really was how it should be, then she rather would go on a journey with Jill. Then she would at least have someone to talk with, and maybe even learning something. Not to mention that Jill might have some more experience than Jack when it came to travelling.

Ellen was still curious about the city and asked if it was famous for something or likewise, but Jack didn’t seem to think that there was anything to tell her. Not a word.

He left the automobile close to a house of an allied, as he chooses to express it. Then they left to go into the city.

“There’s a hotel here close by that have wonderful food and drinks. A perfect place for a date.” He grabbed her hand and gently pulled her along. He seemed to be eager to get there together with her.

If the hotel had wonderful food and drinks, then it was the only thing that it aimed for. The inside of the hotel looked just as bad like the restaurant that he had treated her for lunch during the last date. Easy said so was there nothing to even be impressed by.

“Pardon mister, would you like a room and some company?” The old man in the reception started to talk with Jack and offered Jack a room.

“I would like a room with room service for me and my girl?”

His girl? Was Ellen supposed to feel flattered or what? What did he really meant with “his girl”.

“I can offer you better girls than her.”

“I want her and only her.”

Ellen started to get worried, just what did they think of her? Just how did they see her?