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something
that didn ’ t really matter but had been set off limits
precisely to give ornery young teens something benign to rebel
against.
    “ How about
twenty stories, ” Susan continued. “ And
I ’ ll give you a five level
head-start. ”
    “ Oh, now
you ’ re talking, ” Charlie
replied. “ Those are good odds. ”
    “ You
wouldn ’ t stand a chance. ”
    Charlie laughed.
    “ No, ” he admitted. “ I
wouldn ’ t. I ’ d give it a go
though. But I have to admit, if I was putting chits on the finish
line, they ’ d all be on you. ”
    Susan stole a kiss. It was
her way of showing her affection for his honest admission. She
liked his lack of pretension. Ego soured boys, in her opinion. Her
kiss brought a smile to his face.
    Other than
the glow from the wall-screen, the only light on the floor came out
of the sheriff ’ s office, struggling
through the gaps in the shutters. In the dim light, Susan could
make out the time on the clock above the serving line: 11:15
PM.
    “ Come
on, ” Charlie said. “ I ’ ve got
something for Sheriff Cann. ”
    Susan
wasn ’ t surprised. Charlie was like that, spontaneously
looking for things he could do for people. They walked over to the
office and knocked on the door. Light spilled into the cafeteria as
the sheriff opened the sturdy steel door.
    “ What can I
do for you kids this late at night? ” the sheriff
asked.
    Kids, thought
Susan with a hint of indignation. She didn ’ t think of
herself that way any more, not since leaving school and shadowing.
Being a kid was a hard stigma to shake, even for those that had hit
their twenties. Susan was eighteen going on twenty-five in her
mind, but the sheriff ’ s smile melted her
heart. Sheriff Cann was in his early sixties, he probably looked at
anyone under the age of fifty as a kid, she figured. He walked with
a limp, but not from any injury, he was just getting old and the
stairs weren ’ t kind on
knees.
    “ I ’ ve got something for you,
sheriff, ” Charlie said. “ A
present. ”
    “ Is this
another one of your inventions? ” the sheriff
asked. “ I really liked your mouse trap. Damn rodents are
forever chewing holes in things. Paper ’ s too damn precious
to waste on a rat. We need more of those damn contraptions over
there in the kitchen. That ’ s where they come
from, ya know. ”
    There were a lot of damns,
Susan noted, but that was Sheriff Cann.
    Charlie opened his backpack
and pulled out two sections of shiny, curved, aluminum struts, each
with a hinge in the middle and a bunch of black straps.
    “ What in the
blazes is that? ” the sheriff asked. He seemed as
perplexed as Susan.
    “ It ’ s a knee brace, ” Charlie
replied. “ I ’ ve been working on
the design with Doc Winters. ”
    Charlie
dropped his bag by the door and gestured to the chair,
adding, “ Take a seat. Try it on. ”
    Sheriff Cann
looked like he would have tried anything Charlie suggested without
too much questioning. He sat down, saying, “ You ’ re not going to get
me to take off my coveralls in front of a lady, now are
you? ”
    Lady was a step up from
being a kid, Susan noted. She could live with lady.
    “ For now,
just pull up the leg as far as you can. ”
    The sheriff
obliged, scrunching the coveralls on his right leg up to his thigh.
Charlie knelt down in front of him. He forced the coveralls a bit
higher and put the brace in place, lining the hinge up with the
sheriff ’ s knee and strapping the bars on either side of
his upper and lower leg.
    “ Doc Winters
approved this, you say? ”
    “ Yep. I
figure the knee is just a hinge joint like any other, it just
happens to be enclosed in flesh, but the principle is the same as
any other load-bearing joint. If I replicate that joint with these
aluminum pivot hinges they should spread the load, taking the
stress off your knee, and if the theory works, taking away any
pain. ”
    Charlie stood
up, adding, “ Well, are you going
to give it a go? ”
    Sheriff