Arrival at Baker Street

As soon as we had finished supper, Mother announced that we were going to Baker Street to visit Uncle David. I wasn't too thrilled with the idea, especially when we arrived on the porch.

I overheard Detective Basil saying, "Now then Dawson, as Mrs. Judson is on holiday for the next fortnight, this is a most opportune time for you to learn how to throw knives properly."

"Knives, Basil?"

"Of course, my dear fellow! If you're to accompany me when I go undercover to work cases, you must learn to handle weapons with ease. Besides, you've had military training, not to mention all the years you've used a scalpel. I fail to see how tossing knives would present any manner of challenge."

Mother rapped on the door. "Oh, David? Could we come in?"

"Grasp the knife in this manner," Mr. Basil was explaining, "angle your arm thus…"

Mother beat the door with greater strength and more rapidly. "DAVID QUEMUS DAWSON! LET US IN BEFORE I BREAK DOWN THE DOOR!"

Uncle David opened the door. "How wonderful to see you and the children, Lenora."

Stepping inside, Mother frowned. "Your housekeeper hasn't been gone a full day, and the whole flat already looks like a rat's nest!"

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?"

"I'll make it brief, Hippo." Mother crossed her arms in front of her. "I have a seminar to attend. My train leaves in two hours, so you're watching the children."

"Ordinarily, I'd be delighted, but we do have our own schedules to maintain," Uncle David answered.

"Yes," Mother muttered sarcastically. "Playing with knives must surely take hours."

Uncle David frowned.

"My husband will be working at his office for hours at a time, so I can't just leave the children at home. Simon's out of town, Meta has her own children, Corine's busy planning for her wedding, and thanks to Basil's childhood friend, I can't ask Daniel!"

"Alright, Lenora. Basil and I will watch the children, but as you seem to disapprove of our housekeeping, you'll have to come in and clean for us the next time Mrs. Judson is on holiday."

Mother didn't look happy, but she seemed to have no choice. "Fine! I brought some things they'll be needing. The suitcases are on the porch."

She gave Uncle David and Mr. Basil a long speech about how they were to take excellent care of us. Then she handed Uncle David twenty page of rules. Afterwards, she reminded us children how to find the police station and not to touch anything that was sharp or could explode and to go to bed at a decent hour and all kinds of advice like that.

Finally, she concluded her speech with, "And remember, if you have any problems at all, feel free to ask somebody else. Uncle David would just make it worse."

With that, she left.

"What did you say was her occupation?" Mr. Basil asked.

"She works with troubled rodents to help them overcome hard times in their life."

The investigator frowned. "She gives counseling?!"

"Yes," Uncle David answered. "She's quite good at it, very gentle and patient with her clients."

The sleuth mashed his lips together tightly, as if trying hard not to laugh. After a few seconds, he became more serious, declaring that his sister would never be so irksome.

My younger brother, Jesse, tugged on Uncle David's sleeves. "Why did Mum call you 'Hippo'?"

"It's short for 'Hippocrates,'" he explained.

"Mother says it's short for 'hippopotamus' because you could stand to lose half your body weight!" retorted my older sister, Danielle. "Is it true that you don't believe in using anesthesia?"

"Or that you clean wounds with lemon juice?" I added.

Uncle David frowned slightly. "Why would you ask that? Do you have a cut?"

"No!" I responded quickly, remembering how Mother had said not to trust him with our health.

Rena, my baby sister, was crawling around the floor, looking for something to put into her mouth. She finally started chewing on a violin bow.

"Give me that!" Mr. Basil demanded, snatching it from her.

Rena started crying and refused to be comforted.

Danielle rolled her eyes. "You have to give her a toy or something to shut her up."

I handed Rena her favorite doll, and the noise ceased.

"It's time to start baths," Uncle David stated. "Then we'll get ready for bed."

Danielle took her bath first since she was the oldest child. While I was waiting for my turn, I searched for toys or something else to keep myself amused. I didn't find any jacks or marbles, but I did find a black bag. When I opened it, I found a few interesting things: some pills, a few bandages, a couple bottles of liquid, a syringe, a pair of gloves, some pieces of metal, and a…stevedore?…stertorous?…one of those things that doctors use to hear your heart.

I didn't have any idea what to do with all that stuff until I noticed that there was a chemistry set in the room. I dumped the bottles of liquid and the pills into the beakers to see if they would mix with the chemicals and explode. There was no explosion, but the liquid in one of the beakers changed colors and started to fizz. Then it overflowed all over the table. Some even ran down to the floor, covering the gloves that I had accidentally dropped and staining the carpet.

Remembering a story about a mad scientist who once made something so strong that it dissolved the spoon that he used to mix it, I decided to see if anything in the beakers would do the same, so I put the metal tools from the black bag into it.

Taking the syringe, I carefully filled it full of the fizzing liquid and put the end of the syringe into the soil that surrounded one of the house plants. I wanted to see if the plant would come to life and start eating mice, like the one I once read about in a library book. Regrettably, nothing happened. The plant started to wither after a few minutes, but that was it. This had to be the most BORING game in history!

Since science had been a major disappointment, I decided to decorate instead. I started unrolling the bandages and hanging them on the windowsill. I tried hanging them from the mantel, but they were too long. They caught on fire, so I had to throw them into the fireplace to keep the flat from burning to the ground.

Getting an idea, I started throwing the beakers into the fire to see if it would change colors or make anything explode. Some of the chemical liquids bubbled and made strange noises in the flame, but that was it.

I was just trying to figure out what to do with the heart listening device when Mr. Basil caught me. His eyes got really wide, and he started trying to talk, but it came out as stuttering. He kept pointing at where his chemistry set used to be before I started throwing beakers into the fire, and he was breathing kind of strange. Finally, he was able to say an actual word.

"DAWSON!"

Uncle David came running. "Why, Basil, what ever is the…WHAT IN THE NAME OF HIPPOCRATES?!"

"I was under the impression that you specifically told me you would mind the children!" Mr. Basil scolded. "All I wished to do was enjoy my pipe, and you insisted I shouldn't smoke in the presence of juveniles, so I agreed to step outside for a moment! Did you not assure me that all would be well?!"

"I only stepped into my room for a moment. I had no idea…" Uncle David turned to me. "Have you an explanation?"

Sniffling a little, I looked at my feet. "I'm sorry, Uncle David. I just wanted to play marbles."

After a long pause, he placed his hand on my shoulder. "It's alright. I suppose I deserved this for all the times I destroyed your mother's room when I was a very young child. All is forgiven."

"Really?" I dried my eyes.

"We'll see if we can find you some marbles tomorrow," he promised.