Chapter Two

Arthur rolled over the next morning and peered at the clock. Seven thirty. Groggily he rose and started getting dressed. Leaf was a heavy sleeper and so went undisturbed. Arthur quickly walked down the hall and was en route to the kitchen for a cup of coffee when he spotted Artemis sitting at the dining table, munching on Kellogg's frosted flakes. "Morning Artemis"

"Morning Dad" his son mumbled between mouthfuls. "In a hurry Dad?" Artemis asked taking note of his father's rather peculiar haste that morning.

"Hmm? Gah!" he yelped as he poured coffee on his hand. "Actually son, yes" he snatched at paper towel and ran cold water on his hand. "Are you ready for school?"

Artemis nodded his eyes smiling out at Arthur from underneath a baseball cap. Artemis looked just like his father, the same eyes, the same dark hair, and a spitting image of him. And he acted like Arthur too, in limited ways, at times he could be terribly pessimistic, and at others rather free willed like his mother. Arthur frowned at his son. "That cap won't do" he scratched his head. "It's sporting but it's the school's dress code" he continued looking over Artemis; he was wearing the same dopey uniform Arthur had had to wear on his first day. Briefly he recalled when he had been forced to go on a cross-country run in that same immobile uniform and gotten thrown into that whole Universe mess. That reminded him of something. "Don't go on the cross country run," Arthur advised absently as he jammed toast into his mouth.

"What?"

"I said 'don't go on the cross country run,'" he repeated.

"Why?"

Arthur rolled his eyes. "Okay, You have to be at school in forty five minutes and I have someplace to be so I'm going to make this really quick" Arthur began and sped through his adventure that had started on a Monday during a phys ed class, the whole bit about the Keys to the Kingdom, the House, Suzy, The Architect, and his roll in the whole scheme of things. After he was finished Artemis blinked at him wide eyed and for a heart stopping moment Arthur thought he hadn't believed him.

"A house?" Artemis said at last. Arthur hastily agreed.

"Like the one across the street? We have new neighbors, I think"

Arthur's face registered shock. "What?" he dashed to the door and looked out the window and sure enough there it was, the looming monstrosity that was the epicenter of the universe. He caught his breath and gaped in wonder. Now Arthur was sure that it was time. Then he though of something, he whipped his head around and looked down at his son. "You can see it?"

Artemis raised an eyebrow. "Who couldn't see that thing, it's huge." He moved in next to Arthur to look outside as well. "I wonder if they have children" Artemis thought aloud and then looked up at Arthur. "So that's it eh? The epicenter of the universe, and you rule over it?"

It sounded ridiculous now to him, hearing his son put it in such basic terms. "Yes" Arthur admitted. He shook his head to register what Artemis had just suggested. "Children? No" he said "the House is just a…." he trailed off unsure of how to explain in such a limited time frame. "All right just know that I love you and your mother very much, and, um, err, don't go on that stupid run, don't listen to strange voices or weird weather and oh, don't go on that run!" he kissed his son's forehead and before Artemis could say a goodbye of his own, his father was across the street and reaching for the handle of the Front Door. Before his very eyes his father disappeared never to be seen again.

"He's gone already isn't he?" he heard his mothers voice behind him. Leaf had snuck up behind him without hi realizing it.

Artemis looked up at her and saw the water threatening to spill down her cheeks from her eyes. "Yes. Left just now" The breath was choked out of him as his mother swooped in and encompassed him in her arms, brushing his hair and holding him tight, while weeping very quietly on his shoulder. "Mom, your---erg---choking"

"Oh sorry" Leaf pulled away and began straightening her clothes, she wore a black pinstripe blazer with a pair of blue torn jeans with converse shoes. She looked like a very old teenager. Her choppy hair was clipped on the side with a green leaf and her shoulder bag slung casually over her right shoulder. "It's just that, well you know, just you and me now"

"It'll be alright mom. With Dad controlling the universe we'll be okay and…." Artemis paused and wrinkled his nose as he looked up at his mother. "You cut your hair yourself again, didn't you" he scolded.

Leaf tousled his hair and then opened the front door. "Just like your father" she mused.

"If he's told you once he's told you a thousand times to go to a salon" Artemis continued.

"I will!" Leaf said exasperatedly. "Right after I drop you off I will" she ticked a glance at her watch and ushered him out the door. "Now stop jabbering and get in the car. I've got ten minutes to get you there on time"

Artemis walked ahead and hopped in on the passenger's side. "No Speeding" Artemis said. Cautious Arthur speaking through him. Leaf blew hair out of her face. "You sound more and more like Arthur with each passing minute"

"I have to" Artemis replied with conviction. "What with him being away and all, got to keep a bit of him around"

Leaf smiled. "Yes, I suppose we do"

On the other side

Arthur went through the front door and found that he was standing before the lieutenant keeper on Doorstop Hill. "Greeting Lord Arthur! What a fine young man you have become. Would you like a disguise?"

"Yes actually" Arthur said. For old times sake he thought, for some reason he had grown rather fond of disguises over the years. It took a moment for the lieutenant to shove a wiry arm at Arthur from within the door, a pile of Victorian age clothes. Arthur rifled through that, picking out an outfit very reminiscent of the first costume the lieutenant keeper had ever supplied him with accompanied with a brown floppy sort of cap. He touched his knuckles to his forehead in a salute and then continued down into town the way he had so many Mondays ago.

Upon arrival Arthur wasn't the least bit surprised to find almost everything as it had been before. Amazing how times passes so quickly here and yet nothing has changed. Arthur shook his head. Of course something must have changed. More than millennia had passed here at the House. So Arthur continued through the town as cautiously as he could. He had been right, strung up all over were banners that read: Welcome Lord Arthur Rightful Heir to the Keys to the Kingdom. Further down were people shuffling posters and plastering them on the walls, all donning the same ridiculous portrait of him with broad shoulders and wearing majestic Victorian garments. Arthur shook his head. He was glad he had decided to use a disguise. If everyone here in Lower House was so excited about him, he couldn't imagine what sort of Welcome he would receive in Upper House.

Still the usual business of exchanging notes and papers carried on, and it wasn't long before someone shoved a parcel at Arthur and told hi to get a move on. Obviously he had been mistaken for one of the deliverymen. But why stir up trouble, Arthur nodded, took the parcel and headed quickly down the road the man had just directed him. He was nearing the shop when he heard a sound. A Whistle. His heart sank and his breath quickened, recalling the warning bell for nithlings. But this sound was different, a sort of rattling whisper, like a constables whistle, or that of an old kettle, and almost more of a nuisance than alarming. He then heard another sound. The clatter of hooves. He glanced over his shoulder to see a carriage drawn by horse like creatures barreling along the road. Arthur stepped to the side to let them pass but instead the carriage changed direction and began to follow him. He blinked twice tugged at his collar and then started off in a sprint.

"Hey you, that's my parcel!" a man called a Arthur rushed by.

"Sorry!" Arthur yelled, running furiously to escape his strange pursuers. No matter how he dodged, the carriage followed and seemed to gather speed, and every so often he heard the driver yelling.

"Yah! Yah!" followed by a snap of the reins and an aggravated grunt from the beasts tugging it along. People moved aside as the Arthur came by, appearing only for a moment puzzled and then resuming their previous tasks. Arthur was still running charging at full speed and making turns down strange streets. And still there was the tumble of the wheels close behind. This is mad. Arthur thought and suddenly stopped and turned around to face the carriage. Lest he spend the rest of an eternity running. But the carriage wasn't stopping, it seemed to be accelerating there was Arthur standing rigid now in fright. He was going to be trampled, crushed under the constant churn of hoof and wheel.