There was a clang in the metal tube and Watkingle reached for it, retrieving the bottle he had sent out a mere minute ago. "Got it!" he called happily, pulling on the scroll in the bottle, it was clear to Arthur that Watkingle was having difficulty getting it out and then requested for Suzy to help. "You're a little thing, your hand should fit right in there," he coaxed, guiding Suzy to the bottle.
Arthur shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "What do you mean elusive dwellings, does the Hourglass Manor move?" this seemed to be getting trickier than Arthur had hoped.
Doctor Scamandross produced a handkerchief out of his robe and mopped his brow. "I suppose you do need me to enlighten you on the subject" he glanced quickly over at Watkingle and Suzy, who surprisingly were still having a great deal of trouble with the bottle. "The Hourglass Manor runs with time,"
Arthur regarded him with suspicion. "And?"
"Its eternal, the Mistress is able to decided where and what time period she wants to live in at any point or time. Few have ever had actual access to it"
"It shifts between time periods?"
The doctor wiped his face again and nodded. "For lack of better phrase"
Frustration came to a boil inside Arthur, he was about to explode but someone else asked his question.
"Then what goods the puzzle thingy if the place keeps shufflin' about?" Suzy gave one final yank and removed the message and came over to join them.
"It is said there is a navigational way to always find the Manor, no matter the era. We will attempt to use the puzzle to find this way"
"A weird way" Arthur concluded.
"Yes" Scamandross agreed.
Watkingle had begun reading the scroll and then a gave squeak of excitement. " Maddie's always been a good contact. Last place the piece was seen was somewhere in the Pit some thousand years ago"
Arthur grimaced. "As in, the Far Reaches?"
"Aye that be the one." Watkingle confirmed. "I'll be sending Chauncey along, if you don't mind. Been wanting to get some real work for ages now. Not much training he can get from gossip on the Port."
Arthur opened his mouth but was cut off by Suzy. "Sure, we'd love to have him along." Aside to Arthur she explained. "Rats is almost efficient in any situation, if we runs into any trouble, and I reckon we will, it'd be good to have him"
"Fine" Arthur consented. "Could we take an elevator there though? I'm tired of that chariot"
Watkingle nodded. "I'll beam one up right now."
Only Tuesday
Leaf rolled over that morning, in the half empty bed and gazed out the window. It was still pitch black, contrary to the clock on the night table that read, seven fifteen am. She got out of bed and took her own sweet time getting dressed for work. As she left her room she rapped absently on Artemis's door and headed downstairs to get breakfast going.
Artemis yawned deeply before pulling on the dreary school uniform. He didn't blame Timina for altering it. She had been a peculiar girl, with attitude, and though Artemis hadn't enjoyed talking to her at all, there was something he found rather fetching about her personality. Or maybe the word was intimidating. She had said something about needing help. "I know you can, and will," she had said before seeming to disappear. Of course Artemis couldn't help but wonder if perhaps this was the sort of weird happening his father had warned him about. He yawned again and hefted his backpack as he marched downstairs where he found his mother, frozen in the actions of pouring milk. "Mom?" he ventured. There was no response. "Mom?" he asked again. No indication whatsoever that she had heard him. Artemis dropped his bag and walked over to Leaf, he tapped her shoulder and then tugged on her hand. Exasperated, he jumped up and rapped her smartly on the head. She seemed to jerk back to life then and began moving rather rapidly. Fast forward. The same thing had happened yesterday with Timina. Leaf was flitting about the kitchen now, seemingly to her son on some sort of autopilot. Maybe I can skip breakfast. He figured and slowly backed out of the house. If he started walking now, he would reach school right on time.
Pitfalls.
Arthur coughed raucously upon their arrival. "I hate the Pit," he spluttered.
Suzy blinked her eyes rapidly. "You'd think after the change and all they'd have this smog problem sorted"
"Hasn't been a sunburst down her in awhile" Someone muttered.
They turned to find a short clerk seated behind a desk. She was handing out strom lanterns and stabilized mud capes. "Greetings Lord Arthur" she drawled. "Welcome to the pit"
"Great," Arthur seethed. "How do we go about the piece now?"
Chauncey suddenly got down on all fours and started crawling along the ground, his nose pressed to the ground. He got back to his feet; his nose covered with soot and grinned. "Found something,"
"Let me see," Doctor Scamandross pushed his way through and began pulling out his array of tools, soon enough he had the telescope out again, closing in on whatever Chauncey claimed to have found. "Oh very good work Chauncey"
"What did he find?" Arthur demanded.
"A tracing" the doctor replied coolly.
"Meaning?"
Suzy patted his shoulder. "A tracing is a bit of a Denizen, after they've visited somewhere or the like, sort of like leftovers, but only Denizens leave them, and the most superior of them at that 'cause they gots so much power and all dripping off them."
"So this is from a Denizen, can you tell me who?" asked Arthur.
"No, the tracing isn't fresh enough to divulge that, but I can tell you it came from as Suzy suggested a superior Denizen, even possibly one of the Morrow days."
Arthur shot the doctor a withering glance. "But I took care of the Morrow Days" he reminded them. "Every last one" he added growing very irritated.
Scamandross sniffed, "Well then I wouldn't know"
Chauncey raised one pink paw in the air. "May I say something Lord Arthur?"
"Call me Arthur. What is it?"
"Well Arthur" Chauncey stressed. " Perhaps it was one of the Morrow Days cronies then no? One of the Noons, or Dusks,"
Arthur shouted. "But why would they have it?"
"Why would anyone have anything 'round here?" Suzy challenged. "Why did Feverfew have part of the will? Why did the Mariner have to run? Why did I have the stupid frog when it all happened?"
Scamandross chuckled. "The lady does have a point. It is just one of those things Arthur, you should no that by now" he chided.
"Something's can't be explained" Arthur concluded, then rallied. "But how do we know it has anything to do with the piece?"
"Chief Denizens don't come down here a lot," the same clerk offered. " I 'aven't been down here long, but I know that much. Most of them rather stay up top. Or they go to the pyramid. Since the grotesques there hasn't been anyone here. Less of course it happened before then," the clerk went back to handing out supplies after her last sentence.
"How long can a tracing last?" Arthur queried.
"Ages, eons, it goes a bit staler the older it gets" Scamandross said. "If it were freshly placed, we'd be able to identify it, when it got there, where the tracer was now, and even why they were there."
"What can you tell from it now doc?" Suzy piped up.
The doctor bent down and picked up what appeared to be a very dull piece of metal and examined it closely. "Chief Servant." He noted. "Male," he blinked and looked closer. "Mmm, possible a Dusk" he murmured.
"Fat load of help" Suzy folded her arms.
"It's better than nothing," Arthur affirmed. "There must be some sort of registry down here, to note inspectors or visitors from high up"
"Yeah but no one's seen it in centuries" The clerk answered.
"What's your name?" Arthur asked at last.
" Edith" she replied. "Supply clerk, fourth in precedence"
"That's good enough" Arthur cut in. He began stroking his chin. An idea hit him, though not a very comforting one. "Suzy you don't suppose,"
"That register we busted up?"