Chapter 1.15 - In which Percy is an accomplice

Percy

Month 11, Day 3, Tuesday 5:30 a.m.

Gideon had a nightmare, the only thing that could manage to wake the boy from his coma-like slumber before morning. He crawled out of his bunk and into Percy’s, who tucked Gideon under his arm and fell back to sleep immediately. It had been a difficult, long shift at work the day before, and Percy was limp with exhaustion and looking forward to his sleeping in on his day off.

About an hour before morning, Percy woke to find that Gideon had peed his pants, as well as Percy’s pants, and Percy’s bed. It was honestly impressive that such a small body managed to hold that much urine.

“Ugh!” Percy said, extracting himself from the tangle of baby brother limbs and wet fabric. He stripped off the blanket and took it to the laundry basket in the bathroom, then returned to wake Gideon up.

Percy shook the boy, lightly slapped his cheeks, and even licked his finger and stuck it in Gideon’s ear.

The boy let out a cute, kitten-like snore.

Percy’s patience snapped. He reached out to pinch Gideon’s booger-filled nose shut, counting out the seconds silently.

After about twenty, Gideon woke with a gasp.

“You peed the bed,” Percy accused. “Get up and go to take a shower, then change into clean clothes.

Gideon looked around blearily, then picked up his stuffed felt dragon, the only piece of fabric that had somehow managed to escape being soaked. “It wasn’t me. It must have been Fiery.”

Percy rubbed the bridge of his nose. “It definitely wasn’t Fiery. How could he have done it?”

When Gideon stared up at him in confusion, Percy added, “He doesn’t drink water. He doesn’t even have a pee-hole. He’s been falsely accused.”

Gideon’s eyes widened. He looked down at his stuffed companion’s red felt face and glass eyes. “You been accused of a crime you didn’t commit, Fiery?” He waited for an imaginary response, the space between his eyebrows creasing with concern. “But someone peed the bed. Who could it have been?” Gideon listened for a couple more seconds, then narrowed his eyes suspiciously and hugged Fiery closer as he looked up at Percy. “Was it you?”

Percy blinked down at him in astonishment. His lips twitched, and then he burst out laughing. “Oh, stars above” he finally said, rubbing his tired eyes. “At least it’s my day off.”

By the time he’d gotten Gideon settled and the mattress hung out to air, it was breakfast time, and Percy’s frazzled mom sent him out to the market to pick up food and a couple new waterproof linings for the cloth diapers Gideon wore to bed.

On Percy’s way out the door, he stepped on Aethelwulf’s toy wagon, cracked his cheek against the doorframe, and broke one of his glasses lenses. Waving away one of the few tenacious bugs that was somehow persisting through the dead of winter, Percy shivered his way out to the dawn market. Things had been going so well for him lately, but today he must have just been too tired to properly mitigate his bad luck. “Better be careful outside,” he murmured to himself.

He grabbed the things Mom had requested and swung by Schubert’s Photo Emporium on his way back. She couldn’t be too angry if it took him a couple extra minutes to look at the Vista 500.

When Percy arrived, the metal shutters were still closed. “Oh, I’m too early,” he realized.

But someone was at the side door, bent over and fiddling with the lock. Percy didn’t recognize them, so it must have been a new employee. It made sense. Schubert was getting old and probably didn’t want to spend all day manning the shop himself.

Percy walked up and waited behind the new employee, who seemed to be having some trouble with the lock.

The man noticed his presence and froze, then turned around slowly to look at Percy, his expression a strange mix of fear and belligerence.

Percy smiled pleasantly. “I’ll wait. I just want to come in and look at the Vista 500.”

The man hesitated for a strangely long amount of time, then nodded slowly. “Sure. Just keep quiet and don’t draw attention.”

“Don’t want to disturb the neighbors,” Percy agreed, though secretly he suspected that the man was ashamed to be having so much trouble with the lock. Percy knew how flustering it could be to feel incompetent when you were brand new to a position.

While he waited, he watched the mesmerizing pattern of the moths flying around the nearby street lamp, which was would remain lit for a few more minutes, until the sun had fully risen over the white cliffs.

Finally, the employee managed to open the door, and hurried inside.

Percy would have made his way to the Vista 500, but the employee was acting strangely, snatching artifacts and supplies off the shelves and shoving them into a large cloth satchel. All the delicate, expensive items were jumbled recklessly together. “What are you doing!?” Percy asked in horror.

The man glanced at him, continuing to sweep things into his satchel. “You can grab whatever you want before the coppers arrive. Just keep your mouth shut,” the man said, giving him a threatening sneer.

Percy gaped. “You don’t work for Schubert. You’re a thief!” And, Percy realized, he had just watched this man break into the store, with no attempt to stop him.