Seven: The Known Universe (cont.)

Everyone in the cellar was startled when Amelia let out a squeal of delight. “He’s so cute!” she said, hands pressed to the sides of her face. Her outburst surprised all of them, but what shocked Edward was her unrestrained glee. Amelia normally kept up an air of ironic detachment, like all the other teenagers Edward knew. It was part of the basic high-school survival kit. Still, a talking, tippling hedgehog was not something you saw every day. Edward smiled. He was seeing a different side of his sister. They were in a different world, after all.

“Lords above! You almost scared us out of our skins, girl!”

Collie said, turning to face Amelia, Edward and Torvald. The hedgehog squeaked and waved his tiny walking stick.

“Sorry!” Torvald said, and stepped past Amelia. She was watching the little animal with a look of pure joy on her face, oblivious to everything else. “Look at his little cane!” she said, as the hedgehog tapped it crossly on the barrelhead.

“We didn’t mean any harm, Collie,” Torvald said. “I just wanted you to meet Edward and Amelia.”

Collie looked at Amelia and he understood perfectly. “I’m sure you did,” he said, and winked at Torvald. Amelia was too enraptured with the creature in front of her to notice, but Torvald blushed. Edward observed all of this, rolled his eyes, and stepped forward to introduce himself, since Torvald was too distracted to do it. “Very pleased to meet you sir,” he said extending his hand, “My name is Edward Lockheart.”

Collie put down his cider, took a step forward and returned Edward’s firm handshake with approval. “A pleasure to meet you, Edward.” Collie was only a few inches taller than Edward. He had a pleasant, clean-shaven face and long sideburns. It was hard to guess Collie’s age. Even with the grey in his reddish-brown hair, he might be thirty years old or fifty, for all Edward could tell. Collie’s eyes were a warm brown that reflected the glow of the brass lamps.

“This is my sister,” Edward said, and cleared his throat loudly.

Amelia tore her gaze away from the hedgehog. “I’m sorry — Amelia Lockheart,” she said. Collie took her hand gently, palm down, which made Amelia smile.

“Pleased to meet you, Miss Amelia. My name is Collum dan Art.” He turned toward the cider barrel with a flourish, “And this splendid fellow is Old Man Hedgehog.” The hedgehog chirped and raised his cup. He had the same dark quills, tipped with white, as a normal hedgehog, and the same short snout and dark eyes. He was larger than usual, though, around eight inches tall, standing on his hind legs, holding a small gnarled walking stick in his tiny left hand, and a cup of cider in the right.

Amelia regained her composure enough to approach slowly and bend at the waist until she was at the hedgehog’s level. “It’s very nice to meet you!” Old Man Hedgehog responded with some chirps and squeaks.

“Mister Collum,” Edward said, fascinated, “You understand what he says?” Collie smiled and rubbed his chin. “For the most part, yes. For instance, he said your sister’s eyes are like clear forest pools. More or less.” Amelia sighed, “That is so sweet!” Edward shook his head. This was worse than when they saw the baby chimp at the Kirksville zoo. Yes, Baby Bob was cute, but it was embarrassing to see Lucy and Amelia turn into people who looked like his mother and sister, but could only coo and shriek with delight when the little chimp picked at his navel, or his nose.

Edward, on the other hand, had so many questions about a talking hedgehog and all it implied that he didn’t know where to start. Then he heard muffled laughter from the tavern above, and he remembered why they came down to the cellar in the first place. “Torvald,” he said in a low voice, “Didn’t your father say he needed to talk to Collum?”

Torvald had been completely absorbed in watching Amelia watch Old Man Hedgehog. When Edward mentioned his father, the pleased, slightly goofy look on Torvald’s face was instantly replaced by one close to panic. “Collie!” he said suddenly, “Father needs to talk to you!”

“All right,” Collie said, and looked at the Lockhearts. “Any chance it’s about our young friends here?”

Torvald nodded. “And about something strange we saw at the North gate,” Edward added. He realized they hadn’t even had time to tell Torvald about what they’d seen in Cyrus’ wagon. “Anna and Solomon are already here,” Torvald said.

Collie nodded. “We’d best get upstairs, then.” He put his hand on the top of the barrel in front of Old Man Hedgehog, palm up. The hedgehog stepped onto Collie’s hand, and Collie offered his other hand for support as he lowered the creature to the flagstone floor. Old Man Hedgehog bowed slightly, then started for the eastern side of the room, where the windows let in the early afternoon light. Edward wondered how the hedgehog would get out of the cellar, but Collie was already leading the way back to the stairs. Edward went after him, then Torvald. Amelia turned to watch old Man Hedgehog for a moment, then said, “Goodbye!” and followed Torvald upstairs.

Edward was bursting with questions about what they had just seen, but he knew they would have to wait. Collie went through the trapdoor quickly and headed down the short hall toward the great room. When Collie, the Lockhearts and Torvald reached the bar, Erik was talking with Cyrus and two other men, who greeted Collie as he approached. “Nice of you to join us,” Erik said, but it sounded more like habit than actual sarcasm. “Nice of the council to come to us.”

“Oh, yes” Erik said, “Solomon is thrilled to be here.” This time the sarcasm was real. “How did you get him to set foot in here?” Collie asked.

“We voted on where to meet, of course. Since we need your sage advice, Anna and I agreed it made sense to meet at the Hart.”

“Well, Anna voted for, and Solemn voted against, so?” Edward caught the pun and smiled. Torvald and Amelia, on the other hand, were whispering to each other. Edward shook his head. He wondered, not for the first time, if being unable to pay attention was just another symptom of being a teenager. If so, he was afraid to turn thirteen.

“And I was the tie-breaker,” Erik said. Edward saw the hint of a smile on his face for the first time. “How’s that?!” Collie hooted. “When Harry is away, I have his vote on the council,” Erik took a piece of bread from the round loaf he’d been slicing and chewed it happily. Collie whistled softly and shook his head, “Oh, I wish I could’ve been there to see the look on his face!”

“He looked like he smelled something bad,” Erik said, “And then he protested about procedure and points of order.”

“Of course,” Collie said.

“I told him this wasn’t Almaren, and out here, a man’s word is his contract. Besides, Harry and I set that up a long time ago, with Anna as a witness. So, it was either call us both liars and go home, or meet at the Hart.”

“Oh, he’ll hold his nose the whole time he’s here, but Solomon isn’t going to miss out on goings-on like this,” Collie said. He and Erik both laughed, then Erik wiped his hands. “All right, let’s get down to business.” Collie nodded, “Yes, I’m sure Solomon is up there scheming some way to have your vote nullified.” Erik looked over Collie at Edward, standing by the kitchen door. “Ready for another interrogation?” Erik said, sounding almost sympathetic. “Yes, sir,” Edward replied. Behind him, Amelia giggled and Edward shared a knowing look with Erik. It was the first time he’d looked Erik in the eye and not been afraid that he was about to be squashed like a bug. Whatever Erik was, Edward felt pretty sure he wasn’t a murderous lunatic. “Torvald!” Erik barked, “Man your post, son.” Torvald  moved quickly to replace his father behind the bar. “We’re going to need Collie for a while, too,” Erik said. “Think you can handle things here while we’re gone?”

Torvald looked back at Amelia and stood up straighter. “Yes, father,” he replied, “You can count on me.” Edward was glad to see Erik pat his son once on the shoulder. Erik started toward the far end of the bar. Collie followed, looking back at Edward and Amelia to be sure they were behind him. “Good luck,” Torvald said to them as they passed. “Thanks,” Edward and Amelia both replied. Edward wasn’t worried. He was a lot more comfortable talking to grown-ups than other kids. Trying to make small talk with the cool kids made Edward cringe. He would take a discussion with a group of strangers about vampires and monsters in the forest any day.

The wooden staircase to the second floor of the Hart went up an interior wall on the right, but was open on the left. Edward looked out over the Westerings below in the great room as they went up to the landing and into a room on the left. The door was ajar; Erik pushed it open and led the others inside. The meeting chamber was over the great room, and they could hear muffled voices below. Three windows looked out over the front entrance to the White Hart, and toward the green. Cyrus, Anna and Solomon were seated at one side and one end of the table. A large earthenware jug of water and several cups sat in the middle of the long, rectangular table.

Edward looked at the adults as he and Amelia took their seats together across the table from them. Erik and Cyrus were looking at one of the chairs, which Erik thought hadn’t been properly joined. Anna was asking Collie about his latest batch of cider. Solomon was writing in a small, red leather-bound book the size of a journal, the grey quill was flicking rapidly as he wrote. Edward looked at his sister. He could see that Amelia was already bored and distracted. Edward was hungry, and he realized they hadn’t eaten anything in hours. Now that it was about to start, he felt tired thinking about the discussion ahead. This morning, Erik had had complained that they would have to go over everything they had talked about with Nestor and Ralph again. Edward suspected that if he and Amelia gave the same answers as before, they would end up back in the same place. Nowhere. This made Edward recall his conversation with Giles, when he asked the older boy about other worlds. Edward had been surprised and disappointed that question also led nowhere. Was it possible he and Amelia were the first people to find themselves transported here, to Midhbar? It didn’t make sense. This wasn’t a random event. You didn’t just go to sleep in your own bed and wake up on another planet, or parallel universe, or alternate past. Someone brought them here, which meant that someone knew how to go back and forth. Who, and why? Their mother must be worried sick by now. Edward imagined Lucy talking to the police, trying to explain what happened to her children. Who would believe they simply disappeared overnight? If this was one of those police shows Lucy and Amelia watched together, their mother would be the prime suspect. After all, her husband had vanished, she had lost her home, she had no job and crushing debts. Under all this stress, Lucy had a mental breakdown. The police would suspect she had done something to her own children. Edward felt dizzy.

“Edward?” Amelia touched his hand. Edward realized with a start that he was standing at the head of the table, as if at debate club, and everyone was looking at him. Edward looked down and closed his eyes as he took a deep breath. When he looked up, he felt better, and he knew exactly what to say. “We’re not from Midhbar. We’re from another world, another planet, called Earth.” Amelia gaped at Edward, then looked across the table at the Westerings, who all sat quietly. Edward had goosebumps. He was sure he just said something awful and the Westerings were all waiting to for someone else to tell him so. Next, they would be packing him and Amelia off to some home for young orphaned lunatics. After what seemed like a very long time, Anna cleared her throat and said, patiently. “My dear child, that’s simply not possible. The Earth was destroyed more than five hundred years ago.”