Worse Than Death

Pomp and LePomfrey

            “Hey Squire, check it out. We’ve got a ton of requests to check out the new psychic in town.” Vivi chewed a bite of cold ham thoughtfully. “There’s a couple spikes in the ‘ghost’ hashtags, but the leads look shaky.”

            Arthur shrugged, slurping some cranberry sauce. “Honestly, it’d be nice to s-start slow. If the psychic agrees, we can run some tests, verify and all that. Probably isn’t.”

            Vivi nodded, collecting the plates. “Okay then. Let’s hit the road.”

            “You guys mind if I, um…” Arthur looked down a little. “Mind waiting a little? I want to see if I can make it down the porch myself.”

            Lewis shot a worried look at him, but shook his head. “Don’t mind. But you and I are on driving duty, so I’ll meet you at the bottom, okay?”

            Arthur nodded, and Lewis passed through the front door.

            Vivi put her hand on his shoulder. “Still hard?”

            “Viv, I’m grateful I can stand upright most days.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But I’m feeling pretty g-good today. I wanna try. I can’t rely on Lew forever, and I don’t wanna be a shutin cause of a set of stairs. Take Mystery and meet us in the van?” At Mystery’s indignant bark, he revised his statement. “I mean, you and Mystery can meet us in the van.” He grinned, ruffling the dog’s head. “Obviously n-nobody takes you anywhere you don’t wanna go.”

             Vivi nodded. She glanced at the leash hanging on a nearby doorknob. “Um…”

            Arthur waved his hand. “He knows, leash laws. It’s all appearances, he’s not m-mad.”

            Vivi grabbed it, clipping it on Mystery’s collar before opening the door and walking out, Mystery limping slowly behind. She took her place next to Lewis at the bottom of the steps, waiting.

            Arthur came slowly through the door, taking great pains to lock it behind himself, then turning to face the five steps down to ground level. She could see his eyes fixed on the bottom of the steps, then close as if to reset his vision, opening to fix on the first step in front of him. His hands reached out to grip the railing, the knuckles flashing white. He stood at the top, staring at the first step he had to take. The seconds stretched out into minutes, and he hadn’t so much as budged.

            Vivi ached for Arthur. She wanted to take his hand and walk him down, but it was obvious he wanted to do this for himself.

            His foot inched slowly toward the edge, his grip tightening to the point where the prosthetic was splintering the wood railing in its clutch. The foot dropped down to the initial step, and he gave a small cry, as if sure he would pitch the rest of the way down. Vivi glanced at Lewis, who had resumed human appearance. He was staring at Arthur grimly, watching his painfully slow progress with great care. He had probably been privy to this scene already, inside and out, several times.

It took Arthur thirty minutes to descend the stairs, and by the time he reached the bottom, his legs were shaking and he was drenched in sweat. Lewis stepped inside Arthur, and then Arthur’s arms came up around himself in a strange sort of hug. “You did good.” Lewis said. “You made it. First time you’ve made it all the way to the bottom. I say we celebrate with pizza on the way back from whatever happens today, yeah?”

            Vivi beamed. “Agreed. Now let’s head on over to this psychic, see what she’s made of.”

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