Taking Charge of Arthur

Paul and Mathilde Verlaine drive off, Mathilde at the wheel.

Mum invites everyone else back to the tent for tea and damper.

They sit outside the tent in the late afternoon shade, Dr Yates, Gaius, Arthur, mum, dad, Irma, Emma and Lavender.

Did you enjoy your fossicking, Lavender? asks Dr Yates.

Most of it, says Lavender. Thanks for paying for my bucket..

That's quite alright, says Dr Yates.

I fell into the bucket, says Lavender. That wasn't very nice.

I'm sure it wasn't, agreed Dr Yates.

But I'm glad I found a zircon, says Lavender. I'm giving it to Arthur to look after.

This is the first Arthur has heard of it.

Why? asks Arthur. Is it because it was really me that found it?

No, says Lavender. Because you're the only one it doesn't bite.

It hasn't bitten you, says Arthur.

It bit the Blu Tack me, says Lavender looking ruefully back over her shoulder into the tent, where the Blu Tack Lavender was stuck between Two Little Girls and the tent pole.

Gaius says it'll stop you getting snake bites, adds Lavender.

I don't get snake bites, says Arthur.

And stop you bleeding, says Lavender.

That sounds very useful, says mum, encouragingly. Doesn't it, Arthur?

I have bandages for that, says Arthur. When I can find them.

Don't be too cavalier, young Arthur, says Gaius. A zircon helps fight melancholy and hallucinations. It helps uncover lies and deceptions, and improves the mental faculties, including memory.

Arthur looks thoughtful.

And where is the zircon, during this conversation? It's sitting in its cardboard box, right next to Lavender.

It is not deaf.

Until today uh, uh has been its native language.

No wonder its first instinct when uncovered was to bite.

But the zircon has been listening to Gaius, and understood nearly everything.  It knows now what it has to do.

Take charge of Arthur.