morning, a few days after Fever and Wavey departed for the north. “Good morning, Dr Crumb!” he called, and tried to sound surprised to see him there.
“Oh . . . Shallow. . .” Dr Crumb blinked at him. He had always had a vague feeling that Charley might have been unhappy at the way he’d been dismissed when Fever returned home, but he was glad to see that the boy seemed friendly enough. Not only that, but he was carrying a large umbrella, and since Dr Crumb had left his at home as usual it was only rational that he agree to Charley’s suggestion that they walk together and share the shelter of it.
“You are quite sure I am not taking you out of your way?” he insisted, as they started down Ludgate Hill. “I am working aboard the new city this morning. . .”
“Oh, that’s all right, Dr Crumb,” said Charley. “I’m going there myself. Me and Coldharbour are helping Dr Steepleton with the new boarding ramps in the Gut.”
Dr Crumb sighed. “It is the Great Under Tier , Charley. I do wish people would call things by their proper designations, instead of all these silly nicknames. Say ‘G.U.T.’ if you must, but not ‘Gut’.”
“Sorry, Dr Crumb.”
“That is all right, Charley. I did not mean to snap. . .”
“I expect you’re under a lot of pressure,” said Charley kindly. “I mean, it must be a worry and all, with Mistress Crumb and young Miss Crumb going off with that circus. . .”
“They have not ‘ gone off with a circus ’, Charley; they are undertaking a scientific expedition. There is no rational cause for worry.”
“Still, you’re lonely without them, I expect?”
“A rational man need never be lonely, Charley. I have my work and my books and my own thoughts to keep me company.”
Liar , thought Charley to himself. But all he said was, “That’s so true, ain’t it, Dr Crumb?”
The rain was passing. Splashes of sunlight lit the roofs of Tent Town. The flanks of the new city were wreathed in rainbows. Afraid that Dr Crumb would decide he no longer needed Charley’s umbrella and hurry on without him, Charley looked for a new peg to hang their conversation on. He was determined not to let the old blogger escape until he had steered it round to the subject that he really wanted to talk about.
“Rainbows!” he said. “I always wondered what they were. Bridges to fairyland, the girls at the Mott and Hoople used to tell me when I was a nipper, but I know now there must be a more scientific explanation. . .”
“Oh, there is indeed!” said Dr Crumb, and he was off, describing the way that water droplets split the sun’s rays like a prism, revealing all the colours of the visible spectrum. Charley put a look of deep interest on his face while he screamed with boredom inside. This is the sort of smart-arse lecture Fever must have had to listen to the whole time, growing up with him , he thought. No wonder she turned into such a stuck-up little know-all icicle . . .
“I expect you miss Miss Crumb?” he said, when the lecture ended. “Miss her as an assistant, I mean. It seems irrational somehow for a man as learned as you to have nobody to do the little chores for you while you turn your mind to more important stuff.”
“Oh, there is a maid who does the dusting, and so forth,” said Dr Crumb. He had been about to recommend a good book on optics, and was surprised that the discussion of rainbows had ended so abruptly.
“No, I mean a scientific assistant,” Charley explained. “Someone to draw up plans and keep papers in order and do small bits of research for you and stuff.” He had thought that Dr Crumb would have caught his drift by now, but he hadn’t, so Charley ploughed on. “You know, I wouldn’t mind moving back in with you if you wanted. Just till Mistress Crumb and Miss Crumb get home again, I mean. Not that I don’t like living in the Engineerium, but it’s hardly rational, is it, for my old room at Bishopsgate to be empty and a man
“Oh . . . Shallow. . .” Dr Crumb blinked at him. He had always had a vague feeling that Charley might have been unhappy at the way he’d been dismissed when Fever returned home, but he was glad to see that the boy seemed friendly enough. Not only that, but he was carrying a large umbrella, and since Dr Crumb had left his at home as usual it was only rational that he agree to Charley’s suggestion that they walk together and share the shelter of it.
“You are quite sure I am not taking you out of your way?” he insisted, as they started down Ludgate Hill. “I am working aboard the new city this morning. . .”
“Oh, that’s all right, Dr Crumb,” said Charley. “I’m going there myself. Me and Coldharbour are helping Dr Steepleton with the new boarding ramps in the Gut.”
Dr Crumb sighed. “It is the Great Under Tier , Charley. I do wish people would call things by their proper designations, instead of all these silly nicknames. Say ‘G.U.T.’ if you must, but not ‘Gut’.”
“Sorry, Dr Crumb.”
“That is all right, Charley. I did not mean to snap. . .”
“I expect you’re under a lot of pressure,” said Charley kindly. “I mean, it must be a worry and all, with Mistress Crumb and young Miss Crumb going off with that circus. . .”
“They have not ‘ gone off with a circus ’, Charley; they are undertaking a scientific expedition. There is no rational cause for worry.”
“Still, you’re lonely without them, I expect?”
“A rational man need never be lonely, Charley. I have my work and my books and my own thoughts to keep me company.”
Liar , thought Charley to himself. But all he said was, “That’s so true, ain’t it, Dr Crumb?”
The rain was passing. Splashes of sunlight lit the roofs of Tent Town. The flanks of the new city were wreathed in rainbows. Afraid that Dr Crumb would decide he no longer needed Charley’s umbrella and hurry on without him, Charley looked for a new peg to hang their conversation on. He was determined not to let the old blogger escape until he had steered it round to the subject that he really wanted to talk about.
“Rainbows!” he said. “I always wondered what they were. Bridges to fairyland, the girls at the Mott and Hoople used to tell me when I was a nipper, but I know now there must be a more scientific explanation. . .”
“Oh, there is indeed!” said Dr Crumb, and he was off, describing the way that water droplets split the sun’s rays like a prism, revealing all the colours of the visible spectrum. Charley put a look of deep interest on his face while he screamed with boredom inside. This is the sort of smart-arse lecture Fever must have had to listen to the whole time, growing up with him , he thought. No wonder she turned into such a stuck-up little know-all icicle . . .
“I expect you miss Miss Crumb?” he said, when the lecture ended. “Miss her as an assistant, I mean. It seems irrational somehow for a man as learned as you to have nobody to do the little chores for you while you turn your mind to more important stuff.”
“Oh, there is a maid who does the dusting, and so forth,” said Dr Crumb. He had been about to recommend a good book on optics, and was surprised that the discussion of rainbows had ended so abruptly.
“No, I mean a scientific assistant,” Charley explained. “Someone to draw up plans and keep papers in order and do small bits of research for you and stuff.” He had thought that Dr Crumb would have caught his drift by now, but he hadn’t, so Charley ploughed on. “You know, I wouldn’t mind moving back in with you if you wanted. Just till Mistress Crumb and Miss Crumb get home again, I mean. Not that I don’t like living in the Engineerium, but it’s hardly rational, is it, for my old room at Bishopsgate to be empty and a man
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