Arthur Hood: the Heir of Robin and King

Chapter Two

With a pair of binoculars glued to his face, Little Johnny stood on the top branch of the tallest tree of his foster parents' home and stared at the house at the end of the street. He was waiting for its owner to appear outside, a mysterious man who went by the name of Mr Scarlett.

Little Johnny had once asked around the neighborhood but nobody seemed to know anything about the man. Either whether he had a family or what he did for a living. Absolutely nothing. Mr Scarlett kept to himself.

Little Johnny didn't even know his name until recently when he may have snuck a peek at the man's mail. It was also until recently that Little Johnny had noticed that the man kept sneaking out every night dressed in a cape and walking into his back garden before disappearing behind a bush, and which was followed by the appearance of a carriage barreling down the street to who-knows-where.

The first time Little Johnny had seen that, he couldn't believe it, thinking he was having a dream. And the carriage, which was pulled by a white horse, wasn't some kind of modern day contraption. It looked hundreds of years old.

Little Johnny suspected Mr Scarlett of either being a time traveler, a supervillain or a superhero, something the eleven year old had always wanted to be. It was the reason he had taken up gymnastics and which he was very proud of and rather good at.

The bright moon in the twinkling sky shone down on the young boy, his imagination running amok at what the possibility of tonight may hold. Was he going to bear witness to good or to evil?

Just then, movement flashed in the corner of Little Johnny's eye. He lowered his binoculars and turned to see his foster mother walking past a window, ruffling its curtains. He gave her no thought, worried she may catch him and tell him off, and returned to his spying, for his foster parents acted like he didn't exist. They weren't mean or horrible but Little Johnny was certain that if he was to disappear, they wouldn't even notice.

Little Johnny leaned back against the trunk of the tree and continued to wait for Mr Scarlett to emerge outside, his legs eventually beginning to ache ever so much. It was when his arms cramped from holding up the binoculars that he saw all the lights in the man's house abruptly turn off. It was the cue to spring into action.

'All right, time to go,' Little Johnny said to himself as he hung the binoculars on a small twig poking out beside him.

Then with an adventurous grin and no fear whatsoever, Little Johnny tightened the laces of his sneakers before jumping down with a thud onto the branch below. And he did this over and over, ten branches in all and without even a single misstep, until his sneakers and knees touched the ground.

'That was way too easy,' he whispered to the crickets chirping in the grass. 'Way too easy.'

Standing back up, Little Johnny raced over to the fence surrounding his foster parents' backyard and jumped, grabbing the top before hurdling over with little effort and onto the deserted street on the other side.

A chuckle escaped him as his heart began to beat fast. He breathed in a lungful of cool crisp air and carried on with his mission. Hopefully, he wouldn't be seen.

Dashing across to the opposite side of the street, he leapt over his neighbor's hedge, dodged a frightened badger and planter pot, and rushed over to a waterspout, which he began to climb.

Easier than scaling a tree, up he went like a crazed spider, until he clambered onto the roof, where a chimney puffed out smoke. He then bolted over the roofs of his other neighbors' homes, leaping, sliding and flipping as a superhero would do.

It was when he had jumped over another chimney that Little Johnny saw Mr Scarlett. He was skulking out of his back door and into his garden. And tonight was no exception, for the mysterious man was wearing a cape.

At the last roof, Little Johnny climbed down another waterspout, scurried back onto the street and zipped over the hood of a parked car. Then keeping low, he shuffled over to Mr Scarlett's front gate and climbed over that too. Through bushes, around the side of the house and skirting a pond he glided until he reached the entrance to the back garden, stopping behind a tree before peeking around.

Mr Scarlett was several yards away and standing in front of a large running fountain, the sound of trickling water the only noise.

Closer than he's ever been to the mysterious man, Little Johnny could not only see his cape, but could see what else he was wearing. He had on what looked like green tights and brown knee high leather boots.

Tights and a cape? Surely, Mr Scarlett must be a supervillain or superhero then. It's the only reasonable explanation, Little Johnny thought.

The boy kept his gaze on the man, who bent over and seemed to press something on the wall of the fountain. It was too dark for Little Johnny to see what and where.

Immediately, the water stopped running and the entire fountain began to sink into the ground.

Now wide-eyed with shock, Little Johnny said to himself, 'What in the weirdness is going on?'

But his surprise didn't end there, for something took the fountain's place. Shortly, Little Johnny was staring at the same carriage and the same horse that he had seen previous nights.

With agility that impressed Little Johnny, Mr Scarlett jumped onto the driver's seat of the carriage and took the reins.

'How's he going to get out of his back garden?' wondered Little Johnny.

But as soon as he had finished that thought, a section of the back garden's fence lowered down to the grass, revealing the street beyond.

'Let's go, Papplewick,' came Mr Scarlett, his voice powerful yet delicate. 'It's time to find out if the Shadow continues to grow.'

'The Shadow?' Little Johnny breathed to himself. 'What does he mean by that? A villain possibly?'

The horse neighed at his master, cuing Little Johnny to spring into action once again.

This was his chance to find out who Mr Scarlett was.

Careful not to make a sound or to be seen, he scampered over to the back of the carriage and jumped on, finding a ledge to place his sneakers. He then crouched down and gripped the carriage's sides.

'Onward,' said Mr Scarlett, and with a jerk, the horse reared on its hind legs before darting off.

The carriage flew out of the back garden and down the street.

Turning around to see the fence rise back up, wind whipped through Little Johnny's curly brown hair. And it was when he faced back around that the carriage skidded around a corner.

Though tightening his grip in fear, Little Johnny had to stop himself from screaming in exhilaration.

Now he could get used to this, he thought.

More and more corners they drifted, bringing a wide grin to the boy, which quickly morphed into a gape, for the carriage was growing in speed.

Then all of a sudden, a fly shot down Little Johnny's throat, sending him into a choking spasm. And as he thrust a hand to his mouth, to muffle the coming barrage of whooping, the carriage whipped around another corner.

The next thing Little Johnny knew, he was flying uncontrollably through the air towards the window of a shop. Luckily though, a street lamp was there to save him. And the moment he grabbed it, around and around he spun as if he was on a gymnastics bar. Seconds later, he jumped down and planted his sneakers onto the sidewalk.

'Phew, that was close,' he said with a wheeze and cough, as he then watched the carriage disappear. Soon, a brief feeling of disappointment shuddered through him.

He had failed his mission at finding out who Mr Scarlett was. But he was sure he'd get another chance.

'Until next time.'

With a hop and a whistle, Little Johnny skipped over to a telephone pole, grabbed its rungs and climbed all the way to the top.

'Time to get back home.'

With a step on the telephone wire, lifting his arms for balance, the boy did just that.