The Abandoned House on Rue Ballard

Chapter 2

Alright so today is very much not Thursday, but, in my defense, Time is a construct and that construct has fallen to ruins. Hope all six readers enjoy this!

The children woke early the next morning to the sun streaming in through the skylight. They busied themselves about, getting breakfast ready and making preparations for the day. Charles tried hard to be of use, and, admittedly, failed miserably.

"Look," said Tony, "If you aren't going to be of any use, you can just go back to America."

"England," corrected Charles.

"Whatever."

"Oh, come on, Tony," said Leo, looking up from the rice he was washing. "He is trying, aren't you?"

"I am trying," nodded Charles. "I just haven't had to try before. There were always people to try for me."

"Well," said Tony, "You'll have to try harder, Your Highness."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're spoiled," said Tony, getting to the point with biting straight-forwardness. "You're a spoiled rich kid who hasn't had to work a day in his life. Like a prince."

"Fine. Call me Prince then," exclaimed Charles, beg his pardon, Prince, heatedly. "It's better than Charles anyway."

Tony rolled his eyes. The name stuck though, and they kept on calling him Prince.

They went out in the early afternoon, for Prince would need a jacket for the upcoming winter. It had obviously been decided that he would be staying. Following the three pickpockets through the streets of Marseille was very much like tracking a frightened snake through very tall grass. It was all Prince  could do to keep up with his new friends as they dove across streets awash with traffic congestion, dodged down hidden alleyways, wove in and out of the crowd, and leapt over fences and guardrails. There were so many near misses with pedestrians and motorists alike that the children trailed a sizable wake of hollered epithets, most of them too obscene to be printed here. Prince shouted loud apologies over his shoulder as he tried to keep up. The others clearly cared very little about what the people they inconvenienced thought about them. They hopped onto a tram where Rue de Rome began, and started downtown. After a bit, the conductor got up and started down the aisle, collecting the fare. Prince was starting to wonder how they were going to pay, when it happened. It happened so quickly, that he barely noticed it. None of the other passengers did, that's for sure. When their tram jerked to a stop, Lutin bumped into a middle-aged man.

"Excusez-moi," she said. "Pardon me."

This elicited no response from the man. The tram rattled on. When the conductor got to them, Lutin meekly produced their fare. When he got the man, the man did not produce his fare, meekly or otherwise. The man was put off the bus in disgrace, and with a fine. Prince stared after him, and then back at Lutin, Leo, and Tony.

"I thought you said you only took what you needed," he hissed.

"Yes," answered Lutin. "And we did. Do you really feel like walking the whole way?"

"Anyway," said Leo, "That man isn't going to pay the fine. No one ever does."

"And notice we didn't take the money from that lady with the kids over there," Lutin added. "Or the young man struggling to compose a love poem."

"There's a guy writing a poem on the tram?" asked Prince. "Why here of all places?"

"Maybe he needs one for class?" mused Tony.