The Curious Case of the Two Dirk Gentlys

26: Treasure Trove of Wonders

They watched Albert for nearly half an hour but he paid almost no attention to them. He wandered back to his train set as soon as he got a chance. They tried to coax him over; they even encouraged him to let the train go (Svald could survive the consequences and presumed the others would do the same) but nothing worked. Svald began to wonder if he'd made a mistake. After all, he'd been far from accurate as of late. Still, Dirk seemed convinced and if Dirk was convinced then Todd was convinced. Richard, of course, had his doubts but he wasn't going to be the one to argue with the majority, especially when two thirds of said majority had some sort of unexplained power. That just left Victoria. Svald expected her to start protesting any second. Yet she didn't. She quietly watched her son in fascination. Perhaps the blurred lines were finally struggling to connect themselves. Albert was involved somehow, even if she wasn't entirely convinced of the exact details.

"Maybe we're doing something wrong." She commented.

"Could we just put the toys in his hands and see what happens." Said Todd. He gently kicked the ball across the room towards the child. Albert glanced over at it, then at Todd, then back at the ball. They thought they were making progress as he picked it up. They were quickly disappointed as he sunk his tiny but sharp milk teeth into it. It popped and deflated. One pound down, at least he picked a cheap toy to destroy.

"This isn't working." Svald muttered.
"Victoria is right. There's something we need to change. Dirk, ideas?" Svald clicked his fingers causing Dirk to jump. He quickly snapped into a beautiful mix of chaotic detective and logical scientist. What to change to get this experiment to work?

"Well...nobodies ever seen him use his powers so...perhaps we should leave." Dirk suggested.

"Excellent. Let's go." Svald nodded.

"We can't leave him by himself again." Said Victoria.

"Okay. Maybe we should just...turn around." Dirk decided. The group looked at each other. Nobody appeared to have any objection and so they silently agreed. They turned their backs on the child, leaving only Svald watching him. He nudged a coloured block closer to the boy who was starting to get interested.

"You've got thirty seconds, Albert." Said Svald before also turning around.

Thirty seconds later the group collectively turned back as planned. Sure enough the colourful blocks were gone. Albert clapped his hands and laughed, seemingly impressed by his actions.

"Gone. Gone, gone, gone." Albert chanted.

"Very good, Albert." Svald paused. He took one of the remaining toys, a little black and white cow, and held it out in front of him. He smiled at Albert as he babbled and clapped. "Can you show us how you did that?"

Albert reached out his hands. He didn't take it, he didn't get the chance to take it. As soon as his skin brushed against it silver light danced across his fingers tips. It was barely visible, a blink and you'll miss it phenomenon, and then the toy blinked out of existence. The group expected a pop; none came. It was silent.

"Pop." Albert announced to the group's surprise. Maybe he heard it, maybe it was so quiet only young ears could hear it, but maybe it was just silent. Maybe even Albert subconsciously wanted that pop.

"Well...that's...interesting." Said Richard.

"Should I buy him mittens?" Asked Victoria. Richard squirmed, unnerved by her calm. The anticipation had desensitised her.

"One thing at a time please, Victoria." Svald dismissed. "Now, Albert, where have the toys gone to?"

Albert stumbled to his feet and toddled across the room. The group loyally followed their young lead. How was it that this wasn't the weirdest thing that ever happened to them? All five of them struggled to get it onto their top ten list. Albert reached his destination, the place that supposedly contained half of the house and Victoria's husband. He clapped his hands down on the sofa and turned back to the group.

"The sofa?" Asked Richard.

"It's a treasure trove of wonders." Svald winked. He carefully placed the cushions aside. Underneath there should have been springs and wood. Instead there was nothing but black stretching down for miles. Nobody questioned how the cushions had been floating there. They didn't want to set off a whole new line of questioning.

"So...how far down do you reckon it goes?" Asked Todd.

"Well..." Svald dug around in his pocket and retrieved a penny. He dropped it into the hole and started counting. One Mississippi, two Mississippi, too many Mississippi. After a half a minute it finally hit the unseen floor. "30 feet."

"Well somebody has to go down there." Said Victoria.

"Certainly. We need someone young, someone brave, someone who wouldn't be phased if they found something weird down there." Svald agreed.

"I can go." Said Dirk.

"Not you." Svald immediately interjected.

"Well then who?" Asked Todd before realising his mistake. "Oh no."