Xanth 04 - Centaur Aisle by Piers Anthony

Author:Piers Anthony [Anthony, Piers]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, General, Science Fiction, Space Opera, Adventure, Fantasy Fiction, Fantasy, Humorous Fiction, Xanth (Imaginary Place), Xanth (Imaginary Place) - Fiction
ISBN: 9780345352460
Publisher: Del Rey
Published: 1981-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

“Fat chance,” Irene said, and Smash grunted agreement. “We’re in this mess together. You’re certain to foul it up by yourself.”

“I appreciate your vote of confidence, as always,” Dor said wryly.

But he also appreciated their support. He was afraid he would indeed foul it up by himself, but hadn’t wanted to ask them to participate in what might be a nasty business.

That night they put their plot into execution. Grundy went out first, his tiny dark body concealed by the darkness. There was no trouble, and soon all of them left their comfortable human-style beds -Chet excepted, as he was separately housed and could not readily leave his stall unobserved-and moved into the moonlit evening.

They had no difficulty seeing, because the moon was nearing full and gave plenty of light.

They found the museum without trouble. Dor had assumed it would be closed for the night, but to his dismay it was lighted. “Who is in there?” he asked the ground.

“Amolde the Archivist,” the ground replied. “You have to be pretty stupid not to know he’s been working late all week, cataloguing those new Mundane artifacts, though what he finds so interesting about such junk-“

“What’s his magic talent?”

“His what?” the ground asked, bewildered.

“You know of no magic associated with him?” Dor asked, surprised. Normally people were very free about what they did around only inanimate things, and it was hard to avoid the inanimate. That was what made Dor’s own talent so insidious; the complete privacy people thought they had became complete disclosure in his presence.

He tried not to pry into what did not rightly concern him, but most people, including his own parents, normally stayed clear of him, without making any issue of it. The people who had traveled with him were different, for their separate reasons; when he thought about it, he appreciated it immensely. Even Irene, who professed to value her privacy, was not truly uncomfortable in Dor’s presence. She really didn’t have to make any great play for him; gratitude would haul him into her orbit any time she wished. He knew she was accustomed to lack of privacy because of the way her mother was, but still found it easier to get along with her than with other girls. Others got unduly upset when their clothing started telling Dor their secrets.

Dor glanced at the large round moon again. It was amazing how that orb stimulated his thoughts along such lines!

Meanwhile, the ground had answered: “None at all. Centaurs don’t do magic.”

Dor sighed. “I guess we’ll have to go in and brace him directly.”

They went in. Amolde had artifacts spread out all over a main table and was attaching tags to them and making notes. There were fragments of stone and crockery and rusted metal. “I wish the archaeologists would get these classified sooner,” he grumbled. “This table is not available by day, so I have to tag them at night.” Then he did a startled double take. “What are you doing here? The guest tour is over.

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