Knot Gneiss by Piers Anthony

Author:Piers Anthony
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates

10

GOBLINATE

It was dark but quiet. “There is no nearby threat,” Jumper reported, ranging out telepathically. “We are on an island in a lake.”

“The Door connected from one island to another,” Meryl said.

“That may be coincidence,” Ida said, “but it is convenient.” She produced a small tent from her handbag, and they set it up. Then came pillows and blankets. Soon they were sleeping comfortably.

Except for Hilarion and Ida, who sat up a little while, talking in the darkness. And Wenda, whose reverted condition made her restless. So she quietly listened, feeling slightly guilty for snooping. “Should I renew the forgetting for Meryl?” Hilarion asked.

“I believe you should,” Ida answered.

“Forget what?” Meryl asked, hearing her name.

“You volunteered to allow Hilarion to work his magic on you,” Ida explained, “so that you could forget something it is important to forget.”

“Oh. Like being fish-headed. That’s fine.” Meryl slept, satisfied.

“You have a certain touch for discretion, Ida,” Hilarion said.

“Thank you. I must say that it was a noble thing you did, surrendering your discovery of your betrothee in order to save Wenda’s life. Fornax offered you everything Eris gives Jumper. I realize how tempting that must be to a young man.”

“No more noble than your own sacrifice of your ideal man. Anyway, Fornax was not my betrothee, so it would not have worked out.”

She laughed without humor. “We seem to be similarly foolish. I hope you find your betrothee when no one’s life is on the line.”

“I hope so too, and I hope the same for you. The Demons did not actually say we would not find them on our own.”

“They did not,” she agreed. “At least now we have confirmation that they exist, and are presumably alive and well. That’s worth something.”

“Yes, it is,” he agreed. “Maybe we can locate them after we get the Knot delivered.”

“That is an idea,” she agreed. “Perhaps we should plan to make those searches together, as they are of similar nature and our talents mesh well.”

“They do,” he agreed thoughtfully. “I would like to do that, hoping for success for us both.”

“Then it is perhaps a date,” she said, and they both laughed. Wenda was glad that the young man and older woman were getting along so well. She wished them both success.

In the morning the Knot was making its malice known again. Wenda replaced the seeds in the net, and the wagon became seemingly friendly.

They rolled the wagon into the red water. It wanted to float, being wood, but the Knot was more like heavy rock and would not let it float. So Jumper transformed to a giant fish and carried it across to the blue mainland.

Now all they had to worry about was the Strip.

Angela and Meryl flew ahead, searching for evidence of the Sidewalk or Door. But this time they found no clue.

“We shall just have to plunge in and look for it,” Wenda decided.

They nerved themselves and did it. Immediately they were in a chaos of sound. A bell was ringing, deafeningly loud. Wenda oriented on the loudness and saw a man walking toward them.

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