Xanth #13 - Isle of View by Piers Anthony

Author:Piers Anthony [Anthony, Piers]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780780701809
Google: Tv8XRa3Z_G8C
Amazon: 0380759470
Goodreads: 99450
Publisher: Eos
Published: 1990-10-01T04:00:00+00:00

Dolph drifted down the river, guided occasionally by the delicious touch of Nada's hand on his nose, so that he did not get stuck in a cul-de-sac. Cul-de-sacs were nasty offshoots which ended in sacks; once something floated into one, the drawstring would pull it closed, and it would eat whatever it had caught. Of course Dolph could change into something else and escape it, but then all the folk riding on him would get dunked. It was better this way, even apart from the simple delight of having Nada's attention.

Now and then he heard the clamor of the goblins as they raged at the shore. The three male goblins with Godiva (and wasn't she a fascinating creature, even if she was almost old enough to be somebody's mother!) took pleasure in standing halfway tall and making gestures at those on the shore. Dolph, wafting in and out of his snooze, picked up intriguing bits of dialogue.

"What does that gesture mean, Moron?" Jenny Elf inquired. It seemed that now that they were working together, the elf and the centaur foal got along well enough with these four goblins. Dolph gathered that though the goblins had abducted Che, they had not really mistreated him, only hobbled him so he couldn't get away. He had been unhappy at the time, but recognized that they were just doing a job.

"Gesture?" Moron asked.

"With the finger. Like this."

Dolph hadn't realized that male goblins could blush, but this one did, for Dolph felt Moron's big feet turn burning hot. "Uh, I don't know," the goblin said.

"But you made that gesture to the goblins on the land, and they threw rocks at us," the elf persisted. "I'm glad we're out of reach of their rocks, but that certainly must have been a magic gesture, and I wonder if I could learn it."

"I don't think so," Moron said. "Girls don't use that magic."

"Oh, you mean it doesn't work for girls?"

At this point Godiva crossed over to join them. "Do you have a problem?" she inquired.

"I just wanted to know how to do this gesture," Jenny said innocently.

Godiva must have paled or at least become light-headed, because Dolph felt her weight diminish. "Don't use that gesture!" she snapped at Moron. "Don't you know this girl is underage? Do you think things are different in her tribe just because they have pointed ears? You're in violation of the Adult Conspiracy."

"But they were doing it to us first!" Moron protested. "We couldn't just let them get away with it!"

"Then answer them with this gesture," Godiva said. She faced out and made some kind of signal. Dolph couldn't see what she did, but he saw the effect. Twenty fierce goblins at the shore stiffened, and half of them fell face first into the water, where shellfish shelled them. The three male goblins on the whaleboat fainted.

"I didn't see that," Jenny Elf said. "What—?"

"You weren't meant to, dear," Godiva replied.

"But I certainly am curious what—" Dolph was curious too. Whatever it was, it had twenty times the effect of what the male goblins had been doing.

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