from TunFaire to the Cantard is
straight overland.
A ham of a hand slapped me on the back. “Garrett, you look
like a man who’s just had a religious revelation.”
“I have. And the first saint of my new church is going to
be Saint Playmate.”
“As long as the job don’t call for a
martyr.”
“Have faith, my friend. And make lots of donations.
That’s all this church will ask.”
“Most of them only ask for the offerings. I tell you I
almost started my own church once?”
“No.”
“I was scoping it out when I thought I was going to lose
the stable. I figure a man my size, tricked up in the right outfit,
would make a hell of a prophet. And in a city as god-ridden as
TunFaire, people are always looking for something novel.”
“Wouldn’t have thought you so cynical.”
“Me? Cynical? Perish the thought. Come back when you need
a horse, Garrett.”
----
----
15
Morley and the triplets were sitting around looking smug when I
showed up at the Tate place with my travel bag on my shoulder.
“You guys earned your keep? Or are you just in practice for
the next time the Grinning Death comes through?”
Morley stopped gnawing a carrot long enough to say, “We
thumped some heads this morning, Garrett.”
Doris bobbed his head and chortled something in dialect. Morley
said, “He just claimed he broke twenty heads himself.
He’s exaggerating. There weren’t more than fifteen guys
involved. I recognized some of them. Second-raters. Whoever hired
them was trying to get by on the cheap. He got what he paid
for.”
I wondered if any of them had recognized Morley. “Did they
get away with anything?”
“A lot of bruises and a few fractures.”
“I mean anything physical.”
“That isn’t physical enough for you?”
“Damn it, you know what I mean.”
“Testy in the morning, aren’t we? You didn’t
pay a bit of attention when I explained about fiber.”
“Morley!”
“No. Nothing.”
“Thank you.”
“What’s in the bag?”
“My travel gear. We’re headed out.”
“Today?”
“You have some reason to hang around?”
“Not really. You just caught me by surprise.”
That was the idea. “The arrangements are made.
You guys are ready to go. We’ll head for the boat from
here and hide out there till we pull out.”
“Boat? What are you talking, boat?”
Morley was ghost-spooked pale. The triplets looked green around
the gills, which was something for Doris and Marsha, who were a
lovely shade of pale lime to begin.
“Boat?” Morley croaked again.
“Boat. We’ll barge down to Leifmold, then catch a
coaster headed south. We’ll stay with it as far as we can.
Then we’ll put ashore and finish what we have to
overland.”
“We mix with water worse than oil does,
Garrett.”
“Nonsense. All the great navigators were
elvish.”
“All the great navigators were crazy. I get seasick
watching the water-spider races. Which may explain why I
can’t bet them worth squat.”
“Probably not enough starch in your diet.”
He looked at me with hurt puppy eyes. “Let’s take it
overland, Garrett.”
“Not on your life. I don’t get along with
horses.”
“So we walk. The triplets can carry—”
“Who’s paying the wages, Morley?”
He did nothing but scowl.
“Right. The boss says we take boats as far as we can,
then
we do it the hard way. You have your boys pick up and
pack up. We head out in fifteen minutes.”
I went and hunted up Pop Tate and told him I’d be doing
the job and would be leaving the city shortly. We dickered awhile
about expense money. To end up with what I wanted I had to give him
what he wanted, a pretty complete outline of my plans.
I could change them, of course.
I don’t like letting people in on everything. It subverts
my reputation for being unpredictable.
----
----
16
The river barge
Binkey’s Sequin
reminded me of a
shopkeeper’s wife. She was middle-aged, middle class, a
little run down, a little overweight, extremely
straight overland.
A ham of a hand slapped me on the back. “Garrett, you look
like a man who’s just had a religious revelation.”
“I have. And the first saint of my new church is going to
be Saint Playmate.”
“As long as the job don’t call for a
martyr.”
“Have faith, my friend. And make lots of donations.
That’s all this church will ask.”
“Most of them only ask for the offerings. I tell you I
almost started my own church once?”
“No.”
“I was scoping it out when I thought I was going to lose
the stable. I figure a man my size, tricked up in the right outfit,
would make a hell of a prophet. And in a city as god-ridden as
TunFaire, people are always looking for something novel.”
“Wouldn’t have thought you so cynical.”
“Me? Cynical? Perish the thought. Come back when you need
a horse, Garrett.”
----
----
15
Morley and the triplets were sitting around looking smug when I
showed up at the Tate place with my travel bag on my shoulder.
“You guys earned your keep? Or are you just in practice for
the next time the Grinning Death comes through?”
Morley stopped gnawing a carrot long enough to say, “We
thumped some heads this morning, Garrett.”
Doris bobbed his head and chortled something in dialect. Morley
said, “He just claimed he broke twenty heads himself.
He’s exaggerating. There weren’t more than fifteen guys
involved. I recognized some of them. Second-raters. Whoever hired
them was trying to get by on the cheap. He got what he paid
for.”
I wondered if any of them had recognized Morley. “Did they
get away with anything?”
“A lot of bruises and a few fractures.”
“I mean anything physical.”
“That isn’t physical enough for you?”
“Damn it, you know what I mean.”
“Testy in the morning, aren’t we? You didn’t
pay a bit of attention when I explained about fiber.”
“Morley!”
“No. Nothing.”
“Thank you.”
“What’s in the bag?”
“My travel gear. We’re headed out.”
“Today?”
“You have some reason to hang around?”
“Not really. You just caught me by surprise.”
That was the idea. “The arrangements are made.
You guys are ready to go. We’ll head for the boat from
here and hide out there till we pull out.”
“Boat? What are you talking, boat?”
Morley was ghost-spooked pale. The triplets looked green around
the gills, which was something for Doris and Marsha, who were a
lovely shade of pale lime to begin.
“Boat?” Morley croaked again.
“Boat. We’ll barge down to Leifmold, then catch a
coaster headed south. We’ll stay with it as far as we can.
Then we’ll put ashore and finish what we have to
overland.”
“We mix with water worse than oil does,
Garrett.”
“Nonsense. All the great navigators were
elvish.”
“All the great navigators were crazy. I get seasick
watching the water-spider races. Which may explain why I
can’t bet them worth squat.”
“Probably not enough starch in your diet.”
He looked at me with hurt puppy eyes. “Let’s take it
overland, Garrett.”
“Not on your life. I don’t get along with
horses.”
“So we walk. The triplets can carry—”
“Who’s paying the wages, Morley?”
He did nothing but scowl.
“Right. The boss says we take boats as far as we can,
then
we do it the hard way. You have your boys pick up and
pack up. We head out in fifteen minutes.”
I went and hunted up Pop Tate and told him I’d be doing
the job and would be leaving the city shortly. We dickered awhile
about expense money. To end up with what I wanted I had to give him
what he wanted, a pretty complete outline of my plans.
I could change them, of course.
I don’t like letting people in on everything. It subverts
my reputation for being unpredictable.
----
----
16
The river barge
Binkey’s Sequin
reminded me of a
shopkeeper’s wife. She was middle-aged, middle class, a
little run down, a little overweight, extremely
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