You are a fairy, therefore folk call you gay?"
"Exactly, I have no idea why they think all fairies are gay-"
Dug pursed his lips, seeming to think of something obscure. "Maybe this is a problem it's better to avoid," he said. "Exactly how is your name spelled?" Dug could have read it on the ledger, but for some reason his eyes were straying back to the nymphs.
"Eff Aay Eye Are Why. Enn You Eff Eff."
'Try spelling it FAERIE."
"That will change things?"
"It just might"
Nuff looked extremely dubious, which was the way Nada felt. How could such an irrelevant change affect the attitudes of others?
"Very well." He touched the ledger, and the letters shifted. Now it read FAERIE NUFF.
Another person approached the booth. "What are you spelling, Nuff?" he asked seriously.
"Nothing to interest you, clodbrain," Faerie Nuff snapped.
"What a grouch!" the man said, moving away.
Nuff stared after him. "It's magic!" he breathed.
"Right," Dug agreed. "Now they know you're not gay. How about our solution?"
Nuff made a negligent gesture.
"Take any bottle," Dug told Nada.
"But who said to?" she asked.
"Nuff said."
So it seemed. She lifted a nice decanter of purple elixir, pulled off the stopper, and poured it into the pail. When she set it back on the table, it refilled of its own volition. She replaced the stopper. "Thank you, Nuff," she said.
"You earned it," the Faerie said sourly.
But when she looked in the pail, it was empty. Had Nuff cheated them? She started to speak, but Dug beat her to it. "Did we misunderstand the nature of the deal?" he inquired in what was, for him, a remarkably peaceable tone.
"Fair well," Nuff said, waving.
Nada looked around—and saw several wells she hadn't noticed before. "I think it's in a well," she said.
So they went to the wells. There were five of them, labeled A B C D and E. One of them must have the solution they could haul away.
Dug's face lighted. "Fair-E-Nuff!" he exclaimed. "Well-E-Nuff. We want E-Nuff."
"We want enough, yes," she agreed, perplexed.
They went to Well E, which was somewhat isolated from the others. "Well E Nuff Alone," Dug said with satisfaction. "It makes weird sense."
There was a bucket on a rope. Nada let the bucket down into the well until it splashed in the water below. She drew it up. The fluid was purple, matching that of the bottle they had chosen. Nada poured it into the pail, and this time it stayed there. "Good," she said, relieved.
"Good E Nuff," Dug agreed cheerfully.
They returned the way they had come. When they reached the castle of the Ice Queen Clone, they walked around it—and found themselves immediately in a snowstorm. Nada had forgotten to bring along her boots and blanket, and was suddenly cold again.
"Try a drop of solution," Dug suggested.
Nada dipped her finger in the pail and flicked a drop of fluid out into the snow. Immediately the storm calmed, and a clear path opened before them. The solution was working.
"You are really coming to understand how things work here, Dug," she said, impressed.
"Well, I always was a quick study," he said. "Once I caught on to the rules of nonsense, I just had to apply them."
So it seemed. He was young, arrogant, and a Mundane, but he did have his points.
They returned to Isthmus Village . "We have the solution," Dug announced. "Where's the ship?"
The headman led the way south to the port. There was me sinister ship, with its great awful censers hanging fore and aft On its hull was its name: BIGOTRY. Nada felt a tingle of horror as she beheld it. This ship was made from the disgusting wood of the bigotree! No wonder it smelled so bad. It was surrounded by an aura of suppression; it was impossible for there to be any joy or freedom near it
There seemed to be no sailors on that dread vessel. It was a ghost craft, bearing no living creature. What person could stand to be near it?
"Looks good," Dug said. "Let's get aboard her and douse those censers."
That meant that Nada would have to do it,
"Exactly, I have no idea why they think all fairies are gay-"
Dug pursed his lips, seeming to think of something obscure. "Maybe this is a problem it's better to avoid," he said. "Exactly how is your name spelled?" Dug could have read it on the ledger, but for some reason his eyes were straying back to the nymphs.
"Eff Aay Eye Are Why. Enn You Eff Eff."
'Try spelling it FAERIE."
"That will change things?"
"It just might"
Nuff looked extremely dubious, which was the way Nada felt. How could such an irrelevant change affect the attitudes of others?
"Very well." He touched the ledger, and the letters shifted. Now it read FAERIE NUFF.
Another person approached the booth. "What are you spelling, Nuff?" he asked seriously.
"Nothing to interest you, clodbrain," Faerie Nuff snapped.
"What a grouch!" the man said, moving away.
Nuff stared after him. "It's magic!" he breathed.
"Right," Dug agreed. "Now they know you're not gay. How about our solution?"
Nuff made a negligent gesture.
"Take any bottle," Dug told Nada.
"But who said to?" she asked.
"Nuff said."
So it seemed. She lifted a nice decanter of purple elixir, pulled off the stopper, and poured it into the pail. When she set it back on the table, it refilled of its own volition. She replaced the stopper. "Thank you, Nuff," she said.
"You earned it," the Faerie said sourly.
But when she looked in the pail, it was empty. Had Nuff cheated them? She started to speak, but Dug beat her to it. "Did we misunderstand the nature of the deal?" he inquired in what was, for him, a remarkably peaceable tone.
"Fair well," Nuff said, waving.
Nada looked around—and saw several wells she hadn't noticed before. "I think it's in a well," she said.
So they went to the wells. There were five of them, labeled A B C D and E. One of them must have the solution they could haul away.
Dug's face lighted. "Fair-E-Nuff!" he exclaimed. "Well-E-Nuff. We want E-Nuff."
"We want enough, yes," she agreed, perplexed.
They went to Well E, which was somewhat isolated from the others. "Well E Nuff Alone," Dug said with satisfaction. "It makes weird sense."
There was a bucket on a rope. Nada let the bucket down into the well until it splashed in the water below. She drew it up. The fluid was purple, matching that of the bottle they had chosen. Nada poured it into the pail, and this time it stayed there. "Good," she said, relieved.
"Good E Nuff," Dug agreed cheerfully.
They returned the way they had come. When they reached the castle of the Ice Queen Clone, they walked around it—and found themselves immediately in a snowstorm. Nada had forgotten to bring along her boots and blanket, and was suddenly cold again.
"Try a drop of solution," Dug suggested.
Nada dipped her finger in the pail and flicked a drop of fluid out into the snow. Immediately the storm calmed, and a clear path opened before them. The solution was working.
"You are really coming to understand how things work here, Dug," she said, impressed.
"Well, I always was a quick study," he said. "Once I caught on to the rules of nonsense, I just had to apply them."
So it seemed. He was young, arrogant, and a Mundane, but he did have his points.
They returned to Isthmus Village . "We have the solution," Dug announced. "Where's the ship?"
The headman led the way south to the port. There was me sinister ship, with its great awful censers hanging fore and aft On its hull was its name: BIGOTRY. Nada felt a tingle of horror as she beheld it. This ship was made from the disgusting wood of the bigotree! No wonder it smelled so bad. It was surrounded by an aura of suppression; it was impossible for there to be any joy or freedom near it
There seemed to be no sailors on that dread vessel. It was a ghost craft, bearing no living creature. What person could stand to be near it?
"Looks good," Dug said. "Let's get aboard her and douse those censers."
That meant that Nada would have to do it,
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