Read Online Golem in the Gears by Piers Anthony - Free Book Online Page B

changed slowly. Since Grundy liked the Pook family better than he liked Jordan and Threnody, he was satisfied with this encounter. "We're heading for the Gap. How far do we have to go?"
    "Not far," Pook said. "But the route is devious. There are several hungry dragons and a monster or two in the way."
    "We don't have forever," Grundy said. "Is there a good, fast way there that avoids the hazards?"
    "Sure. We can lead you through it, if you like." That was exactly what Grundy would like. "Thanks!" Now Peek and Puck showed up. Peek was a beautiful shaggy mare with similar chains, and Puck was a frolic- some young creature whose chains threatened to fly loose when he leaped. They peered curiously at Snortimer, for though they knew what he was, they had never actually seen him before. It was unusual for Bed Monsters to stray
    far from their beds.
    Bink and Chester crashed up to join them. There were introductions; then the ghost horses showed the route.
    It was as if a path appeared where none had existed before. Suddenly it was much easier to penetrate the wil- derness, though their route was now quite curvacious. Nobody complained, because everyone knew that this was necessary to avoid the lurking dragons and monsters. Actually, it had been a lucky thing to encounter Pook;
    this help would save them a great deal of time and trouble. Grundy knew that Bink took such luck for granted, but certainly it was with them at the moment.
    As dawn neared, the terrain grew rougher. There were numerous crevices in the ground near the Gap Chasm, as if fragmented from it. They decided to camp, as they could not quite reach the Gap before day. The ghost horses could go abroad by night or day, but preferred the night, so they were satisfied. Puck trotted about, locating fruits and nuts and water; Chester, who had the appetite of a horse, really appreciated that.
    Snortimer disappeared under his bed, but the others remained up for a while, talking. Grundy was happy to translate; it made him feel important.
    "Do you really want to go to the Gap," Pook asked, "or do you need to cross it?"
    "Neither," Grundy explained. "We're going down into it, to meet the Gap Dragoness."
    "Oh, then you don't need to go to the brink! I know of a tunnel that leads down into it. Jordan and I used it to get out, four hundred years ago, and I'm sure it's still there."
    "Great!" Grundy exclaimed, and translated for Bink and Chester.
    "Who made the tunnel?" Bink inquired, interested.
    "We don't know. It's just there."
    Just there. Perhaps that was enough of an answer for a horse, but Grundy was unsatisfied. Someone had to have made that tunnel, and now he was quite curious who. After the experience with the path leading to the Com-Pewter cave, Grundy was more cautious about sim- ply using what was there. If the tunnel had been there for centuries, probably it was safe; but if it connected to Corn- Pewter's cave....
    "I think we ought to find out more about this tunnel before we commit ourselves all the way to it," Chester said. "It's a long way down to the bottom of the Gap Chasm, and if anything happened—"
    "My thought exactly!" Grundy agreed. "Let's find out who made it, then we can use it. Some things wait for a long time to catch the unwary."
    They slept. At night the ghost horses showed them to the tunnel. It opened from the base of a small north-south chasm, as if it had been there before the chasm opened. Sure enough, when they explored the opposite side of the cleft, there, hidden under a fall of debris, was another tunnel: the evident continuation of the other. Since the
    first tunnel proceeded down into the Gap, this other must go elsewhere, and should be safer to explore.
    Grundy took charge. "Let's send one party down into it, while another watches from outside," he said. "Maybe we can call back and forth, and trace it from the surface."
    Grundy rode Snortimer into the tunnel, while Bink and Chester stayed outside. Little Puck followed Grundy in, planning to