Demons Don’t Dream (19 page)

"A bitch," Cyrus agreed. "You found her in the water?"

"What do you mean, a bitch!"  Kim retorted. "She's a perfectly nice dog!" Then she remembered that this was what a female dog was called: a bitch. Just as a female horse was called a mare, and a female pig a sow.

"Oh, I'm sure she's nice," Jenny agreed, extending her hand. But the dog shied away fearfully.

"It's all right,"  Kim said, stroking the dog's damp back. "Jenny's my Companion." The dog relaxed, accepting Jenny's touch.

Then Sammy Cat stepped forward.  Kim was worried, but then realized that the little cat would not step into danger, and he knew how to find what he wanted. Sure enough, the two animals sniffed noses. Then Sammy walked away, satisfied. He was Jenny's cat, and Jenny had been accepted, so Sammy was accepted too.

Cyrus extended his hand, but the dog retreated from him too. She didn't growl, she just grew nervous. "She's your dog," Cyrus said. "I never heard of a daydream turning real like that, but it must have happened."

 Kim looked around. There were no longer any bubbles in sight They had vanished. They couldn't all have drifted away so quickly. So maybe it had been a daydream. But the dog was real. As real as anything in this game. Had it been a challenge, to rescue the animal?

"What do you call her?" Jenny asked.

"My bubble dog? I don't know." Kim turned to the dog. She noticed that the dog's mouth was marked with black and white so that she seemed to be smiling, though it was merely a color pattern and not true emotion. "I think someone was—was throwing her away. Because she'd old. All the bubbles had old, worn, or broken things. But when I saw a living animal, I—I just couldn't let it happen."

"Perhaps you should check to be sure she is healthy," Cyrus said diplomatically. He knew that the chances were that the dog was not.

Kim seized the opportunity. "Bubble dog, let me see if there is a tag on you, or something," Kim said. There wasn't; probably such identification was unknown in Xanth. "Let me get you dry, while I'm at it" She brought out a towel and rubbed the dog's fur, at the same time checking for mange, fleas, or broken bones.

But the bubble dog turned out to be surprisingly healthy. She was solid—perhaps seventy pounds—but not fat, and her fur was so thick it was like dense carpeting. She was very quiet, not growling, whining, or barking, and did not try to get away. Her teeth were clean, and there were no signs of infestation. She was healthy, just old.

"Maybe she's magic," Jenny suggested. "There are very few straight dogs in Xanth. She might be a werewolf, or something."

"Are you magic?" Kim asked the dog. The dog just looked at her, not seeming to understand.

"Perhaps she was dumped because she was not magic," Cyrus suggested.

"Well, I won't dump her!" Kim said firmly. "She's a nice dog, and I like her, and I don't care if she is nonmagical, so am I." But then a nasty thought occurred. "But I'm only visiting here. What happens to her when I go home?"

"I would try to take care of her," Jenny said. "But I don't think she likes me."

"Nonsense," Kim said. "She just doesn't know you." Yet Kim herself was almost as new to the dog as the other two were. Why should the dog accept her?

She knew the answer: she was the one who had rescued the dog from the bubble. Thus she had earned a special place in the dog's affection. That was all right, as long as the dog did not attack the others.

She couldn't just keep thinking of her as "the dog." There had to be a name. "All right, you're officially the bubble dog," Kim said. "Bubbles for short. Okay?”

The dog did not object. She lay down in the bottom of the boat and went to sleep.

"Bubbles it is," Cyrus said. "I wonder if I could daydream of floating bubbles, and find one with a thrown-away young beautiful mermaid?"

Kim laughed. "Who would throw away a young beautiful mermaid?"

"Unless she had a terrible temper," Jenny said, smiling.

"Mermaids do not have hot tempers," Cyrus said somewhat stiffly. "The water keeps them cool and calm."

"Except when there's a storm?" Kim asked mischievously.

"Merfolk dive below when there are storms."

"Maybe she's hungry," Jenny said.

"How can she be hungry, when we haven't found her yet?" he asked. Then he shifted streams of thought. "Oh, you mean the dog. Perhaps so."

They did not have any dogfood in their supplies, but they did have water crackers. Kim took one and offered it to Bubbles. The dog sniffed it, considered, and finally accepted it. She settled down to eat it, slowly.

The boat moved on. The slow progress soon became boring. Jenny and Cyrus slumped, snoozing, and so did Kim.

Until a sharp bark woke them all up.  Kim's eyes popped open—and there was a head looking over the boat She stifled a scream, afraid that it would merely provoke the monster.

Jenny was doing the same. "It's a water dragon!" she whispered, frightened. "And we're way far from land!"

But Cyrus did not seem to be worried. "That's just Plesio," he said. "He's friendly."

"That's a plesiosaurus!" Kim exclaimed. "From the Age of Dinosaurs." For she had at one time been fascinated by the dinosaurs, and had learned a number of the forms of the age of reptiles. This extremely long-necked, flippered creature fit the description.

"Yes, he really likes to please people," Cyrus said. "He must have seen us poking along, and decided to help speed up our journey." He unshipped some rope, tossed out the end, and the creature caught it in its mouth. Then it swam briskly ahead, pulling the boat swiftly along.

"But Bubbles couldn't have known it was all right," Kim said, stroking the dog's head. "She tried to warn us of danger."

"Yes she did," Jenny agreed. "We can sleep safer with her along."

Now their progress was rapid. The surface of the lake fairly whizzed by. A shore appeared ahead, and soon they reached it Plesio halted and dropped his end of the rope. "Thank you," Cyrus called as he coiled the rope.

They took out water paddles and moved the boat into shallow water, and then into a broad marsh. "But I thought we were going to a river," Kim said.

"The
With-A-Cookee
River
," Jenny agreed. "It flows from the Half-Baked Bog. So first we have to get through the bog."

Oh. Now she remembered the map. "Why is it called Half-Baked?" Kim inquired.

"Because half of it is next to the Fire Region," Cyrus said. "That's not my favorite place, but the best channel passes close by there, so we'll have to use it"

All too soon Kim saw what he meant. There was smoke on the horizon, billowing up from what looked like a wall of fire, and the channel through the marsh led toward it The green plants along the bank turned white with the increasing heat, and then brown. "Why, that looks almost like marshmallow!" Kim explained.

"Yes, this is the Mallow Marsh," Cyrus agreed. "If you are hungry, you can eat the toasted mallow plants."

Kim reached out and pulled off a mallow. It was crinkly brown on the outside, but gooey white inside. She tasted it, it was toasted marshmallow, sure enough.

Jenny ate some too. Then Jenny offered a mallow to Bubbles, but the dog would not take it so she handed it to Kim, and Kim offered it, and this time Bubbles took it. This was a one-girl dog, without doubt.

The wall of fire loomed closer. Kim realized that the reason the channel was so close to the fire was that this was the only place too hot for water plants to clog.

"We shall have to move rapidly," Cyrus said. "I shall enter the water and pull the boat, as Plesio did. That will protect me from the heat and speed our travel. If the two of you are able to paddle—"

"We'll try," Kim said bravely. That firewall was now impressively high and hot Her clothing had long since dried out. She dipped her hands in the lukewarm water and splashed herself wet again. The water itself was warm, but did help cool her. Jenny, understanding, did the same. It would help them survive the fire. As an afterthought, she splashed some water on Bubbles, who glanced at her but did not protest.

Jenny paddled near the front of the boat, and Kim paddled near the back, on the other side, trying to time her strokes to match the elf's. Cyrus pulled by holding a short length of rope between his teeth and swimming vigorously. The boat moved well, but still the high flames were ferocious. Both girls had to pause frequently to splash more water on themselves and on the dog. Near the wall of fire the water was boiling, but it seemed to be cooler below the surface.

Now the source of the flames was apparent: a row of burning trees. Somehow they seemed to maintain their height and mass and foliage, despite burning up. How could that be?

"That's firewood," Cyrus explained.

Well, that made sense, in this magic land, Kim had always known how punnish Xanth was; she just tended to forget when under stress.

Kim heard growling. It wasn't Bubbles; indeed, the dog heard it too. Her floppy ears perked up. It was coming from the firewall! But how could there be any living tiling mere?

"Firedogs," Cyrus gasped. "Pay them no heed. They live in the hot steel and iron section, and harass passersby, but they can't leave the Fire Region."

 Kim's fevered mind wondered whether there was a pun buried there: steel and iron. Steel and iron—same as a fire-dog back home. She kept paddling, though she feared that her hands were blistering.

The growling faded, but was replaced by a heated hissing. "Firedrakes," Cyrus explained. "Very fierce birds."

But the drakes, too, were confined to the fire. Then there came a hot buzzing. "Don't tell me," Kim gasped. "Let me guess: firebugs."

"Right."

The channel began to veer away from the firewall, to  Kim's great relief. Then there was a fiery neigh. That would be a firehorse. Sparkling insects flew out and danced above the water fireflies.

Bubbles barked. Kim started to reassure the dog, then realized that the dog might have smelled something. She looked around—and spied a serpentine form writhing across the surface of the water toward them. Suddenly she knew what it was. "Firehose!" she screamed.

Cyrus lifted his head and stared. "That will burn through the boat!" he said, alarmed.

"Then we'd better hurry!" Kim gasped, doubling her effort The boat went faster, but she saw that the firehose was going to touch it

Jenny saw the danger. She stood up and whirled her paddle. She brought it down across the firehose, making a great splash of water and fire. The hose, startled, pulled back for a moment—and the boat slid by, untouched.

There was an angry cry. Kim looked, and saw the flaming outline of a man, standing before his firehose, shaking his fist at them. "Sorry, fireman, you can't burn us this time!" she called as the boat put distance between them.

A flaming human female form appeared. She held some kind of firestick. She pointed it at the boat. Bubbles barked.

"Duck!"  Kim cried, throwing herself down.

A bolt of fire shot over the boat, just missing her.

"That was no duck," Cyrus said. "That was Miss Fire."

"So silly of me to confuse her," Kim said.

Away from the firewall at last, they relaxed, catching their breaths. "They were surprisingly determined, this time," Cyrus said. "Usually they don't really try. I wonder what got them all fired up?"

"It's probably a game challenge,"* Kim said, realizing. "It was getting too easy for me to make progress, so they heated it up."

"That must be it," Jenny agreed. "You have a loyal Companion to help you, but the challenges do get harder as they go. Few Players are supposed to make it through to the prize."

Cyrus nodded. "I see this will be an interesting excursion. I must say you rose to the occasion, Kim."

"No, that was Jenny who rose," Kim said to cover her pleasure at the compliment. "She stood up so she could bash the firehose, so we could pass."

"True. But you gave the alarm."

"No, that was Bubbles. She barked." Kim stroked the dog's head.

He shrugged. "Your modesty becomes you."

"I'm not modest. I'm pushy. I just did my part, the same way the rest of you did."

"Of course," he agreed. But he did not sound quite convinced.

The dog was getting restless, so they paddled to the bank, and let her scramble onto land, where she did her canine business. Evidently she was a house-trained canine, which was fine. Kim liked her very well. It was fun having a pet, even if it was only in the game.

They resumed motion through the Half-Baked Bog. It was extensive, but by paddling and poling they made good progress.

"It is getting late, but we must reach the headwaters of the
With-A-Cookee
River
by nightfall," Cyrus said.

"Why?" Kim asked. "Can't we camp here?" She was so tired mat she hardly wanted to push on farther than she needed to.

"No. There is no solid land here, just marshy islands. And it would be uncomfortable for you to sleep in the boat But mainly, there are the allegations."

“The what?" Jenny asked. "Allegory?"