The Color Of Her Panties (25 page)

When they were safely across and had trees to conceal them, Gwenny touched Jenny's hand.  “Do you know, I could see the dream without being in it.  That was fun!”

Beyond the river the route continued.  But it was too good.  There was an old wide path that curved along the contour, fairly level.  Sammy bounded along it so swiftly that they were soon worn out trying to keep up.  But that wasn't all.

“Nice paths too often lead to tangle trees or ogres’ dens,” Che said.  “Now I know he's supposed to be following a safe route, but he might not realize who made the path.  Maybe it is safe only so far, then it becomes unsafe, and whoever is on it is trapped.”

“Or maybe it is safe only by day, but it will take more than a day to traverse, and we won't like the night,” Gwenny said.

“Or maybe it just goes so far that we'll be hopelessly footsore by the time we get to wherever it goes,” Jenny said.  It was evident that none of them were eager to spend much time on this particular path.  “I really don't think Sammy would lead us down an unsafe route, but we only have two days, so we need to go fast.”

Che studied the path.  “I think this is a serpentine track,” he said.

“See, its surface is oily green and very hard.  Probably a giant serpent slithered along here years ago and is long gone, leaving only its imprint in the land.”

Gwenny peered at the green.  “I would hate to meet a serpent that big!”

“But if it makes its own trail as it goes, and doesn't return to it,” Jenny said, “then it's free for anyone to use.

Still, if the Nameless Castle is far away-and it may be, if Gobble wants to be sure we won't be back in time-we still need something more than just to walk along it.”

“Maybe we should try a diversionary ploy,” Che suggested.

“A what?” Jenny asked.

“Ask the feline to find us something that will in an indirect manner facilitate our journey with respect to both velocity and safety.”

“You weren't any clearer the second time,” Gwenny complained.  “You're getting to be too much like a centaur.”

Che was taken aback.  “I didn't realize.  All I meant was that maybe Sammy can find us something to help.”

“Oh.  Good idea.” Jenny addressed the cat.  “ Sammy-”

Sammy took off into the underbrush.  “Wait for me!”

Jenny cried, running after him.

“Here we go again,” Gwenny said, following.

They trailed after the cat, who bounded through thicket and field and finally came to a peasant hut.  There was a boy of about eight playing among a collection of toys, blocks, and things.  He had black hair, blue eyes, and looked smart for his size.  Sammy came up to him and stopped.

“Hey!  A friendly wild creature!” the boy said, delighted.  He reached out to pet Sammy, and Sammy did not avoid his hand.

Jenny saw that as she ran up.  That meant that not only was this boy what the cat was looking for, he was an okay person.  Those were good signs.

The boy looked up as Jenny arrived.  “Look what I found!” he said, indicating Sammy.

Ah, the naiveté of youth!  Now that Jenny was in the Adult Conspiracy, she felt nostalgia for the innocence of the childish state.  “Yes, that is Sammy, my cat.  You didn't find him; he found you.  I think you have something we want.”

“I do?  You can have all these things.  I just made them for fun.”

Jenny looked at the objects in the yard as Che and Gwenny caught up.

They were of every type, but she didn't see how any of them would help them travel.  “You made these?”

“Yes.  That's my talent.  I make in-inane”

“Inanimate,” Che said.

“Whatever-things into other things,” the boy finished.

“Now that has possibilities,” Che said.  “Let's introduce ourselves.  I am Che Centaur, and I am seven years old.  These are Jenny Elf and Gwenny Goblin.  They are older, but they have a right to be-they're girls.”

“Yeah,” the boy said, seeing the logic of it.  “I'm Darren.  I'm eight. I'm older than you, Che!”

“So you are.  But I have wings.”

“Gee, I wish I had wings!  But I can't change myself, just bits of wood and stone and stuff.”

Jenny and Gwenny stayed back and let Che interview the boy; he was good at it.

“We are traveling, but we are in a hurry,” Che said.

“We saw a path that goes where we want to go, but we need to go along it very quickly.  Can you make anything that would help us do that?  “

“Sure,” Darren said.  “A land sailer.  You can go very fast in that.”

“A sailor on land?” Che asked, perplexed.

“No.  A sailer.  Like this.” The boy went to a big block of wood and touched it.  Immediately the block started changing its outline, until it became a wooden boat with a thin wooden sail.  At its base were several wooden wheels.  “See?  When you get in it, it attracts the wind, which blows it along.  But Mom won't let me go very far.

She says that there are dragons out there.”

“Your mom is smart.  There are dragons.  I think we can use this sailer. What can we trade for it?”

Darren looked around.  “How about this cat?”

Jenny jumped, but Che took it in stride.  “No, we need Sammy with us. But maybe he could find something for you.  Something you want.”

“Oh.  I guess all I want is to forget how dull it is being a child.”

Che glanced at Gwenny.  “I believe we can arrange that.

Gwenny brought out her bottle of Lethe water.  She sprinkled one drop on the boy.  “Forget how dull childhood is,” she said.

Darren looked up.  “Hey, it's fun being a child!  I like it!  I don't ever want to get into any of the Adult Conspiracy stuff.

Jenny turned away.  How little he knew-yet how familiar was the sentiment.

Che made the sailer light and hauled it away, leaving the happy boy in his yard.  They brought it to the path.

Then they all got on it.

Immediately a stiff wind came up to address the sail.

The sailer began to move.  Soon it was moving so rapidly they had to hang on.  But it was taking them where they wanted to go much faster than they ever could have done it on foot, and this was more restful, too.  The scenery whizzed by so swiftly it became a blur.

But how were they going to stop?  Jenny wished they had thought of that before they boarded this craft.

The blurred scenery turned dark.  They were passing through a mountain cleft or perhaps even a tunnel bored by the serpent.  Or maybe it had gotten bored after the serpent left it, since nothing interesting was happening.

Then there were more trees and glades.  Finally it opened out, and they could see far to either side, across a level plain or marsh.

“Where are we?” Gwenny cried in the wind.

“The east shoreline, I fear,” Che cried back.

“But then we must be sailing into the-” Jenny started.

SPLASH!  The sailer threw up a great cloud of beach sand and plowed into the water.  It bounced and flipped as its wheels touched the liquid, and the three of them landed in waist-deep brine.

“The sea,” Jenny finished belatedly.  Now she had her answer about how they were going to stop.  At least they weren't hurt.

They plowed back to the beach, dragging the sailer.  They were soaking, but there wasn't time to worry about that.  The day was latening, and they didn't know how far they still had to go.

However, the beach itself glowed brightly, so that it seemed that the day would never end here.  “I wonder where this is?” Gwenny said.

Then Che spied a sign.  “That explains it, “ he said, pointing.  The sign said DAY tona BEACH.  “Though whoever painted this sign was sloppy; I think it should be DAY on a BEACH.”

“Literacy isn't what it used to be,” Gwenny agreed.

But Jenny remembered their mission.  “Sammy-” she began, fearing where he might go next.

The cat walked a few paces south and stopped.

They came and stood by him.  “But there is nothing here!  “ Gwenny said.

Indeed, the sand was bright and bare.  There was nothing even close.  Yet Sammy sat licking a paw, unconcerned.

“Maybe it is below?” Gwenny offered.  But the sand was undisturbed, and the cat wasn't digging.

“Sammy, think of the route,” Jenny said.

The cat's mental map appeared.  The line went straight up.

They looked up.  There was nothing there but a white cloud floating serenely by itself.

Yet that was where the route line went.

“The Nameless Castle is nowhere on peninsular Xanth,” Che said.  “We assumed that meant it was off to the side, such as in the sea.  But it just might be above Xanth instead.”

“We have to reach that cloud,” Gwenny said.

“But how can we do that?” Che asked.  “I'm not sure it's within range of your wand, and we have no way to fly.” Jenny had a bright notion.

“Maybe Che could fly-” she began.

“If he just forgot that he could not,” Gwenny finished.

She brought out her bottle.

“The logic is fallacious, “ Che said.  “I am simply not grown enough to-”

Gwenny sprinkled a drop of Lethe water on him.  “You can't fly,” she said, identifying what he was to forget.

“This is ridiculous,” the little centaur protested.  “I simply cannot yet-because my wings have not yet-” He hesitated, surprised.  “What can I not do?”

“I'm sure we don't know,” Jenny said.  “But we are in a hurry, so please make us very light, and then you can carry us up as you fly to that cloud overhead.”

“Of course.” He flicked the two of them, and the cat, and then himself.

Each of them took one of his hands, with Jenny holding Sammy.  Then he spread his wings, which had grown and feathered out nicely in the past two years, more than had been apparent before.  So had his chest muscles, which helped anchor the wing muscles.  He pumped them, and the flight feathers caught hold of the air.

They lifted from the sand.  At first things were unsteady, because this was his first flight, and he was supporting the others.  But in a moment he got the hang of it, and was able to make a controlled spiral, ascending toward the cloud.

Jenny looked down.  Already the ground was distressingly far down.  She felt alarmingly insecure.  But she kept a stiff upper lip, and a stiff lower one too.  After all, this had been her idea.

So she looked up, and saw the base of the cloud approaching.  It was quite ordinary.  But how could there be a castle up here?  Castles didn't float in air!

But clouds did, and a castle might rest on a cloud, if the right magic were in operation.

Che achieved the edge of the cloud, breathing hard.

“My wings are getting tired,” he gasped.  Then his wing beat faltered.

They began to sink down.

Jenny reached out and grabbed the edge of the cloud.

It felt like cotton stuffing.  She hooked her three fingers and thumb into it and pulled the three of them and Sammy in.  She knew that she wouldn't have been able to do it, if there had been one more of them, or one less finger.  Then Gwenny caught hold also.  They were all still very light, so they were able to haul themselves and Che in without falling.  They climbed onto the cloud and set the little centaur on his feet there.

“Thank you,” Che said.  “My wings got so tired!  You'd think I had never flown before!” He cocked his head.

“Actually-”

“They'll recover,” Jenny said quickly.  “It was a difficult climb, holding the two of us.  But now we're here, and we can look for the-” She broke off, amazed.

All three of them stood gaping.  For there before them was the Nameless Castle.  It was cloud-colored and seemed to be made of cloud stones, but overall was solid and tall, with turrets and buttresses and embrasures and pennants and all.  There was even a moat.  One thing a cloud could provide was water.  Jags of lightning jumped from its highest pinnacles.

That was another thing a cloud could provide.

Sammy jumped down and walked toward the drawbridge.

They followed, still awed.  This would be a perfectly ordinary castle, if it weren't up here on the cloud.  As it was, it was extraordinary.

The drawbridge was down and the portcullis up.  It was almost as if the castle expected them.  Yet they were here only because of Gobble's attempt to cheat.  Jenny was amazed that they had managed to get this far.  Could they actually fetch back the roc's egg?

They set foot on the drawbridge.  It was made of the same tough cloud stuff as the rest, and readily supported their weight.  Of course they didn't weigh much at the moment, but if they had, it still would have been strong enough.  Jenny bent to tap its substance with her fingers, and it was like spongy tree bark, soft on the surface but with very little give beneath.

They walked on into the main doorway.  It was huge, as was the castle.  A giant could have used this!

The great hall led to a mighty central chamber, but it was empty.  So they tried a side hall, but that led endlessly away, with many blank doors at its sides.  Where was the roc?

“Sammy, find the roc,” Jenny said.

The cat bounded off.  She had forgotten to hold on to him!  All she saw was his mental map, which disappeared as he followed the highlighted route.  So she just had to run after him, as usual, trying to keep his tail in sight.

It turned out to be no easy route.  They wound through halls, chambers, and galleries as devious as those of the caves they had left, wending their way gradually upward.

It seemed there was no grand central staircase, but rather many little hidden stairs scattered around the castle.  The only thing that enabled Jenny to keep up with the cat was the number of closed doors that balked him; he had to wait for her to come open them.  This castle was a veritable puzzle box!

“This portion is made for folk our size,” Che remarked.  “In contrast to the main gate and hall, which is made for a giant.  I wonder why?”

“Maybe this is the servants' quarters,” Gwenny said.

“Yet there are no occupants of this castle, large or small,” he pointed out.

“Except maybe the roc,” Jenny said.  Then she had a nasty notion.  “Just what do rocs eat?”

“Any creature they can catch,” Che said.  Then he realized the significance of that.  “The roc could have eaten everyone in the castle!”