The Stranger (105 page)

Authors: Max Frei,Polly Gannon

Tags: #Mystery & Detective, #Horror, #Fiction, #Fantasy, #General, #Epic

“Slowly?” Lonli-Lokli asked incredulously. “Well, I guess in that case we’ll be home in no time at all.”

When we had finished our meal and gone outside, I turned the corner and headed for the rainbow-hued fountain.

“I always went though that wooden door, Shurf,” I told him.

“Of course you did, Max. I don’t doubt it. But it’s not a real door. Just a stage prop.”

“As Sir Lookfi Pence likes to say, ‘People are so absent-minded!’” I sighed. “But what am I supposed to do, one might ask? Should I be surprised? No—I’m through with surprises for now.”

We spent the rest of the day like real tourists. Shurf did, if fact, set out to buy carpets, and I tagged along to keep him company. As it happened, I couldn’t resist the dark and silky nap of one enormous rug. It would match the fur of my cats perfectly. I was most likely the first customer who had ever bought a rug to go with his cats.

We loaded the rugs into the amobiler and went home to pack. Lonli-Lokli only needed about ten seconds to get ready, but I wasn’t ready until dark. When and how I had managed to spread my belongings through every room of this spacious house was a mystery to me. Finally, I came across the pile of junk that I had pulled out from under my magic pillow only yesterday. The box of candy was already nearly empty, but there were still some cookies, the collection of keys, four silver spoons, and the box of Cuban cigars. I thought a bit, then stuffed these riches in my traveling bag—you never know when they will come in handy.

When we were already outside, I was struck by an absurd notion, so our departure was delayed by another half hour. I needed to stop by the
Country Home
. This time I didn’t want to play cards, though.

When I had settled myself behind the levers of the amobiler, I happily lit up a cigarette, and the vehicle started to move. I drove fairly slowly to the city gates. But when we had passed the eleven Vaxari trees, I drove like a bat out of hell—a hundred miles an hour, at least. I couldn’t believe I had managed to get that kind of speed out of the absurd old jalopy. And that was just the beginning!

Shurf sat frozen in the back seat. I couldn’t turn around to see the expression on his face, but I could have sworn I heard him breathing rapturously. It was indescribably wonderful. We flew though the darkness along an unknown road. There were no gray cliffs, none of the bottomless precipices we had passed on our way into Kettari. The cable car on the edge of my nameless city, and the city itself, were nowhere to be seen, either—only the darkness and the cold minty air of Kettari. I didn’t even notice when the air lost its biting freshness.

“I just contacted Juffin,” Lonli-Lokli told me. I raised my eyebrows in surprise

“Good news, Shurf. Tell him . . . tell him your part of the story of what happened in Kettari. I can’t afford to get distracted when I’m driving this fast—and slowing down would be too much to ask. Tell Juffin that, all right?”

“Of course. I realize you don’t really like using Silent Speech. In any case, by my calculations we’ll be in Echo very soon—no later than tomorrow at noon, if you don’t get tired.”

“Well, what’s Elixir of Kaxar for? I know, I know, the driver isn’t supposed to indulge. But since I’m the big boss these days, I think I can.”

“Yes, Max. You can,” said Lonli-Lokli.

Then he was silent for a long time. He and Juffin clearly had a lot to talk about after their long separation. I didn’t envy them. If anyone was enjoying life now, it was me. Tomorrow I would talk my fill. Oh, poor Juffin! I’d talk his head off.

After about two hours, Lonli-Lokli touched my shoulder gently. I shuddered in surprise. The dizzying speed at which we were traveling had made me forget about everything else on earth, including my silent passenger.

“Sir Juffin and I have finished our conversation. Besides that, you know, I’m hungry. It would be nice to stop at a roadside diner.”

“Dig around in my bag there—you’ll find some cookies. They’re imported, but edible, I hope. And pass me some. I’ve also got the munchies.”

Lonli-Lokli rummaged around in my bag for a while, then produced a bag of cookies for me, and some for himself, which he munched with gusto.

“Are these from another World, too?”

“Most likely. Oh, Shurf! I have an excellent idea. Wait a minute.”

I stopped the amobiler and stuck my hand under the seat. I waited for a minute or two. Ah, there they were! Then I started to laugh.

“What happened, Max?”

“Nothing, it’s just that yesterday, when I was trying to get hold of some cigarettes, I kept finding all kinds of edibles. And now, when I’m trying to forage for our dinner—voilà!” I waved a long cardboard carton in front of his face triumphantly. “There are tens packs in here, Shurf! And they’re my favorite kind—555! I’m in luck!”

Greetings, Max,
Mackie Ainti’s call reached me so suddenly I gasped, slumping down in the seat. It wasn’t the most pleasant feeling—like getting slammed by a dump truck. Not a real one, of course; but still, what a greeting! It was lucky that I hadn’t been driving just at that moment.

I’ve got to thank you,
Mackie went on, sounding somewhat guilty. He probably imagined what I was experiencing just about then.

Maybe I’m too pragmatic, but I somehow thought you’d be glad. Farewell, partner. I’m a man of few words, as you can see.

Thank you.
I tried to make my Silent Speech calm and intelligible.
You can’t imagine—

I can.
With that, Sir Mackie Ainti disappeared from my mind. I sighed a deep sigh of relief. He was a complicated man. Simply unbearable, for all the tenderness I felt for him.

“Is that a present?” Lonli-Lokli asked. “I think you deserved it, Max. You left the most precious part of yourself in that World.”

“Did you hear our conversation?”

“In a way. You know, now that I don’t have to waste so much energy fending off Kiba, I can use it for other purposes. Of course, it takes time, but some simple things just happen of their own accord. And you know, it’s not hard at all to keep track of what’s happening to you. In that sense, you’re much more vulnerable than other people. You have an expressive face.”

“I am what I am,” I said. “I’ll try again. Maybe we’ll still be able to get some dinner.”

A half hour later, after stockpiling several bottles of mineral water and a fistful of tokens for gambling machines, Shurf and I found ourselves the proud owners of a huge cherry pie. After eating a large portion, I started up the amobiler and set off down the road again. The vehicle ate up the miles hungrily. Never had I been such a speed-demon behind the levers as I was on that drive!

“Listen, Shurf,” I began. “Did you by any chance ask Juffin what happened the night we tried to get in touch with him? I mean the night we had such a strange conversation with Lookfi, since we couldn’t reach anyone else. Why did Lookfi break the connection?”

“I didn’t have to ask. Sir Juffin brought it up himself. He thought that you would be eager to find out. You guessed right when you suggested that it was another World. And Sir Lookfi Pence is such a scatterbrain that he didn’t even notice my call had come to him from a place where it shouldn’t be able to reach him. In this case, his absent-mindedness served a good purpose. Then something happened that you might find amusing. Sir Juffin immediately realized where we had ended up, and wanted to explain it all to you through Lookfi. Lookfi listened calmly to Juffin’s conjectures about another World, and began relating it to you. Only then did he grasp the significance of his own words. He realized that the impossible was happening and that’s when it ended. Why aren’t you laughing, Max?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m probably just trying to understand, I don’t know, something, at least! But you’re right. Usually things like that seem funny to me. You changed very much in Kettari, Shurf. Do you know that?”

“That’s logical, since . . .” Lonli-Lokli sank into thought.

“Well, of course. First Glamma Eralga’s face, then a wife like Lady Marilyn, may she rest in peace, a journey to another World, a joint, and Kiba Attsax for dessert. You poor fellow, Sir Shurf. What a jerk I am, always moaning about my own problems!”

“Well said!” I detected something strange in his voice, so I turned around. Shurf was smiling, ever so slightly. The corners of his mouth were turned up, Magician’s honor!

“Not so fast, buddy,” I winked. “There’s still another dead Magician. What’s his name, by the way?”

“Yook Yoggari. But he’s far less dangerous. I don’t regret these changes, Max. I don’t intend to deny who I am. As I’ve already said, it doesn’t prevent me from concentrating on the really important things. It doesn’t get in the way of anything, and that’s what matters.”

“All the same, if this dead fellow starts bothering you, you can count on me,” I announced airily. “I’ll come to him in his dreams, and make him sing for his supper!”

“Magicians be with you, Max. Dead people don’t dream.”

“Really? All the better. That means I’m alive, because your little friend suggested that I also . . . well, died . . . in my time, way back when.”

“Dead Magicians seldom say anything sensible,” Shurf said. “As far as I know, they always dwell in a darkened state of mind.”

“Now that makes me prick up my ears,” I said grinning. “It’s a painfully familiar state.”

I sped up so that talking wouldn’t be necessary.