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cylinder of heavy rope that encased him from ankle to neck.
"Good morning, my boy," said Clothahump cheerily, as though nothing out
of the ordinary had occurred.
"Have some breakfast?"
"In a minute." Jon-Tom put his staff aside. He moved into the kitchen
and walked slowly around the hovering cage, never taking his eyes from it.
TBE MOKBNT OF THE MAOJCJAM 67 With a finger, he tested one of the
threads. It refused to move no matter how hard he pushed or pulled on it. He
had to pull away fast because the bound creature inside tried to bite off his
finger.
Sharp teeth just managed to nick his skin. He sucked on the thin cut.
"I'm sorry, Mudge," he said, "but I didn't have anything to do with
this."
"Oi now, didn't you, you stretched-out offspring of an otherworldly
bitch? You slippery sliver-tongued bastard. Of course you didn't 'ave nothin'
to do with it, you and that calcified lump of solid bone wot calls 'imself a
sorcerer."
Clothahump ignored this tirade and continued to slurp daintily at his
meal.
"Don't give me that crap, matel You and 'im *ave always been in league
with one another against me.
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Don't try to deny it! 'Tis been that way all along."
Jon-Tom continued to suck on the Finger his friend had attempted to
amputate, spoke quietly. "He was just supposed to find you and send you a
message."
He turned to face the wizard. "You were just supposed to send him a
message."
Clothahump considered, the spoon halfway to his mouth. "I did send a
message, my boy, and you were correct in your concerns. He was quite a
distance away, in a town near Kreshfarm-in-the-Geegs."
"It weren't far enough!" Mudge howled. He tried to sit down, but the
enveloping ropes prevented the maneuver, and he had to settle for leaning up
against the threads. "Seems it'll never be far enough to get me away from you
two arseholes! It won't stop me from tryin', though. I'll never stop tryin'l"
He glared accusingly at Jen-Tom.
"Why, mate? I thought after that little sea voyage I *elped you out with
we were even up."
Jen-Tom found himself unable to meet the otter's 68 gaze. "We were... as
far as that particular trip was concerned. Unfortunately, something new has
come up." He tried to smile. "You know how highly I value your company and
assistance."
"And you want good old 'appy-go-lucky Mudge along to 'old your bleedin*
'and, right? Or maybe to push you along in your pram?"
When Jon-Tom didn't reply, the otter turned his attention back to the
kitchen table. "Untie me, you disgustin' ball of reptilian corruption, or when
I get out of 'ere, I swears I'll shove you in on yourself and cement up all
the openin's!"
"Now, now." Clothahump dabbed delicately at his mouth with a linen
napkin. "Let us remember who we are talking to."
"Oh, I know who I'm talkin' to, all right. The world's master meddler. I
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don't care anymore, you see? So I can say wotever I want. Turn me into a
snake, turn me into a worm, even turn me into a bloody 'uman. See if I care.
Because you've gone too far this time, the two of you, and I've 'ad it! I'm
not goin' anywhere." He nodded in Jon-Tom's direction.
"Especially not with 'im. Not across any oceans, not into any fights,
not to the local market to buy chestnuts.
Nowhere, nohow, no way!"
Jon-Tom switched to rubbing his bitten finger.
"Ever hear of Quasequa, Mudge?"
The otter frowned down at him. "Qua wot?"
"Quasequa. It lies far to the south of the Bellwoods.
Exquisite country, a beautiful tropical city built out on a vast lake.
The kind of place an otter, it seems to me, would find downright
paradisaical."
"Charming, friendly inhabitants;' Clothahump added without glancing up
from his meal, "who know how to make a stranger feel at home. Especially, I am
told, the ladies."
TBS MOMENT OF TJXE MAGfCUUr 69 Mudge seemed to waver, but only for an
instantThen his determination returned.
"Oh, no, you ain't goin' to smooth-talk me into it again. Not this time.
I know 'ow you two operate, I does." He nodded again toward Jon-Tom. "This
one's *alf solicitor and 'alf devil. Between the two of you, you could sell
ice to polar bears- No, I'll 'ave none of it this time. Do what you want to
me."
Jon-Tom approached the cage, his best professional smile fairly lighting
up the dim kitchen. He was careful, however, not to get within biting distance
of his best friend.
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"Aw, c'mon, Mudge. One more time. For old times* sake. Be a friend." The
otter didn't reply, stared stolidly at the far wall.
"I know you're upset right now, and I can understand why. I sympathize,
really. I meant it when I said I had nothing to do with bringing you here like
this. I was going to come out and meet you, but Clothahump decided that it was
important to try and save time, I guess, so he brought you here this way
without telling me of his plans."
*Time. Let me tell you somethin' about time, mate.
Do you 'ave any idea where I was when 'is sorcerership there yanked me
out of reality and into nothingness?
Do you 'ave any idea what five minutes in Chaos is like?"
"There are somewhat smoother methods of generating the transition,"
Clothahump murmured, "but they take too much time."
"Do they now? Time, wot? I'll tell you about time."
A wistful expression came over his face. "There I was, sittin* in
Shorvan's Gambling Palace in downtown Toothrust... which is a good place for a
gambling chap like meself to be... 'oldin* twelve of a kind. Twelve of a
kind!" He almost broke out sobbing, but managed to restrain himself.
70 "And the pot... there was enough gold in that pot, me friends, to
set me up for three, four years o* comfort. So I'm gettin' ready to make me
play, see, because I know wot the score is and that the one chap with a chance
to stop me 'as to be bluffin' because 'e ain't 'oldin' diddly-squat in 'is
paws. This bum's a foxie with no moxie, see? I can read 'is bloomin' whiskers,
and I know I've got 'im beat, I know I dol So I push in all me chips, a great
galumphin' pile won at great labor and pain, and wot do you think 'appens to
me and me twelve of a kind, eh? Wot?" Jon-Tom said nothing.
"I'm jerked bodily into Unfamiliar Chaos, which ain't no garden spot, I
can tell you, and then finds meself bound up like a B&D 'oliday gift in this
bloody cage so's that tuft o' blotchy, moth-eaten feathers over there can tell
me that I've been summoned hence because you, mate, needs me 'elp on one of
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your forthcomin' suicidal excursions."
Jon-Tom glared at Ctothahump, who appeared not in the least distressed.
"You did say, my boy, that you wanted his company on this journey. If
anything, I expressed a dissenting opinion."
"I said that I wanted his help, his willing help."
"Best not to waste time," the turtle harrumphed, "debating semantics."
"If you don't want to waste time," Jon-Tom said, **why not send us to
Quasequa tlie same way you brought him here?"
"It's not quite that simple, my boy. Bringing and sending are quite
different things. The spells are more complex than you can imagine. Bringing
takes enough out of you, and 1 am not at all adept, I confess, at sending. If
I were better at either, I'd bring this Markus person here. That would
simplify everything, wouldn't it? Unfortunately, 1 cannot do TUB MOUKKT OF THE
SS.AOIC3AM 71 that. I was only able to manage this recall because of your
strong association with this creature and-"
"Who're you callin' a 'creature,' you fat-brained..."
Mudge hesitated, latched onto a new thought. "Wait a minim. Who's this
'Markus' you're talkin' about?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]