Page 8 (1/2)

Outside Clem&039;s Place

"Gawd, that was close," breathed Debreban "He nearly saw uys wanna get off me?" I asked, soreat, but I think we&039;reway too fast here"

Debreban was on me, Shankey was on Debreban, and the three of us were face-down behind a cart full of radishes Shankey reot ourselves upright again Lots of people stared, particularly the radish seller, but no one was curious enough to inquire why three adults were playing hide-and-seek in the street

Debreban had spotted hisout of Cle , then Shankey joined us

"Why&039;d you do that?" I wanted to know "It doesn&039;t matter if this Cadmus dude sees ht have been curious enough to come over to talk to you like everyone else since we left the stables"

True Once back in the town proper I&039;d collected another quasi-parade of kids who must have heard about me from their friends and wanted a first-hand encounter with the cat-guy Any other tie, but I was in a hurry to get back to Terrin

"He&039;s in a bad mood," Debreban fretted about his master "Didn&039;t he look like he was in a bad mood? Bad"

"I didn&039;t see hi at the dirt and other stains I&039;d collected here and back in the tunnel "This is my favorite shirt"

"My lady will see that it&039;s cleaned," Shankey pro Don&039;t you still hear your friend?"

I&039;d told the They&039;d been skeptical, but had seen enough ive me the benefit of the doubt and cooperate Shankey had saddled three of the Darmo horses to speed our return to the inn We&039;d just been tying the post when Debreban spotted his boss and hit the dirt Or in this case, the Myhr "Thanks for the re up on us My chief distraction fro up a constant strea to hi, call was like a radio station playing my least favorite commercials with no volu to let hie, but it was one-way traffic

About two o the internal noise stopped I didn&039;t knohether to celebrate or panic

Cle behind the bar as we rushed in He called soed past and up the narrow stairs, pushing the door open

Terrin sat cross-legged on the floor with his back to me, his usualeach other in the doorway, I cautiously moved around to see his face

His eyes were open, with only the whites showing In his hands was that black candle, alight; soers His breathing was shallow and fast, which rong for ency?"

His eyelids shivered, then he took a deeper breath, and shivered all over

"You sick or so? What do you wanta few seconds before focusing on ot here Where were you, Timbuktu?"

Gracious as always "Pretty et here - "

"Yeah, sure, okie-dokie, lissen up, we got a proble with this world I finally figured out there&039;s a ic drain here"

"Yeah, it&039;s to do with that black fog"

"Not during the day it ain&039;t! I&039;ve been feeling tired froo It&039;s in the fat part of the curve and sucking me dry I onna last We gotta find a way to get off this world before I&039;ood You will, anyway Much more of this and I&039;uests "Who are those guys?"

"It&039;s okay, they&039;re cool - "

"You think everyone&039;s cool Who are they?"

I made a quick introduction "Shankey&039;s boss lady has invited us to come stay with her and help out on this Hell-river probleotta leave this planet! We have to find geth to do the travel spell"

"I&039;m on your side for that, but - "

"It&039;s dead serious, Myhr We&039;ll have to lift some and pay out the kare They won&039;t recharge anyway since all the latent ems Doesn&039;t she, Shankey?"

"Oh, lots," said Shankey enthusiastically "Lots of jewels"

That was the right&039;em here I want out of this dump before sunset"

Man, he was totally freaked I&039;d rarely seen him like this before "It&039;s more complicated than you know"

"I don&039;t care We&039;re outta here a-s-a-p or I&039;m dead!"

Okay, that was hosed and a half "What about your shields and the protective wards?"

"They&039;re too weak to hold for long"

"Ahh," began Shankey in a helpful tone, "Darically shielded From what I know of &039;em they&039;ve been in place for centuries, added onto over time They may be why Lady Filima didn&039;t vanish with the other Talents She&039;s the saet you caught up on all the stuff I&039;ve learned today," I said "I got inside inforimme the headlines"

I did so, with Shankey and Debreban nodding vigorous confirmation as I outlined the city&039;s problem with the Hell-river, the disappearance of all the town Talents and described Botello Daret you to Darmo House you&039;ll have better protection than in this place"

"You sure about that?"

"No, but sooner or later your wards and stuff will give way, right? You&039;ll have a better chance surviving there than here Besides, you need to see e&039;ve found"

"When I get there If I get there"

"We&039;ve horses outside"

"Not fast enough; itmy shelter I won&039;t last five ic off like a frat house e"

"Can you make a movable shield?" asked Debreban "I&039;ve heard talk of such things"

Terrin gave him a cockeyed look "I like you, blondie, you think like me"

Debreban offered a weak smile, perhaps unsure whether or not to take that as a compliment Terrin was still in his wrinkled Hawaiian shirt, holed jeans, and purple high-tops By no stretch of iination on any world we&039;d ever been to did he look like a wizard

"Okay, gang, I gotta work," he said "You guys beat it and have the horses ready Soon as I&039;o and don&039;t stop How far away is this place?"

"About a ht take us a bit to get there"

"So long as I don&039;t have to walk I should be able tothem with scattered odds and ends frootta talk with Cle the packs shut, I herded Shankey and Debreban down to the common room

"Lady Fili before my run was over," I said to Shankey

"Yeah, I res with him so he&039;s not sore with me?"

"No problem"

Shankey and I told Clem about our need to whisk away a sick Terrin while Debreban went for the horses Before venturing forth, he folded his distinctively colored cloak under one arm and looked both ways on the street When he ca Clem, who accepted Shankey&039;s offer of Dar since he was more familiar with the currency values

"I&039;ll return when I can, if I can," I pro "Fine bysick in h Crowd here has so to be a regular tavern event now You done ood to know that I&039;d left behind a fresh cultural tradition they could enjoy for years to coht it?

"Shankey?" Debreban called us over to one side, fidgeting with his bundled cloak "I should get back to Burkus House Lord Cad for ht he&039;d only been passing in the street

"Saw hiin joints in all the towns in all this world, why did he coed "He&039;ll probably tellShankey; gawd knohat I&039; to report about today I ell outside the bounds ofannoys him"

"Well, if he dismisses you," said Shankey, "coet into ular pay, you know"

"Shank, you are a true friend and anyone who says otherill have to deal with one alldownstairs He looked al me the black candle as he zoomed past I hastily put it away We were on the clock, now, and I didn&039;t know for how long

Elsewhere, NOT in Ru results," the demon said to Botello Darmo It wasn&039;t the one who looked like Great Aunt Matilda Instead, it bore an equally disturbing resemblance to Uncle Fraddlip, as still alive in a s take time," said Botello

"That runs differently here You should have results by now"

"I am limited by how time is reckoned on Otherside" Keep your manner nice and even, Botello Don&039;t let it see you sweat

Sas a ments of Hell Botello presently stood in the center of one of them He felt heat, but not at the sa roasted only yards away The demon who had summoned him for a conference had temporarily removed their voice boxes, so the only sounds they could produce were of the breathy variety It was like being in a roo at their faces They all bore an uncanny likeness to his own and he knew damned well the demon had done that to make a point

"Nonetheless, ant a show of results now"

"I will have some shortly It is nearly sunset on Otherside The river will vanish I believe I understand what needs to be done to restore its flow here"

"Sunset or dawn, it&039;s all the same," the demon stated

Very true in a place where there was no sleep and the light - if it was light - rehout, except in those places where they had none Lots of those

"I understand that, but I a," Botello said patiently "I will ress?"