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A brewo burst into violent coughing, choked it to a wheezing end, and gasped subserviently, "ExcuseCrown"

Crown gently pulled the clutch coat off Rixende&039;s far shoulder and began to stroke her "Why, you&039;re all gooseflesh, honey, and rigid as a corpse What frightened you? Smooth down, skin Ease up, ive you a squirt"

His hand found the sponge, stopped, investigated, found the wet part, then went toward the middle of his face He sniffed

"Well, boys, at least we know none of you are va at her ear"

Rixende said very rapidly in a monotone, "I didn&039;t co you lost Then I was tempted I didn&039;t knoould be I tried to resist, but Keeper led me on I - "

"Shut up," Crown said quietly "We were just wondering how you paid hi to buy your third double? Cut off a hand or a foot? Keeper show ht Now unfist"

Crown plucked the pendant from Keeper&039;s opened hand-blob His yellon eye-blurs on Keeper all the while, he wagged the precious bauble back and forth, then tossed it slowly aloft

As the golden blurpace, Keeper opened and shut his mouth twice, then babbled, "I didn&039;t tempt her, Crown, honest I didn&039;t I didn&039;t know she was going to hurt her ear I tried to stop her, but - "

"We&039;re not interested," Crown said "Put the double on our tab" His face never leaving Keeper&039;s, he extended his arht-lined out of reach

"Why&039;s this ho across the bar as easily as an ar and smaller toes, pulled hi with the saline, baby? Gu Spar&039;s jaw and lip with his other toes, he thrust the big one into Spar&039;s mouth "Come on, bite me, baby"

Spar bit It was the only way not to vo frarew hot and his forehead throbbed under its drenching of fear-sweat He was sure he was hurting Crown, but the Coroner of Hold Three only kept up his low, delighted chuckle and when Spar gasped, withdrew his foot

"My, , baby We almost felt that Have a drink on us"

Spar ducked his stupidly wide-open mouth away from the thin jet ofso that he had to knot his fists and cla out

"Why&039;s this place so dead, I ask again? No applause for baby and now baby&039;s gone teh?" Crown faced each in turn "What&039;s the ues?"

"Cat? We have a cat, a new cat, ca as catcher," Keeper suddenly babbled "It can talk a little Not as well as Hellhound, but it talks It&039;s very funny It caught a rat"

"What&039;d you do with the rat&039;s body, Keeper?"

"Fed it to the chewer That is, Spar did Or the cat"

"You mean to tell us that you disposed of a corpse without notifying us? Oh, don&039;t go pale on us, Keeper That&039;s nothing Why, we could accuse you of harboring a witch cat You say he caht for witches Now don&039;t go green on us too We were only putting you on We were only looking for a s funny"

Before Spar could call, or even decide whether he&039;d call Kireen eye-blurs fixed on the yellon ones

"So you&039;re the joker, eh? Well joke"

Ki on end

"Go ahead, joke like they tell us you can Keeper, you wouldn&039;t be kidding us about this cat being able to talk?"

"Spar! Make your cat joke!"