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friend of the family. Jim and Angie had to walk the last forty yards to reach
the naked stake. Aargh, of course, was nowhere in sight.
"I think he just likes to surprise us," whispered Angie to Jim as they
waited.
"No such pup-like foolishness!" said a familiar, harsh voice behind them.
They turned. There he was: a massive, grey-furred, golden-eyed,
wicked-toothed, feral shape, the size of a small pony. "It's that he doesn't
want any surprises himself. You've got Brian in that place of yours now,
haven't you?"
"How did you know?" asked Jim.
"I went around the Castle a few moments ago," said Aargh. "I heard his
stallion in the stables, challenging yours safe enough, of course, with each
in a different stall. Just talk, actually but all horses are fools."
"You shouldn't say that," Angie told him.
"I say what I please!" answered Aargh. "Horsesare fools. All grass-eaters are
fools. But if the horse is there, Brian's there. What kept him from coming out
with the two of you?"
"He's been wounded," said Jim, "and he's going to have to stay in bed and
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rest until he gets back all the blood he's lost."
"Wounded?" said Aargh. "A great help. First Carolinus can't be found,then
Brian gets himself wounded. All we need is for Dafydd to break a leg. You
two-legs can't get around with one of those out of order, the way we wolves
can.One of the reasons why deciding to stand up on your hind limbs wasn't so
smart, after all. That puts the trouble all on me, I suppose."
"Have you forgotten Jim?" said Angie sharply.
"Forgot him? No," said Aargh to her. "He's helpful as long as he doesn't
break a leg, too. But he can't wield a sword like Brian, or shoot an arrow
like Dafydd.Useful to be able to do things like that, if you're born with
teeth that wouldn't frighten a mouse."
"As a dragon " Angie was beginning heatedly, when Jim interrupted.
"It's all right, Angie," he said. "Aargh's not being insulting, just
practical. We do need Brian to say nothing of Carolinus. But the main thing
right now, Aargh, is finding Robert, regardless of how many there are of us,
or how we have to do it."
"You can count on me in any case," growled Aargh. He stared at Jim. "I
suppose you want to see that hole, now?"
"Yes," said Jim.
"Well then, come along," said Aargh. He turned his back on them and trotted
off.
They followed.
The hole was less than three minutes' walk away. It made a dark circle in a
small bank among the trees, only yards from where the clearing around the
Castle began. Aargh was standing over it as they came up. He waited while Jim
got down on his hands and knees and sniffed at thehole himself.
"Any scent?" asked Aargh ironically.
"No," said Jim, getting to his feet. "None I can smell, anyway."
"A good choice of words," said Aargh. He stretched his neck out so his nose
was over the hole, and his nostrils widened for a second. "If you had any nose
at all, you couldn't miss the smell of meat meat being cooked."
"Meat?"Jim said.
"That's what I said," said Aargh."Meat. When I first came across this hole
there wasn't any such scent from it. The hole ended here."
"How could you tell, if it goes straight down farther than you could tell?"
"It doesn't," said Aargh. "I don't know about that hole in your Castle, but
this goes down about six feet. I didn't go into it. But I put my head in far
enough to get the sunlight out of my eyes; and after they were used to the
dark, I could see where it turned into a level underground-digging, going off
to where the sun sets. Now, there's a digging in the other direction, too. The
level part may go on forever. But it's the way I'd say whoever took your
Robert carried him off when he went."
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"Then what's all this about cooked meat?" asked Jim.
"It could only be coming from our Castle, Jim!" said Angie.
"So," Jim said, "this hole was dug first, and then another one was dug later
from it, into the Castle to take Robert?" Angie looked at him.
"I don't understand what's going on," said Jim. "But whatever dug these holes
certainly can dig. Like a large mole."
"There aren't any large moles," said Aargh.
"Well, we won't worry about that part of it now," said Jim. "It tells us more
than we knew before, anyway. I'm grateful to you for noticing it. Now, though,
we need to decide how we're going to start looking for Robert maybe tomorrow
would be best. Dafydd will have gotten here by that time and Brian may be
strong enough to sit up in the Great Hall. That'll be the place to meet, and,
meanwhile, I'll see what I can find out at Carolinus' cottage."
"Better we meet outside here!" said Aargh, with a snap of his jaws.
Jim looked at the wolf. He had forgotten.
"I know you don't like to be inside buildings," he said, "but you've been
with us in the Great Hall before "
"Not happily!" said Aargh. "A wolf could get trapped in a place like that!"
"Can't you come in one more time, considering the circumstances?" Angie
asked. "Brian might be well enough to be carried down to the Great Hall, but
he won't be up to being carried out here; and it was you who said how useful
he was to us. Even if he can't swing a sword, his advice is worth listening
to. Don't you think?"
Aargh growled briefly.
"I'll come in one more time," he said.
With that, in his usual sudden way, he disappeared among the surrounding
trees.
"He'll come in," said Angie, as they rode back to the Castle. "He'll come in
as many times as we need him, actually."
"I know," said Jim. "He argues a lot, but he's always there when you need
him. I'd better go back with you to the Solar. But I think from there I'll
just keep on to the top of the tower and head off from there to the Tinkling
Water, to see what I can learn."
"We hope," said Angie.
They rode back into the courtyard. Rrrnlf, Jim noted with relief, was still
sleeping. It was a good thing that Sea Devils did not snore. Or, at least
Rrrnlf didn't. You wouldn't have been able to hear yourself think in the
Castle if he did Jim became conscious that Angie was silently looking very
unhappy again.
"We'll get him back all right," he said.
"It's just that he's so little," she answered, blinking.
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She changed the expression on her face and sat up straighter in her saddle as
they came close to the stables.
"You'll fly there as a dragon, of course?" she said.
"That's what I had in mind."
"Yes," said Angie, thoughtfully. "You know, in some ways I worry less about
you when you're in your dragon body than I do when you're in your human body."
"You shouldn't ever worry about me. I can always put a ward around me to
protect myself."
Angie said nothing.
They left their horses to the stable workers and climbed the stairs in
silence. At the Solar door he left her and mounted the last flight of stairs
to the tower-top.
Under the cloud-flecked blue sky there was no one but the man-at-arms on
duty, with his spear and sword. He had been leaning on the battlements,
looking down at what was going on in the courtyard. But at the sight of Jim,
he hastily straightened up and looked watchful.
"Geoffrey," said Jim, "go down and ask if my Lady will give you audience.
Stay at her orders until she sends you back up here."
"Yes, m'Lord."
Geoffrey put his spear on his shoulder and headed immediately toward the
staircase. He was one of the veteran men-at-arms, in his late twenties at
least, his black hair already retreating from his forehead and his
square-jawed face weather-beaten and tanned. Jim knew that Geoffrey knew Jim [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]