the ordinary has happened to us. So far, it’s a journey like any other.”
“A journey like any other? For several hours we’ve been driving through terrain that, according to Sir Juffin Hully, doesn’t even exist, and a local inhabitant can’t tell us when we’re going to arrive at his home town! I can understand your skepticism. It wouldn’t have occurred to me, either, if I hadn’t traveled between Worlds in a regular old streetcar—which in my homeland is as mundane a means of transportation as the amobiler is here.”
“All right then, you seem to know best,” Lonli-Lokli said. “Let’s drop the subject for now. Sir Glamma will think that he’s just driving to the city of Kettari, and Lady Marilyn can maintain otherwise. That seems reasonable to me—to watch the situation as it unfolds from two different vantage points.”
“As our respected Master Caravan Leader would say, ‘We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.’”
“That’s just what I wanted to say,” Lonli-Lokli said. “Don’t you think we might finally be approaching Kettari?”
“Yes, the road has suddenly become very smooth, though the surroundings still don’t look very hospitable. Wait a minute, what’s that up ahead? Is it the wall of the city?”
“That’s what I was referring to.”
“Soon we should be seeing the seven Vaxari trees by the city gates, and the gate itself, which still contains the vestiges of the carving of old Kvava Ulon,” I said. “Now that we’ve finally arrived, I’m as excited as though this were my own hometown and not Juffin’s! What am I blathering on about, though? If it were my hometown . . . Oh, never mind.”
“Eleven,” Lonli-Lokli said.
“Eleven what?”
“Eleven Vaxari trees. You can count them.”
I stared at the approaching stand of trees.
“Ha! There really are eleven! And Juffin said there would be seven.”
“Who knows how many there used to be,” Lonli-Lokli said.
“Do you know anything about botany, Glamma?”
“A bit. Why?”
“Doesn’t it look to you as if these trees are all the same height?”
“Yes, it certainly does. But they’re very old, because the trunk of the Vaxari becomes knotty like those are only when it reaches the age of five hundred years.”
“Exactly! Don’t you see? That means that when Juffin was here there should already have been eleven. If now there were fewer trees, that would stand to reason. But more? Oh, and here are the city gates—brand new! No ancient ruins decorated by the long deceased Kvava Ulon. Simple and tasteful. Congratulations, dear. We’ve made it to Kettari. I can’t believe it!”
“Sooner or later it had to happen. Why are you so happy?”
“I don’t know,” I admitted, looking around in excitement at the curiously elegant little houses.
An abudance of mismatched, crudely arranged flowers decorated the windows. They would have horrified an ikebana artist, but they warmed my heart. Intricate designs of tiny paving stones in every tint of gold and yellow ran every which way along the narrow streets. The air was clean and bitingly cold, despite the hot rays of the sun beating down on us. But I wasn’t cold, and I felt as though I had been cleansed from the inside out. My head spun slightly and my ears were ringing.
“What’s wrong with you?” Lonli-Lokli asked.
“Lady Marilyn’s in love!” I smiled. “She and I are crazy about Kettari already! Just look at that little house . . . and that narrow, three-story one! What kind of vine has curled around it so that the weathervane doesn’t even budge? And the air—you can eat it with a spoon! Can you feel the difference? When we were driving through the mountains the wind wasn’t half so transparent and clean. Who could have thought that the World contained such a . . . such a . . . words fail me!”
“Well, I don’t like it.”
“You don’t like it?” I asked. “That’s impossible! Glamma, friend, are you ill, or just tired out from the last hundred years? You just need to take it easy. If you can share my dreams every night, if you want. You liked them, didn’t you?”
“Yes, they were wonderful. I must say, your offer is very generous. Even too generous.”
“Yes, and so what if it is! Oh, Glamma, take out the money—we must pay the rest of the fee. There it is, the bazaar! Where do you suggest we settle for the night? Preferably not too near our sweet fellow travelers. Let them think whatever they want. We’ve reached our destination, and
“‘After us the flood’? You know that expression?”
“Why is it so surprising?” Now I myself was caught off guard.
“That saying was written on the entrance of the Order of the Watery Crow. Didn’t you know?”
“What sincere, warmhearted people,” I mused. “What I can never manage to get my mind around is the thought of their potency and might, with a name like that.”
“Sometimes you really amaze me. What is it you don’t like about the name?”
“Perhaps we should settle our accounts with Mr. Abora and take a spin around town,” I suggested, unwilling to take the time to explain why the name of the Watery Crow inspired amusement rather than awe. “We’re not going to live in a hotel that’s full of tourists from the Capital. If you want to get to know a place you have to find yourself real living quarters. And it will be more restful without other people around.”
“A very wise decision,” Lonli-Lokli agreed. “I imagine the old fox Master Caravan Leader can give us some advice. I’m sure that these kinds of caprices among his tourists provide an extra source of income for him.”
“Like heck he’s going to earn something else off of me!” I said with a grin. “Let’s go, Glamma. I’m in love with this town. Believe me, I’ll find a place to stay within an hour that’s better and cheaper than something that rogue would dig up for us. I’ll bet in his free time Mr. Vala lies to himself just for fun, and it makes him happy not to trust anyone.”
“As you wish,” Lonli-Lokli said. “Look for a place to stay, then, Marilyn. I won’t be any help. I can, however, get the money out of the purse.”
“Oh, right. You’re wearing gloves. Give him what we owe him, then turn down that alley. It looks like something’s gleaming there. I’m hoping it’s water. All I need are riverfront lodgings for my happiness to be complete.”
Lonli-Lokli slowly got out of the amobiler, then went to pay our guide. When he came back, he looked me over from head to toe. He had eyes that inspired trust, like a good psychiatrist. I lowered my gaze demurely. Sir Shurf got behind the levers again, and we turned down the alley I was so smitten with. A moment later we were driving along the bank of a river. Small, delicate bridges, and an occasional stately, massive one, crisscrossed the dark crease of the narrow, deep river.
“Oh,” I sighed. “How can you not love all this, you sourpuss? Look at the bridges! Just look! Gosh, what’s the name of this little river? You don’t happen to know by any chance, do you?”
“I haven’t the faintest idea,” Lonli-Lokli said. “We’ll have to look at a map.”
“Around here is where we have to stay,” I said dreamily. “And then we’ll go home, and my poor heart will be broken all over again.”
“Again?” Lonli-Lokli asked, as though he hadn’t heard me correctly. “Excuse me, but Sir Max doesn’t create the impression of someone with a broken heart.”
I nodded cheerfully.
“It’s one of my inconvenient qualities. The worse things are going, the better I look. More than once I tried borrowing money from friends when I looked like I had just won the lottery. My absolutely true stories about living for a week on just bread and water went over like a load of baloney.”
“And you really experienced such hard times?”
Spending time with me clearly encouraged the development of Sir Shurf’s facial muscles. A look of surprise crept into his usually expressionless countenance.
“Yes, can you imagine? Sometimes I didn’t have anything to eat at all. Thank goodness everything changes. Sometimes.”
“That explains a lot,” Lonli-Lokli said thoughtfully. “That’s why it’s so easy to be around you, despite your
