“Come on, Menedemos,” Sostratos said. “Let's head back to the ship. Plenty of other temples, plenty of other poleis.” They made as if to begin rolling up the lion skin and putting it back into its leather sack. Sostratos watched Nikodromos out of the corner of his eye. If the priest let them leave, then he did, that was all. But they hadn't got very far before Nikodromos said, “Wait. I might go to three.” “We might talk a little more, in that case,” Menedemos said. Nikodromos would have failed as a trader for more reasons than sleeping late. He kept coming up and up, and didn't draw the line till the price had gone to four minai, twenty drakhmai, though he grumbled and whined every step of the way. He did his best to make it seem as if he were doing the Rhodians a favor by dealing with them at all. “Four minai, twenty.” Sostratos looked from him to Menedemos and back again. “Bargain?” “Bargain.” His cousin and the priest spoke at the same time. “Good enough.” As far as Sostratos was concerned, it was better than good enough. They hadn't got nearly such a fine price for the other hide back on Kos. Nice, solid profit, he thought. And then Nikodromos said, “Let me take the hide back to town, and I'll bring you your money right away.” A lot of people had made requests like that over the years. More often than not, Sostratos and Menedemos, like most traders, said yes. Most people were honest. Sostratos wasn't so sure about Nikodromos. He saw his cousin wasn't, either. Smiling, Menedemos tossed his head. “You can bring the money here and then we'll give you the hide, or else we'll come down to Aigina with you.” Nikodromos sent him a sour stare. “You're afraid I'll cheat you. That is an insult.” “Best one, we just stood here watching a couple of your own people trying to get money out of you,” Sostratos answered. “If they have trouble prying their silver loose, why wouldn't we? We're just a couple of foreigners to you. Better not to take chances.” “I told you, the silver they want isn't theirs at all,” the priest said, making a fine show of indignation. “They're nothing but a couple of temple robbers.” With a shrug, Sostratos said, “I don't know anything about your quarrels, any more than you know about the quarrels back on Rhodes. All I know is, you'll have the hide when we have the money.” He wondered if that would queer the deal. If it does, too bad, he thought. That would mean this rogue never intended to pay us in the first place. The Aiginetans who'd tried to squeeze silver out of Nikodromos had certainly sounded as if they had a right to it. “Those abandoned rascals blacken my name,” Nikodromos complained. “Easiest way to prove that, sir, is to give us the price you agreed to,” Menedemos said. “As soon as we have the turtles, we'll sing your praises at every stop we make.” “Of course, we won't do anything of the sort if you go back on the bargain,” Sostratos added. Sometimes—
Вы читаете The Gryphon's Skull
