Faun and Games (55 page)

"But you have the big banner up."

"It's Hollow Day.
 
It's empty.
 
We have nothing to do on it.
 
We hate

it."

"Then maybe you should find something good to do," Eve suggested.
 
"That

would brighten the day."

"Like what?" the man demanded grumpily.

"Like helping a group of strangers to find Ida, the lady with a moon."

He considered.
 
"Very well.
 
Take that path." He pointed out one they

wouldn't otherwise have noticed.

"Thank you so kindly," Dawn said, flashing him a smile and a bit more as

she bowed slightly.

"So very very kindly," Eve added, doing much the same.

"It doesn't matter," the man said.
 
"We exchanged." He faced away from

them.
 
"Hey villagers!
 
We have something to celebrate!"

There was a cheer.

Forrest and the others moved on along the path.
 
"Do you think this is

really the way?" Forrest asked.
 
"I don't want to be unduly suspicious,

but-"

"He was telling the truth," Imbri said in a dreamlet.
 
"I can tell, when

a person isn't guarded.
 
They really were looking for something to

celebrate."

"And couldn't think of it themselves," Dawn said, shaking her head.

"This is a very small world," Eve said.
 
"Maybe they don't have much

sense."

"Which is our good fortune," Forrest said.

Soon the path brought them to a large lake or small sea.
 
It curved up

at the end and down at the sides, in the manner of this world. They

stood at the bank and gazed across it.
 
Barely in sight was an island.

"On Pyramid she was on an island," Imbri remarked.
 
"Do you suppose it's

the same here?"

"It could be," Dawn said brightly.

"Or it might not be," Eve said darkly.

Forrest sent a grizzled glance at them.
 
"You girls are not being really

helpful."

They exchanged one of their own glances.
 
Forrest wasn't sure why, as

they pretty well knew what was on each other's minds before they spoke.

"Should we be helpful?" Dawn inquired.

"Maybe in exchange for a kiss," Eve answered.

"No physical contact!" Forrest cried.

"Aw," they said together.

"We do have a mission," Imbri reminded them with just the merest hint of

annoyance suggested by the background image of her dream let: a horse

kicking two girls in the rear so hard that they went flying through the

air to land with a double splash in the lake.

"I think that means no kiss," Dawn said with faintly feigned regret.

"We'll have to help without repayment," Eve agreed with mock irritation.

"It's your turn."

"It's my turn." Eve walked to the edge of the water and poked her finger

in.
 
"This is the Sarah Sea, containing the Isle of Niffen, which is a

large island with white beaches and lush, colorful foliage. Sparkling

streams run in all directions, and there is one huge flat rock right

smack dab in the middle of the island.
 
It's inhabited by unicorns,

dragons, Pegasus, griffins, mermaids, elves, winged goblins, harpies,

genies, and assorted crossbreeds, all living in harmony.
 
Especially

Niffy Gliff, who is half dragon, half Pegasus, with a unicorn horn from

somewhere in her ancestry.
 
They don't much trust strangers, because

once hunters came in an ugly little boat, wanting to capture and kill

the people and animals and beild a squat commercial tourist hotel

instead.
 
Fortunately Niffy and his friend Cliffy put on their scariest

costumes, snuck up on the hunters, cried.
 
"Neee'

1999hhhoooooouuuuu!!!" and scared them out of their skins, saving the

isle." She stood and came to take Forrest's hand.

Forrest was impressed.
 
"You can tell all that, just from sticking your

finger in the water?"

"It's my talent," Eve said.
 
"Just as my sister could tell all about

every nymph you ever chased and caught, just from touching one of your

fingers.
 
Including the one who turned out to be a harpy.
 
But of course

she wouldn't tell anybody about that, or about the way the leaves of the

neglected tree got disgustingly soiled with-"

"Thank you," Forrest said tightly.
 
"Your talents are indeed impressive.

So is Ida on that isle?"

"oops, I didn't check for that." Eve let his hand go, knelt, and stuck

her finger back in the water.
 
"Yes, she lives on the flat rock, and

goes each day to fetch water from the nearest sparkling stream."

She stood again, and took his hand again.
 
What was she up to now?

"How do you know about the living creatures on the Isle?" Imbri

inquired.
 
"Isn't that Dawn's talent?"

"Not exactly," Dawn said.
 
"Our talents overlap somewhat.
 
So when I

tell everything about some living thing, I also know what it is wearing,

where it lives, and what the weather around it is, even though these are

inanimate, because they relate to the creature I'm examining.
 
Similarly

Dawn knows about the living things that relate to the inanimate thing

she is examining.
 
So if I touched a pool, and she touched a fish in the

pool, we would both learn most of the same things."

"That does make sense," Imbri agreed.

Forrest didn't comment.
 
He was embarrassed because of the discovery of

just how much the girls had fathomed of his past history. He had thought

of them as provocative but essentially innocent creatures; now he knew

that they knew everything they wanted to know, of whatever nature.

Probably the dread Adult Conspiracy of Silence had never had much effect

on them, though they would have been careful to seem properly innocent.

"So what should we do now, adviser dear?" Dawn asked brightly.

" Now that we know where Ida is, Forrest darling," Eve added darkly,

giving his hand a tweak.

"We go see her," he said gruffly.
 
"We'll have to use our other small

crosses."

"oooh, suppose we get trapped on the Isle of Niffen," Dawn said.

"And there's nothing to do but live there forever and raise our

children," Eve said.

"Which we will no doubt have to signal the stork for many times."

"Somehow coaxing the cooperation of a reluctant faun."

Imbri sent a dreamlet of two lovely nymphs, one fair and one dark,

tugging a reluctant faun toward a love spring.
 
His hoofs were leaving

drag-marks in the soil.
 
The mare was evidently enjoying the way the

twins constantly put him on the defensive.
 
Both girls laughed,

appreciating the apt image.

"We won't get trapped," Forrest said, trying to sound neither intrigued

nor grumpy.
 
"We'll have the one big cross left, and anyway, once we

talk with Ida, we can return directly to Pyramid to pursue our mission."

The two girls exchanged yet another unnecessary glance.
 
"Are we losing

our teasing skill?" Dawn inquired of no one in particular.

"Or is he losing his teasability?" Eve asked of the same person. Once

more she squeezed his hand.

.
 
"He just wants to get the job done," Forrest said, finally freeing

his hand and taking his small cross from his knapsack.

The girls dug theirs out of their purses.
 
Forrest was never sure what

happened to those purses when they weren't in use; they just seemed to

disappear.
 
Imbri used her teeth to get hers.
 
Then they invoked them,

almost together, and zoomed across the lake to the Isle of Niffen.

It was exactly as described.
 
The beach was white, and the foliage was

lush and colorful.
 
And there, gliding in, was Niffy Gliff, the

combination griffin Pegasus with the horn.
 
He looked threatening.

"We aren't hunters!" Imbri cried in a dreamlet.
 
"We are visitors from

another world who must talk with Ida."

"Neigh?" Niffy inquired.

"Well, we're not exactly friends of hers," Imbri said in the dreamlet.

"But we know her-her cousin on the other world, and she sent us to talk

with Ida.
 
So I'm sure we'll be friends the moment we meet."

Niffy considered, and decided that that was good enough. "Neigh," he

said, and led the way.

They followed him along a nice path that wound through the lush foliage

to a sparkling steam.
 
The lushes looked a bit tipsy, but the sparkles

were beautiful.
 
They came to the huge flat rock, which had steps at one

edge, so they could climb to the flattop.
 
And there was a nice little

house with a pleasant little garden.

Ida came out to meet them.
 
She looked just the same, except that her

moon was in the shape of a cone.
 
"I am told you know my cousin," she

said.
 
"What cousin would that be?"

A number of creatures had gathered around the house.
 
Evidently news of

the visitors had spread rapidly across the Isle.
 
They seemed to be in a

state of readiness.
 
Forrest realized that if the creatures thought the

visitors were not on the level, they would be quickly leveled.

"Cousin may not be exactly the right word," Forrest said.
 
"She is your

analog on the world of Pyramid, about whose head this world of Torus

orbits.
 
She thought you could help us learn what we must know to save

Pyramid from cruel exploitation by the colorful Wizards." I