Golem in the Gears (20 page)

Of course she wouldn't have! But Grundy remembered the Monster of the Sea saying something about twelve hours. Probably if the Hag did not succeed in taking over Rapunzel's body during this night, the threat would be over.

"Well, when we see her ghost coming, you be sure to tell her your body is your own."

"Her ghost may not be visible," she pointed out. "Most ghosts can't be seen unless they want to be."

"Still, we'd better move," he decided. "We have to get clear of the nickelpede region."

"Whatever you say, Grundy," she said, frightened.

He went to the bed. "Snortimer, are you all right now?"

"All right," the Bed Monster agreed. "I thought it would be easier to dissolve into dust, but then I saw those ankles—"

"We'll have to move out the moment the darkness is complete." Then Grundy saw another problem. "The bed! How will we move the bed?"

"I can carry one end," the damsel volunteered.

"That's no work for a girl like you!" Grundy protested. "It's a long trek."

She shrugged. "Maybe you can ask a monster."

"I'll go out and see what I can find."

"I'll go with you!" she said anxiously.

"But suppose too many nickelpedes come? We may need you to step on them."

"But I don't want to be alone!"

"Alone?"

"I mean, with no human company. You see—"

"I'm not human company. I'm a golem."

"I mean—if she's coming to take my body—"

There was that. Snortimer might not know the differ- ence, but probably he, Grundy, would. "She can't take your body unless you let her. Do you plan to let her?"

"No!"

"Then you should be safe from that, regardless of the company you're with."

"I don't think so. If she talks to me—"

And the Hag had run the damsel's life for two decades. Rapunzel wasn't very good at saying no to things. "You're right. We'd better stay together."

It was dark now, and Snortimer was fully operational. "Can you carry one end of the bed?" Grundy asked the monster.

"Sure."

"Then we'll haul it to regular ground, where I can see what suitable monster I can find to carry it."

Snortimer lifted one end, and Rapunzel, in human-size, lifted the other. Grundy led the way out of the grotto.

It was a short but difficult climb to the level land, and the damsel was panting, her bosom heaving in the manner that only that kind of bosom could, but they completed the chore in good order. On one side was the Golden Coast and the sea while on the other was sand and the onset of the jungle. In the dim moonlight that jungle looked for- bidding indeed.

Grundy stood on the bed and called to the nearest tree in tree language: "Are there any good-sized monsters around here?"

"There's the Gold Bug," the tree responded.

"What's that like?"

"It marches up and down the coast, gold-plating every- thing."

"Does it ever go inland, to Lake Ogre-Chobee?"

"Never."

"Scratch that," Grundy muttered.

"What did it say?" the damsel asked.

"There's a Gold Bug, but it stays strictly on the Gold Coast."

"I knew that," she said.

"So do you have a better suggestion?"

"Since we need to go to Lake Ogre-Chobee, maybe we should find an ogre. Not all of them migrated north."

Grundy brightened. That was a better suggestion. He moved as if to squeeze her, but this time thought the better of it. For one thing, she remained human-sized at the moment. "Any ogres around here?" he asked a different tree.

"That depends on your definition of ogre," the tree replied.

"Say, what kind of a tree are you?" Grundy demanded suspiciously.

"I am a casuis-tree."

That figured. It was almost impossible to get any useful information from a casuis-tree, because all it would do was argue about fine points and make hair-splitting dis- tinctions. He returned to the first one. "Any ogres here?"

"There's an ogress who prowls by almost every day."

Good enough! "Hey, Ogress!" Grundy yelled in ogre- grunts. "We have mess!"

She heard him. "Hey great! Won't be late!" she bel- lowed in reply, and began crashing toward them. By the sound of it she was proceeding in normal ogre fashion, knocking trees out of the way instead of going around them.

Rapunzel was frightened. "I just thought—" she said timidly.

"I'll make her some kind of deal," Grundy said reas- suringly. "We'll be there in no time."

"But suppose—suppose Mother Sweetness takes over the ogress?"

That stopped Grundy cold. If the ghost of the Sea Hag took over the ogress, they would be in her power. That would mean doom for Grundy and Snortimer, and the Tower for Rapunzel. There seemed little doubt the Hag could take over the ogress, for such monsters were noto- riously stupid.

The crashing came nearer. "Hey, old shoe!" the ogress called. "Where is you?"

But now Grundy did not dare answer. The risk was too great.

They waited nervously, hoping the ogress would not

be able to find them. The crashing approached, then drifted astray; without directions, she had lost them. "Me pound head, make he dead!" Grundy heard the angry ogress mutter in mild frustration as she moved away.

So much for enlisting the aid of a monster! No monster could be trusted. Not while the ghost of the Sea Hag hovered near.

"We'll just have to tote it ourselves," Grundy said regretfully. "This is apt to be a long, hard trek."

"I don't mind," Rapunzel said. "I'm not in a hurry to get to Castle Roogna anyway."

Grundy was surprised. "But that's where the human beings are!"

"Yes," she agreed.

"You don't want to join them?"

"I like being with you," she said simply.

He couldn't answer that. "Might as well start off. I'll get directions from the local foliage."

Rapunzel, in human size, picked up her half of the bed, and Snortimer took his end. They carried the bed slowly along, while Grundy selected the best route with the advice of the plants.

Several hours later, they were marginally closer to Lake Ogre-Chobee, and both Bed Monster and damsel were tired. "We'll have to rest," Grundy decided. "This is going to be a very long trek."

Snortimer crawled under the bed, and Rapunzel flopped atop it, not bothering to change to smaller size. Grundy considered staying awake to stand guard, but he was tired too, as he had walked the full distance himself, and what was slow for the other two was a running pace for him. He might have ridden on the bed, as his weight would hardly have made a difference to them, but he had felt too guilty to do that.

"Alert me if any monsters approach," he told the sur- rounding brush, and the brush agreed. Plants were gen- erally accommodating things, when asked politely.

He settled down beside Snortimer under the bed, as there was no room on top of it. He remained uneasy, but he slept.

Some time later a hand came down to pick him up. "Oh, Rapunzel," he said sleepily. "What's on your mind?"

"You have caused me a good deal of trouble, Golem," she said, frowning as she sat up and held him near her face.

"I regret that," he said. "But there didn't seem to be any better way."

"You could have stayed entirely out of my life," she said, her even teeth showing in a way that was not com- pletely attractive. "What business did you have at the Ivory Tower anyway?"

"You know that," he reminded her. "It was the only way to complete my Quest to rescue Stanley Steamer."

"A mere dragon!" she exclaimed derisively. "A trouble- some monster! Hardly worth the ivory in its tusks!"

"Stanley has no ivory," he protested.

"Then it was for nothing at all," she said. "You messed up my schedule something awful. Now I have to get back to the coast and the Tower, through all this stupid jungle."

"But you don't want to go back there!" he protested. "The Sea Hag is there!"

"The Sea Hag!" She sneered. Then she cackled. "Whom the hell do you think you're talking to, wretch?"

Now at last he realized what had happened. The ghost of the Hag had come while they slept, and taken over Rapunzel's body! Disaster had come upon them.

He struggled to escape, but the grip was tight. "How would you like me to squeeze you?" the Hag asked through

the sweet lips of the damsel. Already the lovely features were assuming an unlovely cast. The slender fingers closed more tightly about him. The witch might have the body of a fair young woman, but that hand had a lot more power than existed in all of Grundy's body, and the force was terrible.

He bared his teeth, leaned forward as far as he could, and bit the uppermost finger. His relatively tiny teeth sank into the massive flesh. He could not do lethal damage, but the bite had to hurt.

"Wretch," the Hag screeched, dropping him. "I'll twist your head off!"

Grundy scrambled under the bed, but the Hag hauled the bed out of the way, exposing Snortimer, who whim- pered. "I'll destroy both of you!" the Hag cried, snatching for Grundy again.

He tried to run away, but she caught him and lifted him up. "I'll bite your face off!" She opened her once- sweet mouth, where the teeth already resembled fangs.

Grundy flailed desperately, though he knew that every- thing was lost. "No! No!" he cried.

"Grundy! What's the matter?" she asked.

He was on the ground again, scrambling to avoid her hand. "No! No!"

"But I don't know what to do!" she protested, the tears starting.

Slowly it penetrated: he had been dreaming! It hadn't happened. Rapunzel's body had not been taken over by the witch.

"It's nothing," he said, shaken. "I just had a night- mare." Indeed, now he saw the hoofprint of the mare. What a dream she had brought him.

"A nightmare?" Rapunzel asked.

"You haven't met them before?"

"Well, I know what they are, of course. But Mother Sweetness never allowed them in the Ivory Tower."

"That figures." He straightened himself around, shak- ing dirt and twigs out.

"Let me bring you up to the bed," she said anxiously, reaching for him again.

Grundy looked at the approaching hand. He saw a mark on the index finger. "No!" he cried in panic.

"What?"

"How did you get that mark?" he demanded, pointing.

She looked. She rubbed her finger. Dirt smudged off. Her finger had no injury.

He relaxed. "All right—bring me up," he agreed. "Then change to my size." He knew he couldn't aflford to let a bad dream cause him to distrust her.

She brought him up, and changed. Grundy described his bad dream, and she was sympathetic. "Oh, no wonder you shied away from me!" she said. "You thought I was—"

"I should have known better," he said ruefully. "But some of those nightmares are realistic."

"Let me squeeze you," she said.

"No!" Then he had to laugh. "Sorry. The dream—"

"Of course," she agreed, hurt.

"No, I really am sorry. Here." He leaned over and kissed her.

Several things occurred at this point. He hadn't real- ized he was going to do that; it was indeed spontaneous. She, not quite realizing what he was up to, turned simul- taneously to face him. Thus instead of kissing her cheek, he scored on her lips. This changed the effect. Her lips were the softest, sweetest things he had ever touched.

After an eternal moment, they broke. "I know what that was!" she exclaimed, delighted. "That was a kiss!"

Grundy could only nod, privately overwhelmed by the impact of it. It was obviously the first such experience for her; it was also the first for him. And, he thought ruefully, it had better be the last.

"How did I do?"

"What?"

"Did I kiss well?"

Well? He felt as if his feet had not yet regained the ground. But how could he tell her that? The act had not been intended as any test of her prowess! But if he told her no, she would be hurt. "Uh, yes."

"Do people usually kiss when they're sorry?" she asked brightly.

"Not exactly," he mumbled.

"Good. I'm not sorry. Let me try it now."

"You don't understand—" he protested, drawing away.

"But I'm really trying to understand," she said. "I want to know how things are in the real world." She leaned toward him, lips pursed.

He drew further away, not knowing what to say. As a result, they both lost their balance and fell on the bed, she on top of him. "Like this?" she asked, putting her lips to his.

Grundy was pretty sure he would regret this, but for a moment he gave up the fight. He wrapped his arms about her and held her tight while they kissed.

After a much longer eternal moment, she lifted her head, smiling. "Oh, my, this is fun!" she exclaimed. "I never knew what I was missing, in the Ivory Tower!"