Jumper Cable (33 page)

The dragon nodded, then went on its way. Jumper was impressed. The princess really did know the dragon.

“Look, there’s a patch of little squirts,” Eve remarked. “They protect themselves from the heat of the dragon by storing cool water. Some folk drink from them. You may want to collect a few.”

“I may?”

“You never can tell when one might be useful.”

So he collected a few. They were bulbs with thin necks pointing upward. They seemed satisfied to be harvested. They crossed to the far wall, then walked up it in the same manner they had walked down the other. As they neared the top, there were the girls, having evidently dallied. They shook their skirts in unison, teasingly flashing Jumper.

“Dawn must have put them up to that,” Eve muttered. “She’s a naughty girl.”

“And you aren’t?”

She smiled obscurely. “I’m not up there.”

Wenda was immediately above him. She jumped on the invisible bridge, making her skirt flare up to her waist. She wore a forest green panty. “Yew can knot touch me!” she teased.

Then Jumper realized what the little squirts were for. He aimed one and gave it a hard squeeze. A jet of cool water shot up and scored on the middle of the panty.

“Eeeeek!” she screamed, snapping her legs together. “Yew have a little squirt!” Of course she recognized the forest plant. The other girls, catching on, broke out with a severe case of the giggles. Until Jumper squirted them too. Then the giggles became eekgles. They danced out of range, their motions showing even more naughty details.

At last they were all on level ground beyond the chasm, the girls still laughing helplessly. They were fortunate they had not dropped a bicycle into the chasm in their mirth. Somehow five of them had managed to wheel seven cycles across.

“We make a compatible group,” Olive remarked.

“We do,” Jumper agreed, not admitting that their nether displays had left panty-shaped spots floating before his eyes. They surely knew it anyway; their display had hardly been accidental. Yet now their teasing was friendly rather than seductive. They trusted him not to take advantage of them, and if he did, they wouldn’t really mind. Jumper changed back to manform so he could ride his bicycle. They mounted and cycled north.

Even traveling at speed, on the enchanted path, it took time, and as eve ning approached they pulled into a rest stop area near the Region of Fire. “There are five Regions,” Dawn explained. “Air, Earth, Fire, Water, and the Void. They each have their typical climates, and it is best to avoid them unless you know what you’re doing.”

“Climates?” he asked.

“Air is stormy,” Eve said. “Earth has volcanoes and earthquakes. Fire has fires sweeping across, burning everything up. Water is flooded with a few islands. And the Void is the original from which the black hole fragment came.”

“Best avoided,” Jumper agreed, shuddering.

Phanta came and kissed him. “From which you saved me. I will be forever grateful.”

“Nu-uh,” Olive said. “You had your turn, Phanta. Someone else can be grateful to night.”

The group laughed, but Jumper wasn’t quite sure it was either jealousy or humor. Their relationship seemed to have entered a new phase.

Sure enough, when they settled down to sleep, Wenda and Maeve came to join him, lying close on either side. Again, he had the impression that neither would really object to anything he might choose to do with them, though they neither spoke nor acted seductively. They had their own boyfriends, and he had his girlfriend; this was something else. It was . . . friendship.

In the morning they discovered that two more people had come to the camp. A young man and a young woman, similar in appearance. They were just washing their faces and hands at the edge of the pond.

“Hi,” the girl said. “I’m Gin. I’m very friendly. This is my brother Tonic; he’s very active.” Indeed, Tonic was already foraging for their breakfast.

Jumper introduced the members of their group. “We’re looking for a cable, somewhere near the Ogre Fen.”

“I know where there’s a cable,” Tonic said. He led the way to a steep hillside.

There was a metal vehicle on a track that led up the side of the hill. It was pulled by a metal cord attached to its front, so that it was moving rapidly up toward the top.

“That’s a cable car,” Eve said. “Not what we want.”

“I know where there are several cables,” Gin said. She led them to a house with a number of cords strung from its roof.

“That’s a house of seven cables,” Dawn said. “Not what we want.”

Still, they checked with a woman who was sitting before the house, busily knitting. No, not sitting, hovering over the chair. She was short and thin, with small blue-green dragon’s wings and blue-green wavy hair.

“Hello,” Jumper said.

She dropped to the chair, and her wings folded, forming a cloak around her body. “Yes?”

“I am Jumper and my companions are at the shelter. We are looking for a cable, but I don’t think it is of the type that festoons your house.”

“I am Aura Dawn. I am knitting cable stitches for more festoons, but I could knit one for you if you need it. What will you use it for?”

“To repair the connection between the Internet and the Outernet.”

Aura shook her head. “That’s a much more complicated cable than I could ever knit. You will need the children’s magic cable.”

“The children’s cable?”

“Five weirdly talented children. But you don’t want to go near them. They are dangerous.”

“If they have what we need, we may have to get it from them.”

“Well, in that case, be very careful.” Aura unfolded her cloak, re forming her wings, and flew back to her prior height. She resumed her cabling.

“Thank you,” Jumper said, and returned to the shelter. “It seems that five talented children have the cable we need,” he reported.

“Do we know where they are?” Haughty asked.

“No. I presume somewhere between here and the Ogre Fen.”

“Could Dawn or Eve tell?” Phanta asked.

“No,” Eve said. “We have to be close to a thing or creature to learn about it. We can’t get close without knowing where.”

“Or when,” Jumper said, remembering the odd word in the Prophecy.

“Maybe I can find a friend who will be able to help,” Olive said. She concentrated.

A woman appeared. She was shaped somewhat like a string bean, without curves. “Yes?”

“Oops,” Olive said. “I was looking for a friend who could find things.”

“I am she. I am Samantha. I can find flesh.”

“I was thinking more of—”

“In fact I can find any flesh I need to make myself luscious,”

Samantha said. “Like this.” She stroked her pipe-stem legs, and they became much thicker. She kneaded them into shape, and they became, indeed, luscious. Jumper couldn’t help looking.

“Well, that’s fine,” Olive said. “But what I meant was—”

“Or like this,” Samantha said, stroking her skinny arms. They thickened, and became firm and nice.

“Actually, we’re looking for a—”

“Or this.” Samantha cupped her chest with her hands, and mounds of flesh appeared. Soon she had amazingly sightly breasts. Jumper felt his eyes starting to glaze.

“Cable!” Olive cried.

“What?”

“We’re looking for a section of cable, to do a repair.”

“Why didn’t you say so? I can’t help you with that.” Samantha faded out.

“Maybe we had better find it the old-fashioned way,” Olive said, frustrated. “I usually just visit with my imaginary friends. Summoning them for par tic u lar tasks doesn’t seem to work as well.”

“Let’s go on toward the Ogre Fen,” Jumper suggested as his eyeballs slowly recovered. He suspected that their difficulty locating the cable was not coincidental; it was a Demon challenge they would have to struggle to overcome.

Jumper found himself riding beside Dawn. This was surely no coincidence. He wanted to talk to her, and chances were she knew it.

“Eve said you put the girls up to flashing their pan ties at me,” he said. “Why?”

“A little friendly teasing isn’t in order?”

“And then Wenda and Maeve slept beside me last night. I had the distinct impression they were offering me something.”

“We are all your friends.”

“Then be a friend. Answer my question. What is going on?”

She sighed. “You may not like the answer.”

“I don’t like the mystery. I want to be able to focus on the mission, not on the charms of my associates.”

“Much is riding on our mission, for once no pun,” she said, glancing down at her bicycle. “We don’t know exactly why the Good Magician stressed its importance, but we believe him. Some of us now have our own personal stakes in it too. We know that if any member of it is lost, it will fail. So we have to handle not only the impediments, but our own unity. The one is as important as the other.”

“Agreed. So why are they teasing me?”

“Eve and I are committed to the Demons, one way or another. We

are, in effect, the prizes they can win for their victories: she for marriage, me to obtain a suitable prince.”

“You should be able to find a prince. Eris is beautiful.” He felt a foolish qualm as he spoke, because of his foolish crush on Eris.

“Not necessarily. Princes can be notoriously choosy, and there are not many available at present. If I am unable to deliver, I will have to sacrifice myself.”

“Sacrifice?”

“There is a portal that changes the gender of any person who passes through it. I would become a prince, and marry her myself. To complete my commitment.”

“Dawn!” he exclaimed, shocked.

“So you see, this is desperately serious business. We can handle it; we are Sorceresses, far more conversant with magic and the way of things than we normally pretend. We are not innocent.”

“Agreed. The two of you are no longer teasing me. But I am committed too; I am bound to Sharon, one way or another.”

“That’s the problem.”

“I am as committed to the mission as you are. If you make sacrifices, so will I.”

“This is commendable,” she agreed. “But you see, you are innocent. You are a spider, with no prior experience with human or Demon scheming. Your word is your bond, without nuances.”

“Yes, of course.”

“Sharon is a Demon, with all that implies. You are not in her league. Thus you are our most likely weak spot.”

Jumper was hurt. “If she doesn’t want me, of course I’ll go away.”

“She wants you. But we do not know her real commitment. If it is to Pluto, she will use you to achieve his ends. We need to see that you are not hopelessly helpless.”

He had to concede that this was true. “I will try my best.”

“We—that is, the girls— want you to know that there are alternatives. If one of them must go with you to protect you from Sharon, she will.”

“Go with me?”

“Be your woman.”

“But they have their own boyfriends.”

“We discussed it, and they agreed: if any of them must protect you from Sharon, they will. Whichever one you prefer.”

Jumper was having trouble getting his mind around this. “Like Phanta, that time?”

“Yes. They all like you, and are dedicated to the mission. It would not be too great a sacrifice. They will do what it takes to complete it.”

“But I’m a spider!”

“In human form. If you chose one, she would seek a transformation spell so she could join you as a spider, if that is what you want.”

Jumper shook his head. “You’re right: I am innocent.”

“In the interim, if you are inclined, take one of them temporarily. They are not as skilled as Sharon, but they can be trusted not to hurt or corrupt you. They are all worthy.”

“I know it! I’m not sure I am worthy.”

“You are, Jumper, you are. We are all in this together.”

His emotions were mixed and confused. “I don’t know.”

She glanced at him sidelong. “That interim includes Eve and me. We can’t commit to anything long-term, obviously, but during the mission we can be with you.”

“This is awful! It tempts me. I hate that.”

“Just keep it in mind.”

Jumper was desperate to change the subject. “The cable— we have been asking strangers if they know where it is. We haven’t gotten anywhere. Since we know that Pluto is trying to stop us, is there some sort of curse on the word?”

Eve made half a pause, surprised. “You know, there could be. Maybe we should not mention it. We can simply say we are in need of a piece of equipment.”

“Let’s do that.”

Eve dropped back to notify the others, and Olive came up to ride beside him. “What she told you is true. We are interested in mortal men; you are interested in a De mon ess. That’s why we fear for you.”

“But to— to—”

“It is not that much of a sacrifice, Jumper. We know you are worthy. We want you to keep your perspective.”

“I will try to keep it without making demands on any of you.”

“But if you do feel the need, and want the one who is most amenable, that would be Wenda. She is innocent too, and understands that aspect, and she does like you.”

“Uh, thank you.” He couldn’t think of anything else to say. He found the commitment of the girls somewhat overwhelming. Despite their reassurances, he did not feel worthy.

Near dusk they reached the verge of the Ogre-fen-Ogre Fen. It was a huge flat bog girt with islands of trees, and devious paths made their way cautiously through it. How would they ever find the cable here? They camped near a bit of open water and discussed the matter. “All we know is that we’ll find it when, in the Ogre Fen,” Jumper reminded them. “If we are able.”

“We’ll just have to ask around,” Dawn said as they had supper. “I will know whether a person is telling the truth, though I won’t know everything unless I touch him or her.”

“We don’t want to give away our identities,” Eve reminded her.

“Pluto may have sent out word to beware of two princesses.”

“The rest of us can question them,” Haughty said. “And Jumper will have to stay in manform, in case they are also alert for a big spider.”

“And we should be wary of children,” Olive said. They washed, seemingly ignoring Jumper as they peeled naked and splashed in the shallow water, but he knew that this too was deliberate. They were demonstrating that they trusted him, while also reminding him that he did not need to be with Sharon to have access to a female body. His reactions remained mixed. He appreciated their attitude, but he did wish he could be with Sharon. Or, better, Eris. When they settled down to sleep, Wenda joined him, alone. He took her hand, kissed it, and closed his eyes. After a time he was able to sleep.