The Stranger's Woes (13 page)

“We’re almost there, boys,” I said forty minutes later. “Tell me where to go. I have no idea where our rendezvous point is.”

Lieutenant Kamshi was able to get his bearings almost immediately, and following his directions we soon arrived at the meeting place half an hour early, as I had predicted. Melamori was the only one who had any regrets about this. The other victims of my inner speed demon crawled out of the amobiler more dead than alive, then sank down in the grass. I sighed and got out the Elixir of Kaxar.

“Have some,” I said, holding out the vessel with the magic liquid. I’m convinced it can help in any possible situation. “Is it really as bad as all that? I wanted you to enjoy the ride.”

“We did,” Melamori said.

The lady was in excellent spirits. The others looked at her like she was mad.

“That was something else. Sound the alarm,” Anday said weakly.

He lay back in the grass and stared up at the sky. Even a sip of Elixir of Kaxar couldn’t restore his usual liveliness. The policemen were lying next to him, not saying a word. Melamori, meanwhile, was eagerly taking off her shoes. She couldn’t wait to start the chase.

Here you see the difference between Secret Investigators and other people, I thought, looking at the happy Melamori. Shurf once told me that a completely normal person wouldn’t be able to do our job. I’m pretty sure he’s right. All you have to do is look at these normal guys and then at our lovely loony lady here.

“I’ll go see what I can find,” Melamori said. “I’ll be very careful, and I won’t venture farther than this grove. I promise.”

“If you really mean to go no farther than that, be my guest,” I said. “Only don’t risk following someone’s trail and getting lost in the wilderness, okay?”

“Please, Max! I’m not a kid,” Melamori said.

I gave a skeptical sniff. Melamori was always a paragon of caution until it concerned her own work.

“No one has walked through this grove for a long time,” Melamori said a few minutes later. “Max, I think it would make sense to—”

“To keep walking a bit farther, right? Fine, but only in good company.” I turned to the policemen, who were still in a semi-catatonic state after the ride.

“Anyone alive there? There’s a lady here who wants to walk through the dark forest.”

The gallant Kamshi began peeling his behind off the damp grass.

“Max, I’ll manage fine on my own,” Melamori said.

“Of course you will. If someone can’t manage, it will be me. My nerves won’t hold out. I’ll sit here imagining you falling into the paws of wild, uncouth outlaws. I’m just doing it out of self-interest.”

“Well, in that case, let’s be off, Sir Kamshi,” Melamori said with a sigh. “The longer I work in this outfit, the more bosses I have. Doesn’t that strike you as illogical?”

“I understand perfectly, Lady Melamori,” Kamshi assured her, like the true gentleman he was. And he was no doubt speaking the truth, recalling his own superiors.

The two of them disappeared into the tangle of undergrowth. I could have gone with her myself, I thought.

The leaves rustled in back of me. Quick as lightning I spun around, determined to bargain for my life at a high price.

“It’s all right, Sir Max. The boys are just getting ready,” Shixola said.

“Yes, it’s time. It’s already getting light. How’s it going down there, Blackbeard Junior? Alive and kicking again?”

“The dinner is totally over, Max,” Anday called out weakly. This time he paid no attention to the pet name I had chosen for him. “I’m wiped out. Sound the alarm! I could do with another cup of Elixir of Kaxar.”

“Sure.” I handed him the bottle. “You, too, Shixola. You look rather drained. Heads up, guys. We’re supposed to be having fun.”

“Supposed to be,” Shixola said with a sigh. “Thanks for the Elixir, Sir Max. It costs a pretty penny, I know. Half a dozen crowns a bottle is no joke.”

“Yep. That’s why I filch it from the boss’s desk,” I said.

Our small crew was gradually increasing in number. The policemen—handsome, hefty lads to a man—materialized out of the predawn mists as though gathering for a war council. The pupils of their eyes shone slightly phosphorescent. That’s what the eyes of native Ugulanders, who can see perfectly in the dark, must look like, I thought. Their plain green looxis were damp with the dew. Their hair looked like it was tangled with tiny scraps of mist and the tender green shoots of the spring woods.

I stared at them, entranced. These can’t be Boboota’s boys. Surely they’re elves of some sort!

At that moment, I seemed to realize once and for all that I was a stranger in this World. And it seemed so wondrous it took my breath away.

While I was gazing awestruck at my colleagues, I noticed their weaponry. It’s strange, but until then I hadn’t ever closely examined the most common firearm of my new homeland. The Baboom slingshot, which is used by all policemen (and scorned by Secret Investigators), is a fairly large metal slingshot that shoots tiny explosives. The deceptively small but powerful little pellets are stored in special leather pouches filled with a viscous, inedible fat. This serves as an indispensable precaution since the pellets can explode from the slightest agitation, never mind a real blow. Every slingshooter wears special gloves to extract the pellets from the pouch.

In spite of its seeming whimsicality, the Baboom slingshot is a rather dangerous weapon, which I have had the chance to observe on more than one occasion. Wounds caused by the exploding pellets are very, very serious. They take a long time to heal, and only then with the help of the local healers. A shot to the head means certain death, and a slingshooter with the slightest bit of real experience can’t fail to hit his mark. Their accuracy is simply mind-boggling. In addition, all three ends of the slingshot are sharpened, so if you run out of ammunition you can switch to hand-to-hand combat. True masters of the art make this transition with admirable grace and facility.

Max
,
there
’
s a very foul trace here!
Melamori’s panicky call struck me so suddenly that I shuddered.
I can easily stand on it
,
but I feel such loathing toward it
.

Don
’
t do it on any account!
I never suspected that I could scream so loudly in Silent Speech.

Wouldn
’
t think of it
.
What should I do? Turn back?

Better wait for me
.
I
’
ll be right there
.

I tore off into the underbrush, sending a call to Shixola on the way.
Wait here
.
We
’
ll be back soon
.
You
’
ll hear from us if we need you
.

I flew blindly in what I thought was the right direction. How I managed not to get snared by a branch or plunge into a ditch, I don’t know to this day. My flight probably lasted no more than a minute.

I’d never moved so fast in my life, and it was a personal record I’m not ever likely to break. At the end, I knocked poor Kamshi off his feet and finally screeched to a halt next to Melamori, who was sitting on her haunches nearby.

Melamori was shaking from head to toe, but the felling of the hapless lieutenant coaxed a weak smile from her.

“You can do that, too, Max? Why didn’t you say so?”

“Do what? Throw big handsome men to the ground? Oh, Kamshi! Forgive me. I’m such a cretin. I was hurrying so fast to get here I overdid it. Are you okay?”

Kamshi was dusting off his looxi very meticulously. “I am all right, Sir Max. Don’t mention it. I was lucky that you were on foot and not driving an amobiler.”

I gave a sigh of relief and turned to Melamori. “Where’s the trace? Was it really so much more loathsome than others?”

“Yes, rather. Try it yourself.”

“How can I do that? Who’s the Master of Pursuit around here?”

“Wait a minute. You mean to tell me you don’t understand what happened just now?” Melamori said. “What do you think you’ve just been doing?”

“Me? I was afraid for you, so I rushed to you through the brush and bracken like a crazy moose. And barely made it here alive.”

“Sir Kamshi, I don’t think Shixola and the boys should be left alone,” Melamori said, looking meaningfully at the lieutenant. “We’ll come after you as soon as we get to the bottom of this sinning trace.”

“Of course, my lady,” Kamshi said, and his silhouette disappeared into the silvery mist. I admired the lieutenant’s strength of character. I wish I could stay as calm as he when someone tells me to go to hell at such an exciting moment.

“Now tell me. How did you find us, Max?” Melamori stared at me relentlessly. “Do you have any clue yourself how you got here?”

“Nope. I haven’t the foggiest,” I admitted. “I sensed some kind of . . . You said something about a loathsome trace, I got pretty darn scared, and I raced over here. Intuition, I guess.”

“Right. Intuition. You’re not a human being; you’re a perpetual surprise. I know what I’m talking about. You still don’t get it? You stood on my trace without even taking off your shoes. That’s not intuition; it’s mastery of the highest degree. If there’s anything that reassures me, it’s your speed. You almost . . . Never do that again, Max, okay? I very much want to believe this has happened to me for the first and last time. I’m in a terrible state.”

“I wonder how I managed?” I was really at a loss. “Lonli-Lokli told me I had special abilities, but I thought you still had to learn those things. And that Juffin just didn’t want to teach me. And for some reason I didn’t understand, he wouldn’t let Shurf do it. It never entered my head that—”

“Don’t you know why?” Melamori said sternly. “It’s because when you step on someone’s trace, it stops their heart. It only makes sense to do that if you want to kill someone. What you really need to learn is
not
to step on someone’s trace. The sooner you get this under control, the better. Well, let’s take a look at my quarry. Be careful, though, all right?”

“I’m so evil I even disgust myself,” I said with a bitter sigh. “I’m sorry, Melamori. I ran over here to save you, and look what happened. What can I do?”

“It’s simple. Before rushing headlong in pursuit of someone, ask her where she is, like any normal person would do. Then the way ahead will be clear.” Finally Melamori smiled. “Why are you so upset? It’s better to have a gift like that than not to have it at all. I wish I had it myself.”

Then she stood up and walked over to an old stump at the side of the path. She stamped about softly, then turned to me.

“I don’t want to pursue this sinning trace any longer. I’ve had enough for today. Try it yourself. You won’t have any trouble!”

I circled the stump a few times, then looked at Melamori in perplexity. “Beats me! I don’t sense a thing.”

Melamori thought for a moment, then shrugged. “I can’t really explain it. You really have to want to find it. And not doubt for a second that you will. But why should I tell you this? Just think about how you raced over here to find us. That’s how it works.”

I went around the stump a few more times, trying to remember what I felt when I came flying over to “save” Melamori. I didn’t feel anything, really. I just desperately wanted to reach her.

I get it, I thought. Now all I have to do is want to get to the unknown source of this darn trace. Ugh, I’m afraid I lack the sincere conviction.