Part 23 (2/2)

”Have no fear; we are both going with you,” Latia said.

”But I'm going to ogre country!” he protested. ”It may be dangerous.”

”That is why we're going with you,” Bria said. ”Men always do get into trouble on their own.”

Esk wasn't completely certain of her logic, but he was still slightly unbalanced from the last kiss or two, so accepted it. He knew that Bria was mainly teasing him with those kisses, because she was of a different world, to which she would in due course return, but still the kisses had their impact. If only he could find a real girl like her!

”Then I'd better figure out how to use this spell,” he said, looking at the pathfinder.

”That's no problem,” Latia said. ”We curse fiends have used them on occasion. Simply hold it up, focus on it, and say the name of the place to which you wish to find a path.”

”Oh.” Esk held out the wire and opened his mouth.

”But also specify that you want the shortest path,” Latia added. ”Otherwise you might get the scenic route; that would be longer than the one you would find on your own.”

”Thank you for that little detail,” Bria said.

Latia glanced at her. ”Are you being snide, girl? That would embarra.s.s me.”

”No, not at all,” Bria said quickly. ”I was only being appreciative!”

”I thought as much.”

When it came to management, Esk realized, the old woman was no slouch. Women of all ages seemed to be better at that than men were; even little Ivy had managed to get around her father's restrictions without much difficulty.

He addressed the pathfinder spell again. He focused closely on it. ”The shortest path to the Ogre-Fen-Ogre Fen,” he said.

He bunked, for there before him was a path he hadn't seen before. It was reasonably wide and firm and clear; there would be no trouble following it. But it was headed south.

”The ogre fen is in the north!” he objected. ”This is the wrong path!”

”Poppyc.o.c.k,” Latia snappped. ”Pathfinders never err. Trust it instead of your private judgment.”

Esk realized that he had no particular choice, because if he didn't take the proffered path, he would have to find his own way, which would take him a week or so one way. He stepped out on the path.

Latia and Bria followed. The path bore contentedly south, entering the thickest jungle. Then, safely out of sight of Castle Roogna, it changed course, curving back to the north. ”See? It knows where it's going,” Latia said.

”But how can it be the shortest path, when it just added this extra loop south?” Esk asked.

”Maybe it has a sense of privacy.”

The path curved left, and continued curving, until it intersected itself slightly above its prior level. The curve tightened, completing a second loop, coming in just above and inside itself.

”This path is just playing with us!” Esk said. ”It's not going anywhere.”

”It probably has its reasons,” Latia said. ”Don't criticize it too sharply; you might embarra.s.s it.”

Esk didn't want to kiss the path, so he refrained from further comment. The spiral continued, until it became quite high and tight; they were circling in a narrow radius at treetop level.

Then at last the path took off to the north again, along the branch of a giant tree. ”See, it just needed to wind up to its elevation,” Bria said, pleased. ”It must be a female path; it knows what it's doing, even if others don't.”

Esk hoped so. The branch gnarled down into the depths of the foliage, and the shade deepened, so that they had to watch carefully to make sure of their footing. There were many side branches, but they could tell which one that path followed because it was well worn. Esk wondered about that; the Lost Path in the gourd had been tricky to follow in places because of disuse. Who used this one so much?

”Probably there are several standard paths,” Latia remarked, answering his thought. ”Maybe segments of them get a.s.sembled, end to end, to make a particular route to a particular destination. So this segment has been much used, but only by folk going to other regions. It hardly matters, so long as the programming is accurate for us.”

They came to the trunk of the tree. There was a hole in it, and the path entered the hole. The interior was like a tunnel, surprisingly extensive; it continued long after it seemed to Esk that it should have emerged from the far side of the tree. The sides grew smoother, and a.s.sumed a faint glistening as if moist.

Then Esk encountered a stalact.i.te. ”Now wait a moment!” he exclaimed. ”Stalacs are in caves!”

”That is curious,” Latia agreed. She put her hand to the descending cone. ”But this is after all wood.”

Esk touched it. Sure enough, it was wood. The darkness had given it another semblance.

The tunnel finally emerged onto another branch. ”Is this the same tree?” Bria asked, blinking in the sudden light.

Indeed, it seemed different. The bark was smoother, and the diameter of the trunk seemed smaller. Curious, Esk held on and worked his way around the outside until he could see the side they had entered.

There was no entry. The tree had a hole on only one side-the side from which they had exited.

He returned and peered back into the tunnel. It extended way back, and there was light at the end.

”You act as if you had never before seen a magic path,” Latia remarked.

Esk was embarra.s.sed, but struggled manfully to master it, fearing the consequence more than the embarra.s.sment itself. He turned his face forward and strode out along the branch path.

This one had smaller branches that extended up, overhanging it, and some of these bore fruit. Esk reached up and plucked a plumb that was bobbing below a stringlike twig. Plumbs always grew that way, straight up and down, and bobbing when they were ripe. He bit into it, and it was juicy and good. So this was a plumb tree!

But farther along the branch were two matching fruits of a different type. They were greenish-yellow, and thickest through their bases. He plucked them both, for it was impossible to pluck a single one; that was the nature of pairs. These, too, were very good.

Farther along was a big pineapple. He let that one pa.s.s; that kind of fruit was apt to be explosive.

”This is a versatile fruit tree,” Latia remarked.

At last the path pa.s.sed from the tree. It stair-stepped down to the ground, and then coursed along to a small river.

Esk paused. ”I don't see the continuation across the river.”

Latia and Bria looked. The path intersected the river at a slant, and did not resume beyond it.

”Only one explanation,” Latia said. She stepped into the river.

Her foot did not splash into the water. It landed on it as if encountering solidity. She took another step, and stood on the water. ”Just as I suspected,” she said. ”The path goes on the river.”

Esk, at this point, knew better than to question it. He stepped out on the water, and found it as solid as ice but not cold. This was the path, all right. He should have realized before, for the path from the Good Magician's castle had crossed water too.

Bria followed. ”I think I like the ways of the outer world,” she said, fluffing out her skirt.

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