"Have to I would appreciate it Who is Laverham?"
Kim took a deep breath and began trying to explain her
antipathy to Dan Laverham Mairelon waved her to silence
after a few sentences
"I'll take your word for it that the man is unpleasant," the
magician said "But what set you off?"
"He was at Tom's shop, where I took those flash togs you
asked me to get nd of He asked a lot of questions, and one
of his men tried to follow me when I left "
Mairelon frowned "He had you followed? How far^"
"Half a block in the wrong direction, I tipped him the dou-
ble right off"
"And you're sure it was you he was interested in?"
72
Kim shrugged "What else? Laverham's been aching to get
his rambles on me since before old Mother Tibb stuck her
spoon in the wall "
"Who is Mother Tibb^" Mairelon asked
"She raised me and some others," Kim said shortly "She's
dead " She didn't want to talk about Mother Tibb Even after
two years, talking brought back memories of the skinny old
woman's terrified howls as the constables hauled her off to
prison, and of the hangman's steady tread and the sickening
thud as the trapdoors dropped away beneath the feet of his
line of victims Kim preferred to remember the dubious safety
and fleeting camaraderie of the earlier years, when she
thought of Mother Tibb at all
"I'm sorry," Mairelon said gently He paused "About Lav-
erham—" He made her describe her brief encounter in as
much detail as she could remember At last he paused and
said, "All right, I'll agree that he seems to have been after
you But if anything else like that happens, or if you mn into
Laverham or any of his men again, tell me "
Kim nodded Mairelon turned to the still-glowing silver
bowl and moved both hands in a swift, complicated gesture
above it The light gathered around the nm of the bowl, as
though something were sucking it upward Then, with a faint
popping noise, the lamp flared into life and the glow of the
bowl vanished
Mairelon smiled in satisfaction and began setting the
wagon to rights The extended lamp hook folded neatly and
invisibly back into the wall beside the door, the ashes of the
herbs were thrown outside, and the Saltash Bowl was wiped
and wrapped in velvet once more Kim watched for a few
minutes in silence before reminding Mairelon that he had
promised to explain to her what was really going on
"So 1 did The story really starts about fifteen years ago,
when old Lord Saltash died He left a rather large bequest to
73
the Royal College of Wizards. You've heard of the Royal Col-
lege, I trust?"
"As much as anybody "
"Mmmm Well, Saltash fancied himself a magician, and
he'd collected a tremendous number of odds and ends of
things that he thought ought to be properly investigated. He
dumped the lot on the College Most of them turned out to
be quite worthless, but—"
"That's why you called it the Saltash Bowl'" Kirn said "It
was part of the mm cull's collection!"
"Yes, though I wouldn't call Saltash a rum cull The bowl is
only part of the grouping; there's a silver platter that matches
it, and four carved balls of different sizes Together, they're
the key to a very interesting spell."
"Making people tell the truth," Kirn said, nodding
"I don't think you realize what that means," Mairelon said
testily "It's easy enough to bind someone «ot to do things,
but a spell to force a person to speak, and to speak only the
truth, without interfering with the ability to answer intel-
ligently—well, it's remarkable Most control spells are
obvious; they make the people they're used on act like sleep-
walkers But the Saltash group—"
"Alt right'" Kirn said hastily "It's bang-up What next?"
"The Royal College spent a good deal of time, here and
there, trying to duplicate the spell on the grouping No one
ever succeeded, and the Saltash group became a curiosity.
And then, four years ago, it was stolen "
Mairelon paused "It was stolen," he repeated, "in such a
way that it appeared that I was the thief "
"You were in the Royal College?" Kim asked
Mairelon blinked, as if he had expected some other re-
sponse Then he smiled slightly "Yes, I was Under another
name, you understand "
"Richard Merrill?"
74
"You are a shrewd one Yes, that is my name "
"But you ain't the sharper who nicked the bowl "
"No If I hadn't been lucky enough to run into Edward,
though, I'd have no way of proving it The evidence was
overwhelming Even my brother Andrew believed it"
Kim snorted "He's a noodle, then "
Mairelon's face lost its set look, and he laughed "A sur-
prisingly apt description, I'm afraid "
"So why didn't this Edward cove tell anybody that you ain't
the one who lifted them things?"
"Those things, Kim, not them things At the time, it
was convenient to have an excuse for leaving the country
quickly "
"How do you mean?" Kim asked suspiciously
"I was spying on the French," Mairelon said baldly
"Oh "
"And there was my pride, too Hubris, the failing of the
gods I wanted to recover the stolen items myself, you see. I
thought I'd find out who was behind the theft Someone at
the College was involved, I'm certain I asked Edward to let
me try "
"And that's how you got hold of that bowl?"
"It took me a year to track it down after the war ended It
was in a little town in Germany, property of the local Baron
He'd picked it up as a souvenir of England, and he was in-
credibly stubborn about selling it "
Kim thought back to the conversation she'd inadvertently
overheard "So now you're going to Ranton Hill to find the
platter part What about the rest of it?"
"I can use each piece to help find the others, and it gets
easier the more pieces I have With the bowl and the platter
together, it won't be hard to locate the four spheres "
"What about—" Kirn's question was interrupted by a per-
75
emptory knock at the door Mairelon lifted an eyebrow in
amusement and went to open it
Hunch stood outside, his expression clearly disapproving
"You've 'ad your hour, Master Richard," he said "And I'd like
to know where '!s Lordship's sending us off to this time "
"Essex," Mairelon said, and grinned "Ranton Hill, to be
precise Did you have any other questions, K-im? Then, if
you'll excuse us, we had better go and figure out what route
will get us there with a minimum of delay We can talk more
in the morning "
76
EIGHT
^Tf^ T"' or the next five days, it rained Torrential
JK^^^ 1 downpours alternated with misty drizzle or
f f bone-chilling showers that made even the best
roads treacherous going The seldom-freq
uented lanes used
by Mairelon's wagon became a sticky quagmire which plas-
tered the horses and mired the wagon wheels Despite Mair-
elon's best efforts, their progress slowed to a crawl
None of them rode, the wagon alone was nearly too heavy
for the horses to tow along the roads Hunch and Mairelon
took turns leading the horses, sliding and stumbling through
cold, oozy mud that sucked at their feet and weighted down
their boots in inch-thick layers Even Kim sank ankle-deep
unless she kept to the verge and slid on the slippery wet mats
of last years grass instead
By the time they stopped to camp each night, they were all
exhausted, but Mairelon insisted that Kim continue her
lessons no matter how tired she was It was easier to agree
than argue, so Kim applied herself as best she could to arts
such as reading and legerdemain which could not be conve-
niently practiced while marching through the rain During
77
the day, Mairelon continued her instruction in what Kirn pri-
vately called "flash talk-" When her voice grew hoarse, he let
her stop and listen while he recited poetry or plays, or ren-
dered the same speech over and over in a variety of styles and
accents.
They slept in the wagon, though Hunch muttered hatefully
and chewed his mustache over the arrangement. K-im was not
really sure whether he was fretting over Mairelon's morals or
the spoons; by the end of the second day, she no longer
cared- Sleeping in a place that was even approximately dry
was far more important than Hunch's disapproval- Mairelon
appeared as unaware of Hunch's glares as he seemed uncon-
scious of any impropriety, though Kim did not for a minute
believe that he was as oblivious as he looked.
On the sixth morning, Kim followed Hunch out of the
wagon to find a steady, soaking rain falling from an endless
sheet of clouds the color of lead. With a snort of disgust, she
pulled the collar of her cloak tighter around her neck in a
hopeless effort to keep the water out. The cloak was Mair-
elon's, and much worn, and she had had to tie it up with a
length of rope at her waist to keep it from dragging in the
mud. It made a bulky, awkward garment and she was positive
that she would slip and end up covered in mud before the
morning was over
"Cheer up," Mairelon said as he passed her, heading for the
horses. "It will stop before noon."
"Hah," Kim said. She took an injudicious look at the sky,
which was stilt uniformly leaden, and water dripped down her
neck. "Owl" she said, and glared after Mairelon. "If you're so
knowin', why ain't you put a stop to it afore now?"
"Haven't," Mairelon said absently. "Why haven't I put a stop
to it before now."
"All right, why haven't you?" Kim said crossly.
"Because weather magic is tricky, time-consuming, costly,
78
and extremely noticeable," Mairelon replied with commend-
able patience "I can't afford the time or the energy, and I
certainly can't afford to be noticed Not until we've gotten
our hands on the Saltash Platter, at least "
He continued on and Kim scowled after him. "What's the
good of traveling with a wizard if you have to get wet in the
rain like other people?" she muttered,
Low as her voice was, Hunch heard her. "You'd ought to
be glad you wasn't left in London!"
"Why?" Kim demanded. "At least there I could keep
dry. And 1 wouldn't have to worry about no nabbing culls,
either-"
"Any." Mairelon's voice came floating over the heads of
the horses, "if the two of you have finished exchanging pleas-
antries, it's time we left. Rear doors, please; Hunch, take
the right side, the wheel's sunk a little deeper there, I
think "
Kim and Hunch took up positions on either side of the
wagon. "Ready? Now," Mairelon called, and they pushed
while he urged the horses forward. After a brief struggle, the
wagon rolled forward and they were on the move again.
To Kirn's disgust, the rain soon dwindled to a light drizzle.
By noon it had stopped entirely, and Mairelon was wearing a
smug expression. Kim was more than a little inclined to snarl
at him, but in the past few days she had learned that snarling
at Mairelon did little good He simply smiled and corrected
her grammar.
They stopped early that evening, for travel was still muddy
and exhausting Then, too, they were less than an hour's
travel from Ranton Hill, even with the mud, and Mairelon
had not yet decided whether he wanted the wagon to be
had chosen a campsite where a small wood came down to
79
meet one side of the road, so that the wagon could be drawn
in among the trees
Hunch built a large fire while Mairelon and Kim hauled
pots and buckets of water from an irrigation ditch on the
other side of the road When they arrived back at the camp,
they found that Hunch had already hung the dampest of the
cloaks and bedding around the m-e, blocking most of the
heat Hunch accepted the buckets with his most dour expres-
sion, and Kim and Mairelon retreated at once to the far side
of the wagon
"What's got into him?" Kim asked, settling herself onto the
footboard at the front of the wagon
"Hunch is merely expressing his desire to continue his own
activities without distraction from the two of us," Mairelon
explained, leaning against the wall next to Kim
"Does that mean he's gom' to start dinner soon^" Kim asked
hopefully
"Not soon, I'm afraid First he'll want to get as many things
cleaned and thoroughly dried as he can Resign yourself to
scorched bedclothes tonight"
Kim made a scornful noise "Hunch ain't got no sense
Dinner's more important than blankets "
"Don't try to convince him of that," Mairelon said, smiling
"You won't succeed, and there's nothing to be gained from
trying Though perhaps I shouldn't be the one to make that
argument, it's my dignity Hunch is trying to defend, you
know "
"Hoi Hunch, worrym' over your dignity? After he's been
naggin' at you for two days for weann' that cloak instead of
the one with the patches?"
"Yes, well, Hunch gets these notions from time to time
Have you practiced that handkerchief tnck you were having
trouble with''"
80
"I ai—haven't had time," Kim said "1 can't do it at all on
the move, and we only Just got here "
"Then practice it now, before the light goes," Mairelon
said, handing her a handkerchief
Kim rolled her eyes and spread the handkerchief out on her
lap She flexed her cold fingers several times, trying to timber
them up a little, then began carefully folding and rolling the
linen square as Mairelon had taught her She was only half
finished when Mairelon's head turned and she heard
him mur-
mur, "Now, 1 wonder who that is?"
Kim looked up Through the screen of trees she saw a
coach-and-four making its slow, soggy way up the lane, the
heads of two postillions were clearly visible above the coach's
roof Kim blinked in surprise What was a bang-up turnout
like that doing on a quiet farm lane? And where was it head-
ing?
"Exactly what I would like to know," Mairelon said, and
Kim realized that she had spoken aloud Kim glanced at him
and saw that he was frowning slightly "And we're not going
to find out sitting here "
Without waiting for Kim to respond, Mairelon pushed
himself away from the wagon, pulled his shapeless, still-damp
hat farther down on his head, and started bnskly off into the
trees in the same direction that the coach was traveling Kim
blinked, then dropped the handkerchief and scrambled after
him
The coach passed them a few minutes later Screened by
the small trees and untnmmed scrub along the edge of the
woods, Mairelon and Kim studied it Kim could hear loud
female laughter from the carnage windows, but the curtains
were drawn and she could not see who was inside The driver
and postillions were wrapped in driving cloaks against the
damp, and their faces were impassive