returned the two still-glowing balls to his pocket and bent to
pick up his pistol.
"An interesting demonstration," Mairelon said in a cool
voice from behind Kirn's shoulder- "But what is it supposed to
accomplish?"
"Dear me, I thought you would be able to puzzle that out
for yourself," Dan replied, straightening. "Even under these
admittedly adverse conditions."
"You have a high opinion of me," Mairelon answered- "I
recognized parts of it, but I've never seen anything quite like
the whole. You adapted the Saltash truth spells to do some-
thing else, didn't you?"
"Shut your gob," Jack Stower growled, gesturing with his
pistols,
"Now, now, don't get carried away, my dear," Dan said to
Jack, "After all, he's quite right." Dan turned to Mairelon. "It's
200
a control spell, or rather, a minor reworking of the control
portions of the Saltash spells. It therefore has the same limits
as its original, an annoyance 1 hope to correct once I have the
whole set to study."
"The same limits as the Saltash spells?" Mairelon looked
from Kim to Dan and shook his head. "That can't be very
convenient. Only one person at a time, only one use per
person, time limit—what is the time limit on your control
spell, by the way? I know how long it is for the Saltash
spells."
'Two hours," Dan answered. "Long enough for me to re-
trieve the Saltash Platter and Bowl and be well on my way
back to London, Providing, of course, that we don't waste
any more time. Into the carriage,"
Kim blinked, realizing that this last command was directed
at her. She felt no particular compulsion to follow Dan's or-
ders, though she could still sense his spell hovering around
her- She stared at Dan for a moment, her mind whirling, and
suddenly the pieces came together. Dan had adapted the Salt-
ash spells into a control spell, but his spell still had the same
flaws as the Saltash spells It only worked once on any par-
ticular person. And over a week before, on their first night
out of London, Mairelon had cast the Saltash truth spell on
Kim to find out what her lay was. That was why Dan's con-
trol couldn't touch her!
There were, however, two pistols still pointed at Mairelon,
and he and Kim were outnumbered three to two, counting
the phlegmatic coachman. It would clearly be much better to
follow Dan's directions for a while. As long as he thought his
spell was working, he wouldn't pay too much attention to
Kim, and she might get a chance to pike off and get Hunch.
Kim took a deep breath and climbed into the carriage.
"You next, Mr Merrill," Dan said "Sit there, next to Kim
Good." Dan climbed in after Mairelon and settled onto the
201
seat opposite him He pointed his pistols at Mairelon, then
called out the window, "Up on the box with Ben, Jack. Keep
your pistols handy, but try not to let anyone see them We
don't want to attract attention, remember "
Jack said something Kim could not hear, and Dan frowned
"Nonsense Don't dally, my dear, I haven't time to waste "
There was a muffled curse, followed by an assortment of
thumps as Jack climbed up to sit with the coachman A mo-
ment later, the coach Jerked and started off "Not much of a
driver, your man Ben," Mairelon commented "Did you bring
him out of sentiment, or economy?"
"Neither," Dan said with unimpaired good humor "He has
talents other than driving that I thought I might find useful "
There was an undercurrent in Dan's voice that made Kirn
shiver She was all too conscious of the various unpleasant
ways a man could find to survive in London's rookeries, Jack
Slower was the Archbishop of Canterbury compared to some
She knew nothing of the driver, but she knew enough of Dan
to be sure that she didn't want to learn Anyone he spoke of
in those tones was sure to be an ugly customer
Dan either did not see Kirn's quiver or attributed it to the
motion of the carnage Mairelon shot her a nickering glance,
then returned his attention to Dan as if he had noticed noth-
ing A moment later, however, the carnage lurched as he was
shirting his position, and he fell sideways against Kirn's shoul-
der
"Don't fret," he breathed into her ear, his lips barely mov-
ing "Sorry, Kim," he added in a louder tone as he straight-
ened and resumed his seat
Kim forgot her wornes long enough to glare at him "Don't
fret" was probably his idea of a reassuring message, but he
couldn't have picked a more ridiculous thing to say if he'd
thought about it since the day they met Don't fret, with Dan
Laverham pointing a pistol at them, Jack Slower on the box
202
with a gun of his own, a dead man in the woods behind
them, and not the faintest hope of a way out of the mess that
she could see^ Don't fret, when Dan was about to get his
hands on the blasted platter that all the rogues and half the
gentry for miles around were chasing after? Did he take her
for a Bedlamite, or hadn't it occurred to him that any reason-
able person would fret himself to flinders in a situation like
this?
"I think you should stay firmly seated from now on," Dan
said to Mairelon "It would be unfortunate, don't you think, if
you were to careen into me that way and my pistol were to
go off"
"Unfortunate is certainly one word for it," Mairelon
agreed "You know, as long as we have time for a chat, I was
wondering whether you'd tell me a little more about that con-
trol spell of yours It's terribly interesting Don't you think it's
tembly interesting, Kim^"
"A more tactless comment I have seldom heard," Dan said
"What?" Mairelon blinked, then looked from Dan to Kim
for a moment and back to Dan "Oh, yes, 1 see what you
mean But even so—"
There was a loud report from outside the window, and the
coach jerked to a sudden and unceremonious halt For a mo-
ment, Kim was convinced that Jack Slower had fired at some-
thing or someone, then she heard an all-too-familiar voice
cry in ringing tones, "Stand and deliver! In the name of the
Four Holy Things'"
"Jonathan Aberford," Kim said, feeling stunned "That buf-
flehead!"
"Oh, Lord, not again," Mairelon said, rolling his eyes
Laverham's eyebrows rose "A holdup, in broad daylight?
On a country road going from nowhere to nowhere else"? It
seems unlikely, on the face of it "
Jack Slower seemed to share Dan's opinion "You're dicked
203
in the nob," they heard him shout "Mr Laverham's in this
coach!"
"Stand and deliver!" Jonathan cried again. "Drop your
weapons, or I fire!"
"We've stood, we've stood," jack snarled. "Now what?"
"An excellent question," Mairelon murmured "I wonder
whether he's thought of it?"
"If this is some trick of you
rs—" Dan raised a pistol.
"it's not a trick," Mairelon said. "It's a druid. In a manner of
speaking, that is. He's harmless, I think, unless he happens to
have taken the notion that highwaymen always shoot some-
one just to prove they're serious."
Before Dan could respond, they heard a wordless yell, a
horse's shrill, frightened neigh, and the sounds of a scuffle
outside. Dan leaned over and glanced out the window- When
he returned his gaze to Mairelon, his expression had not
changed, but there was an air of satisfaction about him. A
moment later, Jack's face appeared at the window He was
breathless, and there was a smear of mud across his left
cheek.
"We got the rum padder, Mr- Laverham," Jack pantcd-
"What d'you want us to do with him?"
- "Kill him," Laverham said.
"Right." Jack smiled, showing crooked brown teeth.
"Now?"
Dan nodded, then, as Jack turned to go, he frowned and
said, "No, wait- Are you—" he gestured at Mairelon with his
pistol, "—quite sure this person is a druid?"
"Well, you can see that he's not much of a highwayman,"
Mairelon said in a reasonable tone. "It probably didn't even
occur to him to bring a spare pistol."
"It don't matter," Jack objected. 'The cull tried to pop the
lot of us!"
"With only one pistol?" Dan said. "I think not. In any case,
204
if this inept highwayman is a druid, he'll know where to look
for the platter once we get to the lodge. We'll bring him
along"
"But, Mr. Laverham—"
"Don't argue, my dear, just do it." Dan studied Mairelon
for a moment, then smiled unpleasantly. "You'll have to be
tied, of course," he said to the magician. "I'm not fool enough
to leave you free with the carriage as crowded as it's going to
be. K-im!"
Kirn jerked, startled by the unexpected command. "What?"
"There's a bit of rope under the seat." Dan pointed with his
left hand- "Get it and tie your companion's hands. And see
you do a good job of it I won't—"
The carriage door swung open, and Jack Stower shoved the
unfortunate Jonathan forward, so that he staggered against
the step. "Where do you want him, Mr. Laverham?" Jack
asked.
"In a moment, Jack," Dan replied, 'Tie him, Kirn."
Remembering suddenly that she was supposed to be under
Dan's spell of control, Kirn bent and rummaged under the
seat for the rope She straightened and turned sideways to
face Mairelon- "Hold out your hands," she said in a flat voice.
Mairelon did so, his gaze fixed on Kirn's face. Kim dropped
her eyes, wondering whether Mairelon knew she was faking.
Well, he'd figure it in another minute. She looped the rope
around his wrists and pulled hard for Dan's benefit, then fed
the ends through the complex pattern Mairelon had shown
her on their first day out of London.
When she finished, she looked up. Mairelon was still star-
ing fixedly at her face, his expression unreadable. "There,"
Kim said. "You won't get out of that in no hurry."
"No?" Mairelon said- He looked down at last, and went still
as he recognized the trick knot- He raised his head to look at
Kim again and said very deliberately, "1 see."
205
"Kim learned to tie knots down on the docks," Dan said,
misinterpreting Mairelon's reaction "Now, Jack, let's have the
dmid highwayman "
Jack shoved Jonathan again, and it was more by luck than
planning that this time Jonathan stumbled up the step and
into the carriage He was hatless, one of the capes on his
coat was torn, and there was a reddened area on his left
cheek that would make a splendid bruise in another day or so
His awkward progress was due to the sock he had used as a
mask At some point during his encounter with Dan's men,
the sock had slipped to one side, and the holes Jonathan had
cut in it were now centered over his nose and right temple
Kim almost laughed aloud
"This is entirety unnecessary," Jonathan said in a calm
voice, but his hands shook as he raised them to pull the sock
off his head "I'm Jonathan It was just a bet, and—" He
stopped short as the sock came off and he saw the occupants
of the coach
"I see you weren't expecting us," Dan said, pointing his
pistols impartially at Jonathan and Mairelon "Not that it mat-
ters. Tie him, too, Kim "
"What?" Jonathan stared as if he couldn't believe what he
had just heard "You don't mean it' Look, my name's Aber-
ford; if you stop at the next house, they'll vouch for me You
don't have to bring a magistrate into it"
"I don't intend to," Dan said He lifted his pistol again for
emphasis and added, "Just hold still while Kim works "
"What's going on here?" Jonathan demanded, finally taking
in Mairelon's bound hands and rumpled appearance "This is
an outrage!"
"No more so than a holdup in the middle of the morning,"
Dan said. "You're hardly in a position to criticize Jack'"
While Jonathan spluttered and Kim repeated her perfor-
mance with another piece of rope, Dan held a brief conversa-
206
tion with Jack through the open carnage door According to
Jack, Jonathan had come galloping out of the trees, blazing
away with his pistol The frightened carriage horses had
reared, tangling their harness and causing the coach to
bounce to a halt When Jonathan, with typical smgle-mmd-
edness, had turned his back on the coachmen in his eagerness
to open the carnage door, Jack had jumped him
"Not badly done," Dan said "However, we've wasted
enough time here Co help Ben with the horses "
"I ain't no horse coddler," Jack grumbled, but did as he was
told, and in a few minutes the coach began to move again
207
TWENTY.ONE
'^W-^' 11 k. T ow' ^r Aberford," Dan said, settling
JS^~^ 1-N back against the rear wall of the coach,
f r "tell me what you thought you were going to
accomplish with your little masquerade. And please, don't try
to put me off with that tarradiddle about a bet. What were
you really after?"
"I had a bet," Jonathan repeated doggedly. "With—with
Robert Choiniet. He said I couldn't pull it off without being
recognized-"
"He was right," Mairelon murmured-
"Quiet," Dan said. "I'm afraid I don't believe you, Mr. Ab-
erford, I think you were after something else. The Saltash
Platter, perhaps?"
"The what?" Jonathan's puzzlement was unfeigned. "I've
never heard of it."
"You call it the Sacred Dish," Mairelon put in.
Jonathan jerked upright in his seat as if someone had stuck
a pin in him, banging his head against the roof of the coach.
"What do you know of the Sacred Dish?"
"Not nearly as much as I'd like," Mairelon said, "For in-
208
stance, how did you and your druids get hold of it? And how
does it hap
pen that you don't have the smallest notion what it
really is?"
"I told you to be quiet," Dan said.
"When Queen Dick rules," Kirn muttered, her annoyance
with Mairelon momentarily getting the better of her fear of
Dan- She was as curious as Mairelon about the druid's be-
havior, but she knew enough to keep her mouth shut when
someone had a pistol pointed at her.
Dan gave her a piercing look, but just then the coach
slowed and lurched through a sharp turn, distracting him He
leaned sideways and peered out the window "It doesn't mat-
ter now. We appear to be arriving,"
"Not quite yet, but soon," Mairelon said. "The lodge is
around the back side of the hill."
"You aren't—you can't—what are you going to do?"
Jonathan said.
"Look for something I . , mislaid a few years ago," Dan
answered. "And you are going to help."
Jonathan's jaw tightened. "No. I won't. I won't let you des-
ecrate our meeting place."
"Let? My dear boy, how do you propose to stop me?" Dan
said, shirting his pistol just enough to call attention to its
presence
"Yes, and what do you expect us to do?" Mairelon asked
Mairelon the Magician Page 23
