MA06 Little Myth Marker

by Robert Asprin

  “And at the end there? When she flat-out said that you could talk her out of going? Why didn’t you speak up then? Do you want her to disappear?”

  I couldn’t even manage a spark of anger. “You know better than that, Gus,” I said quietly. “You’re hurting and lashing out at whoever’s handy, which happens to be me. I didn’t try to get her to stay for the same reason you didn’t try harder. She feels we’re stifling her, and if she wants out, it’d be pretty small of us to try to keep her for our own sakes, wouldn’t it?”

  There was prolonged silence, which was fine by me. I didn’t feel much like talking anymore.

  Rising, I started for the door.

  “You were looking the other way when she left,” the gargoyle said. “You might like to know there were tears in her eyes.”

  “Mine too,” I replied without turning. “That’s why I was looking the other way.”

  WITH A HEAVY heart, I headed back home. I was no longer worried about Aahz yelling at me. If anything, I was rather hoping he would. If he did, I decided that for a change I wouldn’t even argue back. In short, I felt terrible and was in the mood to do a little penance.

  Sliding through the tent flap, I cocked an ear and listened for Aahz. Actually, I was a little surprised that I couldn’t hear him from the street, but I was sure I would be able to locate his position in the house with no difficulty. As I’ve said before, my partner has no problem expressing his moods, particularly anger.

  The house was silent.

  From the lack of reverberations and/or falling plaster, I assumed that Aahz was out ... probably looking for me with blood in his eye. I debated going out to look for him, but decided that it would be better to wait right here. He’d be back eventually, so I headed for the garden to make myself comfortable until he showed up.

  What I call the garden is actually our courtyard. It has a fountain and an abundance of plants, so I tend to think of it as a piece of the outdoors rather than as an enclosed area. I had been spending more and more time there lately, especially when I wanted time to think. It reminded me of some of the quieter spots I would find from time to time back when I was living on my own in the woods ... back before I met Garkin, and, through him, Aahz.

  That memory led me to ponder a curious point: Were there other successful beings, like myself, who used their new prosperity to recreate the setting or atmosphere of their pre-success days? If so, it made for a curious cycle.

  I was so preoccupied with this thought as I entered the garden that I almost missed the fact that I wasn’t alone. Someone else was using my retreat ... specifically, Aahz.

  He was sitting on one of the stone benches, chin in his hands and elbows on his knees, staring blankly into the water as it flowed through the fountain.

  To say the least, I was surprised. Aahz has never been the meditative type, particularly in times of crisis. He’s more the “beat on someone or something until the problem goes away” type. Still, here he was, not agitated, not pacing, just sitting and staring. It was enough out of character for him to unnerve me completely.

  “Umm ... Hi, Aahz,” I said hesitantly.

  “Hello, Skeeve,” he replied without looking around.

  I waited for a few moments for him to say something else. He didn’t. Finally I sat down on the bench next to him and stared at the water myself a bit.

  We sat that way for a while, neither of us saying anything. The trickling water began to have a tranquilizing, hypnotic effect on me, and I found my mind starting to relax and drift.

  “It’s been quite a day, hasn’t it, partner?”

  My mind reflexively recoiled into a full defensive posture before it dawned on me that Aahz was still speaking quietly.

  “Y ... Yes.”

  I waited, but he seemed off in his own thoughts again. My nerves shot, I decided to take the initiative. “Look, Aahz. About Markie...”

  “Yes?”

  “I knew about the Elemental School thing. She told me on the way back from the Geek’s. I just didn’t know enough to realize it was important.”

  “I know,” Aahz sighed, not looking at me. “I hadn’t bothered to teach you about elemental magic ... just like I hadn’t taught you about dragon poker.”

  No explosion! I was starting to get a little worried about my partner.

  “Aren’t you upset?”

  “Of course I’m upset,” he said, favoring me with a fleeting glimpse of bared teeth, a barely recognizable smile. “Do you think I’m always this jovial?”

  “I mean, aren’t you mad?”

  “Oh, I’m past ‘mad.’ I’m all the way to ‘thoughtful.’”

  I arrived at the startling conclusion that I liked it better when Aahz was shouting and unreasonable. That I knew how to deal with. This latest mood of his was a total unknown.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “Parenthood.”

  “Parenthood?”

  “Yeah. You know, that state of total responsibility for another being? Well, at least, that’s the theory.” I wasn’t sure I was following this at all.

  “Aahz? Are you trying to say you feel responsible for what happened with Markie because you hadn’t taught me more about magic and poker?”

  “Yes. No. I don’t know.”

  “But that’s silly!”

  “I know,” he replied, with his first honest grin since I had entered the garden. “That’s what got me thinking about parenthood.”

  I abandoned any hope of following his logic.

  “You’ll have to explain it to me, Aahz. I’m a little slow today.” He straightened up a bit, draping one arm around my shoulders. “I’ll try, but it isn’t easy,” he said in a tone that was almost conversational. “You see, regardless of what I said when I was ranting at you about how much of a problem Markie was going to be, it’s been a long time since I was a parent. I’ve been sitting here, trying to remember what it was like. What’s so surprising to me is the realization that I’ve never really stopped. Nobody does.”

  I started to shift uncomfortably.

  “Hear me out. For once I’m trying to share some of my hard-won lessons with you without shouting. Forget the theories of parenthood! What it’s really all about is taking pride in things you can never be sure you had a hand in, and accepting the responsibility and guilt for things you either didn’t know or had no control over. Actually, it’s a lot more complicated than that, but that’s the bare bones of the matter.”

  “You don’t make it sound particularly attractive,” I observed.

  “In a lot of ways, it isn’t. Your kid expects you to know everything ... to be able to answer any question he asks and, more important, to provide a logical explanation of what is essentially an illogical world. Society, on the other hand, expects you to train your kid in everything necessary for them to become a successful, responsible member of the community ... even if you aren’t yourself. The problem is that you aren’t the only source of input for the kid. Friends, schools, and other adults are all supplying other opinions, many of which you don’t agree with. That means that if your kid succeeds, you don’t really know if it was because of or in spite of your influence. On the other hand, if the kid goes bad, you always wonder if there was something else you could have said or done differently that could have salvaged things before they hit the wall.”

  His hand tightened slightly on my shoulder, but I don’t think he did it consciously.

  “Now, I wasn’t a particularly good parent ... which I like to think places me in the majority. I didn’t interact much with my kids. Business was always a good excuse, but the truth was that I was glad to let someone else handle their upbringing as much as possible. I can see now that it was because I was afraid that if I tried to do it myself, that in my ignorance and uncertainty I would make some terrible mistake. The end result was that some of the kids
turned out okay, some of them ... let’s say less than okay. What I was left with was a nagging feeling that I could have done better. That I could have—should have—made more of a difference.”

  He released his hold on my shoulders and stood up. “Which brings us to you.”

  I wasn’t sure if I should feel uncomfortable because he was focusing on me, or glad because he was pacing again.

  “I’ve never consciously thought of you as a son, but in hindsight I realize that a lot of how I’ve treated you has been driven by my lingering guilt from parenthood. In you, I had another chance to mold someone ... to give all the advice I felt I should have given my own kids. If at times I’ve seemed to overreact when things didn’t go well, it’s because deep inside I saw it as a personal failure. I mean, this was my second chance. A time to show how much I had learned from my earlier perceived failures, and you know what? Now I’m giving it my full attention and my best shot, and things are still going wrong!”

  This was doing nothing to brighten my mood. On top of everything else, now I had the distinct feeling I had somehow let Aahz down.

  “I don’t think you can say it’s your fault, Aahz. I mean, you’ve tried hard and been more patient with me than anyone I’ve ever known. Nobody can teach someone else everything, even if they could remember what should be taught. I’ve got a certain saturation point. After that, I’m not going to learn anything new until I’ve digested what I’ve got. Even then, I’ve got to be honest and say there are some things I don’t believe no matter how often you tell me. I’ve just got to find out for myself. A craftsman can’t blame his skill if he has defective material.”

  “That’s just what I’ve been thinking,” Aahz nodded. “I can’t keep blaming myself for everything. It’s very astute of you to have figured this out at your age ... without going through what I have.”

  “It’s no big thing to figure out that I’m a dummy,” I said bitterly. “I’ve known it all along.”

  Suddenly, I felt myself being lifted into the air. I looked past Aahz’s hand, which was gripping my shirt by the collar, down the length of his arm, and into his yellow eyes.

  “Wrong lesson!” he snarled, sounding much like his old self. “What you’re supposed to be learning isn’t that you’re dumb. You’re not, and if you were listening, I just complimented you on that fact.”

  “Then what...” I managed with what little air I had left.

  “The point is that what’s happened in the past isn’t my fault, just like what’s happening now isn’t your fault!”

  “Aaggh ... urk...” was my swift rebuttal.

  “Oh! Sorry.”

  My feet hit the floor and air flooded back into my lungs.

  “All a parent, any parent, can do is give it their best shot, right or wrong.” Aahz continued as if there had been no interruption. “The actual outcome rests on so many variables, no single person can assume responsibility, blame, or praise for whatever happens. That’s important for me to remember in my dealings with you ... and for you to remember in your dealings with Markie. It’s not your fault!”

  “It isn’t?”

  “That’s right. We both have strong paternal streaks in us, though I don’t know where you got yours from, but all we can do is our best. We’ve got to remember not to try to shoulder the blame for what other people do ... like Tananda.”

  That sobered me up again. “You know about that, huh?”

  “Yeah. She told me to tell you goodbye if she didn’t see you, but I guess you already know.”

  I simply nodded, unable to speak.

  “I was already worried about how you were going to react to the problems with Markie, and when Tananda left I knew you were going to take it hard. I’ve been trying to find a way to show you that you aren’t alone. Right or wrong, what you’re feeling has been around for a long time.”

  “Thanks, Aahz.”

  “Has it helped at all?”

  I thought for a moment. “A bit.”

  My partner heaved another sigh.

  “Well,” he said, “I tried. That’s what’s important ... I think.”

  “Cheerio, chaps. How’s every little thing?”

  I glanced up to find Chumley striding toward us, beaming merrily. “Oh. Hi, Chumley.”

  “I thought you’d like to know,” the troll announced. “I think I’ve figured out a way to charge the damage Markie caused this afternoon back to the Mob as a business expense!”

  “That’s swell, Chumley,” Aahz said dully.

  “Yeah. Terrific.”

  “‘Allo, ‘allo?” he said, cocking his head at us. “Any time the two biggest hustlers at the Bazaar fail to get excited over money, there’s got to be something wrong. Out with it now. What’s troubling you?”

  “Do you want to tell him, Aahz?”

  “Well...”

  “I say, this wouldn’t be about little sister leaving the nest, would it? Oh, there’s a giggle.”

  “You know?” I blinked.

  “I can see you’re all broken up over it,” Aahz said in a dangerous tone.

  “Tish tosh!” the troll exclaimed. “I don’t see where it’s anything to get upset about. Tananda’s just settling things in her mind, is all. She’s found that she likes something that goes against her self-image. It might take a few days, but eventually she’ll figure out that it’s not the end of the world. Everybody goes through it. It’s called ‘growing up.’ If anything, I think it’s bloody marvelous that she’s finally having to learn that things don’t stay the same forever.”

  “You do?” I was suddenly starting to feel better.

  “Certainly. Why, in just the time we’ve been chumming around together, Aahz has changed, you’ve changed, so have I, though I don’t tend to show it as dramatically as you two or little sister. You blokes have just got a bad case of the guilts. Poppycock! You can’t take the blame for everything, you know.”

  “That’s good advice,” I said, standing up and stretching. “Why can’t you ever give me good advice like that, partner?”

  “Cause any fool can see it without being told,” Aahz snarled, but there was a twinkle in his eye. “The problem is that Pervects aren’t just any fool.”

  “Quite right,” Chumley grinned. “Now how about joining me in a little Happy Hour spot of wine while I tell you how clever I am at saving you money.”

  “I’d rather you impressed us with a solution to our baby-sitting problems,” my partner said grimly, heading for the lounge.

  I followed in their wake, strangely happy. Things were back to normal ... or as normal as they ever get around here. Between us, I was sure we could find a positive course of action. I mean, after all, how much trouble could one little girl ...

  That thought crumbled in front of an image of elemental-blown tents.

  I resolved to do more listening than talking in the upcoming war council.

  RELAXING OVER DRINKS with Aahz and Chumley, I felt the tensions and depressions of the day slipping away. It was nice to know that when things really got tough, I had friends to help me solve my problems, however complex or apparently hopeless.

  “Well, guys,” I said, pouring another round of wine for everyone. “Any ideas as to what we should do?”

  “Beats me,” Chumley said, toying with his goblet.

  “I still think it’s your problem,” Aahz announced, leaning back in his chair and grinning evilly. “I mean, after all, you got into it without our help.”

  Like I said, it’s great to have friends.

  “I can’t say I go along with that, Aahz old boy,” the troll said with a wave. “Although I’ll admit it’s tempting. The unfortunate reality is that as long as we’re living and working as closely as we are, his problems are our problems, don’t you know?”

  As much as I appreciated the fact that Chumley’s logic was mov
ing them closer to lending me assistance, I felt the need to defend myself a little.

  “I’d like to think it’s a two-way street, Aahz. I’ve gotten dragged into a few of your problems as well.”

  He started to snap back, then pursed his lips and returned his attention to his wine. “I’ll avoid comparing lists of how often which of us has gotten us in how much trouble and simply concede the point. I guess that’s part of what a partnership is all about. Sorry if I seem a little snarky from time to time, but I’ve never had a partner before. It takes getting used to.”

  “I say! Well said, Aahz!” Chumley applauded. “You know, you’re getting more civilized every day.”

  “Let’s not get too carried away just yet. How about you, Chumley? You and your sister have helped us out often enough, but I don’t recall either of you bringing your problems home with you. Isn’t that a little lopsided?”

  “I’ve always figured it’s our way of kicking in on the rent,” the troll said casually. “If our problems ever start interfering with your work, then I’ll figure we’ve overstayed our welcome.”

  This came as a total surprise to me. I realized with a start that I was usually so busy with my own life and problems that I never got around to asking much about the work Chumley and Tananda were doing.

  “Whoa up a minute here,” I said. “Are you two having problems I don’t know about?”

  “Well, it isn’t all beer and skittles,” the troll grimaced briefly. “The subject at hand, however, is your problems. There’s nothing on my plate that has a higher priority just now, so let’s get to work on the latest crisis, shall we? I suggest we all put on our thinking caps and brainstorm a little. Let’s just stare at the ceiling and each toss out ideas as they occur to us.”

  I made myself a little promise to return to the subject of Tananda and Chumley’s problems at a later date, then joined the others in staring thoughtfully at the ceiling.

  Time crawled along, and no one said anything.

  “Well, so much for brainstorming,” Aahz said, reaching for the wine again. “I’ll admit I’m coming up blank.”