Vale of the Vole Part 24

Esk, looking at her, discovered that the water she stood on was reflective. He could see right up her legs. He turned again, quickly. Even though he had seen all of her legs in the gourd, before she put on the dress, he felt guilty about seeing them now. Guilty about wanting to see them.

"Did I embarra.s.s you?" Bria inquired.

And there was the other aspect of that trap! He wanted to tell her the truth, that she had inadvertently embarra.s.sed him, through no fault of her own, but he knew that would only complicate things. "I, uh, embarra.s.sed myself," he said.

She laughed. "You're going to have trouble settling that!"

Trouble, indeed! He knew she was only teasing him; possibly she understood about the reflection. Why couldn't his emotion follow his intellect, and accept the bra.s.sie girl as a temporary acquaintance?

The river broadened, until they were walking well away from either sh.o.r.e. Now water lilies spread across its calm surface, obscuring the reflections, which was a relief. But where was the path going? It seemed to have little concern about its destination; sometimes it bore north, sometimes south, and sometimes east or west. Now it was heading out into what promised to become a lake. When would it get serious about its destination?

Abruptly it stopped. Latia, now leading the way, suddenly splashed into the lake beside a big green lily pad.

Esk dropped to his belly on the solid portion of the path and reached down to haul her out. His questing hand caught her bony ankle. He yanked on it-and felt the sting of a slap. What was happening?

Then Latia's head poked up. "Sorry, Esk-I thought you were a leech or something. It's all right-the path is down here. Just step down and reorient." Her head resubmerged.

"Did you notice-her hair wasn't even wet," Bria said.

Esk hadn't noticed, but now he recalled it. He had reached into the water, but his arm was dry.

He stepped off the end of the path, and dropped into the water. He was holding his breath, but it didn't seem necessary; he wasn't really submerged. In a moment his body twisted around, and he found his feet coming to rest against the underside of the lily pad. He was standing upside down, in the lake!

He tried breathing, and it was all right. He saw fish in the water, swimming normally, which was inverted compared to him, but to him the water was air.

He looked down (up) the way he had come, and saw Bria's legs. They were very nice legs, all the way up. Yet again he wrenched away his gaze and tried to stifle a blush.

Then Bria jumped in. She spun about and landed beside him on the lily pad, which bowed with their weight. "Careful," she said. "We don't want to break through and fall out through the sky!"

Esk stepped across to the next lily pad. He discovered that these pads had no stems; they were just there. He squatted and touched his finger to the lake surface between pads. His hands broke through the surface tension and dangled in the air.

"We'd better stick to the pads," he said. "I think they're the stepping stones."

They moved on, following the irregular trail of green pads. Finally the slope of the lakebed descended, requiring them to duck their heads. When it became so shallow that they could not walk, Esk tried stepping through the surface and resuming normal orientation.

He found himself thigh-deep in the lake, looking at a solid jungle of thorns. The path did not continue in this direction!

Latia emerged. "There they are," she said. "Cloudstones."

Esk looked. There above the lake was a small line of tiny clouds, the nearest and lowest within stepping range.

He shrugged and stepped onto it. It depressed a little, wobbling, but sustained his weight. He stepped quickly to the next, which was higher and larger, and this one was more stable.

Bria emerged. "Oh, I like this world better and better!" she exclaimed. "We don't have anything like this in the gourd!"

Esk refrained from pointing out that he hadn't seen it in this world either, until now. Maybe he just hadn't traveled enough, before.

The cloudstones took them safely across the lake and down to the far sh.o.r.e. Why the path hadn't gone directly there Esk couldn't guess, but he was in no position to question its rationale. Just so long as it got them to ogre country within three days!

At last the path resumed normal operation, proceeding directly north through mixed terrain-until they came to the mirror.

It stood across the path, a vertical full-length sheet of gla.s.s, big enough to reflect a complete man. Esk would have crashed right into it, because it reflected the path perfectly, making it look like a continuation-but he saw himself approaching and realized what it was before colliding. So he stopped, and admired his somewhat bedraggled image. Bria looked much better, but Latia looked worse.

He peered around the mirror. Beyond was a dense, impenetrable curse-burr patch. To the sides were itch plants. Above was the foliage of a poison acorn tree. This was a dead end that was really deadly!

"There has to be a way," Latia muttered. "Maybe this is a door." She poked her finger experimentally at the gla.s.s.

Her finger pa.s.sed through it without resistance. "I think I have found it," she said, as her hand and then her arm disappeared into the mirror. The reflection showed only that portion of her that was on the near side.

"But we don't know what's in there!" Esk warned, for he saw that her arm was not emerging from the other side of the mirror. It was like the hole in the tree: it came out elsewhere.

"The other end of the path, obviously," she said, and put her head through. In a moment the rest of her disappeared, and the mirror was clear.

"You look a mess," Bria said, contemplating Esk's reflection. "Let me comb your hair." She brought out a bra.s.s comb from somewhere.

"Uh, but-" he protested weakly.

"Oh, did I embarra.s.s you? I'd better apologize."

"No, no, that's all right!"

"It's best to be sure." She put her arms around him.

Esk knew he should protest some more, but he lacked the gumption. She squeezed him closely and kissed him, and she was warm and soft and fascinating. He closed his eyes, and knew that he would not have known she was bra.s.s from the present feel of her. Again he felt as if he were floating.

"If-if you are made of hard metal," he said as she released him, "how can you be so-so-?"

"Oh, I can be quite soft when I want to be," she said. "After all, we bra.s.sies couldn't move very well if we remained absolutely rigid."

"But your mother-that dent-"

"The ogre caught her by surprise. He picked her up by her bra.s.siere, then dropped her on the bra.s.s hat of the man below."

Esk began to get a notion where the dent might have been. "I see. So it was an accident. But wouldn't the dent have undented when she turned soft again?"

"No, dents are the most permanent kinds of things. She's still got it; she pretends it's a dimple."

"I can see why you dislike ogres."

"No, I always thought it was romantic. I'd like to meet an ogre myself."

"Well, I'm part ogre."

"I know," she said softly. Then: "Oops, did I embarra.s.s you? You're blus.h.i.+ng again."

"No, no, it's all right!" he said.

But she decided to play it safe, and apologized in her fas.h.i.+on.

"Well," Latia remarked, stepping out of the mirror. "I can see that you folk were really concerned about my welfare while I was in the mirror."

"Uh-" Esk said.

"Don't tell me, let me guess. She embarra.s.sed you."

"It's amazing how often I do that," Bria remarked innocently. "I must be very clumsy about outside world ways."

"To be sure," Latia agreed dryly. "Well, I'm here to report that the path continues beyond. It's an odd scene, but presumably it is what we want."

They stepped through the mirror. The other side was indeed strange; instead of being a mirror, it seemed like a clear pane of gla.s.s, showing the path they had just come from. A one-way mirror-what strange magic!

The path ahead was gla.s.s, too, reflective in the manner of the lake surface. The scenery to the sides was odder yet; it was all of gla.s.s. The brush was greenly tinted gla.s.s, and the trees had brownly tinted trunks and greenly foliage. A grayly tinted gla.s.s rabbit bounded away as they approached, and a redly tinted gla.s.s bird sailed overhead.

"It reminds me of home, a little," Bria said. "Only there everything is of bra.s.s."

"We'll get you home when we can," Esk rea.s.sured her.

"Oh, I'm not homesick! This is a wonderful adventure. I'm just comparing."

The gla.s.sy forest opened out into a gla.s.sy plain, with many gla.s.s blades. Creamly tinted gla.s.s animals glazed on it. They made gla.s.sy moo-sounds and moo-ved away, worried by the nongla.s.s intruders.

Glazed? Grazed, Esk realized. Then again- Then a gla.s.sy unicorn charged up, ridden by a gla.s.sy man. The man dismounted and strode toward the party, drawing a s.h.i.+ning gla.s.s blade. He spoke with the sound of breaking cutlery, brandis.h.i.+ng the weapon. "Your gla.s.s will be a.s.s!"

"No," Esk said, realizing that the gla.s.sy man meant mischief.

The man changed his mind. He remounted his gla.s.s steed, and they galloped away, sending up a cloud of gla.s.s dust.

"Let's move on through here quickly," Latia suggested. "I don't think these folk are friendly."

They hurried on along the path. Soon they came to another sheet of gla.s.s. "This should be our exit," Latia said. "But I'll just check. You two can get back to what you were doing." She stepped through the gla.s.s, and they watched her walk around a curve in the path beyond.

"What were we doing?" Bria inquired brightly.

"Uh-"

"Oh, yes, I was apologizing to you. I don't remember what for, but better safe than sorry."

"But you don't need to-"

Her warm kiss cut him off. He decided that it was pointless to protest. Bria was correct: she could be very soft when she chose to be.

Yet her body was entirely bra.s.s, and some of her ways were bra.s.sy too. Any expectations he might have were foolish. He knew this; in fact he was absolutely sure of this. Yet somehow he doubted.

Latia returned, coming around the curve and stepping through the gla.s.s. "Yes, it's our path," she reported. "And it seems to be near the ogre fen."

"Oh? How do you know?" Esk asked.

"Oh, nothing specific. Trees twisted into pretzels, boulders cracked with hairy fist marks on them, dragons slinking about as if terrified of anything on two legs. Perhaps I am mistaken."

Esk didn't press the case.

They stepped through the gla.s.s. Esk turned to look back, and it was a mirror, showing nothing of the gla.s.sies beyond. That had been another interesting experience!

Latia had described the terrain accurately. They were definitely in ogre country. Esk felt nervous; he had ogre ancestry, but little direct experience with full ogres. This could be a disaster.

Soon they heard a great cras.h.i.+ng, as of trees getting knocked down. An ogre stomped into view, carelessly sweeping brush and rocks aside with one ham fist while picking his monstrous yellow teeth with the tenpenny nails of the other ham hand.

This seemed like a worse and worse idea. This was a plain animal brute! The ogre stood twice Esk's height, and was so ugly that clouds of smog formed wherever it glanced.

"Oooo, what a beast!" Bria murmured admiringly.

The ogre heard her. His s.h.a.ggy puss swung around to aim at her. "What this me see-one tiny she!" he exclaimed.

"We came to talk to you ogres," Esk called.

Now the ogre spied the rest of the party. "He walk, to talk?" Ogres lacked facility with p.r.o.nouns, because they were very stupid.

"Yes, we walk to talk," Esk said. "Please take us to your leader."

The ogre scratched his hairy head. Giant fleas dodged out of the way of his dirty nail. "Want to take, no mistake?"

"No mistake," Esk agreed.

"Okay, you say!" And the ogre reached out and grabbed Esk, hauled him up, and jammed him into the huge backpack he wore. Then he grabbed Latia and Bria and treated them similarly, "I hope you know what he's doing," Latia muttered.

"I hope so too," Esk muttered back.

The ogre strode on, shoving brush and trees out of his way, while the pack jogged violently with his motion. The three clung to the rim and the straps, because getting bounced out would lead to a painful fall.

The ogre arrived at an ogre village. There was a huge fire in its center, beside which sat a great black pot.

"Heat pot!" the ogre bellowed. "Me got!"

"Uh-oh," Esk said. The pot was full of water, but he could see some bones in the bottom. They reminded him of Marrow, and that was not rea.s.suring.

The ogre swung the pack off and brought it to the pot. He began to invert it.

"No!" Esk cried.

Perplexed, the ogre paused. "No so?"

"We came to talk, not to be cooked!" Esk yelled.

Other ogres had appeared, including several females. If the males were ugly, the females were appalling. "We look, not cook?" one inquired, scratching her head so vigorously that the lice scattered in terror.

"We want your help for the voles!" Esk cried, wis.h.i.+ng he had never undertaken this foolish mission.

"Put vole in bowl!" another ogre exclaimed, smacking his lips with a sound that startled the birds from a distant tree.