Taking Flight

How could she have come to the Crystal Skull? And the way she spoke of it, she had been in here more than once.

That was one thing.

And the other…

“How did that old man know who you were?” Kelder asked.

“What do you mean?” Irith asked, uneasily.

“I mean,” Kelder said, “he called you by name. He said he didn’t want to lose you again-he definitely said ‘again.’ When did he lose you before?”

“He didn’t,” Irith said uncomfortably. “He’s crazy, or lying, or something.”

“But how did he know your name?”

“He probably heard one of you two say it,” she suggested, “and maybe he got me mixed up with some other Irith. I mean, it’s not an unusual name, you know.” She made a face that was almost a sneer. “It’s about the second most common name in the World, isn’t it, Kelder?”

Kelder did not rise to the bait; he was used to jokes about his name, and he knew perfectly well that it was the most ordinary name in the World.

And Irith was quite right, her own name was also very popular, probably the most commonly used feminine name-though nowhere near as widespread as “Kelder,” and maybe not up with some of the other masculine names. He’d heard plenty of jokes and stories that used Kelder and Irith as names for a boring peasant couple, and wasn’t bothered by them.

“You’re sure you didn’t know him, when you were little?” Kelder asked.

“Of course I’m sure!” Irith snapped. “Ick, him?”

“I mean, he’s not your father, or your old master, or an uncle or something?”

“Kelder, of course not! Don’t be stupid. My father’s dead, and I don’t have any uncles any more, and he’s not my old master, he’s just a creepy old man who’s got me mixed up with someone else.” She turned away, and muttered, “I mean, he’s got to be.”

“When you came here before, were you alone? I mean, why were you in this tavern? You must have just been a little girl.”

“No, Kelder, don’t be silly, it wasn’t that long ago!”

“But…”

“Hai,” she said, “just drop it, all right? Let it go.”

Reluctantly, Kelder let it go. “All right, then,” he said, “let’s go find somewhere to eat, and to sleep. And in the morning we can see…”

“In the morning,” Irith interrupted, “we can get out of here!”

“Out of where?” Kelder asked, startled.

“Out of Shan, of course! We can head back to somewhere civilized, not all these dreary ruins and old drunks and things!”

Asha stopped crying and stared up at Irith.

Kelder hesitated.

“What about my brother?” Asha asked.

“Oh, forget about your brother!” Irith snapped. “I want to get away from this awful place and that nasty old man!”

“Wait a minute…” Kelder began.

“You promised!” Asha shrieked.

“I did not!”

“You did!”

“Hai!” Kelder shouted. “Quiet down, both of you!”

The girls subsided, glaring angrily at each other. Kelder sighed. This was all getting very complicated; he hadn’t expected his promised wife to have a mysterious past and troublesome moods, nor had he expected championing the lost and forlorn to be as tricky as it seemed determined to be. “Listen,” he said, “we did promise her, Irith, but as soon as we get Abden’s head off that pike, we can get out of here.”

“Well, how long is that going to take?”

“Not long,” Kelder insisted. “I mean, I saw the caravan, back there, I think-it should be easy enough.”

“How?” Irith demanded. “It’s up on a pike, out of reach, and they aren’t going to get it down for us.”

“You can fly, can’t you?” Kelder replied. “Asha and I can make a distraction of some kind, so no one will be looking, and you can fly over there and snatch the head right off the pike, and no one will even see you, in the dark.”

“You mean tonight?” Irith asked. “Now?”

Kelder opened his mouth, and then closed it again. His stomach growled.

“Maybe tonight,” he said, “after we eat.”

Chapter Fifteen

“Maybe we shouldn’t try it tonight,” Kelder said, chewing on the steak. The meat here required considerable gnawing-not, as Irith had pointed out, like the food at the Crystal Skull.

“We should have found someplace better,” she had said.

“There may not be any place better any more,” Kelder had replied, “and I’m hungry.”

And now they were in Big Bredon’s Tavern, gnawing on meat that had probably come from some caravan’s superannuated draft animal. Little Asha was having trouble staying awake, her head constantly on the verge of falling forward into her fried potatoes.

“Why not?” Irith asked.

Kelder pointed his fork at Asha.

“I’m all right!” Asha protested. “I’m just tired.”

“We all are,” Kelder agreed. “So maybe we should just rest, and worry about it tomorrow night.”

Asha frowned, blinking. “What if the caravan leaves again?”

“Oh, it won’t do that,” Kelder said, not quite as confidently as he would have liked. “I’m sure they’ll be staying in Shan for several days yet. Right, Irith?”

“I don’t know,” Irith said, jabbing her fork viciously at her potatoes.

Kelder glared at her resentfully. “Well, anyway,” he said, “I think we’re all too tired tonight. We’d probably mess up somehow. Tomorrow night should be fine.”