Dread Brass Shadows

Easterman's regulars, the old thugs with seniority, seemed embarrassed by the company they were keeping. One actually whispered, "He pays real good."

"God, I hope so." I began to wonder if Fido hadn't picked out Winger's wardrobe.

Easterman waited till he could make an entrance.

The fat man had him a new outfit, too. He'd chosen a few square miles of red accented with acres of black, I realized the black consisted entirely of little eyes.

Oh, my. Every eye was alive and looking around, blinking, or maybe winking over some private joke.

Easterman struggled up the steps of his throne, finally fell into its seat. There's why I'm ru

I gaped and gawked and wondered how he had come up with all this when he couldn't enchant a rock into falling down, Then I got worried. Had he won the race? Had he grabbed the Book of Dreams?

I'd almost rather Chodo laid hands on it first. Chodo was predictable.

Fido got himself settled. He beamed down benevolently. More or less. "Mr. Garrett. I'm so happy you came calling, sir. What do you think, sir?" He gestured. "Is this not an impressive setting?"

"Yeah. It's that." It was. "But I'm kind of partial to the old setup. Know what I mean?" It was only ninetypercent whacko before.

"We must change with the times, sir. We must change with the times. These present changing times are intriguing, are they not, sir? Here you are, an appellant, when but a short time ago you turned your back on me, a strutting cock. Yes sir, changing times

Carla Lindo gave me a puzzled look. I guess she didn't know about my earlier chat with Fido. I asked, "Where did you get the idea I came here to beg for something?" That fat clown had my nerves frayed already. I should have been amused, should have had trouble keeping a straight face, but something kept making me want to hop up there and plant a boot in his face.

Not a smart move with all those ogres there to save his jowls.

"Plague!"

The old man did the hopping.

Easterman and the old guy traded melodramatic whispers while taking turns staring at me. Fido's gaze flicked to Carla Lindo. He started looking puzzled. I had the impression he'd expected me to drop on my knees and crawl. I wasn't and didn't look like I would and maybe had no idea why I was supposed to.

Puzzled turned to troubled, Easterman stared at me, eyes narrowed more than seemed possible. "Are you making mock, sir?"

"I'm not doing anything but standing here. I don't know what your problem is, Fido. Sorry, I'm not doing what you expect. I just dropped by with my friend Carla Lindo to ask who all you told about her business here in town."

"What?"

"Miss Ramada stayed here when she first came to TunFaire, right? She asked who could help her find a little bauble somebody swiped from her dad...

"I've never seen this woman before, sir."

"People told her to come to me. Right? So..." I stopped chattering.

Fido popped up and glared around. He eyeballed Carla Lindo. He sputtered. Spit flew. For a second I thought he was going to have a seizure/

I didn't really get it till Carla Lindo unfroze and started tugging on my arm and shaking her head. Long after the whole herd of cats had flown out of the bag. She maybe stayed here, but old Fido hadn't been in on it.

Easterman started roaring endearing sobriquets like Famine, War, and Pestilence. He took a moment out to tell his ogres, "Get that man out of here! I don't want to look at his ugly face another second." Then he went to foaming at the mouth.

Well. I never. Ugly? Maybe a little battered around the edges, but the dogs don't howl... I didn't wait for the ogres. I latched on to Carla Lindo and headed for the exit. No sense dancing with those boys. The mood I was in, suddenly I'd have tried to break a head or three. I wouldn't have been able to do the job justice before the sky collapsed on me.

"That was real bright, Garrett," Carla Lindo said as soon as we hit the street. "You have a real golden tongue."

"You could have told me something up front. You could have given me one teensy hint. The Dead Man is the mind reader, not me." I spun around and dared an ogre to bring it out into the street. He looked over his shoulder to see how much help he'd get. He had no cavalry on the way. He just waved bye-bye. An ogre with sense. The times they are a-changing.

I faced Carla Lindo. "So what else haven't you told me, sweetheart? You want me to help, you got to give me the tools. What the hell was that all about in there, anyway?"

She shrugged, stared at the pavement. "I didn't know... I never saw any of that before. I stayed with my uncle. My mother's brother. One of the servants. When they took us to that room... I only ever saw that man from a distance before. My uncle just said he was a little potty.''

"A little, yeah. Here you had me thinking you had an in with some Hill bigwigs." I added another score to the list needing settling with the Dead Man. He could have warned me. His idea of a joke, probably, letting me find out the hard way.

"I sort of wanted you to think..."

"I figured that out."

A shadow fell on the conversation, which was about to sneak on toward making up. Making up is always full of promise when a guy and a gal are doing it.

"Yo, Garrett! That was some brilliant show you put on in there. You foxed the old boy right out of his garters."

"Don't you start on me, Winger You want something, spit it out. If you don't, you better scoot back in there and make sure old Fido don't choke on his rug. You might miss a payday."

"Hey. Here I come trying to be friendly, trying to build some bridges, and all you want is to start a fight."

"Want to build a bridge?" I grumbled "Tell me what's with the new look in there. What's with the zoo on the roof?"

"Old goof is getting set for the new era. Getting his props together so he'll have the right look once he gets hold of the Book of Dreams."

"Huh?" That's Garrett. Swift on the uptake.

"Claims he knows where it is."

"Where?"

"He didn't tell me. He don't trust me."

Couldn't say I blamed him for that. Winger would sell him out to the highest bidder if she got the chance. "Any hints?"

She shook her head. "Just said it's there for the taking soon as he figures how to get past one big obstacle."

Probably like not knowing where it was. "The Serpent? Chodo Contague grabbed her last night." Finding some guile at last, I figured maybe I could keep an eye on Fido, grab the book from him after he grabbed it, before he could start using it.

"We heard. Who cares? He isn't interested in her, except to stay out of her way and grab the book before she does."

All hell broke loose overhead. Daytime or not, the morCartha from Fido's roof went on the warpath. Easterman's human servants yelled at them to come back or get fired. I asked, "What the hell?"

Winger said, "They do that. Probably spotted a critter from another tribe."

"I should've stayed in bed." This was all Dean's fault.

"You know where the book is, Garrett?"

"If I did, I wouldn't be here, would I? I'd be waving bye-bye to my friend at the west gate." I gave Carla Lindo a one-armed hug I'd at least be trying to collect a suitable reward.

Winger ignored Carla Lindo. "We got to have a sit-down, see what we can come up with if we put our heads together."

"Right."

She didn't catch my sarcasm. I think she was immune to it, or at least deaf. Besides being color-blind. She said, "That thing's still worth a fortune, Garrett. Word is, there's a dwarf willing to put up big money for it. More than Easterman would"