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"Lesh, stay with him. If he stops breathing…" That took some time. I had to demonstrate artificial respiration. There wasn't time for a primer on CPR. I hoped it wouldn't come to that.
"Harkane, come with me. I'm going to open the way to Basil. Find my mother. Tell her what's happened to Parthet and bring her back with whatever she can find to help him. She can open the passage back."
"I know," Harkane said. He appeared rather shaken.
I was gone only three or four minutes. Parthet looked the same when I returned. "Lesh, get that scotch from the baron's room, if there's any left."
I had taken several first-aid courses while I was a teenager and I knew that whiskey wasn't the wisest choice of stimulants, but it was all we had, and I was afraid that unless I did something fast, I was going to lose Parthet. And his new glasses. The pair he had on when we found him had huge square lenses with heavy black frames-owl glasses with lenses thicker than the bottom of a dime root beer mug. They were on the nightstand next to the bed now. I looked through them but couldn't see anything but a blur. After I wiped off the dirt, water spots, and bird droppings, I still couldn't see through them.
Mother arrived quickly. She had an old black doctor bag with her, the kind that went out of style when house calls did. She gestured me out of the way and examined Parthet. She lifted his eyelids to check his eyes, put a hand to his chest to check respiration, then took a stethoscope out of the bag and listened to his heart.
"Put the blood-pressure cuff on him," she said then. I pulled the gadget out and set it up.
"Harkane told you how we found him?" I asked while the air hissed out of the cuff after Mother finished. She nodded. "He may have been like that for a week or more."
"I think he'll be okay." Mother took off the stethoscope and put it back in the bag. "He's tougher than a ten-year-old rooster. Did you give him anything?"
"About a tablespoon of scotch." I pointed at the bottle.
Mother helped herself to a long swig. "It won't hurt him. You don't realize how hard it is to kill a wizard."
"I'm begi
Mother's eyes narrowed. "You've lost weight."
"We didn't eat all that well in Fairy."
"We'll discuss your adventures when there's more time." She said that the way she used to say, "Just wait till your father gets home." I guess she was still fuming about A
"Right now, I think Parthet needs another stimulant," she said. She administered this one, a larger dose. "Is the kitchen working?"
"Nothing's working. Most of the garrison's so deep asleep that it's impossible to wake them. The rest are in a trance, sleepwalking."
"The baron was sleeping again when I got the bottle," Lesh said.
"I think that's what Parthet was trying to fight on the roof," I said. "Obviously, he wasn't successful. I'm surprised that the elflord hasn't already sent his army in to set up housekeeping."
"He has," A
"I'll take care of Parthet," Mother said. "You'd better go evaluate the threat."
Yeah, and I thought I'd better check it out too. We all went except Mother. A
There were more than three hundred men advancing across the plaza. Half were pulling on ropes, dragging a wooden tower-a framework with stairs and a drawbridge at the top. The near side was covered with wood and hides. A few more soldiers were behind the machine, pushing. The rest advanced in ranks, keeping station on either side of the tower.
"You ever shoot a flaming arrow?" I asked A
"A what?" was quickly followed by, "Oh, I see. No, but am I right in thinking that this is a good time to start?"
"Yeah. Try to set the tower on fire." I took matches from my pocket. "These are supposed to be waterproof. They may work, if you can find anything flammable to tie to the heads of the arrows."
I got busy with my bow while A
The tower quit moving. Men scrambled to knock away the flaming arrows and tried to beat out the flames while others ran off to do the Jack and Jill routine. I wished them the same luck, but wishing didn't do any good.
Lesh showed up with ten men, the rest of ours and a few of the regular garrison who seemed to be awake finally. Two of our Basiliers claimed to be decent archers. I sent them for bows, arrows, and rags and told them to help A
"Massey, wake up!" Lesh shouted. I turned. Massey was one of our Basiliers. He stirred and shook his head.
"I don't know what happened," he said. "I got so sleepy."
"It's working on us," A
I shrugged. "I don't feel sleepy. You?" She shook her head. Lesh and Harkane seemed alert-most of the other Basiliers as well. But one, Tebber, was yawning fit to split his head open. The locals were nodding too, off and on. The magic was still working.
A gust of icy wind made me turn to look out at the Mist. There was heavy fog on the sea, maybe a half mile out and coming closer. I hoped that the breeze would help keep us awake at least.
"If that fog rolls in, we won't be able to see our targets," I said.
"Then we'd better get as many as we can now," was A
Riders were moving around the edges of the group of soldiers in the plaza now, urging them on. I saw three swords like Dragon's Death, elf swords on elf warriors, officers in the army of their lord-the elvish equivalent of knights, I suppose. The foot soldiers pressed forward, dragging and pushing the tower. They weren't breaking any speed records, but soon they'd be able to move archers to the top and keep us busy. Once we lost the height advantage, our job would be a lot more dangerous. And, almost as I thought that, the archers did start climbing and the tower's speed decreased a little more.
"What about that metal thing you carry under your shirt?" A