names I have?”
She didn’t.
“All right, I’m listening. How many?”
“Seven hundred and nineteen,” he said rather proudly.
“Wow,” Candy said flatly. Then, even more flatly, “Why?”
“Because I can. Mama said I can have anything I like. So I have a lot of names. But you can call me . . . Thrashing Jam? No, no! Pieman Hambadikin? No! Jollo B’gog! Yes! Jollo B’gog it is!”
“All right. And I’m—”
“Candy Quackenbush of Chickencoop.”
“Chicken town .”
“Coop. Town. Whichever. And that’s your geshrat friend with you, Malingo. You saved him from being the slave of the wizard Kaspar Wolfswinkel.”
“You’ve certainly done your homework,” Candy said.
“Homework . . . homework . . .” Jollo B’gog said, puzzling over the word. “Oh. Work given to students by their tutors in your world, which they attempt to avoid doing by any possible means.” He grinned.
“That’s right,” Candy said. “On the nose!”
“On the nose!” Jollo B’gog said triumphantly. “I got it on the nose! I got it on the nose!”
“Somebody’s enjoying themselves,” said a woman, somewhere beyond the spill of the light that Candy had shed on Jollo.
The boy’s good humor instantly died away, not out of fear, Candy thought, but out of a peculiar reverence for the speaker.
“Bad Boy?” she said.
“Yes, Mama.”
“Will you find our guest Malingo something to eat and drink, please?”
“Of course, Mama.”
“And send the girl up to me.”
“As you wish, Mama.”
Candy wanted to point out that she was also hungry and thirsty, but this wasn’t the time to be saying it, she knew.
“All right, you heard Mama,” Jollo said to Candy. “She wants you to go to her, so all you need to do is follow the silver eye.” He pointed to a foot-wide eye, its pupil black, the lens of it silver, which hovered in between the trees.
“Should I come?” Malingo said to Candy.
“If I need you, I swear I’ll yell. Really loud.”
“Happy?” Jollo said to Malingo. “If Mama tries to eat her, she’s going to yell.”
“Your mother wouldn’t—”
“No she wouldn’t, geshrat,” Jollo replied. “It’s humor. A joke?”
“I know what a joke is,” Malingo said without much certainty. He looked for Candy, but she’d already followed the silver eye off the path into the darkness of the trees.
“Come on, geshrat. Let’s get you fed,” Jollo said. “If you hear Candy call, you can go straight to her. I won’t even try to stop you. I promise.”
Chapter 8
Laguna Munn
L AGUNA MUNN ’ S ISLAND HAD seemed small when viewed from Ruthus’s boat, but now that Candy was being led up through its darkened slopes it seemed far larger than she’d expected. She’d left the cloud-light behind her, but the silver eye shed its own light as it led her through the dense thicket. She was glad of its guidance. The ground beneath her feet was becoming steeper, and the trees she was moving between—sometimes having to force a gap large enough for her to get through—became steadily more gnarled and ancient.
There was a wind blowing up here on the higher elevations. It made the antiquated trees creak, and their branches shake down a dry rain of leaves and withered fruit. Candy didn’t let anything distract her from her guide. She followed it as closely as the passage through the choked undergrowth would allow, until it led her to a place where the trees’ lowest branches had woven their twigs with the bushes below, forming a wall of knitted wood. Candy stood before it a moment, while the eye cast its light upon the interwoven twigs. A few seconds went by and then a shimmer of motion passed through the wall, and where the eye had shone its light the wall unwove itself, opening a narrow door. The trees and shrubs were still parting when the voice that had spoken to Jollo said, “Either come in or be gone, girl. But don’t just stand there.”
“Thank you,” Candy said, and
She didn’t.
“All right, I’m listening. How many?”
“Seven hundred and nineteen,” he said rather proudly.
“Wow,” Candy said flatly. Then, even more flatly, “Why?”
“Because I can. Mama said I can have anything I like. So I have a lot of names. But you can call me . . . Thrashing Jam? No, no! Pieman Hambadikin? No! Jollo B’gog! Yes! Jollo B’gog it is!”
“All right. And I’m—”
“Candy Quackenbush of Chickencoop.”
“Chicken town .”
“Coop. Town. Whichever. And that’s your geshrat friend with you, Malingo. You saved him from being the slave of the wizard Kaspar Wolfswinkel.”
“You’ve certainly done your homework,” Candy said.
“Homework . . . homework . . .” Jollo B’gog said, puzzling over the word. “Oh. Work given to students by their tutors in your world, which they attempt to avoid doing by any possible means.” He grinned.
“That’s right,” Candy said. “On the nose!”
“On the nose!” Jollo B’gog said triumphantly. “I got it on the nose! I got it on the nose!”
“Somebody’s enjoying themselves,” said a woman, somewhere beyond the spill of the light that Candy had shed on Jollo.
The boy’s good humor instantly died away, not out of fear, Candy thought, but out of a peculiar reverence for the speaker.
“Bad Boy?” she said.
“Yes, Mama.”
“Will you find our guest Malingo something to eat and drink, please?”
“Of course, Mama.”
“And send the girl up to me.”
“As you wish, Mama.”
Candy wanted to point out that she was also hungry and thirsty, but this wasn’t the time to be saying it, she knew.
“All right, you heard Mama,” Jollo said to Candy. “She wants you to go to her, so all you need to do is follow the silver eye.” He pointed to a foot-wide eye, its pupil black, the lens of it silver, which hovered in between the trees.
“Should I come?” Malingo said to Candy.
“If I need you, I swear I’ll yell. Really loud.”
“Happy?” Jollo said to Malingo. “If Mama tries to eat her, she’s going to yell.”
“Your mother wouldn’t—”
“No she wouldn’t, geshrat,” Jollo replied. “It’s humor. A joke?”
“I know what a joke is,” Malingo said without much certainty. He looked for Candy, but she’d already followed the silver eye off the path into the darkness of the trees.
“Come on, geshrat. Let’s get you fed,” Jollo said. “If you hear Candy call, you can go straight to her. I won’t even try to stop you. I promise.”
Chapter 8
Laguna Munn
L AGUNA MUNN ’ S ISLAND HAD seemed small when viewed from Ruthus’s boat, but now that Candy was being led up through its darkened slopes it seemed far larger than she’d expected. She’d left the cloud-light behind her, but the silver eye shed its own light as it led her through the dense thicket. She was glad of its guidance. The ground beneath her feet was becoming steeper, and the trees she was moving between—sometimes having to force a gap large enough for her to get through—became steadily more gnarled and ancient.
There was a wind blowing up here on the higher elevations. It made the antiquated trees creak, and their branches shake down a dry rain of leaves and withered fruit. Candy didn’t let anything distract her from her guide. She followed it as closely as the passage through the choked undergrowth would allow, until it led her to a place where the trees’ lowest branches had woven their twigs with the bushes below, forming a wall of knitted wood. Candy stood before it a moment, while the eye cast its light upon the interwoven twigs. A few seconds went by and then a shimmer of motion passed through the wall, and where the eye had shone its light the wall unwove itself, opening a narrow door. The trees and shrubs were still parting when the voice that had spoken to Jollo said, “Either come in or be gone, girl. But don’t just stand there.”
“Thank you,” Candy said, and
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