Hunters of Gor by John Norman Page B

moving aside. I could not place what I
    was trying to recall, if anything.
    It was now near noon.
    “Let us return to some paga tavern near the ship,” I suggested.
    “Good,” said Thurnock.
    This very afternoon I wished to begin to purchase supplies.
    We, with Rim, turned about. I was anxious to be on my way.
    Two warriors passed, proud of their red.
    They were probably mercenaries. Their speech reminded me of that of Ar.
    They did not wear, in silver, the medallion of the Ubar. They were not of the
    retinue of Marlenus, whom I now believed to be in Laura, or in the vicinity of
    Laura.
    Yes, I was anxious to be on my way. I wished to reach Verna before Marlenus of
    Ar.
    I expected that I would be successful. I had information, specific information,
    thanks to Tana and Ela, which Marlenus, presumably, lacked.
    “I am hungry now,” remarked Rim.
    We were just passing a paga tavern. Within it, dancing in the sand, chained, was
    a short-bodied, marvelous female slave.
    I laughed. So, too, did Thurnock.
    “The taverns nearer the ship,” I suggested, “are doubtless more crowded.”
    We laughed again, and entered the tavern.
    I was in a good mood. I was sure that I would regain Talenus, and Tana and Ela
    had gone for a good price. We would use part of the proceeds from their sale to
    purchase our lunch.
    We took a table, an inconspicuous one, near the rear of the paga tavern, yet one
    with an unimpeded view. The short-bodied girl was indeed superb. Aside from her
    chains, confining her wrists and ankles, she wore only her collar.
    There was a flash of slave bells at my side, and a dark-haired, yellow-silked
    girl, a paga girl, knelt beside us, where we sat cross-legged behind the small
    table. “Paga, Masters?”
    “For three,” said I, expansively. “And bring bread and bosk, and grapes.”
    “Yes, Master.”
    I felt rather jubilant. Talena would soon again be mine. I had made a good
    profit on Tana and Ela.
    The music of the musicians was quite good. I reached to my pouch, to take from
    it a golden tarn and throw it to them.
    “What is wrong?” asked Thurnock.
    I lifted the strings of the cut pouch. I looked at Rim and Thurnock.
    We looked at one another, and together we laughed.
    “It was the girl,” I said, “the black-haired girl, she who jostled me in the
    crowd.”
    Rim nodded.
    I was quite amazed. It had been done so swiftly, so deftly. She had been quite
    good.
    I had not, until now, realized I had been robbed.
    “I trust,” I said to Thurnock, “that your purse is intact.”
    Thurnock looked down, swiftly. He grinned. “It is,” he said.
    “I too, have some money,” volunteered Rim, “though I am not as rich as two such
    wealthy ones as you.”
    ‘I have the four gold pieces from the selling of the panther wenches,” said
    Thurnock.
    “Good,” I said, “Let us feast.”
    We did so.
    In the midst of the meal I looked up. “That’s is it!” I said and laughed.
    I now recalled clearly what had been only a vague flash of memory, the
    recollection of something seen so swiftly it had, before, scarcely been noticed.
    I laughed.
    “What is the matter?” asked Thurnock, his mouth filled with bosk.
    “I now recall what it was about the girl who robbed me,” I said. “I saw it, but
    did not really see it. It troubled me. Only now do I recall it clearly.”
    “What?” asked Thurnock.
    Rim looked at me.
    “Behind her hair, as she brushed past,” I said.
    “What?” said Thurnock.
    “Her ear,” I said. “Her ear was notched.”
    Rim and Thurnock laughed. “A thief,” said Thurnock, swallowing a mouthful of
    bosk and reaching for the paga goblet.
    “A very skillful one,” I said. “A very skillful one.”
    She had indeed been skillful. I am an admirer of skills, of efficiencies of
    various sorts. I admire the skill of the leather worker with his needle, that of
    the potter’s strong hands, that of the vintner with his wines, that of warriors
    with their weapons.
    I looked to one