Five Portraits (29 page)

She re-covered herself with corn shucks. It was a warm day, and she really had no need of clothing, apart from human propriety.

“Once you locate them, do you have a plan to rescue them?” Fornax asked, seeming to lie beside Astrid.

“I haven't gotten that far yet.”

“I have no knowledge, of course, and would not be free to impart it if I did. But I suspect you are conjecturing that the captives are not simply loose to walk away with you. You may suspect that they are in a secure cage, or even manacled to a post, or both. And that there will be an alarm set off if anyone tried to approach them from outside the zoo. You may even conjecture that the captives represent a trap, the object being to capture more creatures for the exhibit. So that while location and approach seem feasible, you fear it will not be safe just to walk in.”

“I am conjecturing something along those lines,” Astrid agreed.

“You may even suspect that there is a larger purpose to the trap. That the real object may not be to develop a human exhibit, but to obtain a transformed basilisk, which would be a far more impressive exhibit. You may wonder why the zookeepers would go to such an extreme for one mere exhibit, which would seem to be beyond their interest. After all, tourists cannot be expected to gaze directly at a basilisk.”

“It does seem far-fetched,” Astrid agreed.

“So you might wonder what motive beyond that there could be. Unless they plan to exhibit her hooded, rendering her largely harmless. Nullified danger: the stuff of cheap shows. Purely speculative, of course.”

“Of course,” Astrid agreed, feeling a chill. The Demoness was warning her of real trouble ahead.

“You might even speculate that they could be interested in publicly breeding her. That would be a show like none other.”

Breeding her? There were men and trolls who'd like to try. But even if bound, she would change to her basilisk form, stopping that. Still, it was an ugly threat.

“And you might ponder ways to counter such unlikely plots, so as to escape with all parties intact. Just in case something you could not reasonably anticipate were to occur.”

“I might,” Astrid agreed weakly.

“I do not wish to disturb you,” Fornax said. “Merely to encourage you, as a friend, to consider all alternatives.”

“Thank you,” Astrid said, knowing that the friendship of the Demoness was a phenomenally valuable thing.

“You should sleep now, so as to be fully alert tonight.”

“I should,” Astrid agreed. “But I'm pretty wound up. I'm not sure I'll be able to sleep.”

“Then I'll sleep. I apologize if my ambiance affects you. I can move away if you prefer.”

Astrid did not answer, giving a tacit consent. And suddenly she slept, soundly. It was one more unofficial gift.

She woke promptly at dusk. Mitch was stirring. “I thought of something,” he said, not looking at her. “What of Timothea?”

“Who?”

“Timothea, small
d
demoness, who was helping the aliens. She's mischief.”

Now Astrid remembered. “Mischief indeed. She knows about the sequins, now. Better keep the dress hidden until the moment I actually need it so she can't snatch it.”

“I will.”

“In fact we had better assume that she's watching us, the moment we head in to locate them. She is immune to my Stare.”

“If this is a trap we are walking into, how can we hope to accomplish the rescue?”

“Only by being prepared for the unexpected. It has occurred to me that I may be the real object of the trap. If so, I may be able to give you a chance to rescue them and escape. Take it.”

“But what will happen to you?”

“A basilisk can be difficult to hold. You get away with them while I distract the aliens and demoness. Once you are clear, I will see about my own escape.”

“Astrid, I don't like this. It feels like betrayal.”

“So they may believe that you won't go without me. That can be our surprise. Promise me you will do it.”

“I—”

She touched her glasses warningly. “Promise.”

He capitulated. “I hate this. It feels like betrayal of a friend, but I promise.”

“Good enough. Now we must spring their trap. We should not speak unless we have to, lest they overhear us.”

Mitch nodded in agreement.

They followed a cornstalk path to the clearing around the zoo. There was a half moon out, providing enough light for them to see, though Astrid could see pretty well in almost total darkness.

There was the wire fence around the compound, with the main gate. When they had been here before, an invisible giant had herded them through the open gate and into the zoo. Astrid hoped the giant would not be active by night.

Then came a gentle breeze, where there had been none before. Astrid sniffed it. “Win,” she said. The child was doing her part.

“It's coming from inside the zoo,” Mitch said.

They approached the gate. It was securely locked for the night. No access there.

“I wonder,” Mitch murmured.

She looked at him questioningly.

“I picked up a thought from Win. My talent works with living folk. I never thought to try it on other things. She is now aware of that limitation.”

Receiving and sending ideas? How could that relate?

Mitch focused on the gate's big padlock. Then after a moment he reached out and took hold of it. The bar slid out, allowing him to remove it from the gate. It hadn't been locked after all!

“I sent it the idea that it wanted to unlock,” he whispered, swinging the gate open.

Astrid stared at him, amazed. Could he really do that?

Then suspicion closed in. “It's too easy. Maybe they made it unlockable,” she whispered. “Because they want us to come in, as we did before, then get locked in.”

He nodded. “That could be. In which case they'll be watching us. We'd better find a more private way in.”

He pulled the gate back closed. Then they walked away from the fence.

There was a huge crash in the cornfield.

“Oh, bleep!” Astrid swore under her breath. She had heard that sound before.

So had Mitch. “The tromp of an invisible giant.”

“Who will tromp
us
if we don't go the right way.”

“Into the zoo,” he agreed. “As before.”

It also meant the zookeepers were aware of their presence.

Astrid thought fast. If the zookeepers knew of their approach, and knew that they were coming to try to rescue Tiara and Win, why would they try to herd them in? That was a giveaway that they knew. It would make more sense for them to leave the giant out of it, letting the intruders think they were undiscovered.

Unless the giant was acting on his own, herding anything that he smelled. Not knowing about the need for seeming indifference. A glitch in the trap.

“Let's be herded,” Astrid whispered.

Mitch shrugged, surprised, but didn't argue.

They reversed course and ran to the gate. It swung open, admitting them. And swung shut again once they passed it.

“Now dodge to the side,” Astrid whispered.

They dodged. Soon they were in a garden area, among flowering bushes.

Astrid whispered her conjecture to his ear. “Maybe,” he agreed. “But I fear they do know of us.”

“They know, but want us to think they don't,” she said. “So they'll leave us alone until we're all the way there.”

“Sometimes I suspect that your mind is more devious than mine.”

“I'm a woman.”

“Oh. Of course.”

They sniffed the air, picking up Win's faint scent dispersing from her wind. It seemed to be in the direction of the exhibit they had been caught in before. That made sense. So they circled around to enter it from the side.

There was the glass house, as before. There was a light on, showing its interior clearly. Exhibits were supposed to have no secrets from the sightseeing tourists. Animals didn't mind, but humans could be difficult about this, so they were given no choice.

And there inside the house was Tiara, sitting in an easy chair. She was wearing her usual dress, as exhibits were generally shown in their natural habitat. Where was Win?

“I have a nasty feeling about this,” Astrid murmured. “Are they holding Win in a separate cell? To make sure Tiara behaves?”

“Maybe. But she is able to blow her breeze.”

Which meant she wasn't locked in a dank cell. Still, there was a wrongness.

“I must go to Tiara,” Mitch said.

Astrid didn't like this, but couldn't tell him no. After all, the two were in love.

Mitch quietly entered the house, while Astrid stayed outside. “Mitch!” Tiara exclaimed, standing. “I knew you'd come.”

“Tiara!” he said, hugging and kissing her.

Then, oddly, he backed away. “Bleep!”

“Mitch, dear, what's the matter?” Tiara asked.

Astrid wondered too.

“You're not my love.”

“How can you say that?” Tiara asked, distraught.

“Come off it, Timothea. You can imitate her appearance and voice, but not her kiss.”

“Oh, bleep!” she swore, shifting into her sexy demoness form. “And I had such a warm welcome in mind for you.” She glanced in the direction of the bedroom. Then she reconsidered. “You can still have that welcome, if you like. Which form would you prefer me to take? Mine, Tiara's, or Astrid's?”

Which was a clear indication that she knew Astrid was near. She was cruelly teasing him, pretending that any of the women were as good for him as Tiara.

“No form,” Mitch said angrily. “Just tell me where Tiara and Win are.”

She considered. “After we have our little fling.”

“No fling!”

“Maybe you did not pick up on the nature of the deal. Fling, then information.”

“Damn you!” He was so angry that the bad word came through despite the possible presence of a child nearby. He took hold of her, not affectionately. “Tell me!”

“What are you going to do if I don't? Rape me?” Her breasts enlarged a size. She looked wildly sexy. That was never an accident, with a demoness or a woman.

He cast her aside and stomped out of the house. Men weren't always mesmerized by the sight of a woman's body. Maybe only nine times out of ten.

Timothea laughed as she dissipated into smoke. Had she really intended to seduce him, or merely to tease him? Or maybe to delay their progress? Fornax's continued absence suggested that something devious was afoot that she couldn't afford to reveal. But what?

Mitch rejoined Astrid.

Astrid concluded that it had to have been a ruse to lure them in without giving them a chance to rescue anyone. So much for any element of surprise. If Timothea knew, the aliens knew. Astrid was disgusted as much at herself for being taken in by it as by the malicious demoness.

Still, there was the breeze. It had not actually come from the house, but from close by. Win was near.

They followed the breeze. It led to a high-walled enclosure open in the center, with seats around the rim, rather like an arena. They found the main gate to it unlocked, and quietly entered.

Suddenly it was lit brightly. Assorted alien creatures occupied the seats. Those would be tourist spectators. “Timothea delayed us long enough for them to assemble,” Mitch muttered angrily.

That was it, of course. They were expecting a special show.

There was a billboard: THE TAMING OF THE SHREW.

Astrid stared at it, trying to make sense of it. Shrews were tiny creatures; who would want to tame one?

And there in the center was Tiara with Win. The woman's leg was tied to a stake by a stout vine. Astrid recognized the fastening in the vine: a Gourdian Not. One that would take months or years to untie, if it could be done at all. It must have been conjured there.

Tiara saw them. “Go away! It's a trap!” she cried. Indeed, the gate swung closed with a clank behind them.

“Not without you,” Mitch said, running to her.

“You can't free me! You can only get yourself caught. You must—”

She was cut off by his kiss.

There was a stir in the audience. It seemed that many of the aliens had not before observed a genuine native smooch. They evidently found it a remarkable and slightly distasteful gesture.

“You're real,” Mitch said as he released her.

“Real?”

“There was a fake version of you in the house,” he said. “Timothea.”

“Oh, that lady wolf. She's a pain in the posterior.”

Meanwhile Astrid was gazing around the arena. There had to be more to this than they had seen so far.

“I'll take care of that knot,” Mitch said. He squatted beside it, focusing.

Astrid knew his hope was futile.

Then the knot untied.

“I sent it an idea that it was tired of being knotted up,” Mitch explained. “Win thought of it. In fact she thought of doors unlocking. She's one savvy girl.”

Win smiled, clearly glad to have assisted.

So he did have the power to unlock doors and untie knots, by sending them thoughts, even though they were inanimate. But the audience seemed unalarmed by this step toward escape. Why?

Unless the woman and child were only bait for the real target. Fornax had remarked on the chance that the real target might be a basilisk. To be publicly bred.

Uh-oh.

Fornax appeared, to her alone. “I have a further irrelevant thought I will share. Some time back there was a fight between two ogres. One ogre, for reasons of complication of plot, had only half a soul. When he fought the other, he was at a disadvantage, and the other ogre pounded him into the ground. But then his girlfriend lent him her soul. Buoyed by that, he returned to the fray, and this time pounded the other ogre and won. All because of the imbalance of souls. It was a curious business. Who would have thought that a soul could make such a difference?”