Man From Mundania (14 page)

ground pepper.

After a moment they went on, as it didn't seem worth-

while to risk the sneezing they would do if they plowed

through the guardian plant to get to the steps behind it.

They might sneeze themselves right off the ledge!

They came to a third plant. Once again the smell of

mint was strong. Grey flipped a pebble at it, and the mint

responded with an aroma like minty incense.

"That's all?" he asked, not trusting it. "Incense?"

"It must be a frankinmint plant," Ivy said. "They just

make a nice smell for special occasions."

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"Not frankincense?" he inquired, suspecting another

pun.

"No, those make a smell that gets people frankly an-

gry."

Grey let that pass. He had, after all, asked for it.

There was a cave entry behind the plant. They decided

to try it. If it didn't lead quickly up to the ledge, they

would retreat and search for another.

Inside was a circular staircase that corkscrewed right up

to the ledge. No challenge at all! They emerged from an

arch that turned out to be immediately below a ledgelet

between major ledges.

Ivy looked up at the ledgelet. "Grandpa Trent!" she

exclaimed.

Grey looked, but saw nothing. It was an empty place,

with a kind of canopy over it. "I see no man," he said

shortly.

She glanced at him, startled. "You don't see King

Emeritus Trent?"

"Right. I don't see him."

She faced the ledge. "He doesn't see you. Grandpa!"

She paused. Then she said "Oh."

"Why don't we go up there, and I'll prove there's noth-

ing there," Grey suggested.

"No need," she said sadly. "He says he isn't really

there. It's just an illusion to go with the Enchanted Moun-

tain. There are a number of them, but they will vacate the

Enchanted Mountain now so as not to interfere with us."

Was she coming to her senses? "So we can ignore it,"

he said. "Let's get on up to the top and be done with

this."

"Yes," she said, a little tightly.

But they still had to decide which way. To their left as

they faced the mountain was a flight of steps leading to

somewhere out of sight. To their right the ledge continued

more or less level, around and also out of sight. They

decided to start with the level approach, on the theory that

it should be easier to explore quickly. If it went nowhere,

they would return and try the more promising steps.

The ledge led to a narrow bridge over a big cave en-

trance. The stone of the bridge was cracked; the narrow-

ness was evidently because the rest had crumbled and

fallen. Grey did not like this. "Suppose it collapses under

our weight?"

She shrugged. "We'll fall. But we can't actually be hurt.

The gourd doesn't hurt people physically, it just frightens

them. Besides, when I set out to use the Heaven Cent they

checked the auspices, and said I would return unharmed.

So if we fall, we just pick ourselves up and try again."

Grey was not at all reassured. He had no confidence in

magical reassurances or in the beneficence of the gourd.

But he knew that his objections would not sway Ivy, whose

belief defied logic. Still, he made an effort to get through

to her.

' 'Ivy, maybe you will get home okay, but I have no such

guarantee, because your magic experts didn't know I was

coming. And maybe the gourd won't hurt you, because

you're a Princess of Xanth, but I am no such thing, and it

won't care about me. So I'm worried about that bridge."

She considered briefly. "Yes, it is true; Mundanes can

have trouble in Xanth. I will have to use my magic to

protect you."

"Your magic?" He didn't like the sound of this much

better.

"Well, not exactly my magic. I mean, use the magic

that protects me to protect you too. That way you'll be as

safe as I am.''

Grey still was not much reassured. He was afraid Ivy

would do something foolish and get them both hurt. This

might be a fancy amusement park setting, but people could

get hurt in them if they were careless. He had pointed out

to her how he might get hurt, even within the framework

of her belief, but it was she he was really worried about.

She believed so firmly in her own safety that she could

take foolish risks. But how was he going to persuade her

otherwise?

"Take my hand," she said. "We'll cross the bridge

together. If you fall, I fall too. So we'll both be safe."

Grey sighed. He would just have to take the risk and

try to shield her body with his own if they did fall.

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He took her hand, and they started across the partial

bridge. It was just an arc of stone, seeming all too fragile,

with the dark maw of the cave below. It was so narrow

that they had to turn and put their backs to the wall and

sidestep across. Ivy leading.

"Oh!" Ivy exclaimed, falling backwards.

Backwards? he thought as he wrenched her toward him.

Her back was to the wall!

Then she was in his arms, and he saw that the cave

below extended up in a narrow window behind them; the

security of the wall was no security at all. She had almost

fallen into the cave.

But it had one good effect. Ivy decided that she didn't

like the idea of falling, even if her safety was guaranteed.

"We'll have to be more careful," she said. Grey said

nothing, happy to leave her with that attitude.

They tried again, this time keeping both sides of the

bridge in mind. Ivy faced outward, and Grey inward, so

each could see the hazards of one side and warn the other.

They sidled across. The stone settled slightly, and ground

out some sand, but did not collapse. Then they were

across.

But if this was the lowest hazard, when the ground was

really not too far away, what of the higher reaches, when

any fall would certainly be fatal? Grey liked this whole

business less as he got into it.

There were steps beyond the bridge, wide and solid.

They linked arms and marched up them side by side.

The ledge continued, hugging the irregular curve of the

mountain, sometimes slanting up, sometimes down,

sometimes having steps, sometimes a ramp. They made

good progress. Soon they looked down and discovered they

had made a complete circuit. They were above the place

where they had first gotten onto the ledge.

But they were still near the base of the mountain, with

more laps of the spiral above. The day was passing, and

neither of them wanted to be caught out on the ledge by

night. So they hurried as fast as they safely could.

But it was cold in the upper reaches, and the wind was

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rising. Bits of the nether fog were breaking off and rising,

drifting ominously close to the mountain.

"Rats!" Ivy swore. "I see Practo!"

"What?"

"Cumulo Fracto Nimbus, the worst of clouds! He is

always up to mischief! I don't know how he gets into the

gourd, but he's here. He messed Dolph up too, when he

was here."

"An evil cloud?" But now he remembered: there had

been something about a nasty little cloud in the novels.

He found the notion of a bad cloud quaint. Still, this was

definitely the wrong time for a storm, and one did seem

to be brewing. Rain would make these sloping narrow

ledges treacherous indeed!

"Fracto's an ill wind, all right!" she said angrily. "He's

sure to try to blow us off the mountain!"

"Maybe we can find a niche for shelter."

"Yes, we'd better." She led the way on up—and there,

almost immediately, was another large opening in the wall.

It was a deep cave, extending far back into the mountain,

curving out of sight. It would do nicely for shelter. If the

storm got too bad, they could simply retreat further into

the cave, and remain dry.

The storm blew up horrendously. Grey had to admit, it

did at times vaguely resemble a demonic face. But it was

definitely a cloud, and clouds did swirl and rain; there was

nothing magical in that.

The rain slanted into the cave. They moved back. Water

coursed along the floor, trying to wet them. They found a

rise and perched on that, safe from wetting. It got cold,

as the cloud blew frigid upper air down into the cave. Grey

opened his jacket, folded it around Ivy, and hugged her

close for mutual warmth. Her greenish hair spread out like

a scarf, helping insulate them. It was quite nice.

It was truly said: it was an ill wind that blew nobody

good. Delightfully embraced, they fell asleep, waiting out

the storm.

By morning the storm had blown over, and sunlight

streamed down, brightening the mountain. They were

66 Man from MunckMia Man from Mundania 67

hungry, but all they had to eat was one bean sandwich left

over from their traveling. Ivy had expected to pluck pies

from trees, of course, so hadn't been concerned. Grey,