Man From Mundania (20 page)

more centrally located?

The river coursed interminably, forcing them to climb

over ridges and through thickets. At one point there was

a red waterfall of it, and they had to find a way up the

precipitous slope before they could rejoin it. This was cer-

tainly farther than it needed to be for a dream prop!

Then they reached what might be the source: a hole in

a bank. They piled stones and brush against the bank so

as to make a ramp to the top, expecting to find a lake of

blood beyond. But there was none; it was just a low hill.

Ivy was relieved; there was no animal after all.

The hill moved. Ivy screamed and looked for something

to grab onto, but all that offered was Grey.

They stood, frightened, as the center of the hill swelled

upward. Then it paused, and slowly subsided. And swelled

again. There was an odd wailing sound.

"This hill is breathing!" Grey exclaimed.

Now Ivy caught on. "This is a—a giant! With a hole in

his side!"

"Impossible!" Grey said. But he looked doubtful.

They walked along the length of the hill. Soon they

verified it: there was a monstrous head, its face turned to

the side, breath howling in and out of its mouth. This

really was a living, breathing giant!

"And he's tied down," Ivy said, pointing out cords that

stretched across the outflung arms. "He can't help him-

self!"

"While he bleeds to death!" Grey said, appalled. He

might not believe in magic, but he obviously accepted this

giant. "We must help him!"

90 Man from Mundania Man from Mundania 91

"Yes, we must," Ivy agreed. "But how? He's so big,

and we have no tools or anything."

"Maybe we can ask him," Grey said.

"Ask him!" she exclaimed. "But he can't be con-

scious!"

"I think he is," Grey said. He approached the huge

head. "Giant, can you hear me?"

The eyes blinked. The mouth pursed. "Hyesss!" the

wind howled.

"How may we help you?"

The giant's mouth pursed again. This time the words

were clearer. "Magic bandage in pocket."

Ivy looked. Sure enough, there on the chest was a bulge,

and it was a pocket. She knew that a magic bandage would

stop the flow of blood from the giant's wound, because

that was the way magic worked. "It's here," she called to

Grey.

The giant spoke again. "But first—name your reward."

Grey was taken aback. "I don't want any reward! Here

you lie bleeding to death—1 just want to help you!"

The giant was silent. Grey came across to join Ivy, and

together they hauled the huge bandage out of the pocket.

"What an irony!" Grey exclaimed. "The bandage right

here, and he can't reach it himself!"

"Not irony," Ivy said. "Torture."

Grey's mouth opened and closed again. He nodded.

The bandage was as big as the mattress of a bed, but

not as heavy. They pulled it across the giant's heaving

chest and to his side. They let it fall to the ground beyond,

then took turns dropping onto it, as it cushioned their

landings nicely.

They dragged it to the spouting wound. Now Ivy saw

that the blood jetted at high velocity from a relatively small

hole no more than the size of a human head. The bandage

was certainly big enough to cover it—if they could just get

it on.

"I hate to think of the hydraulic force of that flow,"

Grey said. "Maybe that's the wrong term, but certainly it

will blow away the bandage before we can get it placed."

"It is a magic bandage," Ivy reminded him. "I think

we'll just have to try placing it, and see what happens."

"I don't want to depend on magic!" Grey said.

Ivy sighed inwardly. She could postpone this issue no

longer. "I think you'll have to, this one time. You know

we don't have a chance without it."

Grey looked at the wound, then at the bandage, then at

the wound again. "I suppose the technology that can make

a setting like this can make a way to deal with it," he

said. "A force field or something, or maybe the hydrant

gets turned off when the bandage comes near. So we'll

just have to try it."

Ivy wasn't completely satisfied with that rationale, but

at least it meant that Grey was ready to try the bandage.

They brought it up close to the wound.

"Maybe if I shove it across from this side, and you go

across and catch it from that side," Grey said uncertainly.

"Yes." Ivy ducked down and scooted forward. There

was a clear spot of ground right next to the giant's side,

below the jet, because the blood was shooting out so fast

it didn't touch ground for some distance. She passed right

under it, feeling its close heat, and straightened up on the

other side. "Ready!" she cried over the roar of it.

Grey wrestled the bandage up so it leaned against the

giant's side. He unfolded the cute little knife he carried

and used it to slice away the wrapping, exposing the clean

surface. When he had the bandage clear, he put away his

knife, took careful hold, and nudged the bandage forward,

edgewise.

It touched the rushing blood. Despite her confidence in

its magic. Ivy almost expected the bandage to be caught

and flung violently out to float in the red river below. But

the edge of the bandage cut into the stream as if the blood

were no more than a beam of light; there wasn't even any

splash.

Grey gaped, but kept shoving. The bandage lurched

across, cutting off more of the flow. Soon it was all the

way across, and Ivy grabbed hold of it. She hauled it far

enough to be centered across the wound, then pressed it

onto the giant's skin by leaning against it. "Tamp it on!"

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Man from Mundania

93

she called to Grey—and discovered that she didn't need to

call at all, for the roar of the jet had stopped. She was

right beside Grey, close enough to touch.

They pressed it tight all around the wound. Where the

bandage touched skin, it adhered so firmly that there was

no leakage at all. In the center, over the wound, it merely

thrummed faintly with the pressure of the blood behind it.

The job was done.

Ivy looked down the slope. The river of blood was still

there, but dwindling because its source was gone. It would

probably take days for all of it to clear, if it ever did; some

of it might simply clot in place.

Grey shook his head. "There must have been a lot of

pain there," he said. "Just sort of lying here while his life

ebbed. I have a notion how he must feel."

Ivy thought of his life in Mundania. Indeed, he might

have a notion!

"Now let's see if we can free him," Grey said. "It

would take forever for me to saw through all those bonds

with my penknife, but maybe he knows of a better way."

He walked toward the ramp they had fashioned before.

"Maybe he'll be able to break free, when his strength

recovers," Ivy said, following. "Now that he's not losing

his blood—"

"I don't think so. Enchantments usually come in

threes.''

"What?" she asked, astonished.

"Threes. They set it up that way in fairy tales, so they

probably do the same in fairy-tale settings. We have to

play the game their way or it won't work."

"You believe in magic now?"

"No, just in the way promoters operate."

She was silent. There seemed to be no convincing him!

They came again to the head. "Giant, we have patched

your wound," Grey said. "How may we free you from

bondage?"

The huge mouth pursed. "Magic sword in scabbard."

"We'll try that," Grey said.

"Name your reward."

"I told you: no reward. I just don't like you being stuck

here like this." Grey headed down the giant's chest, look-

ing for the scabbard.

Ivy ran after him. "For a man who doesn't believe in

magic, you're doing very well!"

"Magic has nothing to do with it!" he exclaimed. "This

giant has been treated rotten, and I don't like it. I don't

care if it is just a setting, I can't just let it be."

He didn't believe, but he wanted to do what he thought

was right. Ivy didn't know whether to be mad at him or

proud of him.

The scabbard lay along the giant's right side, below the

bandaged wound. It was huge—and so was the sword it

sheathed. "I can't use that!" Grey exclaimed.

"I think you can," Ivy said. "You may not believe in

magic, but it is obviously working. Put your hand on the

hilt."

"This is crazy!" Grey protested. But he slid down, used

his feet to unsnap the containing strap, and worked his

way up to the hilt. The thickness of the thing was greater

than the length of his body!

But he put his hand on it—and the sword reduced in

size to fit his own proportions, the hilt fitting comfortably

in his hand. He drew it out and held it aloft, amazed.

"This-"

"Is a magic sword," Ivy said, somewhat smugly. "Now

you can use it to cut his bonds."

"Uh, yes," he agreed, disgruntled. "I'd sure like to

know how they managed this effect!''

He jumped the rest of the way down, then walked up

along the giant's side. Wherever he saw a cord, he sliced

carefully at it with the sword, and it parted. He walked