83
One-Eye caught me outside Croaker’s place. “Her Worship still at it?”
“Uh . . . You mean . . . ?” Thai Dei’s were only one pair of uninitiated ears nearby.
“You know what I mean, Kid.”
“She is.”
“Damn! I can’t get ten minutes at a time now that she’s started playing. Damned woman must be worried about her weight.”
Took me a minute to figure that out. Then I laughed, remembering how hungry I used to get. “That could do it. If she gets totally hooked.”
One-Eye grumbled something and stomped off. He did not go any farther than his dugout, though. He began fussing around the remains like a dog trying to dig a rabbit out of its warren, killing time while he waited to walk the ghost. I went about the business I had, mostly stalling because I had no desire to go back over to the Shadowgate. After ten minutes of slinging mud and trash One-Eye stomped back to me. “I found that little shit Goblin yesterday. Last night. He was just about to jump on the Prahbrindrah Drah. I want to know how that came out.”
“Uhm.” Yes. I hoped he took the Prince prisoner if they had them an asskicking contest. I would rather have his sister scared of us than mad at us. Mad she would be if we sent her little brother to his funeral ghat.
She was not the kind to jump into the flames after him.
“That bastard was getting pretty good when he turned on us,” One-Eye said. “There’s no guarantee the runt can take him.”
“You worried about Goblin? You?”
“Worried? Me? Hell, no. I don’t care what happens to the little shit. But if he croaks the Prahbrindrah Drah we’re gonna be in shit so deep we’ll have to look up to see the horizon.”
“I don’t think we can get in much deeper than we already are. They can only kill us once. And they’ve already let us know they intend to try.”
One-Eye snorted. No way would he admit that he was worried about Goblin though Goblin’s absence obviously made him crazy. He had not been able to feud with anyone for ages. Nobody else would play.
I asked, “Why don’t you play a few tricks on Uncle Doj if you’re suffering some compulsion to mess with somebody who can mess right back?”
Thai Dei developed a sudden interest in our banter. One-Eye did not cheer up. He did ask, “You figure Lady was right about him? He don’t look the part.”
“And you do?” Like a derelict in a slum alley does. “You think she’s ever been wrong about something like that?”
“She’s still healthy,” One-Eye grumped.
Thai Dei wanted to know what we were talking about but could see no way to get anything out of us without giving something away himself. If he’d just been the kind who chatters incessantly he could have asked anything and nobody would have thought anything about it.
I chuckled.
Puzzled, One-Eye asked, “You going back over there?”
“Got to. Boss says.”
One-Eye glared at the distant plateau. “Damned Tals! Just had to stab us in the back. I was all set to retire as soon as we finished Longshadow. But they just had to fuck me up. And now I got to go on up there. Which I’m looking forward to like I’m looking forward to getting a hot poker shoved up my poop chute. Whoa! Here’s my chance.” He scampered toward Croaker’s dugout.
Lady had come up to the light. She looked more haggard than ever. She must have been walking the ghost for all she was worth. She leaned on a post while she spoke softly to one of the messengers waiting for an assignment. He hurried off toward her camp. She looked at me, frowned as though she was having trouble remembering who I was. Maybe she was. I was supposed to be somewhere else.
I decided to go there even though it was no resort for tired professional soldiers.