The Stranger - Max Frei [203]
The knife fell on the mosaic, and I tried to figure out what was happening. I wasn’t there. I just wasn’t. That’s all. I had disappeared somehow, gone “nowhere” and ceased to be “something”—for the space of a second. Then I appeared again. Just in time to step on the knife with my foot, as well as on the hand of the stunned would-be killer.
“Hi!” I said. “Now we’re going to undress. Or we’ll just go straight to the House by the Bridge. As you wish, darling. Take your pick. Today is your day.”
The bearded fellow jerked with such force that I almost flew head over heels, along with my tasteless jokes. It finally dawned on me that my chances for winning this contest of wills were very slim. The Mantle of Death and lots of good food had made a very benign fellow out of Max. An uneasy feeling of doom had crept up behind me and was about to leap out and put an end to my existence. I didn’t like it a bit.
I knew very well that I wouldn’t spit at the bearded chap. It would be cruel to kill him, not to mention foolish. Who knew what kinds of secrets the angry old salt was keeping inside him? On the other hand, how could I fight a strapping fellow like that? I had never been any good with my fists. Making a big noise, yes, but standing my ground in a fight to the death was not my cup of tea. Whatever Sir Juffin Hully said about the possible dire consequences of mixing two curses, I had to take the risk and do a bit of sorcery.
Praise be the Magicians, at least I knew how to do something. With a practiced gesture, I hid the long-beard between the thumb and the forefinger of my left hand.
Exhausted, I sat down on the pavement and hung my head between my knees. I should take this souvenir to Juffin, I thought gloomily. I’ll go presently. Let me just sit here a minute, then on to the House by the Bridge, blast it!
I felt stunned. It seemed as if an enormous heavy stone had settled on me, and I couldn’t move.
Then I felt a gentle hand come to rest on my shoulder.
“Has something happened, sir? We heard some noise. Perhaps you need some help?” asked an elegant, bright-haired lady in a richly adorned looxi.
Her broad-shouldered companion sat on his haunches and stared searchingly into my face. What could I tell them, these fine, upstanding young people?
After all, just recently I had been Sir Max, the most lighthearted, frivolous civil servant on either side of the Xuron.
“It’s all right, kind people,” I said with a smile. “I came here with a friend, and that idiot refused point blank to visit the Trysting House. He cried half the night about how lonely he was, but as soon as we were here he got cold feet. I’m ashamed to say that he was afraid. He punched me and then ran off.”
“Your friend must be crazy,” the lady said, shaking her head in disapproval. “How can someone fear his own destiny?”
“It turns out that it’s possible,” I said, staring at my left hand, where, inconceivably, the arrestee was being held. “So I’m all right. Thank you kindly. Good night to you.”
“We certainly will have a good night,” the lady said, smiling.
Her companion finally stopped studying my face and took the woman by the hand.
“Magicians be with your mad friend. Drop in yourself and meet your destiny. Morning is a long way away,” she grinned archly, waving goodbye.
Left alone, I looked pensively at the Trysting House. Had this fair-haired stranger bewitched me? I didn’t know why, but I suddenly wished very much to go inside. After all, I still hadn’t been with a woman in this World. Except in my dreams—but that didn’t quite count.
As though from a distance, I observed a tall young man in a modest garment, who stood up from the pavement and reached for the doorknob. That young man seemed to be me. In any case, I discovered that I was already on the threshold of that establishment. When someone asked me to pay two crowns, I dug