Beyond the window, the shadows of the trees were stretching into the east. I had obviously been gone for most of the day.
When I turned I saw a sheet of paper upon the now made-up bed, secured against breezes by the edge of a pillow. I crossed to it and picked it up, removing the small blue button which lay atop it before I did so.
The writing was in English. It said. PUT THE BUTTON IN A SAFE PLACE TILL YOU NEED IT. I WOULDN'T CARRY IT AROUND TOO MUCH. I HOPE YOU DID THE RIGHT THING. I GUESS I'LL FIND OUT PRETTY SOON. SEE YOU AROUND.
It was unsigned.
Safe or not, I couldn't just leave it there. So I wrapped the button in the note and put it in my pocket. Then I fetched my cloak from the closet and slung it over my arm.
I departed the room. The latch being broken, I left the door standing wide. I stopped in the hallway and listened, but I heard no voices, no sounds of movement.
I made my way to the stairs and headed down. I was almost to the bottom before I noticed her, so still did she sit, there beside the window to my right, a tray of bread and cheese, a bottle and a goblet on a small table at her side.
“Merlin!” she said suddenly, half rising. “The servants said you were here, but when I looked I couldn't find you.”
“I was called away,” I said, descending the final stair and advancing. “How are you feeling?”
“How do you-what do you know about me?” she asked.
' “You probably don't remember anything that happened during the past couple of days,” I replied.
“You are right,” she said. “Won't you sit down?”
She gestured at the empty chair at the other side of the small table.
“Please join me.” She indicated the tray. “And let me get you some wine.”
“That's all right,” I said, seeing that she was drinking the white.
She rose and crossed the room to a cabinet, opened it and took out another goblet. When she returned she poured a healthy slug of Bayle's Piss into it and set it near my hand. I guessed it was possible they kept the good stuff for themselves.
“What can you tell me about my blackout?” she asked. “I'd been in Amber, and the next thing I knew I was back here and several days had gone by.”
“Yes,” I said, taking up a cracker and a bit of cheese. “About what time i did you become yourself again?”
“This morning.”
“It's nothing to worry about-now,” I answered. “There shouldn't be a recurrence.
“But what was it?”
“Just something that's been going around,” I said, trying the wine.
“It seems more like magic than the flu.”
“Perhaps there was a touch of that too, – I agreed. “You never know what might blow in out of Shadow. But almost everyone I know who's had it is okay now.”
She furrowed her brow. “It was very strange.”
I had a few more crackers and sips of the wine. They did keep the good stuff for themselves.
“There is absolutely nothing to worry about,” I repeated.
She smiled and nodded. “I believe you. What are you doing here, anyhow?”
“Stopover. I'm on my way back to Amber,” I said, “from elsewhere. Which reminds me-may I borrow a horse?”
“Certainly,” she replied. “How soon will you be leaving?”
“As soon as I get the horse,” I said.
She got to her feet. “I didn't realize you were in a hurry. I'll take you over to the stables now.”
“'Thanks.”
I grabbed two more crackers and another piece of cheese on the way out and tossed off the rest of the wine. I wondered where the blue fog might be drifting now.
When I'd located a good horse, which she told me I could have deliv—
ered to their stable in Amber, I saddled him and fitted his bridle. He was a gray, named Smoke. I donned my cloak then and clasped Vinta's hands.
“Thanks for the hospitality,” I said, “even if you don't recall it.”
“Don't say good-bye yet,” she told me. “Ride around to the kitchen door off the patio, and I'll give you a water bottle and some food for the road. We didn't have a mad affair that I don't remember, did we?”
“A gentleman never tells,” I said.
She laughed and slapped my shoulder. “Come see me sometime when I'm in Amber,” she told me, “and refresh my memory.”
I grabbed a set of saddlebags, a bag of chow for Smoke and a longish tethering rope. I led him outside as Vinta headed back to the house. I mounted then and rode slowly after her, a few dogs capering about me. I circled the manor, taking the long way around, drew rein and dismounted near the kitchen. I considered the patio, wishing I had one just like it where I could sit and take coffee in the morning. Or had it just been the company?
After a time, the door opened and Vinta came out and passed me a bundle and a flask. As I was securing them, she said, “Let my father know that I'll be back in a few days, will you? Tell him that I came to the country because I wasn't feeling well, but that I'm all right now.”
“Glad to,” I said.
“I don't really know why you were here,” she said. “But if it involves politics or intrigue I don't want to know.”
“Okay,” I said.
“If a servant took a meal to a big red-haired man who seemed to be pretty badly injured, this would be better forgotten?”
“I'd say.”
“It will be, then. But one of these days I'd like the story.”
“Me too,” I said. “We'll see what we can do.”
“So, have a good journey.”
“Thanks. I'll try.”
I clasped her hand, turned away and mounted.
“So long.”
“See you in Amber,” she said.
I mounted and continued my circuit of the house until I was back near the stables again. I headed past them then to a trail we had ridden that led off in the direction I wanted. Back toward the house, a dog began to howl and another joined it moments later. There was a breeze out of the south, and it carried a few leaves past me. I wanted to be on the road, far away and alone. I value my solitude because that is when I seem to do my best thinking, and right now I had many things to think over.
I rode to the northwest. About ten minutes later I came to a dirt road we had crossed the other day. This time I followed it westward, and it finally took me to the crossroads with the marker indicating that Amber lay straight ahead. I rode on.
It was a yellow dirt road that I traveled, showing the impress of many wagon wheels. It followed the contours of the land, passing between fallow fields bordered by low stone fences, a few trees at either hand. I could see the stark outlines of mountains far ahead, standing above the forested area I was soon to encounter. We moved along at an easy gait, and I let my mind drift over the events of the past few days.
That I had an enemy I did not doubt. Luke had assured me that it was no longer him, and I had found him to be more than a little persuasive. He need not have come to me to be patched up, as both he and Vinta had pointed out. And he could have found his own way to the crystal cave or some other sanctuary. And the business about my helping him to rescue Jasra couldr have waited. I was more than half convinced that he was trying to get back on better terms with me again quickly because I was his only contact with the Court of Amber, and his fortunes had taken a turn for the worse. I had a feeling that what he really wanted was an official determination as to his status with Amber, and that he had mentioned the piece of important information he would be willing to surrender both as a sign of good faith and as a bargaining chip. I was not at all certain that I, personally, would be very crucial to any plan he might have for rescuing Jasra. Not when he knew the Keep inside and out, was some kind of sorcerer himself and had a band of mercs he could transport from the shadow Earth. For all I knew, that fancy ammo of his would work there as well as in Amber. And whether that was true or not, why couldn't he just trump his attack force into the place? He wouldn't even really have to win a battle-just get in, grab Jasra and get out. No, I did not feel that I was really necessary to whatever operation he finally decided upon. I'd a feeling he'd waved a red herring at me, hoping that when the air cleared we would simply consider what he had and what he wanted and make him an offer.