“All good luck to Gene,” Dalton said, “but I’m staying right here.”
“I ain’t goin’ nowhere, either,” Deena said. “I didn’t have it so great back in Bed-Sty.”
Dalton said, “I think all of us are here because of problems in the so-called real world. That’s what opens a door into this place. A willingness to chuck it all and leave.”
“You really think so?” Linda said.
“Of course. Haven’t you ever wondered why only certain types show up here?”
“Now that you mention it, I have.”
“Sure. And haven’t you ever wondered why whole worlds don’t come pouring through? It’s because only a few people — beings — can get through those magic doorways. To everyone else they are shut tight.”
“We have had a few invasions,” Linda said.
“Well, I was speaking generally, of course. The Hosts of Hell were certainly an exception.”
“And so were the blue meanies a little while back,” Deena said. “I hated those dudes.”
“I wonder how they got in, then?” Linda said.
“Perhaps a whole world full of beings can hate their own world,” Thaxton said.
“I doubt it,” Dalton said. “It just goes to show that there are no hard-and-fast rules to Castle Perilous. You have to be on your toes all the time.”
“Good morning!”
All heads turned to Gene Ferraro as he came striding in lugging two huge suitcases. Unlike most of his fellow Guests, who were in vaguely medieval garb. Gene was dressed in sweat pants, running shoes, T-shirt, and windbreaker. He also wore a big grin.
“You’re finally up,” Linda said.
“All ready for my first day of kindergarten. And you won’t even have to walk me to the school bus.” He dropped the luggage and sat down. “Hope I have time for breakfast.” He started heaping flapjacks onto a plate.
“What time is your plane?” Linda asked.
“Eleven-ten. Hope they’re ready at Halfway to take me to the airport. It’s a long drive into Pittsburgh.”
Orrin said, “I’m to tell you, sir, that Hulbert is standing by with the motorcar.”
“Fine. Bert’s the best driver of the lot.”
Dalton said, “Before you arrived, Gene, we were all speculating as to why you were going back to school. Why don’t we get it from the horse’s mouth?”
“Maybe it’s not the mouth my reasons come from,” Gene said. “But never mind. All I can say is, the prospect of hanging around a castle for the rest of my life polishing my sword has its attractions, but I have to prove something to myself.”
“What’s that, Gene?”
“That I don’t have to be here. Don’t get me wrong, I want to be here. But I don’t want it to be the only place I can exist. So I’m going back to school and study something worthwhile and do something with it.”
“Like what?”
“Like get a job. I’ll work for as long as it takes to pay my parents back for putting me through college. My dad took a bath when the stock market crashed a little while back. He’s looking at retirement with a skimpy portfolio and not a lot of savings. They have equity in the house, but you gotta have a roof over your head. So, I’m going back to the real world for a while and help them out.”
Linda smiled at Dalton. “I told you.”
“Well, I think that’s very commendable, Gene,” Dalton said.
“Thank you.”
Linda asked, “Is Sheila coming to see you off?”
“No, I saw her and Trent last night. Said our goodbyes. I really wanted Lord Incarnadine to be here, though.”
Thaxton looked around. “Does anyone know where our host is and what he’s doing?”
“As usual,” Dalton said, “he’s on one of his secret missions. Most likely diplomatic doings in an aspect where he has some political interest.”
“Is there an aspect where he doesn’t have a political interest?” Linda asked.
“Oh, a few, I imagine,” Thaxton said. “One man can’t look after 144,000 worlds.”
“I wouldn’t put anything past Lord Incarnadine,” Linda said. “Sure, I know that a lot of aspects are unstable and nobody goes there, but I bet Incarnadine looks after political stuff in several hundred at least.”
“You may be right,” Dalton said, then drained his coffee cup. “Well, I’m off. I mean to get in nine holes before lunch. Are you with me, Thaxton?”
Thaxton pulled his golf bag out from under the table. “Let’s have a go.”
“Gene,” Dalton said, holding out a hand, “I wish you the best of luck.”
Gene shook. “Thanks.”
Dalton and Thaxton left.
Linda asked, “Are you coming back for Thanksgiving?”
“It depends on what my folks have planned. I really don’t know if I can make it back here. I’ll try, though. Definitely be back for Christmas.”
“I planned on going to California for Christmas,” Linda said sadly.
“Looks like we’re not going to see each other till summer.”
“I’m going to miss you, swordsman.”
“Same here, sorceress.”
They exchanged smiles for a second, then Gene resumed pouring maple syrup.
“So Vaya is staying at Pitt?”
“Yeah,” Gene said, “for one more trimester, then she’s transferring to UCLA. They’ve already accepted her for the winter term.”
“She’s done wonderfully for someone who didn’t even know English a year ago.”
“Osmirik really accomplished miracles with her. But I think Incarnadine worked some magic, too. No one can learn English that good that fast.”
“I don’t know. Vaya’s a remarkable woman.”
“You’re telling me.”
“Got a scoop for us? Are you two going to get married?”
“Ask Vaya about that. According to her tribe’s customs, we’re already married. For life. Real serious stuff. Which is fine by me. Just dandy. We might make it Earth-legal, though. The only trouble about living together will be the commute between West L.A. and Pasadena.”
“So, where are you going to live?”
“Don’t know yet. I’ll be in the dorm for this term, but when Vaya gets out there, we’re going to have to search for an apartment. How the hell we’re going to afford it, I’ll never know. The rents out there are ridiculous. It might all be moot, though. I’ll probably flunk out of Cal Tech.”
“Gene, don’t put yourself down.”
“Well, I don’t think I’m going to fit in with the technoweenie set.”
“Hey, watch that,” Jeremy said.
“Present company excepted.”
Just then a seven-foot-tall creature with milk-white fur padded into the hall. It had yellow eyes and long sharp teeth and long bone-white claws. For all of that it looked friendly.
“Snowclaw!”
“Hi, guys,” Snowclaw said.
“You made it,” Gene said. “I thought I wouldn’t get to say goodbye to you. You disappeared.”
“I wanted to get in some hunting before the freeze hit. Well, the freeze came early, so I came back, though I would have, anyway, just to see you off.”
“Glad you did. Sit down and eat some napkins or something.”
“I’ll just munch on these candles. I’m really not hungry.”
“That’s news. So, are you going back to Hyperborea or are you going to stay awhile in the castle?”
“Hyper … Hyperbor … I can’t pronounce that.”
“What’s the name in your language?”
Snowclaw growled and snapped.
Gene said, “I can’t even begin to get my tongue around that.”
“To answer your question, I’ll probably go back. Gonna be kind of lonely here with you gone. Sure wish I could go with you.”
“You and me both. But you’d raise a few eyebrows in Pasadena — maybe not in L.A., but Pasadena, yes.”