"Is the sausage-seller doing a brisk business?"
"Not really."
"Then let's try to win him some trade."
"All very well, but how?"
"With these." Dhrun brought out his pipes.
"Very good idea." Glyneth led Dhrun close to the sausage-seller's booth. "Now play," she whispered. "Brave tunes, happy tunes, hungry tunes!"
Dhrun began to play, at first slowly and carefully, then his fingers seemed to move of themselves and fairly flew over the stops, and from the instrument came a set of lovely skirling melodies. Folk stopped to listen; they gathered around the sausage-seller's stand, and many bought sausages, so that the vendor became very busy.
After a period Glyneth approached the sausage-seller. "Please, sir, may we too have sausages, since we are very hungry. After we eat, we'll play again."
"That is a good bargain from my standpoint." The sausage-seller fed them a meal of bread and fried sausages, then Dhrun played once more: jigs and jump-ups, merry wind-arounds, reels and hornpipes, to set the heels to twitching and the nose to trembling along the aroma of frying sausages, until, inside the hour, the sausage-seller had sold all his wares, whereupon Glyneth and Dhrun sidled inconspicuously away from the stand.
In the shadow of a nearby van stood a tall young man with strong wide shoulders, long legs, a long nose and clear gray eyes. Lank sand-colored hair hung to his ears, but he wore neither beard nor mustache. As Glyneth and Dhrun passed by he stepped forward and accosted them.
"I have enjoyed your music," he told Dhrun. "Where did you learn such sleight?"
"It's a gift, sir, from the fairies of Thripsey Shee. They gave me the pipes, a purse of money, an amulet of bravery and seven years' bad luck. We've lost purse and amulet, but I still keep the pipes and the bad luck, which hangs on me like a bad smell."
"Thripsey Shee is far away, in Lyonesse. How did you arrive here?"
"We traveled through the great forest," said Glyneth. "Dhrun discovered some forest fairies; they were bathing and quite naked. They sent magic bees into his eyes and now he can't see, until we drive the bees away."
"And how do you propose to do that?"
"We have been advised to seek out Rhodion, king of the fairies, and seize his hat, which will force him to do our bidding."
"That is sound advice as far as it goes. But first you must find King Rhodion, which is not at all simple."
"He is said to frequent fairs: a merry gentleman in a green hat," said Glyneth. "That is something to start on."
"Yes indeed... Look! There goes one now! And here comes another!"
Glyneth said dubiously: "I don't think either of them is King Rhodion, certainly not the drunken man, even though he is the merrier of the two. In any case, we have other advice: to ask the aid of an arch-magician."
"Again the advice is easier spoken than acted upon. The magicians take pains to isolate themselves from what otherwise would be an endless stream of supplicants." Looking from one somber face to the other, he said: "Still, there may be a way to avoid these difficulties. Let me introduce myself. I am Doctor Fidelius. I travel Dahaut in this van which is drawn by two miraculous horses. The placard on the side explains my business."
Glyneth read:
DOCTOR FIDELIUS
Grand gnostic, seer, magician.
HEALER OF SORE KNEES
... Mysteries analyzed and resolved: incantations uttered in known and unknown languages. ... Dealer in analgesics, salves, roborants and despumatics.
... Tinctures to relieve nausea, itch, ache, gripe, scurf, buboes, canker.
SORE KNEES A SPECIALTY
Glyneth, looking back to Doctor Fidelius, asked tentatively: "Are you truly a magician?"
"Indeed I am," said Doctor Fidelius. "Watch this coin! I hold it in my hand, then presto and hey-nonny-no! Where does the coin go?" "Into your other hand."
"No. It is here on your shoulder. And look! Here is another on your other shoulder! What do you say to that!"
"Marvelous! Can you cure Dhrun's eyes?"
Doctor Fidelius shook his head. "But I know a magician who can and who, so I believe, will."
"Wonderful! Will you take us to him?"
Doctor Fidelius again shook his head. "Not now. I have urgent business in Dahaut which must be done. Then I will visit Murgen the magician."
Dhrun asked: "Could we find this magician without your help?"
"Never. The road is long and dangerous and he guards his privacy well."
Glyneth asked diffidently: "Is your business in Dahaut likely to take a very long time?"
"That is hard to say. Sooner or later a certain man will visit my van, and then..."
"'And then'?"
"I expect that we will visit Murgen the magician. Meanwhile you shall join my company. Dhrun shall play the pipes to attract customers, Glyneth will sell salves, powders and lucky charms, and I will watch the crowds."
"That is very generous of you," said Glyneth, "but neither Dhrun nor I have skill in medicine."
"No matter! I am a mountebank! My medicines are useless, but I sell them cheap and usually they work as well as if prescribed by Hyrcomus Galienus himself. Dismiss your qualms, if you have any. The profits are not large but always we will eat good food and drink good wine, and when the rain falls we shall be snug inside the van."
Dhrun said glumly, "I carry a fairy's curse of seven years' bad luck. It may well infect you and your undertakings."
Glyneth explained: "Dhrun lived most of his life in a fairy castle until they cast him out with the curse on his head."
Dhrun said: "It was the imp Falael, who brought it down on me, just as I departed the shee. I would reflect it back on him if only I could."
"The curse must be lifted," declared Doctor Fidelius. "Perhaps we should watch for King Rhodion after all. If you are playing the fairy pipes he'll be sure to step up close to listen!"
"Then what?" asked Glyneth.
"You must seize his hat. He will roar and bluster, but in the end he will do your bidding."
Glyneth frowningly considered the program. "It seems rather rude to steal the hat of an utter stranger," she said. "If I made a mistake, the gentleman will no doubt roar and bluster, and then chase me and catch me and give me a fine beating."
Doctor Fidelius agreed. "Of course that is possible. As I pointed out, many merry gentlemen wear green hats. Still, King Rhodion can be known by three signs. First, his ears show no lobes and are pointed at the top. Second, his feet are long and narrow, with long fairy toes. Third, his fingers are webbed like frog's feet and show green fingernails. Also, so it is said, when you stand close beside him, he gives off a waft, not of sweat and garlic, but of saffron and willow-catkins. So, Glyneth, you must be ever on the alert. I will also be watching, and between us we may well capture Rhodion's hat."
Glyneth hugged Dhrun and kissed his cheek. "Do you hear that? You must play your best and sooner or later King Rhodion will wander by. Then it's off and away with seven years bad luck."
"Only good luck will bring him past. So I have seven years to wait. By then I'll be old and crippled."
"Dhrun, you are ridiculous! Good music always defeats bad luck, and never forget it!"
"I endorse that view!" said Doctor Fidelius. "Come with me now, both of you. We have a few changes to make."
Doctor Fidelius took the two children to a merchant dealing in fine shoes and garments. At the sight of Dhrun and Glyneth he threw his hands into the air. "Into the back room with you."