Free MA11-12 Myth-ion Improbable Something Myth-Inc by Robert Asprin Page A

dumped more half-eaten food into the bucket, dipped another plate, and asked the next question.
    Had I been a fool?
    The answer to that one came clearly in Aahz’s voice.
    Yes.
    He would also say it was nothing new or unusual. She had played me, and Aahz and Tananda, like a finely tuned musical instrument, using my heart and my emotions as the strings.
    “What a fool,” I said aloud.
    There was no one in there to agree with me, but I didn’t need anyone to agree. I knew I had been a fool.
    I scraped, dipped, and went on to the next question.
    What do I do now?
    I had no idea.
    Nothing. I was stuck here for the moment. Maybe forever if something happened to Aahz and Tananda, or if they couldn’t find me.
    The thought made me panic, so I kept washing dishes.
    After a few minutes the guy came back in with more dirty plates. He was clearly disappointed that Glenda was not back yet, but he said nothing. He put the plates down and then left.
    I dumped the awful food and dipped the plates, doing my best to keep calm. But pretty soon I was out of dishes to wash. I used the dirty rag to wipe off all the plates and stack them, and then I wiped off the counter as well. After I was done I couldn’t think of anything else to do, so I went back out to the bar.
    “My friend came in a few minutes ago,” I said.
    He looked as if he might cry, so I went quickly on with my lie.
    “She said she will be back in about an hour with your surprise.”
    That brightened him right up again.
    “You want to check what I have done back there?”
    “Nope,” he said, smiling. “Everything is even with you as far as I’m concerned.”
    “Great grub you got here,” I said, patting my stomach and then tipping my hat.
    “Thanks, partner,” he said, smiling and showing me the same ugly-looking teeth the woman had. “Anytime. You come back now, ya hear?”
    “Sure will,” I said, and headed out into the street.
    The sun was still cooking the hard center of the street, so I stayed on the sidewalk, tipping my hat and saying “Howdy” to anyone who passed me. The guy with the shovel must have finished cleaning up the street, leaving only the big piles of horse droppings as evidence of his work.
    It hadn’t been much longer than fifteen minutes since Glenda had left me, even though it felt like an eternity. There was no sign of her or Aahz or Tananda.
    I kept moving, fighting down the desire to shout out Aahz’s name. And the desire to just run. I didn’t know where I would run, but for some reason running was a massive desire.
    I reached the edge of town and stood on the last board of the covered sidewalk looking up the road that wound toward the cliff where we had hopped into this dimension. I was sure Tananda and Aahz would come back for me.
    Unless, of course, Glenda had done something to them on Vortex #6.
    I didn’t want to think about that. If that happened, I was going to be stuck right here for a very long time.
    There was no sign of anyone on the road coming down the hill. I turned and headed back up the sidewalk, doing my “Howdy” bit to anyone who passed, with the hat-tipping routine added in. When I reached the other end of town and the end of the shaded sidewalk, I stared off into the distance to where the road vanished into some low hills.
    Then I turned around and started back.
    At the moment there was nothing else left for me to do.
    I managed to walk the entire length of the town six times before I decided that my behavior might attract attention I didn’t want. When I reached the end of the sidewalk again, on the end of town where we had first entered, I sat down with my back to the wall.
    Overhead the sun was slowly dropping. It didn’t look like it would be more than a few hours before it set. Then what would I do?
    I didn’t have a clue.
    The question as to why Aahz and Tananda hadn’t come back for me yet bothered me a lot. I figured that with my washing dishes and pacing the length of the town, a good two hours