There was a moment's silence, then Lord Shoreham said
ruefully, "Richard, you are uncanny How did you know?"
"There must be at least a hundred people in London who
might have recognized me, including my dear brother An-
drew You didn't ask me about any of them "
"Andrew's in London? You didn't see him, did you:?"
"As a matter of fact, i did Briefly it needn't concern you "
"Nothing in this affair—"
"You're avoiding the subject, Edward What's so special
about Bramingham and the Cranleighs?"
Lord Shoreham sighed again "Stephen Granleigh is in-
volved with the Ministry in a number of ways Of necessity,
he's familiar with the history of the Saltash Bowl Has de-
cided opinions on the subject, too "
"I see And St Clair?"
"Was elected to the College in your place "
"He must have been delighted " Mairelon's voice was ut-
terly devoid of expression "I must remember to congratulate
him if ! see him "
"Richard' Don't take foolish risks "
"Foolish? Never "
"I ought to take the bowl, after all, and let someone else
recover the platter "
"You can have it if you like, but it won't keep me out of
Essex "
63
"I was afraid of that Richard, if the Runners catch you with
the Sahash Bowl—"
"The Runners have criminals enough to deal with in
London What would one of them be doing in Essex?"
"Quite possibly looking for you," Lord Shoreham replied
dryly "I told you someone's been talking too much "
"I'll take the chance "
"Very well I hope your luck holds, Richard And don't
hesitate to call on me if something happens "
"You may be sure of it "
The wagon door opened, and Lord Shoreham's footsteps
sounded on the steps. Kirn heard Mairelon moving about the
wagon, then a soft thump as the lid of the chest closed She
held her breath, waiting for him to leave and wondering how
she was going to sneak out unseen But Mairelon did not
leave Kim was just beginning to wonder whether she would
have to stay where she was all night when Mairelon spoke.
"I think you had better come out now, Kim, and explain
why you've been eavesdropping on my conversation "
64
SEVEN
Kim swallowed hard and pushed the curtain
aside Mairelon was standing in the center
of the wagon, watching her His face was ex-
pressionless Kim swallowed again and said nothing
"You do have some explanation, I trusP" Mairelon said
"I was just—it was an accident," Kim said lamely
"I see You just happened to hide behind the curtain at
exactly the time Lord Shoreham was planning to arrive,"
Mairelon said with a cool politeness that was worse than sar-
casm and far worse than open anger
"Yes!" Kim said hotly "You and Hunch didn't have no
use for me outside, so I came in here to look at that stage you
got in back Which you got to get back of the curtain
to do "
"The timing was remarkably convenient "
"You never said when that Shoreham cove was comin',"
Kim said angrily "So how would I of known when to hide?
You ain't told me nothin', neither one of you "
"Why didn't you come out?"
65
"With the two of you talkin' about me!" And after that
Kirn squirmed "It wouldn't of looked right "
"Wouldn't have," Mairelon said, sounding as if his mind were
on something else "No, I suppose not"
"How did you know I was there"" Kim ventured She
had been half afraid Mairelon would throw her out at once,
but it seemed she had been wrong He wouldn't be correct-
ing the way she spoke if he'd made up his mind to get nd
of her
"The end of the curtain was hanging oddly, I noticed it
when I was showing Shoreham the bowl Then I remembered
seeing you come around this way and that you hadn't come
back Simple, really "
"So why didn't you say something right then?"
Mairelon looked uncomfortable "I had my reasons "
"You didn't want the gentry cove to know I was there'" Kim
said triumphantly
"Shoreham has a nasty temper at times Besides, I prefer to
deal with you myself"
"So what are you gom' to do?"
"I don't know " Mairelon studied her Kim stared back,
trying to gauge his temper He looked tired, and Kim was
suddenly sorry she had added to his worries, however inad-
vertently She pushed the thought aside; she had worries of
her own.
"I suppose I shall have to bring you along," Mairelon said at
last
"To Ranton Hill?"
"That far at least Afterward—well, we'll see how things
go"
"What if I ain't wishful to go?"
Mairelon's eyes narrowed "I beg your pardon?"
"I said, what if I ain't wishful to go with you?" Kim re-
peated She chose her next words carefully, aware that she
66
might be jeopardizing whatever fragile trust in her Mairelon
still retained "You told me you weren't doing nothin' the nab-
bing culls'd be lookin' out for But it didn't sound that
way when you were talkin' to the gentry cove "
"No, 1 suppose it didn't," Mairelon said, and some of the
tension went out of his shoulders He looked at Kim and
shook his head "I wish 1 knew whether you—" He stopped
short and snapped his fingers "Of course'"
Kim stared in surprise as Mairelon turned and pulled open
the wagon door "Hunch' Do you have any rosemary in that
cache of herbs you cart around all the time^"
Hunch's response was muffled, but a moment later Kim
heard Mairelon say, "Thank you Kim will be with me; don't
disturb us for an hour or so I'm going to need to concen-
trate "
"Master Richard'" Hunch's tone was horrified "You ain't
going to You wouldn't never "
"There are days, Hunch, when you remind me forcibly of
my excessively estimable brother," Mairelon said in a tone of
mild irritation "Is it her virtue or mine that you're worrying
abouP"
"You ain't a-going to gammon me," Hunch said severely
"What are you up to?"
"I'm going to take that suggestion you made just before
Shoreham arrived, if you must know I trust you don't expect
me to do so outside the wagon, in full view of the road?"
Hunch snorted but did not answer A moment later, Mair-
elon pulled his head and shoulders back into the wagon and
closed the door His right hand held a smalt packet, presum-
ably the herbs he had gotten from Hunch Kim eyed him
warily "What're you goin' to do~'"
"Reassure myself," Mairelon said absently He set the
packet down on the counter, then crossed to the chest and
opened it He muttered a word and made a quick gesture
67
with his left hand, hidden from Kim by his body Then he
withdrew the velvet-swathed bundle that had been Kirn's
downfall He set it carefully on the counter and gen
tly folded
back the velvet
Kirn's eyes went wide as she stared at the heavy silver bowl
nested in the npples of black velvet It was shallow and cir-
cular, like the soup bowls the gentry used, but more than
twice as large The nm was at least two inches wide and
carved into intricate leaves, flowers, and vines !t shone softly
in the lamplight
Kim looked at Mairelon "Is that the silver bowl you and
the gentry cove were on abouts"
"The Sattash Bowl Yes " The magician opened a cupboard
and removed several small jars He measured carefully as he
added portions of their contents to the bowl, then mixed
them with a long wooden rod Kim noticed that he was care-
ful not to touch any part of the silver with his hands as he
worked
She started to ask another question, but thought better
of interrupting him She waited until he finished the mixing
and laid aside the wooden rod As he reached for Hunch's
packet, she said, "You ain't explained nothm' about what
you're doin' "
Mairelon paused in mid-reach and looked at her "No, I
haven't, have I?" He hesitated, studying her, then sighed "I
suppose you have a right to know what to expect Very well,
then One of the uses of the Saltash Bowl is to compel people
to speak truthfully "
"And you're gom' to use it on me?" Kim asked cautiously It
was not a welcome thought There were any number of
things she would rather not be forced to discuss truthfully
the uses to which she had put her expertise in lock picking,
for instance On the other hand, this was an opportunity to
observe real magic at close hand, and she wasn't about to pass
68
it up without a reason Assuming, of course, that she had a
choice
"Not exactly The magic of the Saltash Bowl can be used
only under very speciftc circumstances More important, it
can be used only when the entire set is together "
"That platter the gentry cove was talkin' abouP"
"Among other things I cannot, therefore, use the bowl to
force you to be truthful However, I believe I can cast a sim-
ilar spell, using the bowl as a focus, which will let me know
whether or not you are telling the truth "
"So if I don't say nothm', you can't tell what's true?" Kim
said Mairelon's lips tightened, and she added hastily, "I'm
just trym' to understand You ain't got no business knowin'
everything about me "
"A reasonable objection," Mairelon said after a moment
"Very well The spell is just an indicator If you don't say
anything, it won't have anything to work with, so it won't tell
me anything "
Kim nodded She understood the unspoken implication
well enough Mairelon would be able to tell a good deal by
which questions she chose not to answer "All right, then,"
she said "I'm ready What do I have to do?"
"Just stand there, for the time being " Mairelon turned back
to the silver bowl He smoothed a wnnkle from the velvet on
which it rested and laid a twist of straw beside it, not touch-
ing the silver Then he opened Hunch's packet and sniffed at
>t He nodded in satisfaction, but to Kirn's surprise, he did
not dump it into the bowl with the rest of the herbs Instead,
he set it down and reached for the lamp that hung beside the
door He adjusted the wick, then did something to the hook
that held it When he pulled on it, the lamp came away from
the wall on a long, flexible arm
Mairelon positioned the lamp to hang a hand's breadth
above the center of the silver bowl Then he looked at
69
Kim "If you have any other questions, ask them now From
here on, any interruption could have unpleasant con-
sequences "
"I understand " Every street waif in London had heard
whispers of the fate that came to anyone foolish enough to
interrupt a true wizard in the practice of his magic Burning
alive would be nothing to it Kim might have her doubts
about some of the things she'd heard, but she wasn't about to
test them now
Mairelon gave her a searching look, then nodded He
turned back to face the bowl and took a deep breath The
lamp above the bowl threw the magician's shadow against the
opposite wall, large and dark, and made a mask of his face
Kim shivered, then froze as Mairelon began to speak
The language was unfamiliar to Kim, but every word
seemed to hang in the air, clear and sharp as broken crystal
She could almost feel their edges, and she was afraid to move
and jostle their invisible presence She understood, now,
where the saying had come from, "deadly as a wizard's
words " She wondered how there could be room in the wagon
for the solid sounds Mairelon was speaking
The magician's hands moved suddenly, sliding with ex-
quisite precision into a gap in the growing lattice of invisible,
razor-edged words One hand seized the packet of herbs
Hunch had provided, the other lifted the twisted straw on the
opposite side of the bowl The straw touched the lamp's wick
and burst into flame Mairelon's voice rose to a shout, and
herbs and burning straw dropped together into the silver
bowl
Smoke billowed out of the bowl, spreading a strong, sweet
smell throughout the wagon The lamp went out with the
suddenness of a snuffed candle, and the silver bowl began to
glow Mairelon lowered his arms with a sigh and looked at
Kim "What is your name?" he said
70
Kim hesitated. "Jenny Slower," she said deliberately.
The glow of the silver bow! dimmed to an angry red point
"Your name?" Mairelon repeated. "And the truth, this time "
"Kim "
The bowl flashed into silver light once more Kim stared at
it, awed and frightened. "Where did you first hear of me, and
from whom?" Mairelon asked
"At the Dog and Bull, the day afore 1 snuck into this
wagon A skinny toff offered to pay me if I'd find out what
you had in here " The bowl remained silver, and Kim relaxed
a little
"WTiat, exactly, did he tell you?"
Kim repeated the story she had told Mairelon at their first
meeting The bowl glowed a steady silver throughout the
tale Mairelon nodded when she finished, and made her re-
peat her reasons for eavesdropping on his conversation with
Shoreham Kim did the best she could, but the bowl's light
faded slightly
Mairelon frowned "And were those your only reasons?"
Kim shifted uncomfortably "Mostly "
"You'll have to do better than that," Mairelon said, watch-
ing her closely
"All right' I was curious "
The silver light brightened. Mairelon's lips twitched "Curi-
ous?"
"Why not?" Kim said indignantly "Anyone as meets you
can see you're a regular swell, and it queers me what your lay
is. Bilking the culls in the markets ain't work for a gentry
cove, and you ain't told me nothin' I got reason for won-
&
nbsp; derin' "
Mairelon laughed "I should have guessed Well, I'll explain
as soon as we're finished here. You've enough of the pieces to
get us all into difficulty by accident if you aren't told the
rest "
71
He asked Kim a few more offhand questions, but his suspi-
cions seemed to be laid to rest "That's all, i think," he said at
last He turned to the bowl and raised a hand, then paused
and looked at Kim "Why did you decide to leave London
with us? Curiosity again?"
Kim swallowed "Yes," she said, and the bowl flickered
Mairelon looked from her face to the bowl and lowered his
hand "There is more, 1 think''"
"It ain't nothin' to do with you'"
The light held steady, and Mairelon nodded "Perhaps it is
not, now However, we will be returning to London eventu-
ally, and I don't like the possibility of a nasty surprise waiting
for me "
"He ain't waitin' for you," Kim muttered
"Nevertheless, 1 should like to know who 'he' is, and why
you considered it so important to remove yourself from his
vicinity Particularly if the reason is something that is likely
to interest the constables "
Wrede, Patricia C. - Magician Series 1 - Mairelon the Magician Page 8