The boy looked up at his father, trying to decide what to do. It wasn't much of an existence, but it had some good points and was the only one he'd ever known.
"This place—it like in South America or Africa or something?"
Joe shook his head and smiled slightly. "No, it's much farther than that. It's a place with good guys and bad guys and other stuff, too. The fairy-tale kind of stuff. Witches and wizards and strange kind of creatures. Dragons and unicorns and other things." He decided not to mention the fact that there was also no television. Why risk losing the war?
"Ain't no such place. You just connin' me?"
"No con. There is such a place, always has been, and that's where I wound up. If it's not at least that, I'll get you back. Deal?"
The boy still hesitated, wondering if this strange man who seemed really to be his father wasn't cracked in the head and escaped from some looney bin someplace. And then he thought of Alvy and Charlie and Clarence. They'd heal up, sooner or later, and they'd remember who that big dude was looking for.
"Well, I guess I should," Irving said nervously. "At least I'll see if you really nuts or not."
"That has nothing to do with where we're going. You're sure? It's now or never. I can drop you back near your home, or you come now."
"I'll come."
Joe let out a blood-curdling war whoop that would have awakened his ancestors. He stepped on it and made the exit for rental car return at the airport in record time. "Okay, son! We're off and running now!" he almost yelled. "We got dragons to slay and damsels to save and whole armies of bad guys to face down with guts and a magic sword! We got wizards and witches and zombies and elves and we got the magic'"
Irving stared at his father, and for a fleeting second he almost believed the words.
About The Author
JACK L. CHALKER was born in Norfolk, Virginia, on December 17, 1944, but was raised and has spent most of his life in Baltimore, Maryland. He learned to read almost from the moment of entering school, and by working odd jobs amassed a large book collection by the time he was in junior high school, a collection now too large for containment in his quarters. Science fiction, history, and geography all fascinated him early on, interests that continue.
Chalker joined the Washington Science Fiction Association in 1958 and began publishing an amateur SF journal. Mirage, in 1960. After high school he decided to be a trial lawyer, but money problems and the lack of a firm caused him to switch to teaching. He holds bachelor degrees in history and English, and an M.L.A. from Johns Hopkins University. He taught history and geography in the Baltimore public schools between 1966 and 1978, and now makes his living as a freelance writer. Additionally, out of the amateur journals he founded a publishing house. The Mirage Press, Ltd., devoted to nonfiction and bibliographic works on science fiction and fantasy. This company has produced more than twenty books in the last nine years. His hobbies include esoteric audio, travel, working on science-fiction convention committees, and guest lecturing on SF to institutions such as the Smithsonian. He is an active conservationist and National Parks supporter, and he has an intense love of ferryboats, with the avowed goal of riding every ferry in the world. In fact, in 1978 he was married to Eva Whitley on an ancient ferryboat in mid-river. They live in the Catoctin Mountain region of western Maryland with their son David.
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