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right wrist, and she puffed slowly on a corncob pipe which was switched
periodically from one side of her mouth to the other.
He halted at the bottom of the porch steps, "Are you the one they
call Snooth?"
 I expect I am," the kangaroo replied, "since I'm the only one
around here by that name." She took her pipe from her lips and regarded them
thoughtfully. "You folks aren't from around here. What can I do for you?"
 We've undertaken one hell of a shopping trip," JonTom told her.
She sighed. "I was afraid of that. Just when I got myself all nice
and comfortable. Well, that's par for the course."
Jon-Tom's eyes grew wide. "That's an expression of my world."
 Is it? I traffic with so many I sometimes get confused. Sure as
the gleebs are on the fondike."
Jon-Tom decided to tread as lightly as possible, bearing the
rabbit's admonition in mind. "We don't want to disturb you. We could come back
tomorrow." He tried to see past her, into the store. "You haven't by any
chance had a couple of other out-of-town customers in recently, have you? An
old ferret, maybe accompanied by a human female?" He held his breath.
The kangaroo scratched under her chin with her free hand. "Nope.
No one of that description. In fact, I haven't
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r
had any local out-of-town customers stop by in some time."
Forbearing to inquire into the nature of a local out-oftowner,
which seemed to Jon-Tom to be a contradiction in terms, he permitted himself a
moment of silent exultation. They'd done it! With Drom's help they'd succeeded
in beating Jalwar to Crancularn. Now he could relax. The object of their long,
arduous journey was almost in his grasp.
He turned to leave. "We don't want to upset your siesta. We'll
come back tomorrow."
A small brown shape pushed past him. Mudge took up an aggressive
stance on the lowest step. "Now let's 'old on a minim 'ere, guv'nor." The
otter fixed the proprietress with a jaundiced eye. "This 'ere dump is the
place I've been 'earin' about for weeks? This cobbled-together wreck is the
marvelous, the wondrous, the magnificent Shop o' the Aether and Neither? And
you're the owner?"
The kangaroo nodded.
 Well," announced Mudge in disgust, "it sure as 'ell don't look
like much to me."
 Mudge!" Jon-Tom angrily grabbed the otter by his shoulder.
The kangaroo, however, did not appear upset. "Appearances can be
deceiving, my fuzzy little cousin." She turned to face Jon-Tom as she stood on
enormous, powerful feet. She was as tall as he was. The rickety porch boards
squeaked under her weight.
 I can tell just by looking at you that you've come a long ways to
do your shopping. Except for the Crancularnians, most of my customers travel
far to buy from me, some by means most devious. Some I sell to, others I do
not." She turned and pointed toward a thin scrawl on a worn piece of wood that
was nailed over the doorway. The sign said:
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WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO REFUSE SERVICE TO ANYTHING
 It's not for ourselves that we come seeking your help," Jon-Tom
told her. "We're here at the behest of a great wizard who lives in the forest
of the Bellwoods, far across the Glittergeist Sea. His name's Clothahump."
 Clothahump." Eyes squinted in reflection behind the granny
glasses. She put out a hand, palm facing downward, and positioned it some four
feet above the porch. "Turtle, old gentleman, about yea high?"
Jon-Tom nodded vigorously. "That's him. You've met
him?"
 Nope. But I know of him by reputation. As wizard's go, he's up
near the top." This revelation impressed even the skeptical Mudge, who'd
always thought of Ciothahump as no better than a talented fakir verging on
senility who just happened to get lucky once in a while. "What's wrong with
him?"
Jon-Tom fumbled with the vial around his neck, removed the small
piece of paper from within. "He says he's dying, and he's in terrible pain. He
says this can cure him."
Snooth took the fragment, adjusted her glasses, and read. Her lips
moved as she digested the paper's information. "Yes, yes...I believe I have
this in stock." She glanced back at Jen-Tom. "Your devotion to your mentor
does you credit."
Which made him feel more than a little guilty, since the main
reason he'd undertaken the journey was to protect his only chance of returning
home by ensuring Clothahump's continued good health.
 You overpraise my altruism."
 I think not." She stared at him in the most peculiar fashion. "You
are better than you give yourself credit for. That is why you would make a
good adjudicator. Your good instincts outweigh your common sense."
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For the second time since arriving at the store Jon-Tom's eyes
widened. "How did you know that I was studying to be a lawyer?"
 Lucky guess," said Snooth absently, dismissing the matter despite
Jon-Tom's desire to pursue it further. She held out the paper with the formula
written on it. "May I hold on to this?"
Jon-Tom shrugged. "Why not? It's the medicine we need."
Snooth tucked the paper neatly into her pouch. Again Jon-Tom
thought he saw something moving about within. If Snooth was carrying a joey,
it was evidently either too immature or too shy to show itself.
 Come on in." She turned and pushed wide the door.
Her visitors mounted the steps and crossed the porch. The front
room of the building was furnished in simple kaleidoscopic style. To one side
was another rocking chair, only instead of being fashioned of wood it was
composed of transparent soap bubbles clinging to a thin metal frame. The
bubbles were moving in slow motion and looked fragile and ready to burst.
 Surely you don't sit in that?" Roseroar said.
 Wouldn't be much use for anything else. Like to try it?"
 Ah couldn't," the tigress protested. "Ah'd bust it as well as mah
tail end." - "Maybe not," said the kangaroo with quiet confidence.
Reluctantly, Roseroar accepted the challenge, turning to set
herself gently into the chair. The soap bubbles gave under her weight but did
not break, nor did the thin metal frame. And the bubbles kept moving,
massaging the chair's new occupant with a gentle sliding motion. A rich
throbbing purr filled the room.
 How much?" Roseroar inquired.
 Sorry. That's a demo model. Not for sale."
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 Come on, Roseroar," Jon-Tom told her. "That's not what we came
for." She abandoned the caressing chair sadly.
As they crossed the room, Jon-Tom had time to notice a circular
recording device, a heatless stove, and a number
of utterly alien machines scattered among the familiar. Snooth led
them through another doorway barred by opaque ceramic strips that hung in
midair and into a back store room filled with broken, jumbled goods. A
bathroom was visible off to the left.
A second suspended curtain admitted them to the store.
Jon-Tom's brain went blank. He heard Roseroar hiss next to him and
even the always voluble Mudge was at a loss for words. Drom inhaled sharply in
surprise.
As near as they could tell, the shop filled the whole inside of
the mountain.
XV
Ahead of them was an aisle flanked by long metal shelves. The
multiple shelving rose halfway to the forty-foot-high ceiling and was crammed
with boxed, crated, and clearpackaged goods. Jon-Tom saw only a few empty
slots. The shelving and the aisle between ran away into the distance until all
three seemed to meet at some distant vanishing point.
He turned and stared to his left. Shelves and aisles marched off
into the distance as far as he could see. He looked right and saw a mirror
image of the view on his left.
 I never dreamed..." he began, only to be interrupted by the
proprietress.
 Oh, but you have dreamed, shopper. Everyone dreams." She gestured [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]