Another Fine Myth by Robert Asprin

“In that case,” the Deveel smiled back at him, “I believe you raised the matter of cost. How much do you have with you?”

“Well, we have….” I began.

“That strikes me as being unimportant,” Aahz glared warningly at me. “Suppose you tell us how much you feel is a fair price for your services.”

Frumple graced him with one withering glare before sinking thoughtfully into his calculations.

“Hmm . . . material cost is up … and of course, there’s my time … and you did call without an appointment … let’s say it would cost you, just as a rough estimate, mind you, oh, in the neighborhood of… Say!”

He suddenly brightened and smiled at us.

“Maybe you’d be willing to work this as a trade. I cure you, and you do me a little favor.”

“What kind of a favor?” Aahz asked suspiciously.

For once I was in complete agreement with him. Something in Frumple’s voice did not inspire confidence.

“A small thing, really,” the Deveel purred. “Sort of a decoy mission.”

“We’d rather pay cash,” I asserted firmly.

“Shut up, kid,” Aahz advised. “What kind of a decoy mission, Frumple?”

“You may have noticed the young couple who entered my shop ahead of you. You did! Good. Then you have doubtless noticed they are not on the premises currently.”

“How did they leave?” I asked curiously.

“I’ll get to that in a moment,” Frumple smiled. “Anyway, theirs is an interesting if common story. I’ll spare you the details, but in short, they’re young lovers kept apart by their families. In their desperation, they turned to me for assistance. I obliged them by sending them to another dimension where they can be happy free of their respective family’s intervention.”