“That’s what you and Frumple decided. I don’t think I walk like a girl at all!”
“Well. let’s say I walk less like a girl than you do.”
It was hard to argue with logic like that, so I changed subjects.
“Couldn’t we at least travel by less populated streets?” I asked.
“Why?” countered Aahz.
“Well, I’m not too wild about having a lot of people seeing me when I’m masquerading as a girl.”
“C’mon, kid. The whole idea is that no one would recognize you. Besides, you don’t know anybody in this town. Why should you care what they think of you?”
“I just don’t like it, that’s all,” I grumbled.
“Not good enough,” Aahz asserted firmly. “Being seen is part of our deal with Frumple. If you had any objections you should have said so before we closed the negotiations.”
“I never got a chance,” I pointed out. “But since the subject’s come up, I do have a few questions.”
“Such as?”
“Such as what are we doing?”
“Weren’t you paying attention, kid? We’re laying a false trail for….”
“I know that,” I interrupted. “What I mean is, why arc we doing what we’re doing? Why are we doing Frumple a favor instead of just paying his price?”
“You wouldn’t ask that if you’d ever dealt with a Deveel before,” Aahz snorted. “Their prices are skyhigh, especially in a case like ours when they know the customer is desperate. Just be thankful we got such a good deal.”
“That’s what I mean, Aahz. Are we sure we’ve gotten a good deal?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, from what I’ve been told, if you think you’ve gotten a good deal from a Deveel, it usually means you’ve overlooked something.”