I did not care to use the Logrus in his presence if I did not have to. I did not wish for him to see how I went about things, and I did not want to give him any idea as to what I could or could not do. I’m not that comfortable letting people know too much about me, either.
The Logrus appeared at my summons, and I reached into it, extended through it. My desire was framed, became the aim. My sending extending sought the thought. Far, far. . . .
I kept extending for the damnedest long time. We really had to be out in the Shadow boonies. . . .
Contact.
I did not jerk, but rather exerted a slow and steady pressure. I felt it move toward me across the shadows.
“Hey, Merle! Everything okay?” I heard Luke call.
“Yeah,” I answered, and I did not elaborate.
Closer, closer. . . .
There!
I staggered when it arrived, because it came to me too near to one end. The far end bounced on the ground. So I moved to the middle and took a new grip. I hefted it and carried it back.
I set it against a steep area of the rise a bit in advance of Luke’s position and I mounted quickly. I began drawing it up behind me then.
“Okay, where’d you get the ladder?” he asked.
“Found it,” I said.
“Looks like wet paint on the side there.”
“Maybe someone lost it just recently.”
I began lowering it into the opening. Several feet protruded after it reached the bottom. I adjusted it for stability,
“I’ll start down first,” I said, “and stay right under you.”
“Take my stick and my blade down first, will you?”
“Sure.’.
I did that thing. By the time I climbed back he had caught hold and gotten onto it, had begun his descent.
“You’ll have to teach me that trick one of these days,” he said, breathing heavily.
“Don’t know what you’re talking about,” I answered.
He descended slowly, pausing to rest at each rung, and he was flushed and panting when he reached the bottom. He slumped to the floor immediately, pressing his right palm against his lower rib cage. After a time, he inched backward a bit and rested against the wall.
“You okay?” I asked.
He nodded. “Will be,” he said, “in a few minutes. Being stabbed takes a lot out of you.”
“Want a blanket?”
“No, thanks.”
“Well, you rest here and I’ll go check the larder and see whether anything’s gotten at the supplies. Want me to bring you anything?”
“Some water,” he said.
The supplies proved to be in good order, and the sleeping bag was still where I’d left it. I returned with a drink for Luke and a few ironic memories of the occasion when he’d done the same for me.
“Looks as if you’re in business,” I told him. “There’s still plenty of stuff.”
“You didn’t drink all the wine, did you?” he asked between sips.
“No.
“Good. “
“Now, you said you have a piece of information vital to the interests of Amber,” I said. “Care to tell me about it?”
He smiled. “Not yet,” he said.
“I thought that was our deal.”
“You didn’t hear the whole thing. We were interrupted.”
I shook my head. But, “All right, we were interrupted,” I acknowledged. “Tell me the rest.”
“I’ve got to get back on my feet, so I can take the Keep and free my mother. . . .”
I nodded.
“The information is yours after we rescue her.”
“Hey! Wait a minute! You’re asking a hell of a lot!”
“Not for what I’m paying.”
“Sounds like I’m buying a pig in a poke.”
“Yes, I guess you are. But believe me, it’ll be worth knowing.”
“What if it becomes worth knowing while I’m waiting?”
“No, I’ve figured the timing on this. My recovery is only going to take a couple of days, Amber time. I can’t see the matter coming up that fast.”
“Luke, this is starting to sound like some sort of trick.”
“It is,” he said, “but it will benefit Amber as well as myself.”