“Later, Chumly. Right now I need a lift back to Klah. Are you busy with anything?”
The troll set his half-eaten table to one side and raised the eyebrow over one mismatched moon eye.
“Not to be picky about formality,” he said, “but what happened to ‘Hello, Chumly. How are you?’ “
“I’m sorry. I’m in a bit of a hurry. Can we just….”
“Skeeve! How’s it going, handsome?”
A particularly curvaceous bundle of green-haired loveliness had just emerged from the ladies’ room.
“Oh. Hi, Tananda. How ’bout it, Chumly?”
Tananda’s smile of welcome disappeared, to be replaced by a puzzled frown.
” ‘Oh. Hi, Tananda?’ ” she repeated, shooting a look at the troll. “Does anything strike you as strange about that rather low-key greeting, big brother?”
“No stranger than the greeting I just got,” Chumly confided. “Just off-hand, I’d say that either our young friend here has forgotten his manners completely, or he’s gotten himself into a spot of trouble.”
Their eyes locked and they nodded.
“Trouble,” they said together.
“Cute,” I grimaced. “Okay, so I’m in a mess. I’m not asking you to get involved. In fact, I think I’ve got it worked out myself. All I want is for you to pop me back to Klah.”
Brother and sister stepped to my side.
“Certainly,” Chumly smiled. “You don’t mind if we tag along, though, do you?”
“But I didn’t ask you to …”
“When have you had to ask for our help before, handsome?” Tananda scolded, slipping an arm around my waist. “We’re your friends, remember?”
“But I think I’ve got it handled …”
“. . . In which case, having us along won’t hurt,” the troll insisted.
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