Little Myth Marker By Robert Asprin

With that he strode out of the room, leaving Massha and me to deal with Markie.

“Cheer up. Hot Stuff,” my apprentice said. “Kids aren’t all that much of a problem. Hey, Markie. Would you like a piece of chocolate?”

“No, thank you. It might make me fat and ugly like you.”

I winced. Up until now, Massha had been my ally on the subject of Markie, but this might change everything. She was very sensitive about her weight, so most of us tended to avoid any mention of it. In fact, I had gotten so used to her appearance that I tended to forget how she looked to anyone who didn’t know her.

“Markie!” I aid sternly. “That wasn’t a very nice thing to say.”

“But it’s true!” she countered, turning her innocent eyes on me.

“That’s why it’s not nice,” Massha laughed, though I noticed her smile was a little forced. “C’mon, Markie. Let’s hit the pantry and try to find you something to eat … something low-calorie.”

The two of them trooped out, leaving me alone with my thoughts. Aahz had raised a good question. What were we going to do if Markie’s father didn’t come back? I had never been around kids before. I knew that having her around would cause problems, but how many problems? With everything else we had handled as a team, surely Aahz and I could handle a little girl. Of course, Aahz was …

“There you are. Boss! Good. I was hopin’ you were still up.”

I cleared my mind to find one of my bodyguards entering the room.

“Oh. Hi, Guido. How did the report go?”

“Couldn’t be better. In fact, Don Bruce was so happy he sent you a little present.”