Until then, the plant can stay in its shop three doors from our tent, and my money can stay in my pocket.
That’s how things were, normally. Of course, my situation today was anything but normal. I had known this all along, of course, but I hadn’t really stopped to think through all the ramifications of my current state of affairs.
Okay. So I was dumb. Remember, I was taking this stroll to try to get a chance to think. Remember?
Maybe I hadn’t zeroed in on what my party looked like, but the Deveels spotted the difference before we had gone half a block.
Suddenly every Deveel who hadn’t been able to foist off some trinket on me for the last two years was out to give it one more try.
“Love potions! Results guaranteed!”
“Snake necklaces! Poisonous and non!”
“Special discounts for the Great Skeeve!”
“Special discounts for any friend of the Great Skeeve!”
“Try our…
“Buy my. ..”
“Taste these…”
Most of this was not aimed at me, but at Bunny and Markie. The Deveels swarmed around them like . . . well, like Deveels smelling an easy profit. This is not to say that Guido and Nunzio weren’t doing their jobs. If they hadn’t been clearing a path for us, we wouldn’t have been able to move at all. As it was, our progress was simply slowed to a crawl.
“Still think this was a good idea, High Roller?”
“Massha! If you…”
“Just asking. If you can think in this racket, though, you’ve got better concentration than I do.”
She was right, but I wasn’t about to admit it. I just kept staring forward as we walked, tracking the activity around me out of the corners of my eyes without turning my head.