Little Myth Marker By Robert Asprin

“Well, if you’ve made up your mind … good luck.”

“Thanks, Gus. I’ll be in touch from time to time. Keep an eye on the boys in case they buy more trouble than they can sell.”

“I don’t think you have to worry about Chumley. He’s pretty levelheaded.”

“Chumley’s not the one I’m worried about.”

I thought that was going to be her parting shot, but she paused with one hand on the door.

“You know, it’s probably just as well that I couldn’t find Skeeve. I’m not sure I could have stuck to my guns in a face-to-face … but then again, maybe that’s why I was looking for him.”

I could feel Gus’s eyes on me as she slipped out. “I suppose it’s pointless to ask why you didn’t say something. Mister Skeeve.”

Even though I had worried earlier about getting Gus angry with me, somehow it didn’t matter anymore.

“At first it was curiosity,” I said, letting my disguise slip away. “Then, I didn’t want to embarrass her.”

“And at the end there? When she flat-out said that you could talk her out of going? Why didn’t you speak up then? Do you want her to disappear?”

I couldn’t even manage a spark of anger. “You know better than that, Gus,” I said quietly. “You’re hurting and lashing out at whoever’s handy, which happens to be me. I didn’t try to get her to stay for the same reason you didn’t try harder. She feels we’re stifling her, and if she wants out, it’d be pretty small of us to try to keep her for our own sakes, wouldn’t it?”

There was prolonged silence, which was fine by me. I didn’t feel much like talking anymore. Rising, I started for the door.