Myth 08 – Myth-Nomers by Aspirin, Robert

“What was that all about?” Edvik said as I sank back

into my seat.

“Oh, I was just curious about what made the street ven-

dors tick.”

“Them? Why bother? They’re just a bunch of low-life

hustlers scrabbling for small change. They’re never going

to get anywhere.”

I was surprised at the sudden vehemence in his voice.

There was clearly no love lost there.

It occurred to me that Edvik’s appraisal of the street

vendors pretty much summed up my initial reaction to his

own enterprising efforts with his cab and self-publishing

company.

It also occurred to me, as I reflected on my conversation

with J. R., that I had been even more lucky than I had

realized when I had taken to studying magik . . . first with

Garkin and then with Aahz. It didn’t take the wildest stretch-

ing of the imagination to picture myself in the street vendor’s

place… assuming I had that much initiative to begin with.

All in all, it wasn’t a particularly comforting thought.

Chapter Ten:

”All financiers are not created equal!”

—R.CORMAN

“So WHERE ARE we off to today, Mr. Skeeve?”

Edvik’s words interrupted my thoughts, and I fought to

focus my attention on the problem at hand.

“Either to talk with the magicians or some financial

types,” I said. “I was hoping that as our trusty native guide

you’d have some ideas as to which to hit first . . . and it’s

just ‘Skeeve,’ not ‘Mr. Skeeve.’ “

The “Mr. Skeeve” thing had been starting to get to me

with the bellhop, but it hadn’t seemed worth trying to correct.

If I was going to be spending the next few days traveling