Here were Crawly and his cousins, four beats to a flail, twelve beats to a drag, flail-two-three-four—drag-two-three-four—down-six-seven-eight—below-ten-eleven-twelve. Here was Strike, four beats to a foot step, rye-ut ut ut, lay-uft uft uft, rye-ut ut ut, lay-uft uft uft. Here was Belly, dragged behind the Shoveler and Gobblemaw, like a harrow behind a team of oxen, four bars to the belch; hup plod plod plod, hup plod plod plod, hup plod plod plod, squawwweeough.
“Old Pete,” murmured Ashes, who was marching along quite erect, arms swinging at his sides. “He’s a little way down yet. Crawly’ll drag him out.”
“What do we do when we get to the bottom?” Bane asked.
“Gonna roll ‘em oh-ver,” said Ashes. “Hup hup hup roll ‘em, hup hup hup over.”
Hughy Huge came down like a gingerly cannon ball, Ear clinging to one side, Tongue to the other, blather, rumble, blather, rumble. Foot hopped, bingety spop, bingety spop, and Mosslegs swished, slooush, slooush, all in time, all in perfect time.
“You learn to march like this on Thor?” Bane asked.
“Drill-two-three-four, this is what a drill’s for,” said Ashes, keeping time.
Boneless oozed over the lip of the ledge, splooshing in cadence. Bone clattered behind him, brack-bruck brack-bruck.
“There’s old Craw-lee. He took a short cut,” chanted Ashes.
There was Crawly indeed, flopped on the roadway outside a cave, flailing his claws into the pale flesh that blocked it, heave-two-three-four, heave-two-three-four.
“Pete, he’s coming out, huh,” breathed Ashes, still keeping time. “Pete he’s coming out, huh!”
Pete had come out, or his body had, though his appendage was still emerging, foot by foot, a gigantic sausage, a titanic pizzle, white as alabaster, smooth as marble, throbbing with discontent. Crawly turned and clasped Pete’s figure with his hind legs, dragging Pete along behind while Crawly himself proceeded down the road, flail-two-three-four, heave-two-three-four.
The moon had risen high enough to show all this nightmare vision to Madame, the two Hags, the two Men of Business, and to Questioner, who arrived just as the last of Pete popped out of his cave and came thumping down the road in Crawly’s wake. Corojum summoned several Joggiwagga and a great number of tunnelers and leggers who assembled themselves into levees that reached from the foot of the road to the Fauxi-dizalonz.
“Can the pond hold them all?” whispered Madame. “And what in heaven’s name are they?”
“Creatures by that Old Earth artist, Hieronymus Bosch,” murmured D’Jevier. “ ‘The Garden of Earthly Delights’!”
“More likely Kaoragi’s joke,” said Onsofruct. “Surely Bosch never meant his paintings to be taken literally.”
“She’s right, though,” said Calvy, unexpectedly. “I’ve seen them in a book, and that’s what they look like.”
Madame asked once again, “Will the pond hold them all? And what will they be when they come out?”
“And why have they all come at once?” demanded Calvy. “Is this an invasion?”
“They came,” said the Corojum, “because they have to. They aren’t as stable as finished persons. When Bofusdiaga makes someone, he builds in the call. When it starts to come apart, it has to come back and get fixed. Bofusdiaga does not like losing material.”
“Penis-man,” murmured Simon, in awe. “Look at that thing!”
“I’d prefer not,” said Onsofruct frostily. “Quite indecent. And what is that flaccid sack? A stomach?”
“Belly boy,” said Calvy. “I don’t think the pond can hold them all.”
“It will,” said Corojum. “A little at a time. Though it will overflow when they liquefy, and we will need to move up to higher ground.” He moved off toward the steeper trail, and the others trailed along behind him. When they had gone up thirty meters or so, they stopped on a conveniently spacious ledge and merely watched.
“There’s Thor Ashburn,” said Madame, from Questioner’s side. “And the boys, Bane and Dyre. What will become of them?”
“We’ll make the young ones go through twice,” murmured Corojum. “Even if they fight us. We want no more jongau.”
“Look,” cried D’Jevier. “An Eiger, coming out of the chasm!”
“It’s carrying Bao,” said Madame.
The Eiger circled for a time, as though uncertain where to put its burden. Then Bao saw the group on the ledge, called out, and the great bird turned, swooped, and dropped Bao gently at their feet.