to scrubbing the sides. Sling them over in nets. If one of
them falls through, it will serve as a fine lesson to the
others.”
“Aye, Captain,” said the helmsman.
Corroboc rose on bright green wings to glide down to
the main deck. The warthog cast a wizened eye at Jon-
Tom.
“Watch thy tongue and mind thy manners and thee
might live as much as a year.” This admonition was
finished off with a thick, grunting laugh. “Still going to
escape?”
You bet your porcine ass we are, Jon-Tom thought
angrily as he attacked the decking. The wood was the only
thing he could safely take out his fury on. We’ll get out of
this somehow and take that poor battered girl with us.
Without his realizing it, the sight of Folly had done
something their own desperate situation had not: it forced
him to realize how selfish he’d been these past hours,
moping around bemoaning his fate. He wasn’t the only
one who had problems. Everyone else was depending on
him—Mudge and Jalwar and Roseroar, and Clothahump
sick and hurt back in his tree, and now Folly.
So he hadn’t made it back to his own world. Tough.
Self-pity wouldn’t get him any closer to L.A. He had
friends who needed him.
Mudge noticed the change in his friend’s attitude imme-
diately. He scrubbed the deck with renewed enthusiasm.
“Work ‘ard and ‘ave confidence, mates,” he whispered
124
Alan Dean Poster
THE DAY or THE DISSONANCE
125
to Jalwar and Roseroar. “See that look on me pal’s face?
I’ve seen it afore. ‘E may be ‘alf bonkers, but sometimes
’tis the ‘alf bonkers, part crazy part that sees a way out