our protection, and ‘e’ll never get out o’ this place without
our ‘elp, and ‘e’s more than willin’ to contribute ‘is
share.”
The ferret nodded enthusiastically. “Please accept my
service, good sir… and madame. Allow me to accompany
you. Perhaps being proximate to such mighty ones as your-
selves will improve my own ill fortune.”
“I’ll bet you were a good trader,” Jon-Tom commented.
“Okay, you can come with us, but as an equal. Not as a
servant or slave. We’ll pay you a decent wage.” He
remembered the purse filled with gold, stolen by Zancresta’s
thugs. “As soon as we can afford it, that is.”
“Food and shelter and protection is all I ask, great sir.”
“And stop calling me sir,” said Jon-Tom. “I’ve intro-
duced you to everyone by name.”
“As you wish, Jon-Tom.” The ferret turned to look
down the beach. “What do we now? I presume you are
bound to the east, for if one walks long enough one will
come ’round again to the lands bordering the Bellwoods
and the River Tailaroam, where civilization is to be
encountered.”
“Don’t I wish,” Mudge grumbled.
86
Alan Dean Poster
Jon-Tom shook his head. “We don’t go to the east,
Jalwar. We go southwest, to Snarken.”
‘ ‘Across the Glittergeist? Sir… Jon-Tom… I have lived
long and seen much. The voyage to Snarken is long and
fraught with danger and difficulty. Better to begin the long
trek to the mouth of the Tailaroam. Besides, how could
one take ship from this deserted land? And north of here
lie the Muddletup Moors, where none may penetrate.”
“We penetrated,” said Mudge importantly.