inside. The interior was close and airless, and dust hung in the
air in visible layers. She closed the door behind them. They
moved across the room to a second door and from there into
another room, equally stifling. A tiny courtyard opened be-
yond, and they crossed through the early morning shadows and
The Talismans of Shannara 241
the faint scent of wildflowers inexplicably growing in one sun-
drenched comer of the otherwise withered yard to an open-
fronted shed filled with old tools and workbenches. Damson
left her companions there and went off with a tin bowl. When
she returned, the bowl was filled with water, and the three sat
down to wash themselves off.
When they were scrubbed clean again, they dug through the
bundles of rags and pulled out their good clothes. Stripping off
the old, they redressed and sat down on a pair of the work-
benches to discuss what would happen next.
“I’ll go out first to try to make contact with the Mole,”
Damson said, still combing out the knots from her tangled red
hair. Carefully she tied it all back and tucked it into a scarf.
“There are signs I can leave that he will understand. When
that’s done, I’ll come back and we’ll see what we can discover
about Padishar. Then I’ll have to put you somewhere while I
go wait for the Mole. He might not come if he sees all of
us—he doesn’t know either of you and he will be very careful
after what’s happened. If he comes, he and I will go after
Chandos and the rest, and we will meet up with you again by
dawn. If he doesn’t come—”
“Don’t say it,” Morgan cut her short. “Just do the best you
can.”
Damson looked at Matty. “How well do you know the
cityf ”
“Well enough to stay out of trouble.”
Damson nodded. “If anything happens to me, you will have
to get Morgan out of here.”
“Wait a minute!” Morgan exclaimed. “I’m not going to—”
“You are going to do what you are told. Your plans count
for nothing if I fail. If the Federation has the Mole or if they
capture me, there isn’t anything more to be done.”
Morgan stared at her, silenced by the anger and determina-
tion he found in her green eyes.
Matty took his arm and moved him back a step. “I’ll look
after him,” she promised.
Damson nodded, and her face softened a shade. She rose,
wrapped her cloak about, gave them a short nod, and disap-
peared back the way she had come. Morgan stared after her,
feeling helpless. She was right. There was nothing he could do
242 The Talismans of Shannara
if she failed. The success of any plan he devised depended on
the girl and the Mole bringing Chandos and the free-born into
the city. Without the free-born or the magic of his Sword, he
would not be able to help Padishar. Such a slender thread for
events to hang upon, he thought grimly.
“Care for something to eat? ” Matty Roh asked cheerfully,
her dark eyes questioning, and offered him an apple.
They waited within the shade of the storage shed, secluded
and alone in the little, closed-about courtyard until almost mid-
day. The air grew steamy and thick with heat, and the sun
burned a slow trail across the stones and withered grass, climb-
ing the north wall east to west like the spread of spilled paint.
Morgan dozed for a time, weary from the long march in and
the uncertain night sleeping before the gates in his uncomfort-
able disguise. He found himself thinking of Par and Coil and
the days before the Shadowen and Allanon, of the times they
had spent hunting and fishing in the Highlands, of his own
boyhood, of the long slow days when life had seemed an ex-
citing game. He thought of Steff and Granny Elise and Auntie
Jilt. He thought of Quickening. They were memories of a past
that lost a little of its color with the passing of every day. They
all seemed to have disappeared from his life a very long time