look pleased to see him. “What seems to be your problem? ”
he asked Morgan pointedly.
The Highlander walked to the counter and glared. “What
seems to be my problem? I didn’t have a problem until I came
in here. Don’t you think you were a little quick with that
broom? ”
The boy shrugged. “I asked you to leave and you didn’t.
What do you expect? ”
“How about a little help? I told you I was looking for some-
one.”
The boy sighed wearily. “Everyone is looking for someone—
especially the people who come in here.” His voice was low
and smooth, an odd mix. “They come in here to drink and to
feel better. They come in here to find company. Fine. But they
have to do it when we’re open. And we’re not open. Is that
plain enough for you? ”
Morgan felt his temper begin to slip. He shook his head.
“I’ll tell you what’s plain to me. What’s plain to me is that you
don’t have any manners. Someone ought to box your ears.”
The boy set the broom down and put his slim hands on the
counter. “Well, it won’t be you who does it. Now turn around
The Talismans of Shannara 85
and go back out that door. And forget what I said before.
Don’t come back later. Don’t come back at all.”
For a moment Morgan considered reaching over the counter,
taking hold of the boy by the scruff of his neck, and pulling
him across. But the memory of that broom handle was too re-
cent to encourage precipitous action, and besides, the boy
didn’t look the least bit afraid of him.
Keeping his anger in check, he folded his arms across his
chest and held his ground. “Is there anyone else here that I can
talk to besides you? ” he asked.
The boy shook his head.
“The owner, maybe? ”
The boy shook his head.
“No? ” Morgan decided to take a chance. “Is the owner’s
name Matty Roh? ”
There was a flicker of recognition in the cobalt eyes, there
for an instant and then gone. “No.”
Morgan nodded slowly. “But you know who Matty Roh is,
don’t you? ” He made it a statement of fact.
The boy’s gaze was steady. “I’m tired of talking to you.”
Morgan ignored him. “Matty Roh. That’s who I came here
to find. And I came a long way. Which is why I need a bath,
as you so rudely pointed out. Matty Roh. Not some nameless
companion for some unmentionable purpose, thanks just the
same.” His voice was taking on a sharper edge. “Matty Roh.
You know the name; you know who she is. So if you want to
be rid of me, just tell me how to find her and I’ll be on my
way.”
He waited, arms folded, feet planted. The boy’s expression
never changed; his gaze never moved off Morgan. But his
hands slipped down behind the serving counter and came up
again holding a thin-bladed sword. The way they held it sug-
gested a certain familiarity.
“Now, what’s this? ” Morgan asked quietly, “Am I really
that unwelcome? ”
The boy was as still as stone. “Who are you? What do you
want with Matty Roh? ”
Morgan shook his head. ‘That’s between her and me.” Then
he added, “I’ll tell you this much. I’m not here to cause trou-
ble. I just need to speak with her.”
86
The Talismans of Shannara
The boy studied him for a long time, gaze level and fixed,
body still. He stood behind the serving counter like a statue,
and Morgan had the uneasy feeling that he was poised between
fleeing and attacking. Morgan watched the eyes and the hands
for a hint of which way the boy would go, but there was no
movement at all. From outside, the sounds of the street drifted
in through the open doors and hung shrill and intrusive in the
silence.
“I’m Many Ron,” the boy said.
Morgan Leah stared. He almost laughed aloud, almost said
something about how ridiculous that was. But something in the
boy’s voice stopped him. He took a closer look at the other—