He was slightly surprised when Jubal nodded. ‘That seems reasonable. We’re both
men of our word.’ The big man twisted his lips, as if he were considering. Then:
‘The morning after your father died, a night prowler who watches the dark hours
for me saw Vashanka come through your door – not out of it, through it. He was
briefly a figure of dazzling light as he moved down the street. Then he vanished
in a blinding puff of brightness akin to lightning. The flareup, since it lit up
the entire street, was seen by several other persons, who did not know its
origin.’
Jubal continued, ‘I should tell you that there is an old story that a god can go
through a wall or a door only if a second god is nearby on the other side. So we
may reason that for Vashanka to be able to emerge in the fashion described there
was another god outside. However, my informants did not see this second mighty
being.’
‘Bu-u-t-t!’ Stulwig heard a stuttering voice. And only when the mad sound
collapsed into silence did he realize that it was his own mouth that had tried
to speak.
What he wanted to say, what was trying to form in his mind” and in his tongue
was that, for Vashanka to have penetrated into the barricaded greenhouse in the
first place, then there must already have been a god inside; who had somehow
inveigled his way past his father’s cautious resistance to night-time visitors.
The words, the meaning, wouldn’t come. The logic of it was too improbable for
Stulwig to pursue the matter.
Gulping, he fumbled in his pocket. Identified the desired coin with his fingers.