The Oathbound Wizard-Wiz Rhyme-2 by Christopher Stasheff Page A

up with them!"
    "Yes, but to the uninformed, it might look as though you were chasing them. And you did sound kind of angry."
    "Angry? Of course I'm angry! How would you feel if people ran whenever they saw you?"
    "I wouldn't like it. And I didn't, either." Matt was thinking about a couple of girls he'd been attracted to in high school. "But believe me--it works better if you sit and wait for them to come to you."
    Narlh dug his claws in and jammed to a halt by the cart. "Says you! Me, I'll try the old-fashioned method." He jammed his snout into the brush. "Yoo-hoo!
    Where are you? Come out, come out, wherever you are!"
    There was a scrabbling noise, moving away from them.
    "Aw, come on now!" Narlh said, exasperated. "I'm not gonna eat you, for crying out loud!"
    "I think that might be just what they were worrying about" Matt slid off his back and stepped into the center of the roadway, calling, "Really, folks! He's got a nasty temper, but he's got a heart of gold...plate," he added, in case any sorcerers were listening. "And I'm a wizard, from Merovence. We really don't mean any harm. Why don't you come on out and chat awhile?" Narlh frowned at him as though he were crazy, but kept quiet. Finally, a man's voice answered, with a strong peasant burr, "If ye truly mean us no harm, strangers, ride on, I beg of ye."
    "But you look really tired," Matt protested. "I was kind of thinking we could guard you while you take a good rest."
    There was a pause, then a quick, whispered consultation. It ended, and the father waded out of the brush--but not very far. "Good day to you, then."
    "God be with you," Matt answered.
    There were multiple gasps and a quick flurry of whispers from the brush.
    "If you speak the name of God," the father said, "you must be a good-magic-worker, if you are one at all."
    "I am." Matt didn't mention that the man himself had spoken the name, with no apparent ill effects. "But what brings you onto the road, goodman?" The man heaved a sigh, and what little starch was left in him seeped out.
    "Soldiers, sir. They were ransacking other cots not distant from ours, so we took what we could and left on the road."
    Sobbing sounded from behind him, and he looked up, then turned away. He brought his wife out a moment later, drying her eyes and forcing a smile. " 'Tis naught of your care, sirs."
    "I know." Matt tried to look sympathetic. "It's hard to leave a home."
    " 'Twas well we did." She bit her lip. "From the hilltop, we looked back and saw the soldiers firing our cot." She turned back to weep quietly on her husband's shoulder.
    Someone small peeked out from behind her skirts, and a larger edition stepped up boldly to inform Matt, "They drove off our pig and our sheep! And set fire to it all!"
    The wife let out a wail.
    "Shhh, silly!" A sister added herself to the tribe. "You'll only make Mama cry!"
    The boy looked startled, then abashed.
    Narlh snorted.
    They all turned--to see the smaller boy whirling to flee, bawling. His sister caught him and made soothing noises.
    Matt frowned. "Don't pick on the kid!"
    "I didn't," Narlh snapped. "I was trying to be friendly." The tears cut off, and the tyke turned to look back, wide-eyed.
    "That's 'friendly,' for him," Matt explained. "Not quite the same as it is for you."
    "Hey! Watch whose reputation you're slurring!"
    "I thought I was improving it."
    The bigger boy took a daring step toward the monster, then another, and another.
    Narlh looked down his nose at him, then deliberately turned away. The boy reached out and touched his flank.
    Narlh ignored him.
    The boy began to stroke the leathery hide, tiptoeing closer and closer to the front, a step at a time.
    Narlh looked back, one beady eye transfixing the boy. The lad froze. Narlh snorted and turned away again.
    The five-year-old shrilled with delight.
    Big brother sneaked another step or two forward.
    Matt turned away from the game of peek-a-boo. "I didn't know he had it in him."
    "He is very big," the wife said