Jumper Cable by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online Page A

morning, Jumper. Thanks for everything.” She departed, heading for Crater’s door.
    Jumper settled down again for the night, marveling at the obscure ways of human women. He continued to wonder as he heard muted noises coming from Crater’s room. It sounded as though they were wrestling. That made no sense at all.
    “And I thought I was hot,” Hottie Harpie said from the corner. Jumper had forgotten she was there. “That’s the one thing I envy full-human girls: their legs.”
    “You have legs,” Jumper reminded her.
    “Bird legs don’t freak human men.”
    He realized that must be true. Maybe some day he would figure out why human legs did.
    In the morning they gathered: five maidens and Jumper. Crater packed them a knapsack with food for the journey. He looked surprisingly cheerful, as if he had had an excellent night. Jumper glanced at Phanta with a single eye, but she gave no sign.
    “I’ll miss you grils,” Crater said. “I hate having to do all the wrok myself.”
    “There will surely be other girls,” Phanta said.
    “Not like you.”
    “If I didn’t know better,” Olive murmured privately to Jumper, “I’d suspect he was smitten with her. But of course he likes the way she brings in travelers.”
    “She does that?” Jumper asked.
    “They come from all around to gawk at her skirt.”
    This did not match what Hottie had said. “Not her legs?”
    For some reason she laughed. “Those too.”
    Maybe he was destined never to understand.
    “Who carries the pack?” Haughty asked. “I can’t.”
    A glance circled around. “I can try,” Wenda said. But when she tried to put it on, it sagged so badly around her hollow back that she couldn’t. Phanta tried it, and it fit reasonably well, but when she blinked it dropped to the ground. It seemed that even the briefest closing of her eyes had the ghost effect. Olive tried it, but turned out not to be strong enough to carry it well. Maeve put it on, and she was strong enough.
    “But it’s pretty heavy,” Jumper said. “I might carry it more readily.”
    They rigged a harness and fastened it to his back, and Jumper had no trouble carry ing it.
    Maeve made an effort. “I’m trying to be girlish, to mask my nature,”
    she said. “To thank you for taking the pack, I’ll try to kiss you without biting.” She approached Jumper, put her mouth to his mandible, and jerked her head back just before her teeth snapped together. “Sorry about that. I have not yet conquered my nature.”
    They marched out into a beautiful morning. There was a path leading to the enchanted path. It wound through field and forest, o’er hill and dale, past rocks and rills, enjoying the sights as it went. “We’ll be there in another hour,” Haughty said.
    Then suddenly there was a blast of thunder. A storm was zooming out from cover behind a large tree.
    “F**k!” Haughty swore. “Fracto ambushed us!”
    “Flak,” Maeve murmured. “Harpies hate antiaircraft fire.”
    The dark cloud spread out in seconds, and lightning flashed. They were about to get drenched, or worse.
    “Maybe I can help,” Olive Hue said. “One of my friends has a special talent.”
    “Make it fast,” Phanta said. “Fracto means to wash us out.”
    A young man appeared. “You look worried, Olive,” he remarked.
    “We need protection from Fracto,” Olive said. “We need to get safely to the enchanted path.”
    “That’s my specialty,” he agreed. He concentrated.
    “This is my imaginary friend Jestin,” Olive said to the others. “He conjures a portable section of an enchanted path.”
    “Hello, Jestin,” Phanta said, switching her little skirt about. His eyes started to glaze. There just seemed to be something about that skirt despite its smallness. As it was, it was barely big enough to cover her pan ties.
    Olive hastily got between them, blocking off Jestin’s view. “Wait until he finishes the path,” she said urgently.
    “Oh.” Phanta toned it down.
    The path