Knot Gneiss by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online Page B

do?
    “Can Jumper assume other forms than spider or man?” Dipper asked.
    Certainly, Jumper thought to them all, startling bird and mermaid. What would you like?
    “Maybe if I could ride, clothed,” Meryl said.
    “Like a horse?” Wenda asked, intrigued.
    Wenda felt Jumper jump off her hair. Then he manifested as a huge four-footed animal.
    “A unicorn!” Meryl exclaimed, delighted.
    “Solves the problem of clothing for them both,” Dipper remarked.
    That was true. A unicorn didn’t need clothing, and the mermaid could don her outfit and ride.
    Meryl promptly did. In a moment and a half she was perched sidesaddle on Jumper, fluttering her wings to maintain her balance since there wasn’t actually a saddle. She brought out a comb and fixed her hair, then used it to clear a small tangle from his mane. It seemed that mermaid and spider were becoming comfortable with each other too. It was all a matter of form.
    They moved through the orchard in style, Wenda on her bike, Dipper on Meryl’s shoulder, Meryl on Jumper. It remained an odd party, but now it was a proud one.
    Three girls appeared, about fourteen years old. “Hi, Jumper,” the first one said. Evidently they recognized him in any form.
    “Who’re your friends?” the second asked.
    “And what’s your Quest?” the third concluded.
    I’m not the Quester, Jumper thought. I’m a Companion. Wenda’s the Quester. You know her.
    The three put their hands to their mouths, covering triple O’s. “So we do,” the first said. “I’m Princess Melody.”
    “I’m Princess Harmony,” the second added. “We apologize, Wenda. We didn’t recognize you, whole.”
    “I’m Princess Rhythm. Welcome to Castle Roogna,” the third finished.
    “Thank you, Princesses,” Wenda said, half taken aback.
    That set them off again. “You didn’t say yew,” Melody began.
    “The Good Magician gave me a spell. Now I can’t even say would.”
    The three burst out laughing. “You sure sound funny,” Harmony continued. “Now you’re a wouldwife.”
    “You’re lucky Prince Charming didn’t notice,” Rhythm concluded. “He would have stayed awake longer than seven minutes.”
    Wenda looked sharply at her. What did this child know of that sort of thing? The princess met her gaze, and the answer was clear: too much. She wasn’t nearly the child she looked.
    “Princess Ida is expecting you,” Melody said, starting a new round. The three always talked in turns.
    “She’s all packed and ready to go,” Harmony added.
    “She’s hot for adventure,” Rhythm wound up.
    That seemed unlikely, but Wenda was not about to argue. “Then we shall go see her now.”
    They approached the castle. The drawbridge was down across the moat. As they started across, a huge serpentine head rose out of the water and eyed them.
    “It’s okay, Soufflé,” Melody said brightly.
    “It’s Wenda, Jumper, Meryl, and Dipper,” Harmony added.
    “They’re on a Quest,” Rhythm finished.
    Soufflé nodded and sank back under the water. Wenda was relieved; as a forest creature she was not completely comfortable with sea monsters. But she still did want one for her own castle moat.
    The three little princesses showed the way to Ida’s room. No one challenged the presence of a mermaid riding a unicorn in the castle; it almost seemed this sort of thing was routine. Jumper navigated the broad stairway with dispatch, his hooves finding secure footing. He knew how to handle multiple legs, regardless of the body.
    Ida was indeed expecting them; she stood outside her room, her little moon orbiting her head. She was a matronly woman looking fully as old as she was, with a substantial handbag. “Shall we go?” she inquired.
    “But—but we haven’t even been introduced,” Wenda protested, severely out of sorts.
    “Princess Aunt Ida,” Melody said. “Meet Princiss Wenda Woodwife Charming.”
    “And her friend Prince Jumper Spider, in unicorn mode,” Harmony continued.
    “And her