MA11-12 Myth-ion Improbable Something Myth-Inc by Robert Asprin Read Free Book Online Page A

Glenda said, pulling out the chair and sitting down beside me. “My father tracked two groups with the map who did that. Both met very ugly ends at the hands of creatures they never should have faced.”
    My memory of the snakes was clear enough to understand exactly what she was saying.
    She took a piece of the wonderful-smelling fresh bread and bit into it, never taking her gaze from mine.
    “And your price to rescue us is ...?” Aahz asked.
    I glanced at him. Typical Aahz, always leading with the pocketbook first,
    Glenda smiled at my green-scaled mentor.
    “What’s your name?” she asked.
    “Aahz,” he said. “And you haven’t answered my question yet.”
    “I want to go with you,” she said. “And for helping you find the golden cow and getting us all back to a dimension near the Bazaar at Deva, I want the same share as each of you are getting, after paying off the Shifter.”
    It still wasn’t making sense.
    “So why haven’t you just gone after the cow on your own, before now?”
    “Honestly,” she said, looking directly into my eyes while answering, “my father thought you, Skeeve, were the first one he had ever sold the map to that had a chance of actually getting to the cow.”
    “You didn’t answer his question either,” Aahz said. “And why should we give you such a large share of the treasure?”
    She laughed. “Besides getting you out of this place? This is only one of the problems you face. My father tried a number of times to go the distance before he sold the map the first time, but he always had to turn back. There are many problems ahead. I know what they are. You need me.”
    “And your father thinks Skeeve can make it?” Tananda asked.
    I would have been unhappy with the sound of disbelief in Tananda’s voice if I didn’t feel exactly the same way.
    Glenda reached over and touched my hand on the table.
    Electric shocks went up my arm and I am sure my face again turned a bright shade of red. I couldn’t even begin to think about moving my hand away from hers. And I didn’t want to. She was doing things to me I had only dreamed about, all with a single touch of her hand.
    “My father has the ability to see the true nature of people,” Glenda said, “and their true strengths.”
    She rubbed the top of my hand and it was everything I could do to not let out a long, loud sigh.
    “If he thinks Skeeve can get to the golden cow and win over the problems that lie ahead, then I believe in Skeeve as well.”
    I just smiled at Aahz, giving him my widest grin. In all our time together, I had never seen him look so disgusted.
    It felt wonderful.
    And so did Glenda’s hand on mine.
    Okay, so there was tension in the small cabin. Lots of it, of all kinds. I have to admit that having a girl my age along on this crazy quest sounded just fine by me. Especially one that thought I was special without really knowing me, and could make my entire body tingle at the touch of a hand. I liked the advantage of that. With her, I didn’t have any past mistakes to climb over or make up for.
    Aahz and Tananda, on the other hand, weren’t so certain about taking Glenda along and cutting her in on the possible prize. And that wasn’t good tension at all. And since none of us knew her, there was that tension as well.
    But the way I figured it, there really wasn’t much choice. Tananda couldn’t hop us back to any dimension she knew of. It was just too far, and we didn’t dare just risk hopping dimensions trying to get close enough. We would end up lost or more likely dead from something like those snakes or creepy identical-people on that street.
    We needed Glenda. And besides, I wanted her along. It would be fun getting to know her.
    “So now there are four of us,” I said, smiling across the table at Glenda and ignoring the scowls coming from my mentor.
    “Great,” Glenda said. “You won’t regret it.”
    I doubted I would either.
    “We split the treasure four ways,” Aahz said, making the