The Fellowship of the Talisman by Clifford D. Simak Read Free Book Online

to the dog.
    The man was tall and cadaverous. He wore a shabby brown robe that reached to his ankles. A cowl was bunched about his shoulders. In his right hand he carried a long and knobby staff, in his left he clutched a fistful of plants. The skin clung so tightly to his skull that the bones showed through. His beard was skimpy.
    He said to them, “I’m Andrew, the hermit. I had meant not to interfere with you. So, catching sight of you, I hid from sight of you. I was out to hunt for greens, a mess of pottage for my supper. You wouldn’t have some cheese, perchance, would you?”
    â€œWe have cheese,” growled Conrad.
    â€œI dream of cheese,” said Andrew, the hermit. “I wake up at night and find I am thinking of a bit of cheese. It has been a long time since I have had the taste of cheese.”
    â€œIn that case,” said Duncan, “we’ll be glad to give you some. Why don’t you, Conrad, take that sack off Beauty.”
    â€œNay, wait a moment,” objected Andrew. “No need to do it now. You be travelers, are you not?”
    â€œYou can see we are,” said Conrad, not too pleasantly.
    â€œIn that case,” said Andrew, “why not spend the night with me. I’m fair famished for the sight of human faces and the sound of human tongue. There’s Ghost, of course, but talking with him is little like talking with someone in the flesh.”
    â€œGhost?” asked Duncan.
    â€œAye, a ghost. A very honest ghost. And quite a decent one. Not given to the rattling of chains or moaning in the night. He’s shared my cell with me since the day that he was hanged. The Harriers done it to him.”
    â€œThe Harriers, of course,” said Duncan. “Would you tell us how you escaped the Harriers.”
    â€œI hid in my cell,” said Andrew. “It really is a cave and it’s not as small and cramped and miserable as a proper cell should be. I fear I am not a proper hermit. I do not go in for the mortifications of the flesh as the more successful hermits do. I dug the cave first to cell-like proportions, as I understood I was supposed to, but over the years I have enlarged it until it’s spacious and fairly comfortable. There’s plenty of room for you. It’s hidden quite away. You’ll be secure from all observation, as I would imagine most travelers in a place like this naturally would want to be. The evening’s coming on and you must soon seek camp and you can’t find a better place than this cell of mine.”
    Duncan looked at Conrad. “What are your thoughts,” he asked, “upon the matter?”
    â€œLittle sleep you got last night,” said Conrad, “I got even less. This one seems an honest yokel.”
    â€œThere’s the ghost,” warned Duncan.
    Conrad shrugged elaborately. “Ghosts I do not mind.”
    â€œAll right, then,” said Duncan. “Friar Andrew, if you will lead the way.”
    The cave was located a mile or so outside the village, and to reach it they passed through a cemetery which, from the variety and condition of the stones, must have been in continuous use for centuries. Near the center of it stood a small tomb built of native stone. Sometime in the past, perhaps in a storm, the heavy trunk of a large oak tree nearby had fallen across the tomb, shattering the small statuary fixed atop it and pushing the covering slab askew.
    A short distance beyond the cemetery they came to the hermit’s cave, which was excavated from a steep hillside, its entrance well masked by a growth of trees and heavy underbrush and a chattering brook hurrying down a steep ravine directly in front.
    â€œYou go on in,” Conrad said to Duncan. “I’ll unsaddle Daniel, bring in Beauty’s pack.”
    The cave was dark, but even in the darkness it had a spacious sense. A small fire burned on the hearth. Fumbling in the darkness, the hermit found a large candle,