The Tiger's Egg by Jon Berkeley Read Free Book Online

start.” He paused for a moment, and a frown creased his forehead. “And the fish of truth can of course fly . . . .” His voice tailed off as though he had just thought of something else, then suddenly he sat bolt upright and turned back to Miles. He put his fingertips to his temples. “Ask me a question,” he said, fixing Miles with his goggly eyes and looking not unlike the fish of truth himself. “Anything at all.”
    Miles thought for a moment. “Okay,” he said, suddenly remembering where he had seen the fortune-teller’s name before. “Did you invent Dr. Tau-Tau’s Restorative Tonic?”
    A shocked look came over Doctor Tau-Tau’s face. “Infamy!” he spluttered. “I never had anything to do with the stuff. I hope no drop of that insidious juice ever passed your lips, young man.”
    He straightened his fez with a hand that shook slightly. “My name was stolen, if you must know, by a villain named the Great Cortado. He hounded me from the circus and stole my possessions! My books, my herbs and remedies, even my name he took for his vile concoctions, and I was left to start again in foreign parts with nothing but the clothes I stood up in.” He took a gulp of tea, and it seemed to restore some of his composure. “And, of course, my uncommon talent,” he added.
    â€œYou used to be with Barty Fumble’s circus, didn’t you?” said Miles.
    Doctor Tau-Tau nodded. “Many years ago,” he said, “I was apprenticed to a fortune-teller named Celeste. My unparalleled knowledge of the divining arts was built on the foundation of her teaching. She also taught me much about the ancient healing properties of plants, and with my innate talent Iwas able to develop a number of excellent potions and cures from her simple remedies, although unlike that infamous tonic, few of them have received the recognition they deserved.”
    â€œWhat kind of potions did you invent?” asked Little.
    â€œWell, there was my powerful sleeping draught, which could calm the most nervous of people and send them into a deep and dreamless sleep for an entire day. I also perfected a cure for gastric distress, and of course my patented Bearded Lady lotion remains an untried marvel to this day.”
    â€œA Bearded Lady lotion?” said Little.
    â€œAbsolutely,” said Tau-Tau, chewing the last of his sausage. “Two drops of this liquid applied to the chin of the daintiest lady would be enough to produce a beard of magnificent quality in minutes. Think of the money an enterprising girl could make as a sideshow. I can’t imagine why no one has ever consented to try it.”
    â€œVery odd,” said Miles, who was far more interested by the mention of his mother than by Doctor Tau-Tau’s back catalogue of untried marvels. He tried to keep his tone casual, but he was burning to know more. “What was she like?” he asked.
    â€œI told you I never found anyone brave . . . I mean,enterprising enough,” said the fortune-teller sadly.
    â€œI mean Celeste,” said Miles. “What was she like?”
    â€œAh!” said Tau-Tau, and he paused for the first time since sitting down at the table. He seemed to be lost for a moment in another time. “Great clairvoyants don’t come along every five minutes, young man,” he said at length. “I, of course, am the greatest fortune-teller and healer alive, though I don’t like to blow my own trumpet, but Celeste was certainly something special in her day. She made you feel like you were made of glass, and your beating heart was suspended there for her to see.”
    â€œBut what did she look like?” asked Miles.
    â€œWhat did she look like?” repeated Doctor Tau-Tau. He was silent again for a while, except for a loud belch that started deep in his stomach and rumbled its way out without disturbing his train of