xanth 40 - isis orb by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online Page B

to find five Companions, and five Totems needed to control the Orb. It’s complicated, as I said.”
    “And what do these Companions get out of it?”
    “They’ll get their own wishes granted by the Orb. So it’s a group effort.”
    “And I’m standing in your way.”
    “As long as you don’t tell me where that cat is, yes. I just want to find the cat and get on with the Quest.”
    She turned slowly, and her curves turned with her. “What do you think of me?”
    “You’re beautiful, including your pretty striped hair. I’d love to have a girlfriend like you. But I’m pretty sure you’re not interested. So will you quit teasing me and tell me: where is the cat?”
    “All you care about is my curves?”
    “That’s all I know of you!”
    “And suppose I want someone to care about something other than my curves?”
    He was getting fed up. “Then maybe you should find your own Quest, instead of interfering with mine.”
    “I am not interfering.”
    “That’s what you say. Why don’t you just go away?”
    “I can’t do that.”
    He was exasperated. “Where is that cat?”
    “Watch me.”
    “I’m watching.” Indeed, she was not at all hard to watch. She could probably freak out a man without ever flashing panties, if she tried.
    She started changing. She seemed to melt down into a four footed animal with a tail. It had blue and white stripes.
    “Oh, my,” he breathed. It was the cat. She was the cat. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
    The cat silently stalked off.
    Bleep! He hurried after it. After her . “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I simply had no idea.”
    The cat reached a nearby tree trunk and quickly climbed it. She lay on a branch just out of his reach and gazed down at him.
    He had had enough of this. “Listen to me, Feline, if that’s your name. I gave you a reason for my tackling this Quest, but that’s not the whole story. The Good Magician asked me to take it, and finding a musical instrument is only part of it. Another part is that it seems I am the key to helping five other people accomplish their own wishes. Without the Quest they won’t get what they want either. One of them is you. So whatever it is you want, you won’t get it unless you cooperate and help me get the Orb. But if you don’t care about that, okay, I’ll go look for the next Companion and leave you out of it. I’m not going to mess with you. So get with it or get out; it’s your choice.”
    The cat continued to stare at him.
    “As you wish.” He turned and stalked away from the tree.
    “You win.”
    He turned back. There was the woman. He realized that she was fully clothed; the transformation seemed to cover that. “So what is it that you want that the Orb might grant?”
    She smiled, looking dangerously pretty in the process. “This is ironic. I want to be loved for something other than my curves.”
    Hapless was amazed. “For something else? But you’ve got them. Why not use them? I’m sure you can catch the eye of any man you want to.”
    “I can. That’s the point. There’s a lot more to me than my curves. I want some of the rest to be recognized. A man who sees only curves is too shallow to bother with.”
    “That’s all I’m seeing of you.”
    She merely looked at him. Bleep! He had just defined himself as hopelessly shallow. He laughed ruefully. “Got me there. I apologize.”
    “Let’s get on with the Quest,” she said. “The day is late. We’d better make camp, and look for the next Companion in the morning.”
    He looked around. The protected path had vanished, and he wasn’t ready to start the next one. “There doesn’t seem to be much here, and it’s an exposed glade; we’ll be in danger if we sleep here.”
    “ You’ll be in danger. I’ll sleep high in a tree.”
    “Oh. Of course.”
    “You don’t know what to do, do you?”
    “I guess not. I hadn’t planned this far ahead. I’ve lived in a village all my life. Never spent a night in the