"Doesn't your cloak protect you?"
"It should. But what about you?"
"I may have to help you paddle from the rear seat."
They nudged the canoe into the frozen Kokytus. Immediately a cutting crosswind developed, shoving
the canoe sidewise toward the ice. Ligeia had to put her paddle out to stave off a collision, and Mym did
the same. Now the wind tore at the woman, whipping her hair across her face, quickly chilling her.
"Come back here with me!" Mym cried. "Before you freeze."
"But then the ice-"
"You can't endure that cold wind long!"
She had to agree. She made her way back to him, and got under the cover of his cloak.
But now the canoe was weighted down at the back, and lifting out of the water at the front. The wind
turned it about so that the front overrode the ice. They were unable to paddle it forward.
"I'll have to go back to my seat," Ligeia said, shivering with the expectation. "It's the only way we can-"
"No! I won't have you freezing!"
"But you have to talk with-"
But Mym had a notion. "Let's see if we can travel on the ice!" he exclaimed.
They tried it. They paddled madly and rammed the canoe up farther on the ice. When it would go no
farther, they moved up to the front end, overbalancing it and lifting the rear out of the water. Then some
scraping and shoving with the paddles got the remainder onto the ice.
After that it wasn't hard. They simply poled the canoe across the ice, downstream. The liability had
become an asset.
But when they came to the landing for the next meeting, the problem of cold resumed. If Ligeia
remained with the canoe, she would freeze. But if she did not-
"Actually, that snake's torpid," Mym said. "It's coldest in the bottom of the boat, where it touches the
ice."
Ligeia checked. The snake was curled up, trying to husband some warmth, but obviously not
succeeding. "The poor thing," she murmured. "I'd better get it to somewhere warmer."
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
"That reptile is-" Mym started, but couldn't finish, because he didn't want the snake to know he knew.
"Cold," she finished. "I don't care what kind of creature it is, it shouldn't be allowed to freeze." She
reached into the canoe and carefully picked up the snake.
Mym was disgusted. He would have been glad to be rid of the snake in a coincidental manner, so that
Satan would not catch on. At the same time, he appreciated the softer nature of Ligeia, who, however
foolishly, was being caring.
So they walked away from the frozen river, and Ligeia carried the snake along, warming it.
The souls of this region resembled snow monsters as they struggled to carry baskets of snow through the
drifts. Obviously they had been assigned this work for the same reason the others had to slop muck
endlessly-pointless misery. The demons in charge were in a high tower, evidently warmed by a stove,
because smoke issued from its chimney. That meant that the workers were not closely supervised-but it
seemed the demons kept track of the deliveries, for as Mym watched, a snow-bomb was lofted from an
automatic catapult. It arched through the air and landed on a laggard worker, burying him in snow.
Another worker saw the two of them. "New recruits?" he asked. "Here, I've got an extra coat for the
lady." He paused to strip his outer layer, a furred jacket, battered but good.
"But you need that yourself!" Ligeia protested.
"Not as much as you do," the man said, handed her the jacket, and resumed his plodding.
It was a help, for now she was able to walk alone. Mym located the leader and matched his step,
speaking briefly to him while Ligeia walked some distance behind. Then Mym phased in with the man,
and in a moment the understanding was complete; the man would spread the word, and these people
would cooperate. Mym disengaged, walked along for another minute, then broke away, trusting that
neither the supervising demon nor the snake Ligeia carried had comprehended the true nature of his
contact.
They returned to the canoe. "They don't seem like bad people," Mym remarked as they resumed their
skid along the ice.
"They really aren't," she agreed. "Of course I am bringing you to the best groups, the ones who were [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]