Paul Kidd - White Plume Mountain

“Shhh!” The Justicar rummaged for small change inside hisbadger-skin sporran. “Floor space, then. And bring me a large mulled ale, somemulled ale in an egg cup, and some of that roast beef.”

And coal!

“Yes.” The ranger patted Cinders’ fur. “And a piece ofcoal.”

“Fine sir! Fine, fine, fine!” The innkeeper proffered hishand. “Two coppers for bed and breakfast, and one noble for the meal.”

The Justicar’s mind boggled.

“One gold piece!”

“One sir! Just one, just one, just one!” The innkeeper wavedhis hands in an attempt to fan out the flames of his customer’s outrage.“Supplies are at a premium, sir! The city’s overcrowded, and the fields are allchoked with weeds! Food, sir! It’s almost priceless!”

Angrily paying for his meal, the ranger passed over the coins and watched the innkeeper thread his way off between a heavy crowd of minstrels, townsfolk, and gamblers.

“There had better be bread with this.” The man sniffed thetorturous smell of fine roast beef and felt his stomach growl. “Escalla, do youneed me to make you a seat?”

There was no answer. From his comfortable den inside the backpack, Cinders waved his tail.

Girlie go bye-bye!

“Great. Maybe she’s doing her job.” The Justicar settledhimself more comfortably in his chair. “She’ll be back for her meal.”

At a far part of the tavern, a suave gambler dressed in blackheld sway over a large game of cards. With almost a dozen players, the pot grew to huge proportions-and weirdly enough, the profits rarely seemed to fall intothe gambler’s hands. The fact that the major winners were all assistants to thegambler seemed quite beyond the mental capacity of the other players to grasp. The constant chink and hiss of money cascading into happy hands served as a magnet to draw victim after victim over to the game.

Watching unhappily from one corner, a scraggly youth stared at the fall of money with a wistful, hungry eye. He seemed ill fed and unhappy and thus could scarcely believe it when three gold pieces fell into his lap from the empty sky. The boy looked about as though expecting someone to demand the money back-then blinked as a little voice whispered in his ear.

“Hey, kid! Psssst! Hey! Over here!”

A rather sleek and perky ginger cat sat in the shadows of his chair. The boy blinked then leaned a little closer as the cat jerked her head and beckoned him near.

“Hey, kid! I’m your magic wishing cat! Make a wish and we’llsee it come true!”

“Ummm…” The boy blinked. “I wish for true love!”

The cat’s ears flattened. “Fine, you’re now destined to meetMiss Right. Now is there anything maybe on a smaller scale we might try?”

“Um, I could use some money.”

“An excellent choice! You’re a gem, kid, no matter what theneighbors say. Now pay attention, kid, and we’ll get some cash into your hands.”

The cat had sleek curves and strangely feminine eyes. A little concerned about his sudden turn of good luck, the skinny boy looked the cat carefully up and down.

“Where did you come from, O Magic Wishing Cat?”

“Um, from the beast lands. What’s-her-name, the Queen of theCats, sent me.”

“Why?”

The cat gave him an irritated glare. “Because you’re such alegendary good pal to cats.”

“Really?”

The cat cocked an eye. “Did you ever just pat a cat for noreason other than the fact that it rubbed around your legs?”

“Um, yeah.”

The cat gave a shrug. “So it’s payback time. Now payattention, kid.”

The boy immediately tried to pat the cat and had his hand swatted for his pains.

“No one touches the magic wishing cat. All right?”

“All right.”

“Right!” The cat curled its tail about its paws. “Now I, themagic wishing cat, will help you win a great fortune at cards tonight, but to show your gratitude, you must be willing to give half of your gains to my nominated agent so that he may redistribute the money to the needy.”

The youth gave a shrug. “All right.”

“Good. So go play cards and listen for my voice whispering inyour ear!” The cat suddenly turned invisible, and the air seemed to hum with thebeat of little wings. “Play what I tell you to play, use the three gold piecesfor your stake, and we’ll have you rolling in dough in no time!” Wings passedlow over the boy’s head with a little whirr. “Kid, the cards are gonna burn hottonight!”

The Justicar’s dinner took half an hour to arrive, and it arrived withoutbread. A giant bowl of pickled cabbage with chopped onions accompanied the hot roast beef, as well as a bowl of beans. If everyone else was eating the same fare, then the common room would be no place for open flame once everyone went to bed. With no sign of Escalla, the Justicar shrugged and simply dug into his meal, making sure he kept aside one of the good, crackly end-pieces of the roast for the missing girl.

He listened carefully to conversations. He questioned a pair of long-bearded burghers for the location of sorcerers’ supply shops and madecarefully innocent inquiries of the waitresses. The Justicar bought drinks for three city guards and scanned their talk for anything that might have been a clue. With the evening wearing on and no leads gained, the man bought himself another drink, borrowed a stable brush from the landlord, and flopped Cinders out over his knee to brush the hell hound’s fur. The sentient pelt growledhappily inside his friend’s mind, basking in the warmth of the open fire andseeming utterly content.

Into this strange domestic scene, a thin youth appeared. Flushed with excitement, the boy staggered under the weight of two large bags of coin. He thumped one bag onto the table, seemingly exhausted by the weight.

“Hey, mister! The magic wishing cat told me to give you thismoney to distribute to the poor and needy.”

Slowly putting down his ale, the Justicar suspiciously drummed his fingers on the tabletop.

“Magic wishing cat?”

“She was sent by Queen What’s-her-name, the cat lady!” Theyouth breathed out a sigh. “So there you are! Now I’m off home!”

“Wait.” The warrior eyed the heavy bag of coins. “How didthe wishing cat get all this coin?”

“She helped me win it at cards. She magically let me knowwhat cards to play.”

“Oh, really?”

The fleeced gamblers were having an angry meeting in one corner of the room. Since they were thieves themselves, the Justicar felt a sour stab of satisfaction at seeing them so suddenly impoverished. “Son, you reallyought to celebrate. Go order yourself one of the royal suites.”

“Um, all right.” The boy blinked. “If you think it’s best.”

“It’s best. And when you take that money home tomorrow, makesure you travel with good friends.”

The boy walked away, leaving the Justicar alone. He reclined with Cinders in his lap and put his hands behind his head.

“You really like this ‘stealing from thieves’ thing, eh?”

A piece of lukewarm roast beef hovered in midair, disappearing bit by bit as Escalla stuffed her invisible self with meat.

The faerie spoke with her mouth full, licking invisible fingertips. “Hey, it’s natural justice!”

“Hmm.” The Justicar leaned his head on his hand. “And doinggood actually feels good, doesn’t it?”

“You betcha!”

“Thought so. Let’s see just how much good we can spreadaround.” The Justicar summoned the innkeeper over to his side.

“Landlord, how many refugees do you think there aresheltering in the nearest streets?”

The little man with the shelf fungus hair rapidly blinked his eyes in thought.

“Oh a few! A few, a few, a few! No money on them, you see.Never come in here!” The landlord wiped his hands as though contaminated by thewhole idea. “Must be a couple dozen of them.”