Макс Фрай - The Stranger

These were his first words all morning. It seemed the fellow had really decided he’d had enough.

“We’ll see. I don’t think so, but we’ll see. I still have to meet someone. If you like, we can go together to get something to eat at . . . yes, why not? The fare at the Down Home Diner is very tasty!”

“Fine,” Lonli-Lokli said. “As you wish. But I plan to spiff myself up a bit, so don’t wait for me. Go to your meeting, and I’ll be along later.”

“Fine,” I echoed. “As you wish.”

Everything seemed to have fallen into place again. I smirked, and Shurf didn’t even notice. Life was settling down.

I didn’t delay my meeting with Sir Mackie Ainti. Suddenly I was very eager to get back to Echo. Actually, I was sure we could push on already with no regrets or doubts. But I was itching to have one last chat with Mackie. A goodbye chat.

The wooden door of the Down Home Diner opened with a quiet creak. I didn’t think it had creaked before when I opened it, but maybe I just hadn’t noticed?

“Howdy, partner,” Mackie smiled hospitably under his reddish mustache. “Did you enjoy your adventures?”

“Did you?” I asked, sitting down in the chair I already considered my own. Indeed, the chair was mine, and only mine. I would wager my life that no one had ever sat there but me. “Did you like my adventures?”

“Me? Very much so. I’m thinking maybe I won’t let you go back to Juffin at all. There’s plenty of work for you here. Hey, I’m kidding! What got you so scared, Max? Do I look like a kidnapper? You’ve got a very expressive face. But that’s an advantage, if anything. I get a heap of pleasure out of talking to you. And hiding one’s feelings—there’s no point in that. Might as well not have them at all, and be done with it. I guess you’ve got some questions?”

I shook my head.

“No. No questions. Your answers only make me feel unwell. Mackie, could I send you a call when I’m ready to ask?”

“I don’t know, Max. Try it. Why not? Everything works for you sooner or later. Somehow or other.” He winked at me and burst out laughing.

It was the first time I had heard Mackie Ainti laugh. Until then he had just smiled under his mustache. I didn’t like his laugh. I didn’t know why, but it sent chills up and down my spine.

“You laugh like that sometimes, too. And you also give innocent people a fright,” Sir Mackie remarked. “Don’t fret, it’s all for the best. Well, now, you’ve got a more important problem. You want to get home, and it would be awkward for you to wait for the caravan. Here, take this.” He handed me a little greenish stone, amazingly heavy for a thing of such trifling proportions.

“Is this a guide? A ‘Key to the Door between Worlds’? Like the kind all Kettarians have?”

“Better! A man who helped me create my World has the right to a few privileges, and I’m not joking. An ordinary key only works for Kettarians themselves. It won’t work for people from another world. Your key is for you alone. If you give it to any of your friends, I won’t vouch for the consequences. That clear?”

“Yes. You didn’t have to warn me. I’m very possessive.”

“Ah, that’s good. Don’t give it to Juffin, either. Above all, don’t give it to Juffin, all right? But he wouldn’t take it anyway. I keep forgetting that Juffin is already old and wise. You know, I really am glad that your friend’s problems were resolved so easily. He’s an extremely nice fellow. And highly entertaining. I’m very sorry that he can’t visit me. When are you leaving?”

“I don’t know. Soon, I expect. Tomorrow, or maybe even today. We’ll see. But why do you say that Shurf can’t visit you? I have to confess, I invited him here today. Was that a blunder?”

“No, not at all. It’s all right. He’s sitting in the next room, since . . . Well, you’ll understand soon.” Mackie stood up abruptly and made for the door. Then he turned around. “That stone, your ‘key.’ It only opens one Door between Worlds, Max. Though it works in both directions. Do you catch my drift?”

“You mean I can come back here?”

“Whenever you wish. Come back, and then leave again. I don’t think you’ll have any time for pleasure trips in the near future, but, who knows what you’ll do? Oh, and keep in mind that someone can pass through with you—but not just anyone, so don’t take any foolish risks. Make sure you think it through, first. And don’t even think of trying to get into the business of being a Caravan Leader. Don’t take the bread out of the mouths of my countrymen. Got it?”

I smiled and swiftly tapped my nose with the forefinger of my right hand twice. Sir Mackie smiled, too, under his reddish mustache, then left.

The door creaked loudly, then slammed shut, and I was alone. I hid the green stone in my pocket. How am I going to keep from losing it? I wondered. Would I have to have a ring made from it? I don’t like wearing hardware—but maybe it was the only way. I looked out the window. The multihued spray of the fountain was sparkling in the sun. The street was empty. Mackie had most likely already turned the corner, out of sight.

Right, as though he had had time! Stop fooling yourself, Max, I told myself wearily. I got up from the comfortable chair and went into the next room, where Lonli-Lokli was no doubt lolling about, bored as could be.

Shurf had, indeed, already settled down at a table by the window. He was studying the menu, so I stole up to him unnoticed.

“Where did you come from, Max? Have you already found your way to the kitchen?”

“Why would I want to visit the kitchen? I was just sitting in the room next door.”

“What room next door? Max, are you sure this tavern has more than one dining room?”

“I just came from there.” I turned back toward the door, of which not the slightest trace remained, of course. “Oh, Shurf, more local exotica! Kettarians are very eccentric folk, don’t you think? Let’s just eat, how about it? A hole in the heavens above this wondrous town, it seems I really am a fervent patriot. I can’t wait to get back to our Echo. And we can start our journey this very minute. Does that appeal to you?”

“Of course it does, Max. We can leave without the caravan, if I understand correctly?”

“Precisely. No caravan and no stops, since I’ll be sitting behind the levers of the amobiler. You don’t object to speed, do you Shurf? We’ll set a record and go down in history in one of the simpler and more reliable ways. Listen, you must buy some Kettarian carpets to take home with you. That’s why we came, isn’t it?”

“Yes. I was intending to. But are you going to be at the levers the whole way back?”

“You can’t even imagine how fast we’ll get home,” I said dreamily. “After you explained the principle of operation of the amobiler . . . You know, I think that until now I drove so slowly because deep down I was sure the old jalopy couldn’t move any faster.”

“Slowly?” Lonli-Lokli asked incredulously. “Well, I guess in that case we’ll be home in no time at all.”

When we had finished our meal and gone outside, I turned the corner and headed for the rainbow-hued fountain.

“I always went though that wooden door, Shurf,” I told him.

“Of course you did, Max. I don’t doubt it. But it’s not a real door. Just a stage prop.”

“As Sir Lookfi Pence likes to say, ‘People are so absent-minded!’” I sighed. “But what am I supposed to do, one might ask? Should I be surprised? No—I’m through with surprises for now.”

We spent the rest of the day like real tourists. Shurf did, if fact, set out to buy carpets, and I tagged along to keep him company. As it happened, I couldn’t resist the dark and silky nap of one enormous rug. It would match the fur of my cats perfectly. I was most likely the first customer who had ever bought a rug to go with his cats.