The Gates of Thorbardin

Chapter 33

On a bright spring day a man came down from the wilderness ranges. He rode a sturdy, battle-wise horse and had the look of far places about him.

In the main square at the crossroads of Barter he reined in and dismounted. Not far away, winged pigs circled contentedly above an inn.

Some distance beyond, pavilions spread their bright expanses, a sign of the spring trading season. Among them was a large, red-and-gold pavilion that stood amidst myriad stalls and showing tables.

"Goldbuckle is here," the man noted, talking to himself and his horse in the way of one who has been afar and long alone. He smiled a sardonic smile, unlashing a pack from behind his saddle. Inside was Abanasinian ivory, an exquisite collection of the finest carvings. "That old thief is going to drool all over himself when he sees this," he told the horse.

"But it's going to cost him plenty to get his hands on it."

Leading the horse, he started for the trade pavilion of the Daewar merchant, then stopped when a highpitched, excited voice shouted, "Hey!

Look who's here!"

Chestal Thicketsway pushed through a crowd of traders and ran toward him. "Wingover! I thought you were dead or something!" He skidded to a stop, beaming up at the man. "And Geekay made it, too. Wow! Did you hear about Chane Feldstone? He's rich and famous, just like I said he'd be. The

Thorbardin traders talk about him all the time. Rogar Goldbuckle has been strutting around here ever since he arrived, telling everybody how he's a personal friend of Chane Feldstone. He has the trading sanction for the

Hylar now, too. Gee, everybody thought you were dead, though. How did you survive that storm?"

"I — " Wingover started.

"Did you ever see such a storm in all your life? Wow! What a wind! I saw a boulder as big as a house, just rolling along with the wind pushing it.

I never saw anything like that storm. Most people don't believe me when I talk about it, but that's all right. What did you do, find a hiding place?

After we got separated, I mean? That's what I did. I just crawled into a hole and stayed there until Zap got it out of his system."

"I — " Wingover attempted.

"I'll bet you didn't expect to find me here, either, did you? I wouldn't be, except that Bobbin couldn't find his way back without a guide. Every place he'd seen was from the air, and after Zap knocked him down everything looked different. He got lost! Did I tell you… no, I didn't yet, did I?… Bobbin's building a new invention. It's kind of like an iron fish, and I don't know much about it. You know how gnomes are. Either they don't tell you anything, or you can't get a word in edgewise. He says he wants to go and find an ocean as soon as he gets it ready. Are you going to see Rogar Goldbuckle? He's here, you know. That's his place over

— "

"Chess, I — "

"— there, with all the red-and-yellow drapings. There's some really neat stuff in there. I found a — "

"Chess — "

"— whole sack of bright beads that somebody had dropped or something, but the dwarves at the gate made me leave it. That's all right, though. I found some other things, too, and I can go back and look some more any time I want to, no matter what they say about — "

"Chestal Thicketsway!"

The kender blinked, startled. "Ah… yes?"

"You haven't changed a bit."