"I'm a businessman. I don't do giants."
"Then please send the carpet to Ballimore the Giantess on Flat Top Mountain when you're done fixing it," Cimorene said. "And the bill to Cimorene, Chief Cook and Librarian, in care of the King of the Dragons."
"King of the Dragons, eh?" Jack said thoughtfully.
"Yes, and don't go padding the bill, Jack," Telemain warned.
"Me? Wouldn't dream of it." Jack kicked the carpet into a loose roll and heaved it up onto his shoulder. "Anything else?"
"Is there a safe place near here where we can spend the night?"
Mendanbar asked.
"Sure," Jack said. He balanced the carpet with one hand and jerked the thumb of the other at the blue-and-yellow house on wheels. "Right there. I got two spare rooms on the end I can rent you for as long as you want 'em."
"Tonight is all we need," Mendanbar said, and Cimorene nodded.
Jack bobbed his head in a way that managed to suggest a full-fledged formal bow, then started toward the house, carrying the carpet.
Mendanbar turned to Telemain. "Thank you very much for your help."
"You're welcome," Telemain said, and started after Jack.
"Hey!" Cimorene said. "Where are you going?"
"To arrange for my own bed and board," Telemain explained patiently.
"You didn't really expect me to leave before you'd answered my questions, did you?"
Without waiting for a reply, the magician followed Jack into the house.
Mendanbar and Cimorene looked at each other, shrugged, and went in after them.
The front door of Jack's house opened into a cluttered room painted a bright green that clashed with almost everything. Fortunately, most of the walls were hidden behind piles of boxes, barrels, bales, and bundles. Jack propped the carpet in a crowded corner, where it leaned precariously against two paintings balanced on a stack of books. Then he set about fixing dinner.
Cimorene kept Telemain's attention occupied while Jack worked, and at first Mendanbar was glad of it. He wanted time to think and sort out some of the confusing things that had happened in the last two days.
He was sure that a few of them were important, and if he could only concentrate for a little while he could figure out which ones.
He quickly discovered that it was not going to work. The conversation between Cimorene and Telemain was much too distracting, even though he was not particularly interested in anything they were talking about.
Finally he gave up trying to think and listened instead.
"-window wasn't up to it," Cimorene was saying. "So I used a spell to boost it."
"And that broke it?" Telemain said, frowning.
"No," Cimorene replied. "It worked just fine. The window turned white, and then showed Kazul and a lot of wizards." Her face darkened.
"And when I catch up with them-" "Yes, of course," Telemain said hastily. "What happened next?"
"I told the window to show me where they were, and then it broke."
"I can fix up a new one for you," Jack put in over his shoulder. "I got some glass around somewhere, and it's no trick at all to cut it to size."
"I'll think about it,Jack," Telemain said. He looked at Cimorene.
"The window just… broke? It didn't show anything at all?"
Cimorene nodded. "Not a thing. Right, Mendanbar?"
"Right," Mendanbar said. "The picture of Kazul and the wizards disappeared, and the window turned bright green, and then it broke. I think it was trying to show us a place inside the Enchanted Forest and couldn't."
"It should have been able to," Telemain said. "I tested it very thoroughly.
I suppose the enchantment might have been wearing thin. What kind of spell did you say you used to boost it?" he asked, turning to Cimorene.
Cimorene hesitated, then shrugged. "It was a dragon spell I found in Kazul's library last year. It's very adaptable, and-" A shout from outside the house interrupted Cimorene in mid-sentence.
"You in there! Come out at once. There's no point in hiding."
Jack muttered something and stuck his head out the window. "Hang on!" he shouted. "I'll just be a min-" Something exploded outside, knocking Jack back through the window and making the whole house rock. "Come out!" the voice repeated.
"Wow!"
"Wizards got no patience," Jack muttered, glaring at the window.
Mendanbar stiffened and looked at Cimorene.
"We'd better go out, or he'll tear the house down," she said. "Jack, can you mix up a bucket of soapy water with a little lemon juice in it, quick?"
"Huh?" said Jack.
"A bucket of soap and water and lemon juice," Cimorene repeated impatiently. "It melts wizards. Hurry up and bring it out after us.
I think we're going to need it."
"Soapy water with lemon melts wizards?" Telemain said with great interest. "How did you discover that?"
Another explosion rocked the house. "Never mind that now," Cimorene said. "Come on!" She pushed the door open and darted out.
With a muttered curse, Mendanbar followed. He remembered the steps just in time to jump over them instead of tripping. As he landed, he dodged to one side and pulled his sword out. Only then did he stop to look around.
Cimorene stood with her back against the house, watching the wizard warily. The wizard was very easy to see, even though it was by now quite dark, because he was glowing as brightly as a bonfire. He was taller than the wizard who had invaded Cimorene's cave, and he wore red robes instead of blue and brown, but his staff was of the same dark, polished wood and his sandy beard was just as long and scraggly.
Mendanbar wondered irrelevantly whether the Society of Wizards had a rule against its members trimming their beards.