Air Apparent Read Online Free PDF

be some mischief here.
    A big sign said ASK NOT WHAT CONCERNS YOU NOT, LEST YOU HEAR WHAT PLEASES YOU NOT.
    Well, that was plain enough. She would not ask any stupid questions. That was surely part of the Challenge.
    She entered the garden, as there wasn’t much else to do, with her retreat closed off by the portcullis. She saw that each plant and pool was neatly labeled. There were assorted pie trees and milkweeds, but she doubted she was here to eat or drink. So she followed a path, knowing that it was bound to lead somewhere. Right ahead it crossed another path.
    Suddenly a big red light flashed in front of her. She froze in place, held there magically. Had she ventured into a wrong place?
    But then the light turned green, and she was free to move again. She realized it had been a stoplight. Just like Mundania, only here it was literal: she couldn’t move until it changed color.
    “Got caught by the light, eh?” a man inquired from the other path.
    “Yes,” Debra agreed, embarrassed.
    “If there’s a problem, I can fix it,” the man said. “I’m a pathologist. I take care of enchanted paths.”
    “Thank you, there’s no problem,” she said. Except where the third Challenge was, and she was sure she couldn’t ask him. Now she knew it was all right to talk, to answer, just not to ask.
    She moved on quickly, because the man looked as if he were about to ask her name, and she didn’t want that.
    She came to a pool where a red-haired woman and a girl were working. The girl was pointing to things, and the woman was using a net to catch them and lift them into a tank behind her. They looked like bundles of snakes.
    The woman spied her. “Hello. I am Theresa, and this is Aurora Sky. We’re from Mundania.”
    “So am I,” Debra said, gratified. “I’m Debra.” It was okay to tell her name to a woman.
    “Oh, then you know how it is. We came here to ask Questions, and now are serving our Services.”
    “I’ll be doing the same,” Debra agreed.
    Aurora pointed. “Yes, that’s a good one,” Theresa said, and put the net to the water. She lifted out their catch.
    Debra stared. That was no bundle of snakes. In fact it was a little monster! A creature with seven snapping heads. “Why are you saving those?” Debra asked.
    Oops. She had asked a question.
    “This is hydraponics,” Theresa explained. “We’re growing hydras in water. But first we have to catch them. Aurora is very good at spotting them.”
    “I wasn’t supposed to ask,” Debra said, abashed.
    “Oh, that’s too bad. Now you’ll pay a penalty. I’m sorry.”
    “A penalty,” Debra agreed nervously.
    Then suddenly she burst into giggles. She couldn’t help herself; her fit could not be contained. She rolled on the ground, stifled giggles bursting forth.
    “Oh, it’s the Giggles!” Theresa said. “How awful!”
    Debra tried to respond, but couldn’t speak around the ongoing giggles.
    “It’s my fault,” Theresa said. “I distracted you, and you forgot. So I’ll help you to the extent I am able. The Giggles are a member of the Vole family. They are invisibly small. They get into your clothing and cause uncontrollable fits of giggling. They must have been waiting for you to give them the pretext. The only way to get rid of them is to wash them off, and out of your clothing. But that may not be easy.”
    “Th—the—thank you!” Debra gasped between giggles. She scrambled toward the nearest pool.
    “Not here!” Theresa said. “The hydra will get you.”
    Now Debra saw that the little monsters were accompanied by a big monster in the water. The adult hydra could have swallowed her four limbs and one head with single gulps of five of its seven heads, and seemed eager to do so. Indeed, this was not the place to wash.
    “I’m not allowed to tell you where,” Theresa said. “I’m so sorry.”
    “That’s—hee hee!—all—giggle!—right,” Debra gasped. She scrambled on down the path, looking for water she could use