Air Apparent Read Online Free PDF Page B

before she expired of giggling.
    She came to a larger pool of what looked like clear, clean water. But five men were dancing on it, to loud crude music. The sign said River Dancers, and evidently they had a joint talent that enabled them to dance on water. They were looking at her as they danced, perhaps appreciating the audience.
    She would have to remove her clothing and get in the water right by their feet. They would be able to look down and see all of her without breaking their steps. She was giggling up a storm, but was not amused. At age thirteen she might not have as full a body as she would have soon, but she certainly did not want men staring at it bare. She struggled onward.
    The next pond was private, but its identifying sign said Illixir. She stifled her giggles long enough to see that a chip of wood floated in it. It was probably healing elixir with reverse wood, so that instead of healing people it made them ill. She managed to poke a finger in the water, and immediately it felt as if it were festering. The chip was out of reach; she couldn’t pull it out and let the water revert to healing elixir. She had to move on.
    The next pool was labeled Love Spring. If she bathed in that, she would fall in love with the next man she saw. That was no good, for more than one reason. She staggered on, still giggling. Her ribs were getting sore with all that laughing, but she couldn’t stop. Bleep those Giggles!
    Another pool was labeled Hate Spring. That was worse.
    Then she came to a pool that was on fire. Sure enough, it was labeled Firewater. It would boil her alive.
    Then she got smart. She saw a chip of wood lying near it. It looked exactly like the chip of reverse wood she had seen before. She picked it up and flipped it into the water.
    The flames extinguished. The pool had become the opposite of firewater, which should be water water.
    Debra plunged in, clothing and all. Then she scrambled out of her clothing and swam naked. She was no longer giggling; she had washed off the invisible beasties. What a relief!
    She caught her pieces of clothing and dragged them through the water, making sure everything was washed out. Then she climbed back to shore and shook herself dry. How glad she was that this pool was in a secluded glade!
    But she still had to make it through the third Challenge. She was beginning to wonder: was this to be an endless array of puns and tricks? She had put up with it so far, but was it really worth it?
    She pondered while her clothing dried. The more she thought about it, the more she was annoyed. Maybe it was time to do something about it.
    First she had to get clothed. She waded back into the water and fetched the reverse wood chip. She carried it out and put it back where she had found it. The water reverted, the flames flickering across its surface. Good. She held her wet clothing up to that heat, getting it dried rapidly. She could make mistakes, she could get in trouble, she could get really depressed, but she didn’t have to be stupid. So maybe this wasn’t a regular part of the Challenge; she was bleeped if she’d go naked any longer than she had to.
    Once she was clothed, she stood beside the pond and spoke loudly to the glade: “All right, Good Magician: I have played your game and made my way through your silly Challenges. I came here to seek your help, not to play a pointless game. If you can’t or won’t help me, I wish you would simply say so, instead of wasting my time and yours with such nonsense. If all you have for me is foolishness instead of common courtesy, then I have come to the wrong place. If you’re just trying to discourage me so I’ll go away, well, you have succeeded, because I don’t respect a person who lacks the nerve simply to say No. So either talk to me now, or I’ll go and seek help somewhere else.”
    She paused. There was no answer. She was disappointed that her statement of principle hadn’t worked, but she didn’t regret it. She turned and