Golem in the Gears Read Online Free PDF Page A

and, at Ivy's urging, came up with the solution:
    "He'll just have to take the bed along."
    Ivy turned to Grundy. "See? Easy as pie. Just take—" Then she did a doubletake. "Hey, that's my bed!"
    "We all have to make sacrifices," Grundy said, sup- pressing an obnoxious smile.
    But Ivy surprised him with another change of attitude. "Oh, I was tired of that bed anyway! You can take it with you. I'll sleep on cushions. They're comfortabler."
    Grundy doubted that, but did not see fit to argue. Per- haps, for Ivy, it would become true.
    He returned to Snortimer. "Problem solved," he announced. "We'll just take the bed along."
    "How?" the monster asked.
    Good question! Obviously if Snortimer were to be his steed, he couldn't also carry a bed, assuming he could move it at all. But Ivy had disappeared on some other errand, and Grundy knew he couldn't make Hugo answer questions the way Ivy could, if only because the boy was usually rather stupid. He would have to figure out some- thing on his own.
    "I think we'll have to get help," Grundy said. This was certainly becoming complicated!
    "Let me know when you do," Snortimer said. "Mean- while I'll snooze." In a moment there was the sound of snoring from the shadow.
    Grundy wandered around Castle Roogna, trying to decide on a suitable person to ask for help. It had to be someone big and strong enough to carry the bed, and stupid enough not to ask why. Someone like Smash Ogre. But Smash was married now, and his wife Tandy kept him on a short leash; no hope there.
    Well, maybe someone not stupid, but not important, either. Someone who had nothing better to do than carry beds around the countryside. Who would that be?
    Suddenly he had a bright answer. He knew just the person!
    Thus it was that he came to talk with Ivy's other grand- father, Bink. Bink had little to do with the activities of Castle Roogna and every month, when his wife Chame- leon got smart and ugly, he tended to make excursions around Xanth on his own. Maybe he'd be willing to take a bed along.
    "Why not?" Bink inquired amiably. He was about sixty years old now, but still hearty, and a pretty solid man.
    "But even a small bed would get heavy soon enough; I'll ask my friend Chester to help."
    "But I'm not sure we should make a big production of this," Grundy said. "I was thinking of a quiet Quest."
    Bink looked at him, smiling. "If I know my grand- daughter, she's into mischief, and if I know you, you're trying to keep her out of it—and you're not allowed to tell."
    "Something like that," Grundy agreed uncomfortably.
    "Well, then, we won't tell. No one will miss us any- way."
    "You're very understanding, sir," Grundy said. Bink might not seem like much, but he was a former King of Xanth, which meant he had Magician-class magic, though that wasn't evident. It seemed to Grundy that he had once known more about it, but he seemed to have forgotten.
    "It's been a long time since Chester and I have had a decent adventure," Bink said.
    That evening Bink and Chester showed up at the Cas- tle. "Our wives aren't too keen on this," Bink confessed. "They're letting us go, but only for two weeks. That means one week out and one week back. Do you think you can complete your Quest in that time?"
    "I hope so," Grundy said. He had no idea how long it would take to reach the Ivory Tower, especially since he didn't know where it was. "I haven't had a lot of expe- rience with Quests, you know."
    "Well, let's get on with it," Bink said. He carried a hefty coil of rope. Chester waited outside, while Bink marched in and upstairs, Grundy on his shoulder.
    It seemed to Grundy that someone should have shown up to inquire what in Xanth they were doing, such as Ivy's mother Irene, who normally had supersensitive
    hearing and curiosity to match. But luckily no one was disturbed, and they reached Ivy's room undetected.
    Ivy was awake, of course, though in her nightie. She almost flew to Bulk's arms. "Ooo, Grandpa Bink, how exciting!" she exclaimed.