RS01. The Reluctant Sorcerer Read Online Free PDF Page A

with sparks.
    There was a loud, angry, bellowing sound, followed by the sound of galloping hoofbeats, and then the machine shuddered once again as Robie McMurphy’s enraged bull plowed into it, head down, with the speed of an express train. Of course, Brewster didn’t know exactly what was happening. He was still dazed and stunned, and he couldn’t see anything because of the red and white striped parachute draped over the cockpit. However, in the dim recesses of his mind, perhaps prompted by the instinct for self-preservation, a thought managed to form itself and squirm through the haze that enshrouded his consciousness.
    “The LOX!” As Robie’McMurphy’s bull smashed into the time machine once again, Brewster realized that with all these sparks, if the liquid oxygen tanks ruptured, there was liable to be a very big bang, indeed. Panic and adrenaline coursed through him as he fumbled with his seat belt. The bull attacked the offending machine yet again and Brewster was almost thrown out of his seat.
    “Oh, God,” he said, “the LOX! The LOX!” He shielded his eyes against a fresh burst of sparks from the arcing control panel.
    “Hallo!” a strange voice called out. “I say, is someone in there?” “Get me out of here!” Brewster shouted, desperately trying to force open the damaged door of the cockpit. “The LOX! The LOX!” Mick frowned. Locks? he thought. Faith, the poor chap must be locked up in there. He couldn’t get out. He started tugging on the parachute, trying to pull it free. The contraption was sputtering and sparking and there was a strange smell in the air around it. He sidestepped quickly as the bull made another maddened charge and slammed into the peculiar looking object, sending forth a fresh shower of sparks as it bellowed with rage.
    “Bugger off, you great big stupid thing, you!” Mick yelled at it. He resumed tugging at the parachute as the bull backed off for another go.
    Brewster saw daylight as the chute was pulled away. He also saw flames start licking from the control panel and started kicking at the door with all his might. It wouldn’t budge.
    “Hold on now, I’ll have you out in a flash!” the voice called, and then, with the sound of ripping metal and cracking plastic, the door was torn right off the cockpit hinges. Brewster made a dive for the opening.
    “Quickly, quickly!” he said as he scrambled out, dragging his emergency supply kit with him. “We’ve got to get away! The LOX...” and then he saw the charging bull, bearing straight down at him. “Jesus!” He was suddenly swept off his feet and thrown over a shoulder (a very low shoulder, it seemed) and he gasped with surprise as his rescuer started running with him as if he didn’t weigh a thing. Behind them, the bull’ smashed into the time machine for the final time. It was the final time because, just as Brewster had feared, the liquid oxygen tanks ruptured and the mixture ignited. The resulting explosion hurled them both to the ground, where bits of machinery and very well-cooked beefsteak rained down on them.
    Brewster covered his head and lay there on the ground, the wind knocked out of him. For what seemed like a long time, he didn’t move. And then he heard a voice say, “Great bloody leaping toadstools! What the devil was that?” It was the voice of his unknown benefactor, whom Brewster hadn’t even caught a clear glimpse of yet. He raised himself up slightly and turned his head, then his eyes grew wide at the sight of his rescuer. He did a double take.
    At first glance, it looked like a small boy, albeit a rather large and powerfully built small boy, but at second glance, he realized it was a full-grown man. Well, perhaps “full grown” was not quite the proper term, but an adult, at any rate, with a bushy beard, shaggy brown hair that was beginning to turn gray, and a chest and arms like a bodybuilder- on a miniature scale.
    A dwarf, he thought (and it was probably fortunate that he only