snorted delightedly, but Kate was bewildered.
"Do you mean you think he lied about the adoption?" she asked, struggling along by the horse's side.
"Oh, no. That's the only thing I do believe, but what a thing to tell you. Poor Kate!" he teased. "I don't think Roberts likes you at all."
If he calls me Kate one more time, thought Kate, I'll do some thing horrible. Then she thought about the several horrible things she had already done that evening and subsided into misery again.
"We don't like him, either," confided Emily heatedly. "He's just hateful, with his long words, and his
hallow hill
, and his
hollow hill
, and his linguistic persistence of ignorance."
"What?" The rider seemed highly amused. "He's been explaining everything for you, has he? Tell me, what did he say about the Hill?" Emily went into a somewhat confused rendition of their cousin's speech on the place-names, and this time Marak laughed at all the right places.
"Well, Letter M," he announced, "almost every bit of that is wrong. Completely and thoroughly wrong. Pigheaded. Would you like to know why it's really called Hollow Lake?"
"Yes!" exclaimed Emily.
"It's called Hollow Lake--because it's hollow." There was a momentary pause.
"Now, what does that mean?" Emily burst out.
"It's just hollow, that's all."
"How is it supposed to be hollow?" demanded Emily. "You're just being silly!"
"No," the man replied pleasantly, "I assure you I never lie. Now, that's a funny thing, lying. If you notice, M, most humans can't do without it. They consider it an essential component of--how shall I call it?--
polite
society." Kate felt the sting in his words and set her teeth. She wondered when this interminable journey would end.
"Humans lie to each other constantly. They mean to. They think it best. They tell you what a clever child you are when they mean someone should muzzle you, and they tell one another how handsome they look when they think they look absurd. They believe they're doing the world a favor by lying. Why, take your sister as a case in point."
I won't say a word, Kate promised herself stoically, and Emily rushed to defend her sister against her newfound favorite.
"Kate doesn't lie!" she said indignantly.
"Oh, doesn't she?" answered Marak, sounding much amused. "Well, M, I'm sure she doesn't lie often, but such is the frail nature of humans that she simply couldn't help herself. Imagine"--he lowered his voice dramatically--"as she stood by the bonfire tonight, she saw outlandish and otherworldly sights, and when I came toward her to lift her onto this horse here, she knew--she just
knew
--that if she let me put her onto this horse, she'd be galloped away beyond the world we know into some strange, shadowy underworld." His voice dropped to a whisper. "And not one of the mortals on this earth would ever see her again."
Emily went off into gales of laughter. Kate felt a swift chill run through her. How could this stranger know what she had felt? She hadn't even known it herself. But that was it exactly, down to the last detail.
"And so," continued Emily's storyteller cheerfully, "what on earth could your sister say? Could she say, I think you are about to steal me for what awful ends I know not? No, she is a human. Shefell back on the
polite
lie. And so she said"--and here he took on a haughty tone--" 'I prefer to walk.' "
Kate forgot her promise to keep quiet. "You must think that I am a perfect fool!" she exclaimed.
"Oh, no," the rider assured her. "You are a woman of rare perception. Not one woman in a hundred--maybe a thousand--would have realized in time. I find myself wondering," he added thoughtfully, "just how you managed it."
Kate tried to puzzle out this strange speech. Another riddle for her to solve. It sounded very important, but she was too tired to make any sense of it. If the walk continued much longer, she was afraid she would collapse. She felt as if she had never done anything else but stumble through blackness.
"And here we
"Do you mean you think he lied about the adoption?" she asked, struggling along by the horse's side.
"Oh, no. That's the only thing I do believe, but what a thing to tell you. Poor Kate!" he teased. "I don't think Roberts likes you at all."
If he calls me Kate one more time, thought Kate, I'll do some thing horrible. Then she thought about the several horrible things she had already done that evening and subsided into misery again.
"We don't like him, either," confided Emily heatedly. "He's just hateful, with his long words, and his
hallow hill
, and his
hollow hill
, and his linguistic persistence of ignorance."
"What?" The rider seemed highly amused. "He's been explaining everything for you, has he? Tell me, what did he say about the Hill?" Emily went into a somewhat confused rendition of their cousin's speech on the place-names, and this time Marak laughed at all the right places.
"Well, Letter M," he announced, "almost every bit of that is wrong. Completely and thoroughly wrong. Pigheaded. Would you like to know why it's really called Hollow Lake?"
"Yes!" exclaimed Emily.
"It's called Hollow Lake--because it's hollow." There was a momentary pause.
"Now, what does that mean?" Emily burst out.
"It's just hollow, that's all."
"How is it supposed to be hollow?" demanded Emily. "You're just being silly!"
"No," the man replied pleasantly, "I assure you I never lie. Now, that's a funny thing, lying. If you notice, M, most humans can't do without it. They consider it an essential component of--how shall I call it?--
polite
society." Kate felt the sting in his words and set her teeth. She wondered when this interminable journey would end.
"Humans lie to each other constantly. They mean to. They think it best. They tell you what a clever child you are when they mean someone should muzzle you, and they tell one another how handsome they look when they think they look absurd. They believe they're doing the world a favor by lying. Why, take your sister as a case in point."
I won't say a word, Kate promised herself stoically, and Emily rushed to defend her sister against her newfound favorite.
"Kate doesn't lie!" she said indignantly.
"Oh, doesn't she?" answered Marak, sounding much amused. "Well, M, I'm sure she doesn't lie often, but such is the frail nature of humans that she simply couldn't help herself. Imagine"--he lowered his voice dramatically--"as she stood by the bonfire tonight, she saw outlandish and otherworldly sights, and when I came toward her to lift her onto this horse here, she knew--she just
knew
--that if she let me put her onto this horse, she'd be galloped away beyond the world we know into some strange, shadowy underworld." His voice dropped to a whisper. "And not one of the mortals on this earth would ever see her again."
Emily went off into gales of laughter. Kate felt a swift chill run through her. How could this stranger know what she had felt? She hadn't even known it herself. But that was it exactly, down to the last detail.
"And so," continued Emily's storyteller cheerfully, "what on earth could your sister say? Could she say, I think you are about to steal me for what awful ends I know not? No, she is a human. Shefell back on the
polite
lie. And so she said"--and here he took on a haughty tone--" 'I prefer to walk.' "
Kate forgot her promise to keep quiet. "You must think that I am a perfect fool!" she exclaimed.
"Oh, no," the rider assured her. "You are a woman of rare perception. Not one woman in a hundred--maybe a thousand--would have realized in time. I find myself wondering," he added thoughtfully, "just how you managed it."
Kate tried to puzzle out this strange speech. Another riddle for her to solve. It sounded very important, but she was too tired to make any sense of it. If the walk continued much longer, she was afraid she would collapse. She felt as if she had never done anything else but stumble through blackness.
"And here we
Similar Books
Hot Property
Lacey Diamond
Hitchhikers
Kate Spofford
The Alien's Return
Jennifer Scocum
The Alabaster Staff
Edward Bolme
Loving The Billionaire (The Sherbrookes of Newport)
Christina Tetreault
Impact
Cassandra Carr
16 Things I Thought Were True
Janet Gurtler
Killer Chameleon
Chassie West
The Prisoner in the Third Cell
Gene Edwards
Bicycle Built for Two
Alice Duncan