Many days passed in retracing their difficult route until the coati was convinced the curse of truth had been lifted from him, and true to his promise he remained in the service of the shopowner until the day he died, of an excessive imbibulation of a certain high-proof booze.
In the lightless pitch-black recesses of that singular cavern the Grand Veritable languished, barely active, until one day a pair of children much younger than Squill, Neena, or Buncan stumbled upon it. They wore old blue jeans and carried waterproof flashlights, for the cave was often full of water at that time of year.
Being well-trained children, they did not touch the box but instead brought their grandfather to see it. He was accompanied by their guide, who promptly pushed his hard hat with its carbide lamp back on his head and scratched at his receding hairline.
“Don’t recall ever seein’ that in here before. Damn teenagers is always dumpin’ their trash around.” The old man tilted his head back, blinking as drip water splashed in his eye. “Must’ve fallen down through a sinkhole or natural pipe.”
The other man played his light over the device’s metal exterior. “Wonder what it is.”
His eldest grandson spoke up. “If it doesn’t belong to the people who own the cave, Grandpa, does that mean we can keep it?”
“Well, Ah dunno.” He looked at their guide.
The old man shrugged. “Looks like junk to me. I’d be beholden to you if you’d get rid of it for me.”
The visitor nodded, bent to examine the battered machine more closely. “Looks like some kind of measuring device. See heah.” He wiped grime from the large glass plate. “Hey, you know what? This is an old polygraph.” He chuckled. “Something Ah sure don’t need in my business.”
“Is it broke, Grandpa?” asked the other boy.
“Ah’m sure it must be, dumped heah like this in the wet and dark. But it’s almost an antique. Spruced up, it might be kind of fun to put in the office. Sure to get a few laughs from the staff.”
He was a big man, even for a Texan, and with the guide’s assistance was able to wrestle the device over to the main trail and back to the cavern’s entrance.
When the prize had been loaded in the back of the visitor’s minivan and the children were in the tiny store buying candy, the guide couldn’t help querying his guest. After all, it wasn’t every day he escorted a private party into the far reaches of the cave.
“If you don’t mind my askin’, mister, just what is it you do?”
“Ah’m a state senator,” the big man replied, his distinguished appearance only slightly muted by the dirt streaking his face. “From down neah Corpus.” He patted the muddy metal box fondly. “Can you imagine the kick my colleagues will get from seein’ this in mah office?”
“A lie detector in the Legislature?” Seeing that he was to be allowed in on the joke, the guide permitted himself an easy, agreeable chuckle. “Good thing it don’t work, ain’t it, Senator?”
The big, white-haired visitor smiled. “Now, suh, don’t believe everything you read in the papers, especially the local ones. Most o’ those ol’ clichés aren’t anythin’ moah than that: clichés. There’s a many good folk workin’ up in Austin, an’ a good bit o’ truth an’ honesty prowlin’ the halls o’ yoah state capitol.”
Unseen by either man, the box in the back of the minivan began to glow ever so softly.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
copyright © 1993 by Thranx, Inc.
cover design by Jason Gabbert
ISBN: 978-1-4532-1188-5
This edition published in 2011 by Open Road Integrated Media
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New York, NY 10014
www.openroadmedia.com
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