Board Stiff (Xanth) Read Free Page A

course without alarming her. “. . . probably races them, something she can’t do with you, because you’re too slow.”
    “That must be it,” Cherry agreed. “She does like to run. Sometimes I ride on her back, before we merge.”
    “I’m tired,” Ease said. “I think I’ll take a nap before moving on.”
    “Maybe I will too,” Cherry said. “There’s room for two on the bed.”
    “Oh. All right.”
    UNDERAGE . He was a man and she was a pretty girl; he needed reminding. The fact that Kandy was jealous was irrelevant, wasn’t it?
    “Of course,” he muttered subvocally, not completely pleased by what he thought was his conscience. He lay down and closed his eyes.
    Cherry lay down beside him. After a moment she spoke softly. “But if you should happen to want to--”
    This time Kandy directed the thought to her. WHAT PART OF UNDERAGE DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?
    “Oh, fudge, I’m developing a conscience,” Cherry muttered. “Just when I thought I might find out what the Adult Conspiracy is all about.”
    So she was not entirely innocent, at least in intention. Kandy knew girls could be like that, because she herself had chafed at the Conspiracy, before she got there and came to understand its rationale. Sometimes children needed to be protected from their innocence, lest they get into more trouble than they knew. But they didn’t like hearing that from adults.
    Ease slept. Kandy transformed. She made her maneuver to get his hand on her bare back instead of her ankle. Then she realized that for the first time it was happening in the presence of another person. She could talk to Cherry, tell her about the spell. Then when Ease woke, Cherry could tell him. Then he would know. “Cherry!” she said.
    The girl was still awake, but not paying attention. She was staring at the ceiling, still frustrated by her conscience.
    “Cherry Centaur,” Kandy repeated.
    Still no response.
    Annoyed, Kandy projected a thought. HERE .
    Startled, the girl looked at Ease. “Funny. I thought someone spoke to me. But there’s only him asleep holding that stupid board.”
    Kandy realized with a feeling verging on horror that the girl could not see or hear her. She saw only the board.
    Then she remembered that she had already concluded that it was better that Ease not know, because she would still be a board, unable to do anything with him. In her excitement she had forgotten that. She needed to break the spell before she told him about it. Now she knew that the spell protected her from accidental exposure, in much the manner the Adult Conspiracy protected children from dealing with storks prematurely.
    At least she had discovered that she could project her thoughts to others too, even if those others did not realize the source of those thoughts. That could be useful, limited as it was.
    There was the sound of hooves pounding the ground. Cherry sat up. “That’s Red!”
    Ease woke. “Who?”
    Kandy was the board again, as it seemed she had always been, in appearance.
    “Red. My better half. She must be tired of running alone and is coming to merge.”
    “Merge,” he agreed, as if thinking of something else.
    Cherry got to her feet. “I must go to her.” She walked out of the cabin, removing her clothing as she went.
    Ease followed, carrying the board. He was evidently curious about the girl and the mare. So was Kandy.
    There was a fine red horse. The color suffused every part of her: head, mane, tail, hooves, and hide. She was a fine looking animal.
    “I missed you, Red,” Cherry said, running to hug the horse. Only it wasn’t exactly a hug; the two overlapped, sinking into each other. In a moment they were a single red-maned red-haired centaur. Her body was that of the mare, her upper torso and head that of the girl. She was bare-breasted, as all centaurs were. They had different conventions about clothing.
    The centaur turned to Ease. “Thank you for sparing my innocent half,” she said. “She sometimes gets