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advice."
    Jape glanced pointedly at Scrornuck, who looked back with an innocent expression. “I guess you did."
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Chapter Three
"Ixnay On The Ood-Blay"
    They pushed their shopping cart through the West Gate, out of the City and into a spacious plaza paved in multicolored granite. A few Cast members moved about, trimming the bushes and picking up bits of dried leaves and litter. Just off the center of the plaza, a Guard in formal dress uniform stood at attention, next to a pedestal supporting a large, ornate horn.
    "Looks like he's waiting for something,” Jape said as they passed the Guard. “Sunrise? Noon?"
    Nalia again flashed Jape a look that suggested she was working hard for her three gold pieces. “He's waiting for the Guests to arrive."
    "Then blow your horn, Gabriel, we're here!” Scrornuck said, wagging his little “GUEST” tag at the Guard.
    Nalia sighed. “The horn announces the Coming of the True Guests. He's not going to sound it for you."
    Scrornuck wondered what a True Guest was, but Nalia's tone of voice—and an elbow in the ribs from Jape—convinced him to shut up.
    They walked on to the Sunset Stone, a three-story lump of pinkish-gray rock that was the largest of the Standing Stones surrounding the plaza. While Jape and Nalia waited in the plaza, Scrornuck pushed the cart behind the Stone, made sure nobody was watching, and blew a small whistle that made an altogether unpleasant sound. The surface of the rock became milky and translucent, and with a feeling not unlike slipping into water he stepped inside.
    The Stone's interior was a storeroom, filled with leftovers from Taupeaquaah's construction. Scrornuck stuffed the contents of the shopping cart into a large, metal-framed backpack that already contained their camping gear. From time to time he glanced up from his task to check on Jape and Nalia, whom he could see fuzzily through the one-way translucent wall of the Stone. Nalia watched with interest as Jape took some kind of measurement, holding his hands outstretched as if attempting to feel the sky, slowly turning, watching the flickering jewels in his rings.
    As he lifted the heavy pack, feeling its straps settle comfortably onto the shoulder-guards of his jacket, Scrornuck remembered one final necessity. In the corner of a big duffel bag, in its own sealed compartment, he found a small plastic sack labeled in Portuguese. He sniffed cautiously. It smelled like crap. Still good, he thought, stuffing it into his backpack.
    He stepped through the wall of the Stone and walked around to join Jape and Nalia. “Think we need to return this?” he asked, pointing to the now-empty cart.
    "Nah, you're guests,” Nalia said, giving the cart a shove into the plaza. Before it rolled thirty feet, one of the roving Cast members intercepted the cart and quickly wheeled it toward the City gate.
    "Now that's service,” Jape said.
    Inspired by the yellow brick pavement, Scrornuck hummed tunes from The Wizard of Oz as the three started down the road. He looked forward to the long journey on foot—for one thing, it would give him plenty of time to get to know Nalia better.
    About an hour out, he heard a loud whistle. Jape and Nalia had stopped about twenty yards back to take another measurement. While he waited for them to catch up, he played with a pebble he found alongside the road, tossing it from one hand to the other, over his head, bouncing it off his pack, his foot, his shoulder, his elbow. “Think fast!” he shouted, tossing the pebble in Nalia's direction.
    "Huh? What? Ow!” She didn't duck in time, and the pebble struck her shoulder.
    Oh, shit! he thought. “You okay?"
    "I'm fine. I guess I'm just a little slow."
    "You were pretty quick last night,” Jape said. “I watched; you were ducking before the other guys threw their punches."
    "Yeah, you think I can read their minds. Let's not go there."
    "They never landed a punch on you. How do you explain that?"
    "Lots of