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supposed to notice anyway.
    She handed him the pie and reached for another. "Thank you," he said, fixing his gaze on the pie. But he didn't even notice what kind it was; he just bit into it and chewed.
    They resumed their walk, and after an hour came to an intersection. "There it is!" Chex exclaimed happily, seeming not at all dismayed at this proof of her prior oversight. "The path I missed!"
    "But there are two," Esk pointed out. "Which should we take—the one going north or the one going south?"
    "That depends on whether the path we're on passes north or south of the Good Magician's castle."
    "I know the Gap Chasm is north, but I don't know how far," Esk said. "Maybe if the north path leads there—"
    "Then the south one leads to the castle," she finished. "So let's try the south, and if it's wrong, why, we'll just go north. It can't be far now."
    They turned south. The trees grew larger, putting the path in the gloom of perpetual shade; then they grew smaller, letting the sun shine down hotly. "I hope we encounter water soon," Chex said. "Fm sweating."
    Esk hadn't realized that females of any persuasion sweated, but certainly her brown coat was glistening. "Maybe if you fanned yourself with your wings—" he suggested.
    "Why, I never thought of that," she said. "I need to exercise them anyway." She spread her wings and moved them, generating a draft whose fringe he could feel. "Yes, that's much better, thank you."
    The way opened out further, and now they came to a small lake. The path crossed it, passing right along the surface of the water.
    They exchanged a glance. "Can a path go on water?" Chex asked.
    "If it's an enchanted path," Esk replied doubtfully.
    "Well, we'll see." She stepped forward—and her front hooves passed through the visible path and sank into the water with splashes.
    Immediately, there was a stir in the lake. A wake appeared behind something huge and dark that was speeding toward them. No part of it
    quite broke the surface, and its outline was obscured by the refraction of the water, but it seemed exceedingly sure of itself.
    Chex quickly stepped back. "I think we should go around the lake," she said. "If it was enchanted to enable travelers to cross over the water, that magic has been lost."
    "Good thought," Esk agreed.
    They started around, but the reeds at the edge twisted and bent toward them, showing moist surfaces that looked somewhat toothy. Esk knocked several away with his staff, and they withdrew with faint ugly hisses—but those on the other side leaned closer.
    "Esk, I think we had better move rather quickly through this section," Chex said. "The footing beneath seems fairly firm; I believe I could carry you, if you would not consider this to be an indiscretion on my part. Then I could gallop—"
    "Another good thought!" he said quickly.
    He gave her his staff to hold, then she put her right hand back over her torso, and he took hold of it from her left and she helped draw him up onto her back. "Take good hold of my mane," she advised.
    He got a double handhold, up between her wings. Then she moved out, quickly advancing from walk to trot to gallop, while he hung on somewhat desperately. Water splashed up from her hooves.
    About halfway around the lake, Chex turned her head around to face him. Esk was startled by the elasticity of her torso; from what would have been the human waist, she was able to twist halfway, and her neck twisted the other half, so that she was abruptly facing him, with her chest in profile. "I wonder if you could take your staff?" she inquired.
    Then he saw her concern. Several rather mean looking birds were winging toward them. Their necks were crooked and their beaks curved, and they looked hungry.
    "If you go slowly, I'll try to fend them off," he said, as he unclenched his fingers from her mane and took back his staff.
    She slowed to a walk, using her own staff to knock at the leaning reeds. He balanced himself and squinted at the ugly birds. He thought he