believe? He decided not to go into the matter for themoment. "Tell me, Rowena," he said, "if the Sangraal is visible onlyto those who are worthy of it, as I have been led to believe, how areany of those wassailers whooping it up back there in that banquethall going to know whether it's gone or not?"
"It be ofttimes averred that all cannot see the Holy Cup, as ye say,fair knight. Natheless, all that have come unto the chamber sithen mytrust began, they did see it, and Sir Launcelot, the which is muchwith sin, he did see it--and did take it."
"He's not going to get very far with it, though," Mallory said. Andthen, "How long is the tunnel anyway?"
"Anon we shall see the stars, fair sir."
She was right, and a few minutes later, after rounding a turn in thepassage, they emerged upon the bank of a small river. The subterraneanstream that had kept them company emerged, too, and joined its largersister on the way to the sea. On either hand, cliffs rose up, and thesusurrus of waves breaking on sand could be heard in the distance.
Mallory guided Easy Money upstream to where the cliffs dwindled downto thickly forested slopes. It took him but a moment to orientatehimself, and presently rohorse and riders were headed in the directionof the highway. "Now," said he, "if you'll tell me where you want tobe dropped off, I'll see what I can do about getting the Grail back."
There was a brief silence. Then, "An ... an ye wish, ye may leave mehere."
He halted Easy Money, dismounted, and lifted her down to the ground.He looked around, expecting to see a habitation of some sort. He sawnothing but trees. He faced the girl again. "Don't you have anyfriends or relatives you can stay with?"
An argent shaft of moonlight slanting down through the foliageillumined her face. "There be none nigh, fair sir, nor none nearerthan an hundred miles. I shall abide your again coming here in theforest."
Mallory stared at her. She didn't look--or act either, for thatmatter--as though she knew enough to get in out of the rain. "Abidehere in the forest! Why, you wouldn't last a week!"
"But ye will return hither with the Sangraal long afore that,whereupon we two together shall return the Holy Vessel to the chamberand I shall not be made to suffer the severing of my two hands."
He was aghast. "They wouldn't dare cut off your hands!"
"They dare much, fair knight. Know ye naught of the customs of theland?"
He was silent. What in the world was he going to do about her? Shewould probably wait here for him until she starved to death or,equally as distressing, until she was apprehended. Abruptly heshrugged his shoulders--to the extent that his pauldronspermitted--and remounted the rohorse. Why should it matter to him whatbecame of her? He'd returned to the Age of Chivalry to steal theSangraal, not to play nursemaid to damosels in distress. "Don't takeany wooden nickels now," he said.
Two tiny stars appeared in the pale regions of her eyes and twinkleddown her cheeks. "May the good Lord speed ye upon thy quest, fairknight, and may He guard ye well."
"Oh, for Pete's sake!" Mallory said, and reaching down, pulled her uponto Easy Money's croup. "I have a castle not far from here. I'll dropyou off, then I'll go after the Sangraal."
Her breath was warm little wind seeping through the crevices of hisgorget. "Oh, fair sir, ye be the noblest of all the knights in all theland, and I shall serve thee faithfully for the rest of my days!"
The rohorse whinnied. _Giddy-ap, Easy Money_, Mallory encephalopathed,and they started out.
III
Rowena fell for the _Yore_ hook, line, and sinker. Not even the moderninterior gave her pause. Those objects which happened to be beyond herken--and there were many of them--she interpreted as "appointmentsbefitting a noble knight," and as for the rooms themselves, she merelyidentified them with the rooms out of her own experience that theymost closely resembled. Thus the rec-hall became "the banquet hall,"the supply room became "the kitchen," the control room became "thesorcerer's tower," the tourist compartments became "the sleepingtower," Mallory's bedroom-office became "the lord's quarters," thelavatory became "the chapel," and the generator room became "thedungeon." Only two things disconcerted her: the absence of servantsand the fact that Easy Money was stabled in the banquet hall. Mallorygot around the first by telling her that he had given the servants aleave of absence, and she herself got around the second by declaringit to be no more than fitting for such a splendid steed to be accordedspecial treatment. Certainly, Mallory reflected, she was nothing ifshe was not co-operative.
After showing her around he wasted no time in getting down to thebusiness on hand, and stepping into the control room, he punched outthe data necessary to take the _Yore_ back to 7:15 p.m. of the sameday, and to re-materialize it one half mile west of its presentposition, as an overlap was bound to occur. There was a barelynoticeable tremor as the transition took place, and simultaneously thedarkness showing on the control-room telewindow transmuted to dusk.
Turning away from the jump board, he saw Rowena regarding him withlarge eyes from the doorway. "We're now back to a point in time thatprecedes the theft of the Sangraal," he told her, "and we're relocatedfarther down the valley. But don't let it throw you. None other thanMerlin himself built the magic apparatus you see before you in thisroom, and you know yourself that once he makes up his mind to it,Merlin can do anything."
She blinked once, but evinced no other signs of surprise. "Yea, fairsir," she said, "I am ware of the magic of Merlin."
"However," Mallory went on, "magic such as this isn't something for agentlewoman such as yourself to fool around with, so I must forbid youto enter this room during my absence from the castle. Also, whilewe're on the subject, I must also forbid you to leave the castleduring my absence. Merlin would be upset no end if there were twodamosels that hight Rowena gallivanting around the countryside at thesame time."
She blinked again. "By my troth, fair sir," she said, "I would leverdie than disobey thy two commands." And then, "Have ye ate any meatlate?"
This time, Mallory blinked, "Meat?"
"It is fitting that ye should eat meat afore ye ride out."
"Oh, you mean food. I'll eat when I get back. But there's no need foryou to wait." He took her into the supply room and showed her wherethe vacuum tins were stored. "You open them like this," he explained,pulling one out and activating the desealer. "Then, as soon as thecontents cool off a little, you sit down to dinner."
"But this be not meat," she objected.
"Maybe not, but it's a good substitute, and a lot better for you." Athought struck him, and he took her into the lavatory and showed herhow to operate the hot and cold-water dispenser, ascribing the setupto more of Merlin's magic. He debated on whether to explain thefunction and purpose of the adjacent shower, decided not to. There wasa limit to all things, and an apparatus for washing one's whole bodywas simply too farfetched for anyone living in the sixth-century totake seriously.
Back in the rec-hall, he donned his helmet and gauntlets, reset thegauntlet timepiece, picked up his spear and encephalopathed Easy Moneyto his side. Mounting, he set the spear in the stirrup socket. Rowenagazed up at him, plum-blue eyes round with awe and admiration--andconcern. "Wit ye well, fair sir," she said, "that Sir Launcelot, thewhich is thy father, is a knight of many victories, and therefore yemust take care."
Mallory grinned. "Dismay you not, fair damsel, I'll smite him from hissteed before he can say 'Queen Guinevere'." He straightened his swordbelt, activated the _Yore's_ lock, and rode across the mirage-moat andentered the forest. The "portcullis" closed behind him.
* * * * *
Dusk had become darkness by the time he reached the highway.Approximately half an hour later he would reach the highway again.However, the seeming paradox did not disconcert him in the least: thiswas far from being the first time he had backtracked himself on a job.
As "before," he spurned the shadows of the bordering oaks and beechesand encephalopathed Easy Money to keep to the center of the lane. And,as "before," no one was abroad. Probably King Pelles' wassail was
already in progress, or, if not, the goodly knights and gentlewomenwere still at evensong. In any event, he reached the lane that led tothe castle of Carbonek without mishap.
After entering the lane, he encephalopathed Easy Money into theconcealment of the shadows of the bordering trees and settled back inthe saddle to wait. Rowena's placing the time of the theft at "alittle while afore eight of the clock" had been a general estimate atbest; hence he had allowed himself plenty of leeway and had