The Tiger's Egg by Jon Berkeley Page A

with an embroidered dressing gown that the fortune-teller had lent him to give the boy, as he put it, some semblance of dignity. Tau-Tau had insisted that they leave at once, without a word to anyone. He would not let Miles return to his wagon for clothes, nor would he hear of him retrieving his overcoat from the Zipplethorpes’ trailer.
    â€œI still don’t see why we couldn’t bring Little,”Miles panted. “She wouldn’t say a word to anyone, and she’s very useful in a tricky situation.”
    â€œOut of the question,” called Tau-Tau over his shoulder. “The people we are going to see don’t make a habit of welcoming visitors. My great negotiating skills will be stretched to their fullest to get the information we need, and one more hanger-on would make it ten times harder.”
    â€œWho are they, the people we’re going to see?” asked Miles.
    Doctor Tau-Tau stopped to unsnag his own dressing gown from a bramble. “Don’t bother me now with questions, boy,” he said tetchily. “It’s a good few years since I’ve been this way, and if you continue to pester me we may end up going in circles.”
    They marched on in silence for a while. The wind still gusted strongly, and at times it was as much as Miles could do to keep moving forward at all. It was a moonless night, and the faint light of the stars was all they had to guide them. Miles could make out the dark bulk of the mountains to their right, but most of his attention was focused on the ground before his feet. The countryside was hilly and dotted with small trees whose knobbled roots were well suited for tripping the unwary, and now and then they would stumble as they stepped suddenly into ahidden rabbit hole. Despite the cold wind Miles began to sweat in the heavy dressing gown, and his throat was as dry as sand. The fat doctor’s labored breathing came back to him on the breeze.
    â€œIs it much farther?” called Miles when they seemed to have been walking forever.
    Doctor Tau-Tau said nothing, but a minute later he stopped in the shelter of a tall pinnacle of rock that rose from the side of a hill. “This will do,” he said in a hoarse whisper, when Miles had caught up with him. “We’ll take a short rest here.”
    Miles flopped gratefully down in the long grass, checking for Tangerine in the dressing-gown pocket where he had put him when Tau-Tau wasn’t looking. The bear seemed to be shivering slightly, and Miles kept his hand in the pocket to warm him. “Are we nearly there?” he asked.
    Doctor Tau-Tau put a long finger to his lips. “Shhhh,” he said. “You don’t want to be hollering around here like a schoolboy on an outing.”
    â€œBut we’re in the middle of nowhere,” said Miles, whispering nonetheless. “There’s no one for miles around.”
    â€œDon’t be so sure,” said Tau-Tau. His bulging eyes shone faintly in the darkness. He produced a thermos flask from inside his dressing gown, andpoured himself an inevitable cup of spiced tea. When he had emptied it he poured another and handed it to Miles. The cold had begun to bite again now that they had stopped, and Miles gulped it down gratefully.
    â€œYou said we were going to see royalty,” he whispered.
    â€œWell, in a manner of speaking,” said Tau-Tau, pouring himself another cup. He slurped noisily, presumably forgetting about the need for stealth. “The people who live in these parts have been here for countless years, since before your ancestors or mine ever set foot here. Your ancestors, that is, not mine,” he corrected himself. “I come from a distant country that you will never have heard of.”
    â€œThat depends,” said Miles, “on what letter of the alphabet it starts with.”
    The fortune-teller snorted, and promptly began to choke noisily on the tea that had shot up the back of his