NINE

"This is crazy," said Paige. She held out her hand. "Stockley."

Nothing happened. Ordinarily the weapon would have orbed immediately into

her hand. But apparently in this realm her magic didn't work any better than

Pipers'. She looked at Piper and Cole perplexed.

"What?" the figure questioned. "You think I'll just hand over the

stockley because you ask for it? Do I look like a fool to you? Put the

manacles on. I can't be taking you to market like this."

"I've had enough of this," said Cole.

He raised his hand and called on his magic. He was a demon and his magic

worked differently from the sisters. Only nothing happened. He stood there

with his hand held up as the others stared at him. The figure next to the wagon

extended the stockley and gave Cole a shock.

"Listen," said the figure, "I can't stand around here all day. If you

don't put the manacles on this instant I'll take your dead bodies to market.

They won't bring as much if you're dead but I'm not about to turn down any

profit I can make off you. So make your decision. Wear the manacle or die.

It's up to you."

Cole looked at the sisters. There really wasn't anything they could do at

the moment. As long as the figure held that weapon and they had no access to

their magic, they were at his mercy. Reluctantly Cole picked up the manacles

and began to put them on the sisters.

"Sorry about this," he said as he shackled Piper. "But the first

opportunity...."

"I know," said Piper. "There really isn't any choice. Let's just go

along with it for now. Maybe something will come up at this market he keeps

raving about."

When they were all shackled hand and foot the figure loaded them into the

wagon. The shackles provided just enough room for them to walk but running was

definitely out of the question. The manacles were obviously designed to keep

the occupant subdued.

"Okay," said the figure, "if anyone asks, you're the property of Stennish.

That's me, Stennish. If they want to know why you aren't tagged just tell them

that your fresh stock and I haven't got around to tagging you yet. That will

make things a lot easier."

"Whatever," Piper said.

"That's a docile call," said Stennish.

"What the hell is a call?" Paige asked.

"You are, of course," said Stennish. "All humans females are calls.

What, haven't you ever had contact with demonis before?"

"Demonis?" questioned Cole.

"Me," said Stennish. "My people are demonis and you people are gadlings.

The females are called calls and the males are called mocalls. It's been that

way for hundreds of years. Honestly, you'd think the three of you just dropped

out of the sky or something."

"That's not far from the truth," said Paige, looking at the other two.

Stennish got into the wagon and whipped the beast pulling it. The beast

began to move, pulling the wagon behind it. It wasn't an uncomfortable ride

although it was not the best way Piper and Paige had ever traveled. Shackled as

they were and with no magic, they could do little but sit and wait.

They traveled for nearly an hour. Finally the wagon pulled into a small

village made of wooden buildings. The village was bustling with activity. Many

creatures that looked remarkably like Stennish walked about the village. There

were also a great many humans, all shackled similar to Cole and the sisters.

One of the oddest things that the three noticed was that most of the human women

were noticeably overweight.

"Well, it seems they feed humans pretty good here anyway," said Paige.

"Of course," said Stennish. "A thin call is not worth much."

"I don't like the looks of this," said Cole. "Humans seem to be nothing

more than animals here. It's hard to believe that Gastion would bring Phoebe

here to be his wife. I don't think the inhabitants would go for something like

that any more than humans on Earth would accept someone who married a dog or

cat."

"Marry a call?" questioned Stennish. "Well, it's been known to happen but

not often. And then only members of the elite may do so. This Gastion you keep

speaking of. Is he a member of the elite here?"

"We don't know," said Piper. "We only know he came here a long time ago.

And he has something we want."

"Well, you can forget about that now," said Stennish. "Pretty soon you'll

be sold at market and then you'll have other duties to attend to. I plan to get

a good price for you even though you aren't exactly up to market standards.

You're young and strong. That should help augment the price."

"Stennish," said a demonis walking up to the wagon, "it's been a long

time. And I see you've brought more goods to trade. They're untagged. Are

they wild? Have you been poaching on Glendons' property again?"

"Absolutely not," said Stennish as he got down off the wagon. "I found

them on my way into town. Came walking up to me as proud as you please."

"Well," said the other demonis, "if you found them along the road I guess

that can't be considered poaching. The calls seem a bit thin, don't they?"

"Ah, but they are young and strong," said Stennish. "And the mocall is

very vibrant. He should be very good for producing many gadlings for you. Not

to mention all the work you should be able to get out of him. I tell you,

Gronnar, these are three of the best gadlings I've ever seen. They are worth a

good price."

"Come inside and we'll discuss it," said Gronnar. "You three mind

yourself. I don't want any trouble out of you."

"They won't be any trouble," said Stennish, casting a stern look at the

three.

Stennish and Gronnar went into the building as the sisters and Cole got

out to stretch their legs. It had been a hard ride into the village and none of

them were used to it. Cole tested the strength of the shackles once more but

found them to be as sturdy as ever.

"Is it true?" asked a young human man cautiously edging his way toward the

three. "Are you really wild gadlings? My name is Parno."

"Hello, Parno," said Piper, noticing a small triangular shaped tattoo on

the mans' right cheek. "My name is Piper. This is Paige, my sister, and that's

Cole. We're kind of new around here. Before we knew what was happening that

Stennish used some kind of weapon to shock us with."

"The stockley," said the young man nodding. "It's the way they control

unruly gadlings. Do what you're told and they won't use it."

"Thanks," said Paige. "What's that on your cheek?"

"Oh, this," said the man putting his hand to his cheek. "It's my tag. It

identifies my owner. I belong to Amadon, one of the richest demonis in the

village. You'll get one, too, as soon as your sold. Maybe Amadon will buy you.

He's in town looking for new stock."

"New stock?" questioned Cole. "You talk like we're cattle."

"I don't know this cattle," said Parno. "But Amadon is one of the best

masters in the village. He doesn't mistreat us and we get to roam free most of

the time. As long as we don't cause any trouble."

"It's still slavery no matter how benevolent," said Cole.

"You speak strangely," said Parno. "Where are you from?"

"It's called Earth," said Piper. "It's kind of a long way from here.

We're here looking for someone. His name is Gastion. Have you heard of him?"

'The name means nothing," said Parno. "But I don't know everyone."

"He'd have a young human, that is, call with him," said Cole. "About

twenty-five, dark hair, very attractive."

"Are they thin like these two?" questioned Parno.

"Yes, she would be," said Paige. "What's with the weight on all the women

here? I haven't seen a thin woman in this entire village."

"You're calls," said Parno in surprise. "Calls are supposed to be plump,

of course. You can't serve a thin call at donlo."

"Donlo?" questioned Cole.

"The monthly feasts of the village, of course," said Parno. "You are

strange gadlings. You act as if you don't know any of this."

"What do you mean serve?" asked Piper, getting a very sick feeling in the

pit of her stomach.

"Calls serve three main purposes, of course," said Parno. "They tend to

the young gadlings and prepare meals, do the cleaning, keep the homes of their

owners, that sort of thing. Then there's the bearing of the young. Producing

more gadlings that can be sold at market or put to work or whatever."

"You said three things," said Cole.

"They're for the donlo," said Parno. "When a call is properly fattened,

they are served at donlo. We expect to have a record turnout of calls at this

month's donlo. It promises to be quite grand and festive."

"When you say served," began Piper.

"Served," said Parno. "You know. Baked, boiled, fried, there are a

variety of ways to prepare calls. Which is why they must be properly plump so

they can be properly prepared."

"Served," said Piper looking at Piper and Cole. "As in cooked and served.

Human females here are considered a source of food to these demonis."

Paige and Cole just stared at Piper in utter disbelief.