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.After sprinkling a little grain on the blanket, he set up the stool, sat down, and poured himself tea in a tin mug.This boy can really rough it, Olive thought sarcastically.No linen, no china, no butler.Steele will have headed for the outer door, to see if the thief is sitting by it, Giogi decided.As he munched some old tea cakes, he examined his map for the quickest route to the door.When he looked up, his burro had its nose buried in his picnic basket."Bad Birdie," he said, pushing Olive's muzzle away."That's your food over there." He pointed to the grain on the blanket.Olive pleaded with her eyes."Oh, very well," Giogi sighed.He drew out a cheese sandwich and fed it to her in pieces, then spoiled her with another slice of apple.I wonder if I can get him to pour me some tea, too, Olive thought with a mental chuckle."No more, Birdie," Giogi said, rising suddenly to his feet.He packed up everything in a flurry and loaded it back on Olive.Before they continued, the nobleman drew out from the packs a jar of paint and a paint brush.At every intersection, the nobleman consulted the map and painted a number on the wall.Several times, he had to turn the map or turn himself to get his bearings.Twice they retraced their steps to check a previous number.Their progress slowed to a crawl.With their tedious pace and the sound of dripping water percolating through the stonework, Olive felt as if she were being tortured.She fought her irritability by reminding herself, You need the boy to get you out of this pit, Olive-girl.You can't afford for him to get confused.They were halted in an intersection when Olive detected something flutter softly past her long ears.Giogi, intent on his map and paints, seemed not to notice it.Olive felt a prick near her haunches.She swished her tail automatically.She was just thinking, Useful things, tails, when a bloated crow-sized shape swooped down behind Giogi's head.For a moment, Olive thought it was just a bat, but as it hovered by Giogi's neck, she saw it had feathery wings.Then she caught sight of its mosquitolike proboscis.Olive brayed in terror, suddenly realizing what the prick she'd felt earlier had been.Giogi whirled around at the sound.The light from the finder's stone flared, outlining a stirge nearly as large as a tomcat.Giogi leaped backward with a shriek, dropping the map, the paint can, and paint brush.Recovering his nerve quickly, though, he drew his foil and lunged at the creature.Too fat to gain altitude quickly, the startled creature swooped down and away, and Giogi's foil stabbed at empty air.The flying monster disappeared into the darkness.Meanwhile, Olive was smashing her haunches against the uneven rock walls, trying to squash the bloodsucker she knew must be attached to her.She felt something solid catch between her body and the wall and rupture.Something wet seeped through the blanket between the packs and her back.Was that the stirge or a water bag? she wondered.Not taking any chances, she kept on swinging her back half against the stone.The tea basket tumbled to the ground and things in the packs clattered against one another."Take it easy, Birdie," Giogi said."You'll hurt yourself."Take it easy, he says, while something's sucking my lifeblood away.In her mind Olive imagined a swarm of stirges hanging from her fuzzy belly like bats did from the ceilings of caves.With a look of grim concern, Giogi raised his foil and lunged at the burro.Olive closed her eyes and held her breath.She never felt the prick of the foil, but in less than a few seconds, Giogi was patting her back, whispering soothing words."It's all over now, girl.I got the lot"The lot! Then there was more than one, Olive thought queasily.She opened her eyes.Skewered on the nobleman's sword, like cornish hens on a spit, were half a dozen stirges, the largest no bigger than a squirrel.Mercifully the finder's stone's light had dimmed back to its normal soft glow, so she didn't get a good look at them.Nonetheless, Olive had to fight back her nausea."Disgusting creatures, aren't they?" Giogi commented as he slid the bloodsuckers off his weapon and kicked the corpses against the wall.From the pallor of Giogi's face, Olive could tell he was not inured to battle.The young noble wiped his foil clean with a silk handkerchief, grimaced at the gore and stains on the fabric, and dropped the cloth over his kills.He wasn't boasting after all, Olive thought with relief.He is competent with that foil.He managed to skewer the enemy without harming a hair on my head—or the other end, for that matter.We may live through this little jaunt yet.After sheathing his foil, Giogi bent over to retrieve the supplies he'd dropped.He salvaged as much of the spilled paint as he could by mopping it up with the brush.Murmuring reassuring words to the burro, he reattached the picnic basket to Olive's packs and checked the security of the other supplies.He took another few moments to consult the map, picked up Olive's lead rope.and led her down the left-hand passageway.They hadn't gone five paces when Giogi seemed to stumble.He toppled sideways, slumped against the wall, and slid to the floor.The map, paint brush, and jar tumbled out of his hands again, but his fingers remained clasped about the finder's stone.Olive was at his side at once.Frantically she searched over his body, nuzzling and pawing at his cloak, looking for a stirge that might have attached itself to the nobleman without his knowing it.Her search yielded neither bloodsucking monster nor wound.Moreover, Giogi did not appear in any shock.He was breathing quite naturally and snoring softly.How can he fall asleep at a time like this! Olive thought.A tongue clicked behind her to attract her attention.Olive whirled about
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