FRIC FELT THAT BY SOME MAGICAL INFLUENCE of the brick floor under his feet and the brick walls around him and the low brick vaults overhead, he had been transformed into brick himself as he listened to the soft voice of this stranger.
“The secret room concealed behind your closet isn’t as secret as you think, Aelfric. You won’t be safe there when Robin Goodfellow pays a visit.”
“Who?”
“Previously I called him the Beast in Yellow. He styles himself Robin Goodfellow, but he’s darker than that. In truth, he’s Moloch, with the splintered bones of babies stuck between his teeth.”
“That’ll take some heavy-duty dental floss,” said Fric, though a tremor in his voice belied the flippancy of his words. He hurried on, hoping that Mysterious Caller had failed to detect his fear. “Robin Goodfellow, Moloch, baby bones—you aren’t making any sense.”
“You have a great library in your house, don’t you, Aelfric?”
“Yeah.”
“And you must have a good dictionary in that library.”
“We have a whole shelf of dictionaries,” said Fric, “just to prove how scholarly we are.”
[197] “Then look it all up. Know your enemy, prepare yourself for what is coming, Aelfric.”
“Why don’t you tell me what’s coming? I mean just plain, simple, easy to understand.”
“That’s not within my power. I’m not licensed to take any direct action.”
“So you aren’t James Bond.”
“I’m authorized to work only by indirection. Encourage, inspire, terrify, cajole, advise. I influence events by every means that is sly, slippery, and seductive.”
“What’re you—an attorney or something?”
“Y............