Advanced Mythology Read Online Free Page B

classes.”
    “Midwestern has weekend and evening programs for MBAs,” Keith said blithely. “There’s even a distance-learning section. Uh-oh. I wonder if I can get into it at this late date. I’ll have to see my student advisor.” He grabbed his new schedule and looked at his watch. “Too late today. I’d better get home and make sure my good suit is pressed. PDQ’s into ‘business casual,’ but I can’t show up for a meeting in khakis.”
    “Hold!” Holl said, planting himself in front of Keith, bringing him to a reluctant stop. “You’re not going anywhere yet. You haven’t got the job. This appointment is only an opportunity, and an uncertain one at that.”
    “But it’s the kind of thing I’ve always hoped for,” Keith said.
    “And it is not until Monday. You have not seen Diane yet, have you?”
    “No,” Keith said, smacking himself in the forehead as he pulled his mind back from potential futures. “She said she wouldn’t be home from work until four o’clock. Hey, it’s nearly four now! Come on. I’ll drop you off at the farm and come back into town.”
    “Don’t bother,” Holl said. “She’s there.”
    “Where? At the farm?”
    “Take us back, Keith Doyle,” Enoch said, a trace of mischief in his dark eyes. “They’ll have had time enough now.”
    “For what?” Keith asked.
    “You’ll see.”
    ***

Chapter 2
    From the two-lane asphalt road, it looked as though a car could drive straight across to the old, white farmhouse all but hidden behind the overgrown hedges and stands of mature trees. Within a few feet of passing the white-painted, wooden split-rail fence, however, the crushed-stone driveway began to dip down a steep hill. At the bottom of the first slope, the drive crossed a ford that in the wet season ran with eight inches of water, and up another hill to a gravel parking pad beside the house.
    As he negotiated the slope, Keith became aware of a painful sensation in his head that made him grit his teeth. It grew so fierce he couldn’t concentrate on the trickle of water ahead. He braked the car gently to a stop.
    “You’ve got the electric fence turned up too high,” he said.
    “Apologies,” Enoch said. The black-haired elf stretched out his hands and seemed to tear apart invisible curtains. Immediately, the discomfort plaguing Keith died away so suddenly he felt as if a constricting shell had fallen off his body, leaving him limp against the seat. He worked his jaw.
    “I know I haven’t been here in a while, but I don’t think I was ever this sensitive to the repulsion.”
    “We’ve had a few too many unwelcome visitors lately,” Hall said ruefully. “Salesmen, inspectors, poll-takers, nosy travelers—more than ever before—so we’ve made the place somewhat less inviting.”
    “Less inviting!” Keith whistled. “And the delivery driver and postal carrier come in through this? They must have nerves of steel.”
    “We’ve given the driver immunity, but the postal carrier still dislikes coming in here. She leaves our mail in the box on the road. We’ll attune the spell to welcome you once we are inside.”
    Keith felt the protective barrier almost clang closed behind him as he eased the Mustang up the hill and in beside Diane’s small, white Saturn. He frowned at the other two cars.
    “Who else is here?” he asked.
    “You’ll see soon enough,” Enoch grunted. “Come along. I’ve had enough of riding in this steel box. I will have metal burn for a week.”
    “That’s fine talk for someone who works on a drill press,” Keith said, following him in the kitchen door.
    A dozen of the Little Folk stood around the custom-height counters chopping vegetables, tearing salad leaves, or rolling out pie crusts. Keith looked around at them fondly, admiring just the look of them, their there- ness . An expression that his grandfather used to use came to mind as appropriate to the scene: it did his heart good.
    “Hi, everybody!” he