“Hiya, Mac, what’s shaking?” a voice asked suddenly. Abernathy looked around and at first didn’t see anyone. Then he looked down and caught sight of the inn’s proprietor behind the bar—an ugly, hunchbacked dwarf with a smile that was a friendly brand of hideous. “Guess my name and you get a free drink,” the dwarf continued.
“Rumpelstiltskin,” Abernathy said offhandedly.
The barkeep exploded. “That goddamn press agent of mine! The bastard did too good a job!”
“Look, I don’t care about the free drink, Rump. All I want is some information. Is there a fairy godmother named Bellacosa around here?”
“‘Bellacosa’? Oh, you mean Balls! Yeah, she’s here. Over there, at the table by the men’s room.” Abernathy muttered his thanks and proceeded across the room to the indicated table.
His eyes had s
