Now the cat showed some agitation. "But Jenny needs help!"

"Who is Jenny?"

"My person friend."

Now Dolph remembered something else Metria had said: that a foreign elf and a foreign cat had come through the hole in Xanth. And that the elf was trying to help Che. "Is Jenny an elf?"

"They called her that," Sammy said a bit defensively. "But she's really a person."

Yet Metria was the one who had told him, so this was no verification. Still, his belief was overwhelming his doubt. "And you two came through the hole?"

"I didn't notice."

"Why did you come through it?"

"For a feather."

Metria hadn't told him that. Still, he wasn't quite sure. "What feather?"

"A big one."

Dolph resisted the urge to get annoyed, knowing that the demoness would like it if he blew his top. "How did you know where it was?"

"I just knew."

"But wasn't it hard to find a big feather?"

"No."

She was still testing him! "How did you know where to find me?" That should trap her into some giveaway response.

"I just knew."

Was he getting anywhere or just wasting time—exactly as the demoness wanted. "Do you know who I am?"

"No."

"Then why did you look for me?"

"I didn't."

"But you said you came to me to get my help."

"Yes."

"How could you do that if you didn't know who I was?"

"Jenny told me to find help, so I found it."

"You didn't know what you were finding, just help?"

"Yes."

Dolph was stumped. Every time he thought he was getting somewhere, he wound up nowhere. He suspected that he should just leave the cat and head down the river. But suppose the cat was legitimate?

Metria appeared. "I can't stand watching you fumble any more!" she declared. "I'll have to help you get on with it, or we'll be here all night."

"But I'm not sure whether he's you," Dolph protested, forming his cat mouth into just enough of a human mouth to speak human words.

She stared at him. "Are you trying to fool me into thinking you're even duller than you are?"

Dolph looked from her to the cat and back. How could she be the cat when she was herself? "How would you proceed?" "I'd ask him exactly how he finds things."

Dolph looked at Sammy, but the cat just lay there without moving. "Dumbbell!" Metria snapped. "Ask him!" "But he heard you."

"I didn't speak in feline talk. I can't. You have to translate." Oh. "Sammy, how do you find things?" "I just do."

"He just does," Dolph said to the demoness. "How does he just do it?" she asked. "Sammy, how do you just do it?" "If I'm interested." "If he's interested."