Fortunate for Jolyon that Johnny was used to that kind of rapt attention in the shop. Granted, usually it was by women who were glued to the jewelry display cases, but there were a few art lovers who had begun to get the word about the side-line items in the Silver Lark, the sculptures and paintings. Some days the store seemed more like a gallery than anything. The jarring note in it was Johnny himself, who steadfastly refused to ?upgrade? his clothing to business suits or something more ?artistic?. Today, for example, he was wearing a cable-knit sweater and jeans that were somewhat worse for the wear. Chemical stains left odd splotches on the denim, and spots of Juliane?s paint left their own marks of color.

Johnny straightened from where he had been crouched behind one of the display cases, replacing a tray of fantastically elaborate hair-clips. Sprays of flowers carved from metal and jewels, a snake twining about on itself with green enameled glow and ruby eyes. He had just filled in a blank space left by a sale with what looked like a tapestry piece of woven fabric until closer examination showed the sheen and revealed that the ?fabric? was woven of fine metal threads. As Jolyon had his back turned, Johnny took the chance to study the man.

A hard worker, there was no question of that, and passionate about the work with it. Both in his study of other cultures, and his hobby of the vineyard. Johnny hadn?t spoken with Jolyon often, but often enough to know that about the scholar. Resting his forearms against the counter, Johnny considered the little he did know about Jolyon. An archaeologist who came to RhyDin and found himself without a firm grip on time and place, thanks to the distortions of the Nexus. Some might have reacted badly to that, been unable to cope with the unseating of everything they knew. Jolyon had reacted, as far as Johnny could tell, with the mark of a true scholar ? he wanted to know more.

Well, perhaps Johnny could help in some small way, with the reason he had asked Jolyon to stop by. So the blonde man straightened and made his way through the shop to halt next to Jolyon and look at the piece the other was currently studying. A recent work of Juliane?s, it was a scene washed in bright sunlight, an old man mending a net in the dockyards with his gnarled hands caught in the delicate motion. ?She?s go? a rare talen? fer catchin? th? essence ?a people, don? she? Glad ya stopped by, Doc.?

It was a nickname Johnny had been using to himself in reference to Jolyon for quite some time. So now it came out naturally, and he turned his face from the painting to grin over at the other man. With his arms folded over his chest, the grin transformed what could have been an intimidating stance into one of boyish delight. Freeing a mesh-embedded hand, he offered it to Jolyon. ?Din? really expect ta see ya t?day, bu? glad ya stopped by. Go? some thin?s ya migh? wan? b?fore ya go on tha? trip back ta get more fundin?.?

With that rather cryptic statement, Johnny?s grin turned from delight to mischief as he watched for the reaction of the other man.

?Yeah, run across a coupl?a ya scholarly types b?fore in th? wanderin?. Seems ta fit ya, so less?n ya have an objection, I?m goin? ta keep callin? ya Doc, bro.? There was something odd about the phrasing of that, but Johnny had never paid much attention to niceties ? despite the despairing attempts of his mother to educate him in proper manners. Easy stride took him behind the main counter, where he rummaged for several moments before he came out with a low, flat cardboard box.

?An? as fer borrowin? ? ya can have all this, if?n ya wan? it, an? th? res?. This ain? everythin?, bu? it?s enough ta show yer committees an? wha?-no?.? That probably didn?t make much sense until Johnny lifted the lid of the cardboard box. It had been carefully padded with scraps of cloth, and somewhat dirt-encrusted fragments of a ceramic tablet lay spread on the padding. Broken pieces of an unintentional puzzle that had been carefully reassembled to show what looked like a map of the surrounding countryside with writing in two languages below. There were some pieces missing, but overall it was fairly intact.

Johnny studied the broken ceramic map. It had been painted, glazed and then fired, and the paint still showed in vivid colors. The writing seemed to be in an archaic form of English and something he didn?t recognize at all. What made the map truly uncanny was the point at the center of the break. The tablet had fragmented into shards that spider-webbed out from that central point. It appeared to be a silvery-gray cloud painted there, with a doorway carefully rendered behind the cloud and barely visible.

?Been turning up th? groun? fer th? spring, out ta th? farm. This turned up, bunch?a other stuff too ? bu? no? so fancy. More like tools an? dishes ? mix-match stuff, shouldn? all be t?gether, ya know? But though? this ya?d really like ta see, Doc.? Johnny tapped the edge of the box lightly. Emerald eyes lifted from examining the broken ceramic map to examine the scholar in turn.

?Ya can pro?lly do th? translatin? an? so forth on this?n, bu? strikes me as a pretty good way?a showin? th? Nexus, th? portal, ya know? Set aside tha? field an? we ain? turnin? up the groun? there no more, if?n ya wan? ta come ou? an? do some diggin? of yer own. Meantime, who knows bu? wha? this migh? help ya sell yer committee on givin? ya more fundin??? He paused and then grinned, suddenly. ?An? tell ya sure enough tha? Katie an? Juls?d be righ? pleased if ya weren? havin? ta run yerself inta th? groun? ta make enough ta keep afloat.?

One blonde eyebrow lifted as Johnny smiled at Jolyon. ?Migh? be tha? ya don? need this a? all ? which case, I?ll be sorry I took up yer time. Bu? if?n ya wan? it, it?s yers, Doc.?