The Golem's Eye

shoved aside and a skinny arm reached through to unlatch the clasp and shove the casement up. This was my cue. The crow took off and fluttered up the garden, like a pair of black underpants blown upon the wind. It landed on the sill of the window in question, and with a shuffle of its scaly legs, inched along the dirty net curtains until it located a small vertical tear. The crow shoved its head through and took a look inside.
    The room's primary purpose was evident from the bed shoved up against the far wall: a rumpled duvet indicated that it had recently been occupied. But the bed was now half-obscured by a colossal number of small wooden trays, each one subdivided into compartments. Some held semiprecious stones: agate, topaz, opal, gar net, jade, and amber, all shaped, polished, and graded by size. Others held strips of thin metal, or wisps of carved ivory, or triangular pieces of colored fabric. All along one side of the room a rough worktop had been erected, and this was covered by more trays, together with racks of slender tools and pots of foul-smelling glue. In one corner, carefully stacked and labeled, sat a pile of books with new plain leather bindings of a dozen colors. Pencil marks on the bindings indicated where ornamentation was to be added, and in the center of the desk, bathed in a pool of light from two standing lamps, one such operation was in progress. A fat volume in brown crocodile-skin was having a star-pattern of tiny red garnets added to its front cover. As the crow on the windowsill watched, the final gem had a blob of glue applied to its underside and was set in place by a pair of tweezers.
    Deeply engaged in this work, and thus oblivious to my presence, was the youth I had come to find. He wore a rather worn-looking dressing gown and a pair of faded blue pajamas. His feet, which were crossed under his stool, were encased in a huge pair of stripy bed-socks. His black hair was shoulder length, and on a split hairs—general grease rating put even Nathaniel's noxious mane in the shade. The atmosphere of the room was heavy with leather, glue, and odor of boy.
    Well, this was it. No time like the present, etc. Time to do the deed.
    The crow gave a sigh, took hold of the net curtain in its beak, and with one quick motion of the head, ripped the fabric in two.
    I stepped through onto the inner sill and hopped onto the nearest stack of books, just as the boy looked up from his work.
    He was very out of shape; the flesh hung heavily on him, and his eyes were tired. He caught sight of the crow, and ran one hand through his hair in a distracted sort of way. A fleeting look of panic passed across his face, then dulled into resignation. He set down his tweezers on the desk.
    "What manner of demon are you?" he said.
    The crow was taken aback. "You wearing lenses or something?"
    The boy shrugged wearily. "My grandmama always said demons came as crows. And normal birds don't slice their way through curtains, do they?"
    This last bit was admittedly true. "Well, if you must know," I said, "I am a djinni of great antiquity and power. I have spoken with Solomon and Ptolemy, and hunted down the Sea Peoples in the company of kings. Currently, however, I am a crow. But enough about me." I adopted a more efficient, businesslike tone. "You are the commoner Jakob Hyrnek?" A nod. "Good. Then prepare—"
    "I know who sent you."
    "Er... You do?"
    "I've guessed this was coming for a long time."
    The crow blinked in surprise. "Blimey. I found out only this morning."
    "It makes sense. He's decided to finish the job." The boy shoved his hands deep into his dressing gown pockets and sighed feelingly.
    I was confused. "He has? What job was this? Listen—stop sighing like a girl and explain yourself."
    "Killing me, of course," Hyrnek said. "I assume you're a more efficient demon than the last one. Although I have to admit he looked a lot more scary. You're a bit drab and weedy. And small."
    "Just hold hard a moment." The crow rubbed its eyes with a wing tip. "There's some mistake here. My master never heard of your existence until yesterday. He told me so."
    It was the boy's turn to do the perplexed bit. "Why would Tallow say that? Is he mad?"
    "Tallow?" The crow was practically cross-eyed with befuddlement. "Slow down! What's he got to do with it?"
    "He sent the green monkey after me, of course. So I naturally assumed—"
    I held up a wing. "Let's start again. I have been sent to find Jakob Hyrnek at this address. Jakob