Thief of Time

official history?” said Ronnie.
    He held up a hand and a book appeared in it. It looked brand new.
    “This was before ,” he said sourly. “Book of Om, Prophecies of Tobrun. Ever meet him? Tall man, beard, tendency to giggle at nothing?”
    “Before even my time, Ronnie.”
    Ronnie handed the book over.
    “First edition. Try chapter two, verse seven,” he said.
    And Lu-Tze read: “And the Angel clothéd all in white opened the Iron Book, and a fifth rider appeared in a chariot of burning ice, and there was a snapping of laws and a breaking of bonds and the multitudes cried ‘Oh God, we’re in trouble now!’”
    “That was me,” said Ronnie proudly.
    Lu-Tze’s eyes strayed to verse eight: “And I saw, sort of like rabbits, in many colors but basically a plaid pattern, kind of spinning around, and there was a sound as of like big syrupy things.”
    “That verse got cut from the next edition,” said Ronnie. “Very open to visions of all sorts, old Tobrun. The fathers of Omnianism could pick and mix what they wanted. Of course, in those days everything was new. Death was Death,
    of course, but the rest were really just Localized Crop Failure, Scuffles, and Spots.”
    “And you—?” Lu-Tze ventured.
    “The public wasn’t interested in me anymore,” said Ronnie. “Or so I was told. Back in those days we were only playing to very small crowds. One plague of locusts, some tribe’s waterhole drying up, a volcano exploding…we were glad of any gig going. There wasn’t room for five.” He sniffed. “So I was told.”
    Lu-Tze put down the cup.
    “Well, Ronnie, it’s been very nice talking to you, but time’s…time’s not rushing, you see.”
    “Yeah. Heard about that. The streets are full of the Law.” Ronnie’s eyes blazed again.
    “Law?”
    “ Dhlang . The Auditors. They’ve had the glass clock built again.”
    “You know that?”
    “Look, I might not be one of the Fearsome Four, but I do keep my eyes and ears open,” said Ronnie.
    “But that’s the end of the world!”
    “No, it’s not,” said Ronnie, calmly. “Everything’s still here.”
    “But it’s not going anywhere!”
    “Oh, well, that’s not my problem, is it?” said Ronnie. “I do milk and dairy products.”
    Lu-Tze looked around the sparkling dairy, at the glistening bottles, at the gleaming churns. What a job for a timeless person. The milk would always be fresh.
    He looked back at the bottles, and an unbidden thought rose in his mind.
    Even the Horsemen were people-shaped, and people are vain. Knowing how to use other people’s vanity was a martial art all in itself, and Lu-Tze had been doing it for a long time.
    “I bet I can work out who you were,” he said. “I bet I can work out your real name.”
    “Hah. Not a chance, monk,” said Ronnie.
    “Not a monk, just a sweeper,” said Lu-Tze calmly. “Just a sweeper. You called them the Law, Ronnie. There’s got to be a law, right? They make the rules, Ronnie. And you’ve got to have rules, isn’t that true?”
    “I do milk and dairy products,” said Ronnie, but a muscle twitched under his eye. “Also eggs by arrangement. It’s a good, steady business. I’m thinking of taking on more staff for the shop.”
    “Why?” said Lu-Tze. “There won’t be anything for them to do.”
    “And expand the cheese side more,” said Ronnie, not looking at the sweeper. “Big market for cheese. And I thought maybe I could get a c-mail address, people could send in orders, it could be a big market.”
    “All the rules have won, Ronnie. Nothing moves anymore. Nothing is unexpected because nothing happens.”
    Ronnie sat staring at nothing.
    “I can see you’ve found your niche, then, Ronnie,” said Lu-Tze soothingly. “And you keep this place like a new pin, there’s no doubt about it. I expect the rest of the lads’d be really pleased to know that you’re, you know, getting on all right. Just one thing, uh…why did you rescue me?”
    “What? Well, it was my charitable duty—”
    “You’re the fifth horseman, Mr. Soak. Charitable duty?” Except, Lu-Tze thought, you’ve been human-shaped a long time. You want me to find out…You want me to. Thousands of years of a life like this…it’s curled you in on yourself. You’ll fight me all the way but you want me to drag your name out of you…
    Ronnie’s eyes glowed.
    “I look after my own, Sweeper.”
    “I’m one of yours, am I?”
    “You have…certain worthwhile points.”
    They stared at