'I'm afraid so. You get used to it.'
She caught the back of the cart and pulled herself up, beckoning him hastily to follow.
'Are you trying to impress me?' he said as she hauled him on board.
'Not you,' she said. And realized, at this point, that what she was sitting on was a coffin.
There were two of them in the back of the cart, packed around with straw.
'Are they moving the furniture in?' said Oats.
'Er... I think... it might... be occupied,' said Agnes.
She almost shrieked when he removed the lid. The coffin was empty.
'You idiot! Supposing there was someone in there!'
'Vampires are weak during the day. Everyone knows that,' said Oats reproachfully.
'I can... feel them here... somewhere,' said Agnes. The rattling of the cart changed as it rumbled on to the cobblestones of the courtyard.
'Get off the other one and I'll have a look.'
'But supposing-'
He pushed her off and raised the lid before she could protest further. 'No, no vampire in here, either,' he said.
'Supposing one'd just reached out and grabbed you by the throat!'
'Om is my shield,' said Oats.
'Really? That's nice.'
'You may chortle-'
'I didn't chortle.'
'You can if you want to. But I'm sure we are doing the right thing. Did not Sonaton defeat the Beast of Batrigore in its very cave?'
'I don't know.'
'He did. And didn't the prophet Urdure vanquish the Dragon of Sluth on the Plain of Gidral after three days' fighting?'
'I don't know that we've got that much time-'
'And wasn't it true that the Sons of Exequial beat the hosts of Myrilom?'
'Yes?'
'You've heard of that?'
'No. Listen, we've stopped. I don't particularly want us to be found, do you? Not right now. And not by those guards. They didn't look like nice men at all.'
They exchanged a meaningful glance over the coffins, concerning a certain inevitability about the immediate future.
'They'll notice they're heavier, won't they?' said Oats.
'Those people driving the carts didn't look as though they notice anything very much.'