[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
Llynn's attention, but neither was he rejecting it.
"Maybe there's something new in this house's attic," Llynn said. "Come on!"
Kailash suffered himself to be dragged upstairs. The others remained downstairs.
Then Penn thought to look at the plaque by the stairway. Sure enough, it had advanced to 9. Would 10 be
the finale?
Chandelle looked out the back door. "This is nice, but I wish we could have a real forest, rather than a
frozen one."
Lloyd perked up. "Bet we can do it, now. Fine-tune it to a forest at the front door, and tie the back door in
to that site. We don't have to stay here in the city."
"Let's do it," Penn said.
Penn, Lloyd, and Shree went to the cellar panel, while Chandelle went to make sure that Llynn and
Kailash remained inside the house. Before long Lloyd had done it: the house was now on a site in British
Columbia, Canada, in a forested valley by a long thin lake. There were no neighbors, and only a dirt road.
"Oh, lovely," Chandelle said, leading the way out. The house remained in view, the front and back doors
aligned. They were in a glade, the water on one side, a forested slope on the other. There were birds in the
trees, and a chipmunk watched them from a rock, before scurrying away. The air was fresh and warm.
Penn loved it too. Here they could use their hiking equipment, and camp out, without deserting the house.
"I am really getting to like this house," he remarked.
"I like it too," Shree said.
"Yeah," Lloyd agreed immediately. "Want to go riding?"
She looked at Chandelle. Chandelle nodded. So the two of them went for the bicycles.
Penn looked at Chandelle. "No more chaperoning?"
"She is a responsible young woman, and his devotion gives her some reason to stay alive," she said. "I
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
think that is more important than our limited conventions."
"You seem to be liberalizing."
"I think I am. I am falling in love with this house."
"I think we all are. I will hate to see the month end."
"We must make the most of it," she said. She took his hand, leading him through the high grass toward
the water. "Do you think it's warm enough to swim?"
"It may be. But we didn't bring our suits."
She just looked at him. Then he realized just how far the house had liberalized her. Not only was she
enjoying the countryside, when she had before been more of a city creature, she was acting much as she
had during their courtship, forty years before. They had skinny-dipped then, and more.
And if the young folks found them, well, they could swim too.
Chapter 11: Alien Dream
Llynn lay on her bed, toying with the fiber ring she had found in the attic. The squiggle instructions
suggested merely that it was a sleeping aid, or at least that it brought interesting dreams. It showed a
person wearing it, then lying down, and seeing all manner of things and creatures. So she was trying it,
though she was disappointed. The controls in the cellar of the alternate house had given them significant
additional control of the residence. It would have been reasonable for the attic to provide similarly. But it
hadn't.
Shree was lying on her bed. She removed the gray band from her head.
"How are you doing?" Llynn asked.
"I am mending. Having accepted the notion that your culture does not regard me as worthy only of death,
I am finding it easier to believe. But there is a problem."
Llynn had been afraid of that. "Will you tell me? I can keep a secret."
"It is no secret. It is that after your month is done, you will leave this house, and my brother and I will
have nowhere to go."
Llynn hadn't thought of that. "But you could stay with the house."
"We have no resources. We would not be able to pay its rental."
"Then you could step out in America with us."
"We are undocumented aliens. Your country has restrictions on illegal immigrants. In any event, we
would have no jobs and no residences there. It does not seem feasible. I am a millstone around my
brother's neck, and I will bear him down with me if I remain with him."
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
Llynn hadn't thought of any of that. "But you're a wonderful woman. Lloyd would be heartbroken if
you " She broke off, not wanting to speak of death.
"Were your cousin of age, I might marry him, and become a citizen. But he is not, and in any event it
would not be fair to him."
Llynn sat up on the bed. "Shree, if you snapped your fingers, he would walk through fire for you. How
could it be unfair?"
"He is not of age to judge well. It is merely his inexperience that foolishly captivates him."
Llynn couldn't accept that. "Shree, if I were a boy, I'd be in love with you. You're so beautiful. As it is "
"You love my brother. Yet you, too, must separate from him when the month is done."
It was true. Lloyd would have to go back to his family in Okinawa, and Llynn to hers in Philadelphia.
This phenomenal experience would have to end when the month did. "Damn it!" she swore. "It's not fair."
"I apologize for dismaying you."
"And you're thinking of dying! That's part of it."
"It is true."
Llynn fixed on another aspect. "Maybe I could go with Kailash to your country."
"You would not be well equipped for that life."
She was right. In fact it was an understatement. What little she had learned of the Himalayan region of
northern India, of Kashmir, suggested that it was a lot rougher than the cashmere sweaters it exported.
She was totally unequipped. All avenues seemed blocked.
Then she became cunning. "If all is lost at the end of the month, I want to make what I can of it. Shree "
Shree stood. "Yes, I will bring him. This much I can do for you." She left the room, making no noise.
She understood! Llynn's heart beat wildly. She knew that what she contemplated was wrong, but it was
what she wanted. She had always been wild, and the wildness was returning.
The door opened, and Kailash entered, wearing pajamas. He did not speak, but came to sit beside her on
the bed. She turned into him and embraced him, her mouth seeking his. She kissed him hungrily.
He returned the kiss. But then he drew back. "I do not wish to violate the hospitality of this house, or of
your grandparents," he said. "I like you, Llynn, very much, and would like to do this with you. But in the
present circumstances, it would be wrong."
"I don't care!" she flared. "I love you."
"And perhaps I love you. But I would not be the man you think me to be if I took advantage of your
distress in this manner. Sleep, Llynn, and I will sleep too in the other bed."
a
a
T
T
n
n
s
s
F
F
f
f
o
o
D
D
r
r
P
P
m
m
Y
Y
e
e
Y
Y
r
r
B
B
2
2
.
.
B
B
A
A
Click here to buy
Click here to buy
w
w
m
m
w
w
o
o
w
w
c
c
.
.
.
.
A
A
Y
Y
B
B
Y
Y
B
B
r r
Something else occurred to her. "Shree's with Lloyd."
"Yes, in similar manner."
"It must be nice, having adult honor," she said, frustrated.
"It is often painful."
She knew there would be no arguing with him. Part of her was relieved. "Okay. You take the other bed.
But if you change your mind, you're welcome."
"Thank you." He got up and walked to the other bed.
Llynn lay down again. She still held the fiber ring. She put it on her middle finger, so as not to lose it, and
closed her eyes.
The dreams started immediately. She felt herself expanding, becoming diffuse, spreading beyond the
house and beyond the city. Then beyond the planet, and the solar system. She became a galactic
phenomenon, embracing a hundred million stars and encompassing the colossal engine that drove the
galaxy, the central black hole.
Frightened by the immensity, she withdrew. She contracted back to her sector, her system, her world, her
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]