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   Alec Six

   "Alexander Jason Carter, what are you doing?" Hans Carter strode into
the room.  "Elsin told me you kicked Glen out of her room."

   "I was just joking, but Elsin told her to go," Jason partially
apologized and stood up.

   "This girl is from the wastelands.  She has no family.  It would just be
her and what she has."

   "I don't think of her that way," he lied.  "She acts as though she hates
everyone here, anyway.  She'll more than likely marry into the missions. 
What difference will a little teasing do?"

   His father turned his eye to a small hand-carved box.  He picked it up
and caressed the lid as if he were afraid to open it.

   "Where did she get this?"

   "She brought it with her.  I thought Amanda told you.  It was the only
thing she brought."

   Hans opened the box.  He gasped.  He pulled out the braided belt.  Jason
did not see the resemblance until his father placed the belt above his own.
This was a high family belt.  Hans put the belt back.

   "I may know who she is," Hans said to himself as he put the box back. 
After Jason watched his father think for a few minutes, the old man said,
"She's been lost for nearly all of her life, but I know who she is.  I know
who she is."
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_____________________

   Glen was summoned to the meeting room.  The small chapel was where
community business was performed.  She went in and sat down with Alec and
Amanda.  Elsin sat in front of Alec and leaned over her chair to talk to
him.  The gathering was talkative and kinetic.  She could barely hear
herself think.  Jason entered the room from a side door.  He was such an
imposing but handsome figure framed by the door.  He turned to look at
Elsin, then caught site of Glen.  The stare he passed her was not menacing,
but not humor filled as well.  His smile was slight.  Her smile was absent.
He walked over to her.  She stood up.

   "Father wants you up front," Jason smiled.

   "For what reason, Jason," Amanda questioned.

   "He did not say," he voiced in amusement.

   Glen sat down next to Jason in the first row of seats.  She felt a
wrenching in her stomach.  `They found out about the cookie.' Jason looked
over at her and for the first time touched her hand.  She pulled away from
his advance.  His face hardened and he moved away from her slightly.  He
had meant to soothe her, but it only brought the fear out to her face.  Was
she really afraid of him?  Well, the bed thing would probably turn anyone
away.  The door swung open and Hans Carter, a shorter old version of Alec,
walked directly to the front of the room.  He cleared his throat to draw
attention.  By the stern look on his face, the Carters quieted.

   "I have reason to believe," he labored in his choice of words, "that a
wrong has been done this young one.  Information was withheld from me that
was important to her."

   He turned to Glen and said, "You have a name.  Your family may not know
you survived, but you may still be arranged."

   The crowd murmured.  Hans raised his hand to quiet them.

   "As a boy, I had a friend that would visit The Cavern with his family.
My family would go to his home and spend time there, as well.  We grew up
together.  Twenty-five years ago, that good friend left for an expedition
and never returned.  We heard of him every year or two, until we received
his body for transport to his home.  His wife was in the wasteland on her
way back to the Clan house.  We thought she disappeared on the way here. 
Your father's name was Jason Forester.  His wife's name was Bethel.  She
was a Carter.  My third Cousin.  I will send a dispatch to Pressin Valley."
The quietness of the old man's voice showed the importance of the
announcement and what he was leaving out.  "I feel that Glen will be sent
for in the spring, so we must enjoy her while we have her here.  May the
festival be a fantastic one!"

   She looked at Jason to see how she should react, but he stood up without
remark and left the room.  She would be gone in the spring.  He needed to
get away from her before he got too attached to her.  Amanda and Alec had
been right about one thing.  The girl was trouble.  The trip to Jagged Cove
would do him some good.

   "What does this mean?" She caught Hans, before he could go.

   "You are very lucky my Alex Jason likes that room.  I wouldn't have seen
Jason's box, and you wouldn't be going home.  You were meant to be in
charge of a place like this.  If Alec weren't already promised, I would
send a query on his behalf."

   She turned to see him move slowly toward her.  When he got close enough,
Alec stroked her arm and whispered in her ear, "I guess you don't need me
to fill your dances anymore."

  
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____________________

   The room was filled with the flow of the music and the joy of the
occasion.  Glen could not get into the mood of the party.  She found a spot
behind Alec and Elsin at the tables.  She couldn't eat.  The absence of
Jason for the entire day had been hard.  She was used to him popping up
everywhere.  What would she do when he left for Jagged Cove?  She had to
stop this silly game they were playing.  He didn't like her at all, but he
was making her crazy.  It was cruel.  She finally saw him sit down next to
Elsin.  He had shaved and pulled back his shoulder length black hair into a
loose ponytail that graced his back.  He sat with his back to her.

   `You are so beautiful.  And so cruel.  Am I just being stupid to stay
here?'

   Jason looked at Elsin.  Was she talking that clearly in this noise?  He
went back to pushing around his green beans.

   `I wish you knew how beautiful I think you are.'

   Jason looked around the room.  He felt this strange rush of fear.  It
wasn't Elsin.

   `Don't look at me!  Don't look at me, please?  I am such an idiot.'

   He saw Glen.  She was pretending to be eating her food, but it was more
like dividing and pushing around the plate.  He got up and walked over to
her.  She refused to look up at him.

   `Go away.  Don't do this to me.  Don't be polite.  I couldn't stand it
right now.' Her lips hadn't moved.

   `Look at those two.  I'd sooner die than be that obvious.  Don't they
leave any mystery?' he thought to her.

   She laughed into her plate.  She had heard him.  He hoped he'd never
done that before.

   He tried again, `You want to check on Nugget?'

   She looked up at him and nodded.  He offered his hand and she took it.
Her hand was cold.  He blew on it and rubbed it gently.

   "Hey, maybe you need a heavier coat before we go.  You're cold already,"
he smiled.

   She didn't smile back.  He took her to his room.  He went through his
old coats and found one from when he was a lot smaller.  He offered it to
her.  She took it from him and put it on.  He skirted around her and
checked the passageway.

   `If anyone saw you in here, it would hurt your reputation.'

   He motioned for her to follow him.  They exited through a side door. 
The cold air hit her and she shivered.  They ran across to the paddock and
Nugget greeted them with a snort.

   "She doesn't like it here," Glen sighed.

   "She needs to stay here.  I know she's isolated, but if I knew when
she'd bred I wouldn't have to do this," He soothingly whispered.

   `She's so small.  I hope she doesn't have any trouble.'

   `She'll be a fine mother.  She had a good example.'

   Glen looked up at him and his intensity frightened her.  She thought of
bolting for the house, but he moved between her and the door.  He took her
hands and warmed them again, and she slipped out of his grasp.

   He pulled her in to his chest and said, "Are you really frightened of
men like they say?"

   She trembled in his forced embrace, "Please."

   He lowered his chin to the top of her head and smelled her hair.  She
was sucked into the warmth and firmness of him.  He squeezed her arm gently
and waited for her shivers to die down.  The thump of an opened door and
the roar from inside the main room, allowed her to escape.  As she entered
the room, she heard Jason call after her.  Then felt a rush of some strange
feeling she`d never felt before.  She turned to look toward him.  She
wanted to go back and let him do what he had planned.

   He raised his hand and entreated, "Come back here, now!"

   She knew she couldn't let it happen.  She let the door shut with him on
the other side.  Jason took a deep breath and headed for the kitchen
entrance.  END
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_____________

   ALEC Hans paced the floor in front of his entry room.  He read a fax and
looked up at his older son.  Alec had been distracted ever since he had
heard a strange voice in his head.  It stopped his attentions to Elsin at
dinner.  He saw Glen leave to check on her horses with Jason.  His brother
had looked very strained.  He couldn't stop the strange feeling that had
come over him.

   "If she passes the DNA test and the ring is in her possession, they
consider her the heir to Jason's parcel.  It was never developed.  If I
remember correctly, it was edged by the mountain with a good stream passing
through it.  The crops would be big enough for off-world transport.  Does
she still have the ring, Alec?"

   "Yes, father."

   "Good.  That land is bigger than yours and Jason's put together.  She's
a catch.  If I could just get Jason to show the least bit of interest in
her..."

   "He won't do it.  He's his mind set on toying with women.  I don't want
him to hurt her.  Besides, he said himself that he didn`t find her
attractive..."

   Hans frowned at his son, "A pity, that.  Are the satellite hook ups
available?  I don't want him going there empty handed."

   "I checked and all we have to do is pick up the link.  I haven't checked
the reception, but we have to be there to set up the tower, anyway."

   "Go dance with Elsin, before she gets another partner," he waved his
child out to the party.

   Jason quietly skirted the main room.  He hadn't meant to hear, but he
did.  They didn't know how he felt about her.  Alec called his brother in
to the dance.  Jason declined agitatedly.  Not knowing his offense, Alec
pulled Glen into the spinning wheel.  Alec distinctly heard her say no, but
he dragged her along anyway.  He scanned her eyes for a moment and
positioned her for the dance.

   "You should learn not to shy away," Alec coldly instructed.  "A cultured
lady doesn't jerk or flinch.  She gently pulls away or not at all." He
firmly shook her hand to loosen her wrist and she gripped him firmly.  He
shook his head in disapproval and gently pulled her hand to his lips.

   "You shouldn't squeeze my hand at all."

   She concentrated on the way that he manipulated her fingers into a
better position.

   "Try to work on the flow of your hands.  You should rarely have a firmer
grip than the man."

   She held Alec's arm and faced his back with a hand on the opposite
shoulder.  Unsure, she stumbled through the motion of the dance.  The slow
circle was making her dizzy.

   Alec pulled her closer and smiled, "Relax.  It's a dance.  Don't be so
stiff.  You don't need to get it right.  Just move with me."

   His motions were smooth and engaging.  She forced herself to relax into
his back.  A blush came to her as his leg brushed the inside of her knee.
She'd made sure their lower bodies wouldn't touch.  He looked at her again
with his transparent gray eyes and urged her to continue.  When it happened
again, she released him in the middle of the crowd.  He turned on her and
touched her hand.  She yanked it away.  With a stern look, he took her hand
and kissed it.  She was so stimulated, she didn't pull away.  She tried not
to let the awkwardness show on her face.  Her body wanted so much to be
held.

   He sighed, "You are among friends here.  Act as though you are."

   He guided her to the edge of the dance area and dropped his hold.  He
returned to Elsin and wrapped his arms over her shoulders without a glance
in Glen's direction.  She had been dismissed.  She knew she was nothing in
his eyes, but it still hurt.  The entire thing had been an evaluation.  If
she had known, she would have gone to bed.  She grew suddenly tired and
went toward the stairs.  She saw Jason in a group of girls.  They caressed
his chest and abdomen as if he were a deity.  She didn't disguise her
disgust when she caught his gaze.  He wasn't smiling, but he wasn't
discouraging them either.  He broke free of the girls and followed her as
she went for the stairs.  She refused to respond when he called her name.

   When she got to the first step, he immediately grabbed her from behind
and thought, `What was that?  You`ll let him touch you?  Or would you
rather have the two of us?'

   "I didn't start this!  You chased me.  I don't want that."

   "You don't know anything, do you," he queried her back.  She spun around
and pushed his shoulder.

   "Me?  I know I never asked you to be this way!"

   "How am I supposed to know?  From the moment you arrived here, I have
been polite.  I have given you every allowance for your upbringing.  I have
tried to include you in what I could, but I can't get over your arrogance."

   "This from a man who enjoys the intrigue of being found in a woman's
bed?"

   "It's not the woman, it's the bed.  Would anyone honestly say that they
would want to be around a spiteful, rude little..."

   Jason turned her around, gave her a shove up the stairs, and yelled,
"You can keep the coat!"

   He didn't know why he yelled at her, but he saw Alec's displeasure.  A
swift exit would avoid more of a scene.  He went to his room to pack for
tomorrow's trip.  Alec followed close behind.

   "What are you doing?"

   "I'm getting ready for tomorrow," he flatly answered his brother.

   "Why were you fighting with Glen?  I'm tired of you pushing her around.
She deserves consideration."

   "I am not interested in what you have to say, right now.  I don't think
she'd pay us mind with where she's headed, anyway."

   Alec stood in front of Jason's dresser to stop him from packing.

   He made himself as tall as possible and said, "You have been a child. 
Both of you have.  She has reason.  You don't.  If you hope to find a wife
in Jagged Cove, you should grow up."

   "She needs to learn to be civil.  I have no problems with girls, save
her.  I so much as look at her, and she slights me.  I think we've made a
truce of sorts, and she takes offense at an innocent remark.  I don't know
what to do when she's around, and I wash my hands of her," he shortly
expressed then shoved his brother aside with little effort.

   "Her countenance is cold, but she needed to be.  You didn't see where
she grew up."

   "Why are you saying this?  Since her status changed, you've plans for
her?"

   "No," Alec half-lied, "you take her for some resistant barn hopper that
you can send off to another town.  She's not.  I see how she looks at you.
She shows her fear openly."

   "And what is it to you?  She's too ...  It's not as though she treats
everyone like this.  It's just..."

   " She doesn't like you and she makes sure you know it.  I've felt it
myself, ....at times."

   Jason put his gear into his pack.  It would be easier if she did hate
him.  He could just pass on to the next girl with no worry.  He knew she
wanted him, but she may never say so.  It would be different in the spring.
She would be gone and he would be married.

   "Tell her, I've put my best man on her mare.  She was worried.  She can
have someone send for her come spring."

   Alec tried, "Perhaps, when she returns for the horses, things will be
different."

   "She'll go to Pressin and set her mind on some defenseless boy."

   "She may never do so.  That's what she is.  A boy.  A headstrong
frightened boy!  She's been a woman for how long?" The older brother grew
angry at the silence and hissed, "How long, Jason?"

   Jason didn't know.  He set his pack down by the door.

   "It matters little," he finally sighed.

   Alec smacked him on the back of the head softly and scowled, "Three
months, Jason!  It took you five to learn how to shoot an arrow properly.
In three months, I think she's done well to make one oversized boy angry.
Isn't that what they're supposed to do anyway?"

   Alec frowned again at his brother and left the room.  Jason sat down on
his bed.  Alec's motives were monetary, but he did have a point.  Most
girls had a lifetime to learn to be women.  This one had learned not to
show her cards by month three.  He finished up his packing except for his
toothbrush and comb, then readied for sleep.

   She found it hard to sleep and rolled over to look at the ceiling.  She
had made the decision not to see the men off.  It would be better if Jason
didn't have another crack at her.  When she finally drifted off, he was
already there.  She hovered over his sleeping body.  He awakened to look up
at her.  He pulled her down into his arms and she felt his lips against her
forehead.  He breathed into her hair and released her.  As she rose away
from him she caressed his face.  Then it was time to wake.  He had replaced
her in his dream with the warm embrace of an undisciplined kitchen helper
he had known at thirteen.  When he got up and together for the trip, he
went outside to see Elsin, Amanda, Hans, and Alec waiting.  Alec had
already stowed his gear and gotten the other men together for the long
ride. Jason looked around for Glen, but she was nowhere to be seen.

   "She's still mad at me?"

   "You mean Glen?" Alec assumed more than asked.  "She was ready to leave
at sunrise.  I told her what you said and she's grateful.  I sent Gregory
and his friends to see her safely there.  She nearly refused them."

   "I thought she'd wait until the mare foaled."

   "Yes, but she has a family to meet, and rules to learn," Hans conceded.

   Jason knew the real reason she left early.  He hoped she would find some
great man there.  No he didn't.  He wanted her for himself.  He wouldn't
hide it anymore.



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