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 Alec seven

   As the men reached the Cove, they stopped to straighten themselves up
for the eligible sisters.  Sister Frances rode out to greet them.  She
nodded to Alec and asked, "How many of you are eligible?" Alec answered,
"Twenty one, Frances.  They are all eligible."

   "We have forty.  They will be given a chance to meet at the dance,
tonight."

   The satellite tower took less time to construct then anticipated.  The
men had time to spend with the women full time by November.  The snows were
very deep and paths were carved between buildings to allow the necessary
access to the girls.  Jason had fixed on a pretty eighteen year old blonde.
Her name was Ana.  She seemed amiable enough.  He focused on her smiling
pale gray eyes as they danced together.  She had laughed at every joke he
had thought of.  Her pleasing body pressed against him and he assessed the
wideness of her hips.  She would be a good match for any man, but he didn't
want her.  As he acknowledged this he stayed in the men's quarters more
often and contented himself with the occasional fax from his sister Amanda.

   Brother,

   All of us at Kleran miss you and hope you return with the first thaw.  I
hope you are well into deciding on a girl.  Father will be pleased with who
you choose, because it is up to you to decide who you want to spend your
life with.  As you asked, the mare, Nugget, foaled surprisingly quickly. 
Her colt is of good energy and is possibly blue.  The other mares fouled
with ease.  Three fillies and two colts.  All are healthy save one out of
Flutter.  We hope, she will recover come the clover.  Glen sends her thanks
from Pressin.  I offered to give her the number for Jagged Cove, but she
said the relayed message would do well enough.  They have begun
construction on a separate home for her.  She seems to be adjusting well to
her new property.  My Gregory returned before winter set fully in.  He said
she made sure they were well stocked for the journey home.  Your old coat
is washed and waiting for you in your room when you get back.  You will
need a larger room soon.  Make sure she is worthy of you, brother.  I could
not bear a wilting flower.

   Amanda

   He kept reading the first one that he had ever gotten.  Amanda was very
busy running the house and sent messages sporadically at best.  With the
knock on the door, he stashed his letter.  Ana peered around the door.  She
was pretty.  He got his coat on and went to dinner with her.

   Gregory scratched his head and said again, "We're all tired, Miss Glen.
The cold is coming up.  We`ve another forty miles to go.  We`ll set camp
here, and get a good start in the morning."

   "I didn't bring any bedrolls with me, so I'll head on without you."

   "It's the dark, my lovely.  You know you're bone tired.  You can't still
that shiver very long.  Come take a drink from my canteen and we'll plot
where we are on the positional unit."

   She looked sideways at him and declined the drink.  He smiled and
offered her the thick rectangle that he had in his hand.  All she saw were
a bunch of curved lines.

   "Do you want me to explain?"

   She looked back at him and tossed it into his hands.  "I'll just head to
the nearest inn.  They'll be able to tell me exactly where I am."

   She strode toward her horse and had just put her foot in the stirrup
when something caught her skirt and she was pulled back.  She turned and
was grabbed into Gregory's arms.

   "No need for that.  We'll sleep and then get there."

   "I won't sleep on the road with a bunch of men..."

   "You've done it before young lad," he snorted to show that he knew all
about her.  She pushed at him with her arms.

   "I know what you want, and you won`t get it," she tried to sound bold,
but it only faltered into a frightened whisper.

   "I see how you hold your head so high.  The boy in you, I suppose.  You
act almost exactly like a real one, but you spit when you don't think
nobody's looking.  And your mouth, ha!  I'm surprised you haven't been
strapped for such a loose tongue.  And that sway you do when you think the
two Carters are around.  Hell, you'd do anything for one of them."

   "That's not true," she spat in his face.  As a punishment he raised her
higher and squeezed the air nearly out of her.

   "It is.  You'd probably take `em both if you got the chance," he said
more for his men than for her benefit.  A soft laugh passed between them.

   "Scared, miss?  I guess the other part of it is true instead.  You're
afraid.  A pity.  Untouched by man or woman.  It would have been very
lonely.  We could've had fun, the boys and me."

   She rammed the toe of her boot into his knee and he dropped with her to
the ground.  He squealed and clutched at his leg as she got up.  For good
measure, she struck him a glancing blow across his temple.

   "This was fun, but you can go back before I have to show you how much a
boy learns in the wastelands," she raised her voice to challenge the other
men.

   She made excellent time at the speed she felt comfortable with.

  
___________________________________________________________________________
_________________________

   Glen looked at the plans for the small home she would call her own.  Her
relatives were nice, but she didn't feel relaxed living with them.  The
Ship, a fortress of steel and glass, seemed very bright, but it had nothing
of her in it.  Her cousin, Justin, was very considerate of her and his wife
was the most friendly woman she had ever met.  They allowed her the pick of
any in their holding.  She told them she would look in the summer after she
returned with her herd.  Many well-mannered young men had mysteriously come
to dinner as of late.  Some were very attractive, but she wasn't serious,
yet.  She faxed weekly for the health of the herd and an update on the
weight and height of the foal.  Blue roan.  That would make a good color to
keep around.  She barely thought of him, now.  Or, she hoped that was what
she thought.  Amanda's last letter was about the coming nuptials for Alec
and Elsin.  She was invited with the rest of the Forester holders.  Amanda
had faxed to the Bernard, Reyes, and Franklin families as well. 
Representatives from this half of the hemisphere would be packed into the
Cavern.  Now, she knew why the Carter home was so large.  The Ship would be
just as filled if she ever got married.  Her name was once Rose.  An odd
name.  Her cousin said it was an old family name.  From now on it would be
her middle name.  She looked out of her window and saw another man come
onto the compound.  He would be here for a week at least with the heavy
storm coming in.  He looked up at her window and did not smile.  That
showed he didn't know who he was here to meet.  Good.  She walked down to
the entryway and joined Justin and his wife, Flora.  Flora helped the fresh
meat off with his coat.  The hood uncovered a flowing mass of red hair.

   "Master William?  What a surprise," Justin flustered at the sight of the
visitor's hair.  "We weren't expecting you.  Have you no party with you?"

   "No, Justin.  I thought they would slow me down," the obvious antipathy
in the man's voice made her want to go back to her room.

   "We meant to ask you to come meet my cousin.  Glen say hello to Master
William Rousseau, our quadrant master.  She was lost as a child in the
wasteland."

   "How unfortunate for her betrothed," his menace softened.

   She didn't look up at him and curtsied.  The quadrant master, in charge
of one quarter of the planet's northern hemisphere, makes yearly visits to
the holders to make sure all is going well.  Master William had made the
trip from Becca alone.  Centrally located, Becca serves as home for the
quadrant master of the North Four.  North Four was the quadrant with the
most livable land and water in the entire planet.  It also contained the
wasteland.

   "Are you matched, now?" William smiled at her.

   "No, sir."

   "You are ineligible?"

   "No, sir."

   "Does she lie, Justin?  Raised in the wasteland and still marriageable?"

   "William, she masqueraded as a boy."

   "Smart as well as beautiful."

   Glen showed her indifference.  William looked at Glen.

   "You must teach this child to temper her moods around me.  I pick up on
some strong thoughts at times.  I try not to make this known, but she
obviously has been carted around like a piece of meat."

   Glen looked him straight in his emerald eyes and made no attempt at
apology.  When they finished dinner, Justin and Flora went to get dessert.
William said nothing for a long time.  He stared at her down turned face.

   "If you are unattached in a year from now, I will come for you."

   Glen scoffed, "You just met me."

   His reply was, "You just met me."

   "There are countless other women that are prettier than me.  You will
change your mind."

   "No, I don`t think I will.  I sense you knew that, though."

   She could tell that his lack of smile was a natural habit.  His eyes
smiled in a hidden joke.  She tried to be cold, but she was fascinated by
the softness of him.  He was definitely masculine and his body showed signs
of hard work, but the harshness she had gotten from him when he arrived had
gone.  She had never seen a pair of green eyes before, and his almost
femininely delicate hands did not match the bulk of him.  He folded them
neatly on the table.  His stare was beginning to make her blush.  She
dropped her eyes and focused on the pattern of her skirt.  She felt he was
still looking at her and hoped he`d go.  With the smoothest motion, he rose
and left the room.  She sighed in relief.  William Rousseau tried to clear
his mind of her.  She had pushed into his mind.  It was a very aggressive,
"go away." Almost a fearful plea.  He could generally control what he
picked up, but she was wild and impulsive.  He wanted to comfort her but
felt she didn't know her power.  He leaned with his back against the wall
for a moment.  Her movements were distinctly utilitarian.  He was used to
the occasional batted lash or flourish of the hand, but she only curved her
back to disguise her stature.  Or was it her breasts.  Justin returned with
the cake and invited William back into the room.  He followed the older man
back into the room.  Flora entered from the other way and took Glen's hand.
Flora turned on an old radio.  It carried music from Becca.

   "We will show the quarter master your dancing skills."

   "I can't dance," Glen flatly replied.

   "Just do what I taught you.  It won't be hard.  It's been ages since
Justin and I have danced.  I'm sure he won't mind if you are concentrating
on the steps."

   Flora took her husband's attention and moved Glen over to Will.  They
stood there awkwardly.  The flow of the music pulled them to dance.  He
finally took her hand and pulled her in to him.  She hadn't mistaken his
solidity.  He carried her around the room with little effort.  Her arms
drifted around his body.  He was so warm and he smelled of fallen leaves.
She separated herself from him.  Something about him frightened her.  She
knew it was irrational, but it was still there.  She would prefer no one.
That way, she wouldn't make the wrong choice.  He tried to pull her back
in, but she shook her head.  She begged her leave and went to her room.  It
was very early, but she couldn't be near him.  The week that William spent
at the lodge in Pressin was filled with conversation and superficial
flattery for Glen.  She had never been desired.  He wanted to touch and
kiss her.  Meta never showed any affection toward any of the boys.  She had
been beaten and prodded, but never caressed.  The only fondling she could
remember was dirty.  Meta sold her once, to a patron who wanted a young boy
to corrupt.  The young man wanted her to touch him.  She complied.  It was
an emotionless act.  A dirty sticky emotionless act.  Now, William had been
working on her to stop the flinching when he raised his hands toward her
face.  He had been very gentle with her.  She knew he was growing attached
to her.  She tried to stay aloof.  She was struggling, by the end of the
week.  Something about the man drew fear from her very being.  She wanted
to discourage him, but she didn't know what she had done to be treated this
way in the first place.  Glen had resorted to spending time in her room. 
The roads were clearing up, and she just had to hold out for another day or
two.  When she heard a knock come to the door, she opened the door.  He
didn't force his way in, but his body language made him enter.  She saw a
glimpse of Flora before he shut off the only exit.

   "Master William, why are you here?"

   "I can't put my finger on it.  You tell me," he said nonchalantly as he
gripped her arms.

   "What are you doing?" She moved back and he moved with her.

   "I see you remember me.  I thought I'd keep this a secret.  You were so
young, then.  And so, so dirty.  Just accept me and I won't tell what
you've done with me.  I'll treat you as a proper wife, and you can keep
your father's land."

   As he spoke, she imagined him with dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and
ten less years.  Her tormentor.  He wasn't as tall as she remembered, and
his voice came from deeper in his chest, now.  It still made her tremble.

   "You're still afraid of me?"

   "Yes," she barely breathed.  "Don't..."

   "Sssh." His face was too close to hers.  He smelled her hair and pulled
her in.  She felt dizzy.  He moved a hand around her back.  She allowed him
to kiss her neck.

   "I don't want you to be afraid," he breathed into her ear.

   "Don't do that."

   "I've been watching for you.  You know?  I thought you would be a good
young man to work at my home, where I could keep an eye on you."

   "I don't care."

   A knock came to the door.

   "I know you`ll come to me when they all cast you aside."

   "I'll never choose you," her voice quivered.

   "You'll change your mind, once you realize I am the only choice you
have. Do you think any man will ever take you?"

   The knock became more insistent.

   William picked her up and pressed his lips against hers.  She couldn't
struggle against him.  Her body was responding to him without her consent.
He let her slide down to the floor.

   "I felt that.  You kissed me back."

   He opened the door before Justin knocked again.

   "I'm sorry , Master William, but I can not allow you to...."

   "Justin, I have a great interest in your cousin.  She's unsure of
herself, or I would have an answer by now."

   "You've asked her to choose you?"

   "Yes."

   Justin guided the man out of Glen's room.  She waited until she had
reassured Flora that she was fine to cry.

   Justin spoke in confidence, "There is a Carter at the Cavern lodge. 
Amanda, his sister, has been nothing but kind about the situation.  The man
is to be betrothed to another girl.  We think Glen has an attachment to
him. She has refused several young men.  I do not want you to set yourself
on her.  She is stubborn."

   William said, "I won't press the issue with her, but ..." He paused in
contemplation.  "I guess, I need to size up the competition."



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