Bearing an Hourglass by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online Page B

couldn’t spend a night alone after seeing—that.”
    He realized that she had never been exposed to violence or death, so was not equipped to handle it. Of course she would be severely shaken. This would be the worst time to leave her.
    They arrived at the apartment. As the door closed, Orlene turned to him, flung her arms about him, buried her head in his shoulder, and sobbed. She had been fairly well controlled in public, but now she was letting down. He held her; there was nothing else to do. Norton had always liked to help people and he could not refuse her his companionship and support now. Or was he, he had to ask himself, rationalizing?
    After a time she relaxed. She disengaged and went to the bathroom to put herself in order. “I’ll never eat ice cream again,” she said as she disappeared.
    Ice cream. Guilt by association. She had eaten it just before the tragedy. An illogical connection, but valid emotionally. He did not feel much appetite for ice cream now himself. Or for shopping malls.
    “You fighting with her?” Gawain demanded, popping into sight. “I heard her crying.”
    “Couldn’t you see?” Norton demanded irritably.
    “No. You weren’t visible from the other room. I can walk through walls, but I can’t see through them. All I could do was listen to the muffled sounds.”
    “We weren’t fighting.”
    “What, then?”
    “What business is it of yours?”
    “Listen, mortal, it
is
my business!” Gawain retorted. “This is my estate, and she’s my wife.”
    “A wife you never knew in life and don’t love now.”
    “Well, I’m a ghost! What use to love her?”
    The ghost had a point. Perversely, that made it easier for Norton. Whatever he did with Orlene would not betreading on Gawain’s sensibilities. “We saw a man die. That shook her.”
    Gawain snorted. “I’ve seen many men die. I’m dead myself.”
    In more than one sense. “I think I see now why she had so much trouble believing in you. She doesn’t like death and doesn’t want it near her.”
    “She should have thought of that before she married me!”
    “It wasn’t entirely her choice, any more than it was yours. Men usually marry for sex appeal, but women marry for security. It’s the nature of the human species, or of our economy. If women were the prime money earners, they might marry for other reasons, and if men had no better way to gain security than through women, so would they. I’m sure she would have married a living man if that had been feasible.”
    “Well, she didn’t! And now she has a job to do—and so do you. I don’t want to wait in limbo forever. Tell her you won’t stay unless she puts out now, today. She’ll move it along for sure, since she doesn’t want to be alone.”
    “I’ll do nothing of the kind!” Norton responded angrily. “She’s no piece of meat!”
    “She’s the breeder for my heir! She’s not here to pussyfoot around. She’s vulnerable now; you can make her perform in the next hour, if you—”
    “Listen, Gawain, I never pressured a woman in my life! And I would never take advantage of a situation like this!”
    “No, you’d just sit around interminably, sponging off my estate!”
    “To Hell with your estate!” Norton shouted. “You asked me for a favor! I never had any intention of taking anything of yours!”
    “Then do what you came to do and get gone!” the ghost shouted back.
    “I’ll get gone right now, if that makes you happier! You can find another man to do your favor!”
    The ghost backed off, literally and figuratively. “I told you, she’s choosy. It’s got to be you.”
    “I am not at all certain of that. In any event, it will be of her choosing, not yours or mine.”
    But Gawain was gone again. Orlene stood in the doorway, in a gray housecoat. “Gawain again?”
    Norton nodded. “I shouldn’t let him provoke me.”
    “I suppose he has a case. He wants his heir.”
    “Yes. But he neglects the social aspect.”
    She glided to him.