The Abulon Dance by Caro Soles Read Free Book Online

and they were shaggy and brown with bulging, milk-white eyes. He backed away. He was just coming to the conclusion that his pride would not suffer if he left now, when he heard someone call his name. A tall gangling youth with a very young face lounged through the open stable door. “You’d better look after my sister,” he said belligerently. “Beats me why she wants to go off with an alien, anyway. She’s inside.” He ambled off through the alley, leaving Cham to wonder why Quana couldn’t look after herself. She was bigger than he was.
    He walked carefully into the gloomy stable, his dainty red boots picking through the muck, his cloud of pale hair glowing in the dimness.
    “Good morning.” Quana was already mounted, perfectly at ease atop the huge snorting creature. She was wearing a many pleated, full bright yellow skirt and her long hair hung down her back.
    He smiled uncertainly, handed her his shoulder bag and leapt up behind her before the thought of it could frighten him. The leap was easy enough but he was not used to the lurching feel of the animal under him. “May I hold on to you?” he asked anxiously, slipping his arms around her waist as they started with a jerk. He rested his head against her back, both arms wrapped tightly around her. She was a lot taller than he had realized. He was sure that she could feel his heart thumping against her curtain of hair. “Does everyone get around on these…beasts?”
    “Most of the time. They can go really fast when they need to.” She laughed indulgently and patted his hand. The odd shyness he had noticed the night before seemed to have vanished completely, along with the giggles.
    “Don’t you have any sort of air-cars for getting around in?”
    “Like small ships, you mean? They say there used to be lots of them, but personal vehicles aren’t allowed any more. There are the flying transports for long distance travel, but that’s mostly for hunters or the army. Why would we need them, anyway?”
    “I guess it’s a pretty small city,” he agreed.
    After a while, he got used to the rolling, lurching rhythm of the animal. He raised his head and looked around. They were just coming out of the town, climbing upwards all the time along the winding trail. The breeze caught his hair and he felt suddenly happy. It was the first time in a long while that he had been alone with someone his own age, just for fun.
    “Are you all right now, Cham?” Quana half turned, looking at him over her shoulder.
    “It’s wonderful,” he said softly. “I’ve never done anything like this.”
    “Don’t you have picnics where you come from?”
    “Oh, yes. But it’s quite different. Triani has a beautiful house in the country with his own lake. We like to swim to the island in the middle and eat and drink as we dry off together in the sun. He tells me about last night’s performance, who came back stage to see him and the funny things that happened at the club afterwards. He has a great sense of humor, but sometimes he can be…a little cruel.” He paused, gazing over the peaceful scene around them. “He’s the best dancer anywhere, you know,” he added suddenly. “I’m very lucky to be with him.”
    He didn’t tell her about the long, lonely evenings in his tiny apartment, waiting for Triani’s summons; or the wild, screaming fights when his lover turned up unexpectedly and found that Cham had gone to dinner with a school friend. That didn’t happen any more, of course. He hadn’t had dinner with anyone else for a long time, now.
    “Don’t you have other friends?” she asked, as if reading his mind.
    “I don’t need any,” he said.
    The town was completely out of sight, now. They were surrounded by fields of pale feathery grass and nodding blue flowers. Here and there, jagged blood-red rocks poked out of the blue-green sea. The only sounds came from the tinkling bells on the colorful, braided harness of their amax. “Let’s get down here,”