The Kingdom on the Edge of Reality by Gahan Hanmer Read Free Book Online Page B

morning?"
    "I think she's still in bed. She says she has trouble sleeping sometimes when I'm not here."
    What was it that she said?
Albert doesn't want to know, so no one is going to tell him.
Well, it certainly wasn't going to be me. Images of our lovemaking had been drifting in my mind all morning, and I wanted very much to be with her again and again and again.
    "She told me you went riding together. Was that fun?"
    "Uh . . . yes, it was a lot of fun, thanks." More images of naked Jenna crowded into my mind. We already had a whole intimate relationship that Albert knew nothing about.
    "I thought you would enjoy Pollux. Do you ride much anymore?"
    "No, not much anymore, Albert. If I get the opportunity I do, but I never bothered to make enough money to be a horse person."
    "Do you still ride well?"
    "Fairly well. I didn't fall off even once."
    "Do you still fence?"
    "No."
    "Never?"
    I had to laugh at that. "I'm a little stiff and creaky for those long lunges."
    "You still know how, though?"
    "Of course I still know how, but I doubt I'd be very good at it. You have to practice if you want to keep up a skill."
    "This is disappointing. You used to be a real champion."
    "I used to be a lot of things. Why is it disappointing that I don't fence anymore?"
    Albert didn't answer. He was thinking about something. I sat watching him while I stuffed in the last bits of sausage that my stomach would hold. "Why did you invite me here?"
    "Uhm?" he said, still lost in thought. I made some circles in the air with my palm to attract his attention.
    "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
    "Why did you invite me here?"
    "Well, that's not such an easy question, but I'll get to that, I promise you. Can't we just talk for a few minutes? It's been such a long time, Jack. When was the last time we saw each other?"
    "It was the year they fixed the presidential election and nearly got caught."
    "Yes, and you developed the notion that I had something to do with it."
    "You were behaving very queerly, Albert. When I asked you a point-blank question about it, you almost dropped your teeth into the Béarnaise sauce."
    "Well, I didn't have anything to do with it."
    "Okay, Albert, I believe you. What difference does it make now?"
    "But I did know that it was going to happen."
    "So I really wasn't so far off base after all."
    "No, you weren't."
    "How did you know?"
    "Because I wanted to know. And because I'm willing to pay people to find out what I want to know. Channels of communication tend to stay open between people who share a common interest."
    "Between zillionaires, you mean."
    Albert nodded. "That's one of the reasons we have country clubs. It's a pleasant and private place where we can gather and gossip about things that concern us."
    "So why did you have me packed and crated and delivered up here?"
    "Jack, I'm so sorry! Rudy told me what happened, and I meant to say something to you about it earlier, but I was so happy to see you, it totally slipped my mind!"
    "Don't worry about it, Albert. I can take a joke. But if you don't tell me right now what this is all about, I'm going to come over and shake it out of you."
    "Good morning, Albert dear. Good morning, Jack. I trust I'm not interrupting anything."
    That was Jenna, making her appearance, freshly groomed in slacks and a silk blouse. She went right to Albert and kissed him sweetly. He looked up at her with his light blue eyes filled with affection, and I knew in that moment how dangerously infatuated I'd already become.
    "Sit down, my dear," said Albert, "and help us finish this delicious breakfast. Jack asked me why I invited him here, and I'm afraid I've been beating about the bush."
    Jenna held out a cup to Albert, and while he was pouring her coffee, she flashed me a look of such tender yearning and complicity that I saw I would have every possible opportunity for two-timing my host under his own roof.
    "You haven't told him yet?" said Jenna to Albert.
    "Perhaps he won't even believe it," said