Whisper Falls by Elizabeth Langston Read Free Book Online Page A

me.”
    â€œDid he ask your opinion?”
    â€œMy opinion didn’t interest him in the slightest.” I made no effort to keep the disgusted edge from my tone.
    â€œHow long do you have to stay in your trade?”
    â€œUntil my eighteenth birthday.”
    â€œWhich is when?”
    â€œOctober first.”
    One corner of his mouth twitched into a half-smile. “You’re two months older than me.”
    â€œOr two centuries.”
    â€œTrue.”
    We watched each other warily. I wondered if our discovery would prove to be a blessing or a curse.
    He gestured at my rock. “Want to sit?”
    â€œYes, thank you, Mr. Lewis.”
    â€œCall me Mark.”
    His request made us equals. The sin of pride swelled within me, but I tamped it back, not ready to reflect on the emotion or its consequences. Instead, I merely nodded and lowered myself to the boulder with an inelegant plop.
    He sat, too, his movements quick and graceful. “I came out here the other day to look for evidence of someone playing a joke on me, but I couldn’t find anything.”
    â€œWho would play this joke?”
    He shrugged. “My girlfriend. Ex, actually.”
    Girlfriend? I wanted to be clear about this word. “You have friendships with girls?”
    â€œYes. Well…” His lips puckered as he thought. “Guys and girls can be friends in my century. But when I say girlfriend, I mean the person I’m dating.”
    â€œDating?”
    â€œSorry. Dating means a guy and a girl are interested in each other.”
    â€œLike courting?”
    â€œYeah.” He shook his head. “Or maybe not. I’m not sure.”
    â€œDo you plan to marry this girlfriend?”
    â€œMarry Alexis? No.” His eyes widened with horror. “Besides, she ended the ‘courtship,’ I guess you’d call it.”
    â€œAre you distressed?”
    â€œI was, but it’s okay now. Dating isn’t about getting married any more. We have fun. Break up. Do it all over again with someone else.”
    â€œIn my century, courtship has too many rules to be fun.”
    â€œLike what?”
    â€œThe gentleman must approach the woman first. Most unfair.” Mark nodded, as if in agreement. “Do you have this rule, too?”
    â€œSort of. Girls can do the asking, if they want. But usually the guy asks.”
    â€œI see.” In two hundred years, girls would have freedoms they didn’t use. How extraordinary. Perhaps this freedom wasn’t as enjoyable as it seemed. “The couple may not touch or be alone.”
    â€œWe don’t have those rules. We can be alone. And as far as touching goes…” He stopped and looked at his shoes.
    â€œWhat about touching?”
    â€œThere’s plenty of that.” His face reddened. “Have you ever been courted?”
    I nodded while noting his blush. I would like to know more about the touching. “Two gentlemen courted me. I rejected one. My master rejected the other.”
    â€œYour master did?”
    â€œUntil I’m eighteen, I can marry only with his permission.”
    Solomon Worth and Reuben Elliott had each offered for me. Mr. Pratt had refused to release me early from my indenture to marry Reuben. My master had, however, made an exception in Solomon’s case. Truly, Mr. Pratt had had no choice. Solomon’s father was my master’s uncle. Mr. Pratt would never do anything to offend the Worth family. I was the one who refused Solomon. I had known him from childhood. My father had been his tutor. Marriage to Solomon Worth would seem like indentured servanthood—except there would be no end.
    â€œHow many girlfriends have you had?”
    â€œAlexis was my first.”
    â€œHow many more girlfriends will you be dating before marriage?”
    â€œI don’t know. Ten. Twenty.”
    â€œDo you pick unwisely so very often?”
    He laughed. “I guess so.”
    The