Xone Of Contention by Piers Anthony Read Free Book Online Page A

disgusted. Him and his juvenile sense of humor.
    Justin looked blank, but Breanna almost let half a smile escape. “You can when it's a bed sheet.” She yanked, and the ghost lurched forward. “OoOo!” it complained.
    Pia touched the sheet. It was indeed solid. She lifted it up and peeked under. There was nothing; it was just material shaped over air.
    The sheet dissipated, and the ghost was gone. “I like it,” Edsel said.
    “You should check yours,” Breanna told Pia.
    “I thought she just did,” Edsel said, with that feigned innocence again.
    “Will you stop that!” Pia snapped.
    “Did he do something1'” Justin asked, perplexed.
    “You were a tree too long, dear.” Breanna said fondly.
    “Indubitably. But—”
    “First he implied that a word I said almost sounded bad, though it wasn't,” she explained. “Then he made a comment that was similar.”
    “I don't understand.”
    Pia realized that the man really had been out of touch too long; he was truly innocent about some things. She liked that.
    “I was suggesting to Pia that she should check her talent,” Breanna said to Justin. “Edsel pretended that I was suggesting that she check her state of—of digestion.”
    “Digestion?”
    “Girls aren't supposed to have digestion.”
    “Oh.” He remained blank.
    “You have a long row to hoe,” Edsel said to Breanna.
    “I’ll get there,” the girl said. “Now about that talent, Pia—they work different ways. Mine is seeing in blackness, so it doesn't apply in daytime. Justin’s is voice projection; for a long time he needed it, because didn't have a mouth. Show them, Justin.”
    “As you wish.” a nearby tree said.
    Startled, Pia looked at the tree. It had no mouth. “Oh—ventriloquism.”
    “Not exactly,” Breanna said. “Watch his mouth,”
    “I am speaking again.” the tree said. Justin’s mouth was firmly closed.
    Pia nodded. “That is impressive.”
    “But yours should be more useful,” Breanna said. “Because you should be able to see any trouble that's going to happen. But all talents have limits, and it's best to understand them thoroughly. What do you see in the future?”
    Pia concentrated, uncertain how this worked. She closed her eyes. Then she saw a pretty shore, with pleasant trees by blue water. “It's just a scene,” she said. “Trees and water.”
    “Do you see yourself?”
    “No. It's as if I'm doing the looking.”
    “Okay. There's a limit. You don't see the whole scene, just what your eyes see. What happened before that?”
    “Nothing I can see. It's just the scene Now it's changing. Oh— there's Edsel.”
    “What about Justin and me?”
    “I don't see either of you. Just Edsel.”
    “Can you hear anything?”
    “No. It's silent.”
    Justin spoke. “This would seem to be purely an ongoing visual talent, perhaps seeing what she will be seeing exactly one day hence. That is indeed limited, but potentially quite useful. Perhaps Breanna and I are walking behind you at the moment. It is encouraging that there is no sign of mischief.”
    “I suppose,” Pia agreed. She was somewhat disappointed; she would have preferred a more versatile vision of the future.
    “Sometimes simple-seeming talents turn out to have important aspects,” Justin said. “You should continue your exploration. I'm sure Nimby would not have given you an inferior talent.”
    “For sure,” Breanna agreed.
    Pia continued to watch, but all she saw was a dull travelogue as she and Edsel walked along the shore. Maybe it would be interesting when they were there, but with the sound turned off, it was like watching a soundless movie. She had done that once on an airplane flight, because she hadn't wanted to get soaked several dollars to rent germ-laden earphones for two hours. The movie had distracted, frustrated, and bored her something awful. This felt like that.
    “Perhaps if you attempt to change that future scene, you would ascertain useful information,” Justin suggested. He