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and distract the rest with the other parts of the body. But first she decided
to see what the other, larger boxes contained. The other contained ceramic
jars with a funny kind of writing on each, but they proved to be perfumes, a
couple not to her liking but the others seemed great. There was also a pad,
powder, and a couple of jars of nice smelling but mysterious paste-like stuff.
There was also a brush, a comb, and a small polished surface that made a
decent mirror.
The third and final box contained an odd assortment of jewelry. There were
bracelets and anklets and necklaces and earrings that hung down as teardrops
like quartz almost to or maybe below her jaw line. None of it was fancy, no
jewel-encrusted stuff-but it was mostly bronze or yellow-gold and not at all
bad.
Sam was comfortably dressed and ready to eat while she was still deciding and
trying on several of the outfits. She loved trying on outfits anyway, always
had. Finally Sam asked, "You noticed anything odd about this stuff?"
"Huh? No. I think I'm gonna be dying for a bra and panties under some of this
before too long, and I'd kill for some pantihose, but it's not that bad."
"It all fits. Perfectly. I-we-got crazy wide feet. Always drove me nuts
findin'
shoes that I could get into. These fit. Perfect. All my stuff minimizes me
just like they had my measurements. All that stuff you been try in' on fits
you, too.
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Even the stuff with built-in cups are perfect."
"So? Old Greenie hoped he could get you here, right? You got to figure he
prepared. Like, that burnin' of the clothes."
"Yeah, but there's one for each of us-and Zenchur said he only expected me. He
was real surprised when you popped up-that wasn't faked."
Charley shrugged. "Maybe he thought of the boy disguise, too. He didn't know
your name or nothin' 'bout you. So he fixed up this for a real femme fatale
type and he fixed the other as a disguise just in case. No big mystery."
"Okay, I'll give ya that. He just sorta thought of everything. But,
Charley-how'd he know my size? In everything, too. Far enough in advance-to
age this shit so it don't look new and get even the shoe width and breast
sizes right. He didn't know my name-or says he didn't. If he didn't know my
name or nothin' at all about me, how come he knew my shape and size and all
better than
I did? Hell, better even than my mother?"
Charley shrugged. "Beats the hell outta me, but I still ain't sure I believe
I'm here yet. We got a lot of answers to get, that's for sure. Let me just use
the pullover here and slip on this skirt and sandals-they clash but I'm not
goin'
noplace-and we'll get something to eat and try'n make sense of all this. Maybe
Zenchur can give some of the answers. I think he knows a lot more than he's
lettin' on."
Charley let her go and set about choosing an outfit. It was all sort of fun,
like a Flintstones makeup kit, but when she sat in front of the mirror it was
not her face that stared back and it jolted her. This isn't any game, she
thought, feeling suddenly chilled. Somehow this is really happening! Images
suddenly arose, of her Mom and Dad, her home, her other friends at school.
What would they think when she didn't show up again? When they finally found
the cabin demolished and the bloodstains and the Subaru all smashed and
crushed? And now, here, in this God-forsaken hole, she sat and it wasn't
herself she saw in the mirror.
My God! she thought, suddenly a frightened and nervous girl even younger than
her years. What have I done? She wanted her Mom and Dad very badly then, and
her own face and lousy figure back, too. God, how she just wanted to go home!
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She started crying softly. She'd never been the crying sort, but she'd never
been in a situation like this before or felt so completely helpless and alone.
It didn't last very long, but she needed it. Finally, she wiped away the tears
and took stock of herself. She was stuck, and she could either give up or just
go along for the ride and make the best of it. The body wasn't half bad; if
only
Sam didn't have such a boyish-looking face-. Well-the long hair helped. Maybe
she could use this and see just what she could make out of it all.
She had no idea what kind of a world they were in, but if there were men like
Zenchur around there were certain universal things you could assume as well.
If she was gonna see that world, then that world was gonna see her looking
right.
4
A Hard Wind's Caress
There was no day or night inside the cave, only a certain eternal quality that
insulated you from the world. Sam felt a sense of safety here such as she
hadn't known in a very long time. Even the storms did not seem able to
penetrate this spot, where there was only the water and the rock and the
flickering brightness of the torches. She wanted to know about this world,
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this place that had brought her to it against her will for reasons still
unclear. She wanted to know, but she felt no impulse to leave.
"This world is not like your world," Zenchur told Sam as they sipped strong,
black tea and nibbled on sweet rolls. "It is, in fact, like all the worlds."
"You said you never left this world," Sam responded. "So how can you know much
about mine?"
"I know about many of them because so many like you fall from them here. Not
like it used to be, but regularly enough to get some pictures. Yours is a
stable world. The rules are known and are always the same. Nothing ever falls
up, rain is always wet, snow is always cold-yes?"
She nodded. "Yeah, I'll grant you that. But you gotta have some rules here,
too.
I mean, we're stuck on the ground here, the fire's hot, and it all looks real
normal."
"Here, yes, because we are on the lip of a hub. But when we move out it might
not always be so. It is hard for me to explain and it will be harder for you
to believe until you witness it. Tell me-if you had a map showing your world,
its nations and peoples and mountains and seas, would that map not be true
many years later?"
"Sure. I guess some of the nations and people might change or move around, and
the names seem to change a lot in places, but the maps I started out in
elementary school with are still pretty good."
"Well, that is not possible here. The maps, and more than the maps, change.
You see, long ago there was nothing but a single tiny block containing
everything that ever was and ever will be. It grew heavier and heavier and
heavier until it was too heavy to remain together and too-unstable I think the
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