I yawned, and began to clear the table. I had about another eight hours or so to go before my second ‘disbigging’. Luckily, I happened to be on holidays from my employment as a computer operator, so I could spare the time to go running around the countryside, chasing after the Crystals. I wondered who had stolen them. The goblins perhaps, as Fink, the Security Officer, had suggested, or maybe somebody else? I felt fairly sure the crystal seller, whose shop we’d burgled, had something to do with it. I yawned again and decided to have a quick nap, which was weird because my body had just come from a ten hour rest. I figured that it may be because, although my body was rested, my mind had been awake and running around for the past eight hours or so and broadcasted that it wanted a timeout.
As I stretched out on my bed, my thoughts returned to once again to Tracey. What a beauty she was!
- Ah, young love! How sweet. How maudlin. How lovey-dovey. How sickening!
‘Welcome back, cynic. And what do you know about love?’
- I know enough to stay away from it. It can lead you into all sorts of trouble.
‘Granted, but the rewards are probably worth it, otherwise why do so many people do it?’
- It’s a biological thing. People can’t do anything about it. It’s out of their control. They can’t help but make fools of themselves.
‘Charming. What a marvellous attitude to have.’
- Hey, I call it how I see it. Anyway, forget about Tracey, Chief. You don’t have a snowflake’s chance in hell there, and you know it.
‘Yes, I do know it, but I can dream, can’t I?’
- Of course you can. Dream away, Chief, but be realistic at the same time. Besides, physical beauty isn’t everything. You need the personality to match as well. Tracey could very well turn out to be a nag. Or worse. And then where would you be?
‘You’re right, of course. I know nothing about her, but that can be remedied on my next trip.’
- And what will Thorn think about that?
‘Thorn?’
- Yes, Thorn. You remember her, don’t you? The honey-guzzling, sword-waving, bundle of anger who stabbed you in the finger? How do you think she’ll react to you trying to smooch her sister? Watch out for fireworks there, my friend.
‘Um, good advice. But Thorn and Tracey didn’t seem to get on that well, did they?’
- Sisters always fight. It’s part of their makeup but, in the end, they’ll bind together like concrete to repel any invader. So, just watch yourself.
‘I’m not an invader!’
- They might see you as one. After all, you’re not even the same species.
‘Hmmm, I hadn’t thought of that. It’s certainly something to bear in mind. Not that it matters because, as you’ve said, I don’t stand a chance with her, anyway. It’s all useless speculation.’
- But pleasant speculation. Definitely pleasant.
‘Oh, you’re right there.’
Chapter 14
I drifted off to sleep after my mental debate and awoke some hours later. I glanced at the clock and found that it proclaimed the time to be nine o’clock. I stretched, considered trying to go back to sleep but castigated myself for being a lazy lump, and got out of bed. I pottered around the house, not doing anything much of importance because my mind insisted on rehashing my recent adventures. They were both exhilarating and frightening. I planned on going to see the goblins, but was I being recklessly imprudent? The general consensus painted the goblins in a very bad light. If they were really as treacherous and aggressive as I’d been told, then I was placing myself, and Thorn, in very real danger. I began to wonder what would happen to me if my clone became injured, or even died. Would I still be alive? And what would happen to my actual body? Would it simply stay on the bed until it starved to death? I shook my head. I’d have to ask Phil about it.
Phil arrived on the stroke of midnight, fluttering in through an open window. “Arugohumna will be waiting for you back at the settlement,” he explained, opening his pouch and extracting the electronic disbigger device.
“Tell me more about her sister,” I asked, as I made my way to the bedroom.
“Ah, the lovely Traculimna,” Phil sighed, flying after me. He glanced at me, knowingly. “You’ll be up against a lot of competition there,” he smiled.
“I know,” I said, glumly. “I still haven’t seen myself in a mirror yet. The other me, that is. The clone. Am I handsome or ugly? I’ll really have to have a look.”
“You’re fine,” Phil chuckled.
“But I’ll still be just one more in a long queue, however,” I hazarded.
“I’m afraid that’s a correct observation,” Phil sympathised. “But don’t give up hope, Stephen. You’re a human after all, and that difference makes you stand out from the rest. Traculimna may be a bit superficial, but she’s not spiteful or malicious. She has a good heart, even if it is a little frivolous. I’m sure she’ll find you interesting. At first, anyway. After that,” he shrugged, “well, who knows?”
As I made myself comfortable on the bed and Phil began attaching the electrodes, I asked the question that had been occupying my mind hours earlier. “What would happen to me if my clone was injured or died?” I anxiously queried.
Phil stopped what he was doing and looked at me gravely. “That would be ……… rather unfortunate,” he stated.
“How unfortunate?” I demanded.
“Very unfortunate,” he informed me. “Try not to let it happen.”
“I’ll bear it in mind,” I said, weakly.
My next conscious act was to view Thorn’s face, anxiously peering down at me.
“Stephen?” she enquired.
“Present and accounted for,” I blearily murmured.
“You’re back!” she announced, unnecessarily.
“It appears so,” I confirmed, looking up at her, fairly astonished to see that she had added some ornamentation to her hair. It now displayed a golden tiara amongst the curls. How strange, I thought. It seemed a very un-Thornlike thing to do.
“Are you still determined to go to the borgulessa?” she asked.
“I think we have to,” I replied, my fascinated eyes still fastened to the tiara. “The trail leads out of the settlement, and the goblin encampment is the closest area to here. Anyway, I’m curious. Are they really as bad as everybody says?”
Thorn hesitated. “I’ve hardly ever seen them,” she admitted, “so I can’t give you anything definite. I can tell you only what I’ve been told.”
“I’ve never really trusted other people’s opinions,” I confided. “That’s why I want to go and see for myself. Can we leave now?”
“Certainly,” she acknowledged.
“But, before we do,” I urged, “do you mind if I ask you a question?”
“Of course not,” she said.
“It’s about that tiara on your head,” I enquired. “This is the first time I’ve seen you wear jewellery of any description. Is it some sort of special occasion?”
“No, not really,” she confessed, briefly touching the object under discussion. “I just thought I’d try it on. What do you think?”
“It’s very nice,” I reassured her, “and it suits you. Your sister wears a lot of jewellery, doesn’t she?”
“So, you think I’m competing with her, do you?” Thorn suddenly flared. “Well, I’m not! I just wanted to look nice for once and what do I get?”
“I don’t know,” I told her, in total confusion. “What do you get?”
“Nothing!” she angrily announced, roughly pulling the tiara from her hair and throwing it to the floor. “You didn’t even notice! You’re such a …… a borgulessa!”
“What brought that on?” I plaintively asked, but Thorn had already spun around and begun stalking from the room. “I did notice!” I informed her retreating back. “Didn’t I just ask you about it?”
“What did I do?” I appealed to the surrounding emptiness, as Thorn disappeared around the door. “What did I do?”
>
Chapter 15
I raced after Thorn, my logic centre still reeling from her outburst. Okay, I may not be the brightest spark in the electrical wiring when it came to women’s feelings, but even so …….. What on earth had I said, or done, or not said, or not done, to make her behave like that? I felt I’d missed something essential, but for the life of me I didn’t know what it could have been. Damn! This is probably why I didn’t have a girlfriend. I never knew what they wanted. Or were thinking. Or were thinking of doing. I wondered if other males were in the same boat, or if it was just me.
“Thorn!” I cried out. “Whatever it was, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it ……… ” I saw her in the distance, striding furiously along and I hurried after her. Panting, I reached her side and hauled her to a stop.
“Listen, Thorn,” I remonstrated, “you can’t go all huffy over some imagined insult every minute of the day. I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings in any way, but I’m not good with women. I never know what to say. I know nothing about social niceties, I’ll admit that. Please don’t be angry. We have to work together, after all. I don’t want to have to go into goblin territory all by myself.” Thorn stared intently at me as I made my little apology speech. Her features gradually changed from thunderstorm to gentle rain as she listened.
“Yes,” she said slowly, “we do have to work together and it’s been partly my fault anyway. Forget about it. Let’s just concentrate on the job in hand.”
So, we set out, if not totally amicably, then in a much better frame of mind. Thorn led me to her house, saying that she needed a few items from there. We went inside and I wandered aimlessly around the entrance vestibule while she flew up to her room.
I was in the process of examining a gilded portrait of Thorn’s family when a silvery voice from behind me announced, “Well, hello there, handsome.” I turned around to the very pleasant sight of Tracey. I hadn’t even heard her approach. Wings do give you a certain advantage in stealth movement.
“Hello yourself,” I replied, my knees suddenly turning to jelly. Gods above, Tracy looked magnificent! Dazzling, actually. She was more beautiful than any person had a right to be. She’d cornered the market in attractiveness, which probably wasn’t fair to everybody else who had been waiting in line for their share. But hey, in every area of life, there were prizes given out for being the ‘Best’, although it seemed to me that Tracey had been awarded more of those prizes than she had been entitled to have.
“Arugohumna tells me you’re going into borgulessa territory,” she said in a horrified voice. “You’re so brave! I could never bring myself to do that.” She shuddered at the thought of it as she spoke.
“I’ll be fine,” I told her, feeling unaccountably flattered by her ‘brave’ comment. “After all, Thorn will be with me.”
“Ah yes,” Tracey said, anxiously. “You will look after her, won’t you?”
“I think it’s more a case of her looking after me,” I replied, shrugging my shoulders.
Tracey gave me a smouldering look which made me shiver. “You’re so modest,” she praised, reaching out a graceful finger and stroking my cheek in a delightful manner.
Thorn’s angry “What are you think you’re doing?” interjection caused Tracey to hastily retract her hand, much to my disappointment.
“I’m just wishing Stephen well on his journey,” Tracey replied, spinning around to face her sister.
“It didn’t look that way to me,” Thorn spat. “Keep away from him, Traculimna, I’m warning you!”
“You’re warning me?” Tracey repeated, in disbelief. “And just who do you think you are, Arugohumna? You can’t warn me about anything! You’re not my mother! You can’t tell me what to do. I can do what I like!” Thorn’s fists were clenching under the pressure of her unspoken thoughts, so I tried to head off the imminent volcanic eruption.
“Ladies, ladies,” I pacified, “there’s no need for any of this. Thorn, Tracey was being friendly, that’s all.” Quite a useless waste of words, really. I might as well have tried to control an enraged tigress.
“I may not be your mother,” Thorn raged, “but I am your older sister, and I’m telling you to stop flirting with everyone you see. What’s the matter with you? Can’t you be serious for even one minute?”
“You think that’s all I care about, don’t you?” Tracey replied, equally heatedly.
“Pretty much,” Thorn replied, with a face like thunder.
“Well, you’re wrong!” Tracey contradicted, her eyes becoming moist. “Why are you so mean to me all the time, Arugohumna? I do have deeper feelings and I do care about what’s happening. That’s why I want you to go with Stephen to recover the Crystals. And I want you both to return unharmed. I couldn’t bear it if something happened to either one of you.”
Instantly, Thorn’s angry facade crumbled and she folded Tracey in an apologetic hug. “I’m sorry, Traculimna,” she whispered, contritely. “I truly am. I didn’t mean anything in what I said. You know I love you, and I always will.”
“And I love you too, Arugohumna,” Tracey sniffed, wiping away a few of her escaping tears. Then she gave a little giggle. “We’re always doing this,” she observed. “Fights and hugs. That’s all we ever seem to do.”
“I know,” Thorn laughingly agreed. “We’re a right pair of borgulessa.” She released Tracey and turned to look at me, embarrassed. “Sorry about that little emotional display,” she stated. “As I’ve already told you, sometimes Traculimna and I drive each other crazy.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I reassured her. “Human siblings do it all the time as well. It’s a family thing. All that matters is that, at the end, you’re there for each other.”
“Ohhh, what a lovely thing to say!” Tracey breathed, putting a gentle hand on my arm. “You make me go all gooey inside.”
“Traculimna, stop that!” Thorn snapped.
“Make me!” Tracey taunted, her jaw jutting out defiantly.
“Oh, for heaven’s sake!” I exclaimed, exasperated. “Is that all you two ever do? Are you like this all the time?”
“Not really,” Thorn explained, glaring at Tracey. “It seems to have been worse since you turned up.”
“So, you’re blaming me now?” I questioned, half amused and half annoyed.
“No, of course not,” Tracey hastened to placate me. “It’s all Arugohumna’s fault.”
“It is not!” Thorn truculently bellowed at Tracey. “If anybody is to blame around here, it’s you!”
“Take that back!” Tracey yelled.
“Why should I?” Thorn told her. “It’s the truth!”
“Right, that’s it!” Tracey muttered wrathfully, diving at Thorn and pulling her to the ground. They started to scrabble around on the floor, while I stood back in astonishment. This was normal family behaviour around here? Grunting and squealing, wings flapping furiously, the pair of them sprang to their feet and began to wrestle in midair. What surprised me the most was Tracey. Up until now, she had appeared to be so delicate and fragile and so …….. fairylike, but here she was, swearing like a sailor and fighting like a demon. It just proves the old saying about outward appearances being deceptive. Of course, Thorn hadn’t been idle either and was more than holding her own. I had the impression that this wasn’t an isolated incident and had all the hallmarks of a well rehearsed routine. Since I didn’t have access to a bucket of cold water, I knew I couldn’t do anything to stop them, so I decided to sit back and enjoy the show. It was obvious that neither of them set out to inflict major damage, because it became mainly a wrestling exhibition and not a punching fight. Overall, I’d have to say that Thorn ended up slightly ahead on points, but not by much.
Chapter 16
Finally, out of breath, the two combatants separated and glided their way back to ground level. Tracey’s dress had been disarranged and become torn in a few places, and the garland of flowers on her head was askew. Thorn didn’t seem the worse for wear, mainly because her clothin
g was more sturdy and she wore no accessories.
“Have you both finished?” I asked, somewhat sarcastically.
“I think so,” Tracey replied, glancing at Thorn.
“Definitely,” Thorn agreed. “That’s enough exercise for one day, I should think.”
“Do you do this sort of thing a lot?” I asked, curiously.
“Fairly often,” Tracey stated, winking at me. “I know it looks bad, but it’s never really serious. It’s what we do to burn off excess energy and to clear the air.”
“I see,” I said, doubtfully. “A fairly drastic method, don’t you think? Wouldn’t it be easier not to argue in the first place?”
“Probably,” Thorn agreed, “but that’s never going to happen. Our opinions differ on just about everything, I’m afraid.”
“Be that as it may,” I announced, “but we really should get going if we’re ever going to solve the Crystal mystery.”
“Of course,” Tracey solemnly responded,. She turned to Thorn and took her hands. “Be very, very careful, sister of mine,” she advised. “The borgulessa aren’t friendly to us and I don’t want you hurt in any way. Come back to me in one piece, otherwise I’ll never speak to you again.”
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