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mind.
She was not halluscening. me. with
She was watching And whenI madecontact
her,sheradiateda sort aura of amusement-emotion, up her conscious
of overall covered
deliberation, anyprobing mementally,Makeit two,
andblocked by directing Wally.
I built her one, handedit to her, and then said, Folks thesedays sure have
forgotten
howto usedoorbells.
If youdont wantpeoplecoming youshould yourmindwarden
in, Wally, restrict a
little. It s set to admit who doesnot approach
anybody the door with vigorousintentto
commitgrave physical
harm. Whenthe thing radiates Come in and relax is a girl
supposed twiggling
to standoutside on thedoorbell?
I dropped thinkingthatmaybeI shouldn havebrought
the subject t it up in the first
place. s onethatcant be answered whereas statement
It by logic, a firmemotional of like
or dislikestopsall counter-argument d madethe mistakeof questioning
and I my own
judgment.
So I eyedherandsaid, Tomboy, in small
youdid notcomehereto indulge talk.
No, sheadmitted.I m hereto keeptrackof you,
Wally.
Oh?
Our greatand goodfriendwantsme to make noteson how clever
you are at
arranging
things.
YoumeanBarcelona you.
sent
Thats about
it.
I looked
at heraskance.Andhowlongare yougoingto stay?
She smiled. Until FlyingHeels, and Lady Gracecomeacrossthe
Moonbeam,
finishlineOne, andThree Downs
Two, at Churchill on DerbyDay.
I grinned thattrio of turtles, it maybe for yearsand it
at her. Considering Tomboy,
maybe forever.
Sheheldup herglassin a sortofa toast. Or, shesaid, Til
deathdo us part!
A littlebitterly said, Onemight doesnt trust
I thinkthatBarcelona me.
Shereplied,It isn t a matter Barcelona
of trust. holdsyouamonghis veryclosest
friends. that you woulddo anything
He is wellawareof the fact for him,that you prizehis
friendship thatyouwouldgo to the most lengths
so highlyyourself desperate to keepit firm
and true. he realizes expressed
Yet thatthesimpledesirehe hasrecently doesplaceyouin
a delicate attitude. thathe shouldn haveexpressed
mental Youare likelyto feel t this desire
sinceyoufeel to fulfill to maintainfriendship
obligated it. He feelsthatmaybethis obligation
at all costsmay causeresentment. doesnot wantyou to resent
SinceBarcelona him,he
sentme to be yourcompanion shouldyour
in the hopethat I mightget someforewarning
friendship
forhimbeginto weaken.
Just think flatly
whyin thisdayand age shedidnt justcomeoutand say or that
she was thereto keepme in line,I dont know.
But thereshe was,talkingall aroundthe
mainpoint theinformation inference.
anddelivering by long-winded
Evenso,without stogie, Taylor dish,
herPittsburgh Tomboy wasa mightyattractive
and I knewthatshecouldalsobe a bright conversationalist
and interesting if shewantedto
be. other Imight the company, to
Under circumstances haveenjoyed butit was no pleasure
knowthateverygrainof heronehundred pounds was Barcelona
andfourteen avoirdupois s
Personal At thatmoment with what
Property. I realizedthat I was not too muchconcerned
Barcelona might Instead,was wishingthatthingsweredifferent
s reaction be. I so thatany
activitybetween gainandpleasure thanthe order
us wouldbe forourownpersonal rather of
or thefightagainst Barcelona. Tomboy had
oneJoseph Therewas oneconsolation. Taylor
notcomeequipped stogies of
witha boxof Pittsburgh with whichto makemy appreciation
beautythrowup its lunch.
Shesaid,sweetly,Thebetter you,
to ensnare mydear.
But as she spoke,for just a moment
her thick woollymind shieldthinnedout
enough puzzled As if for the first
for me to catcha strange, graspfor understanding. time
she had beenshownhowadmiration attractiveness and
for physical couldbe bothhonest
good. myrepugnant stogies
That attitudeoverher Pittsburgh was notso muchbasedupon
the spoilingof beautyby the additionof ugliness, that the act itselfcheapened
butthe fact
her in myeyes.
Thenshecaught and clamped thatmadethe old
me peeking downa mindscreen
so-calledIronCurtain resemble rustysieve.
a
I m theonethats supposed keeptrackof you, shesaid,once
to youremember,
morecovering mentally
up andleaping to theattack.
I ll remember, said. Butwillyoutellmesomething?
I
Maybe, shesaidin a veiledattitude.
Is yourboyfriendreallyinterested up, or is he interested
in cleaning in watching
me squirm
outofa traphe setforme?
In thefirstplace, shesaid, I mayhavebeenseenin Barcelona but
s presence
pleaseremember with Mr. JosephBarcelona
thatmy association has alwaysbeenstrictly
on a financial Thiseliminates contained the phraseBoy Friend.
plane. theinference under
Check?
O.K., if
Tomboy, thats the
Thats notonlythewayI want shesaid, butthats the way it alwayshas been
it,
and alwayswillbe. I .
Second, havebeengettingtired of this nicknameTomboy If we re
goingto be rackedthis closetogether,
youll grateon my nerveslessif you use my right
name. s just Nora butI d like to hearit oncein a while.
It plain
I nodded I highball
soberly.heldouta handbutsheputherempty glassin it instead
of herownlittlepaw.I shrugged andhanded to herI said, I
andmixedandwhenI returned it
ll makeyoua deal. ll callyou Nora justso longas youmaintain and attitude
I themanners
of a female, lady-type I youlike a woman, to earnit.
feminine, woman. ll treat butyouve got
Is thata deal?
Shelooked herexpression as caught
at me, shyandas defenseless a bruiser-type
readingsentimental that I had again toucheda sensitivespot by
poetry.I perceived
demanding spectacular. wentdownand I
that she be morethan physically Her defenses
saw thatshereallydid notknowtheanswer I did.Ithadto do with something
to myquestion.
thatonlytheachievement state or oldage would
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