Alice Cooper rose to her feet in a liquid motion beautiful to behold.
The top of her head came up to his shoulders and she reached out with
one small, dainty hand and touched his upper arm.
"My, but you have big muscles."
Marsden smiled.
"You need them in this grim, dreary place, of course. You probably wish
you didn't. You probably would rather be thin and wear glasses maybe
and spend most of your time in an air-cooled office and do things like
that."
"I don't know. A man would grow bored working in an office."
"See?" Alice Cooper cried. "See? I just knew I'd love Talbor. You're so
primitive. Why, you're practically--Cro-Magnon. Come on outside, Harry.
I want to take your picture."
She took his big hand and led him to the door. Marsden looked back
uncomfortably and saw Charlie Adcock off in a corner with two of the
women of Earth, talking avidly. Strangely, he thought Charlie was
scowling about something.
Talbor's strong orange sunlight made him squint while Alice Cooper
said: "Tremendous place for a camera enthusiast. I hear it never rains
around here. Surprising this place isn't a desert, don't you think?"
"It rains when it has to."
"Here. Stand over here. Yes, facing the sun. Can you do something to
show you're almost--almost ancestral?"
"I don't understand, Miss."
"Goodness, I mean your muscles. Flex them. Use them to do something
like lifting a heavy object. Break something if you want to. I'm sure
those muscles are good for something besides weeding your fields or
pulling a plow."
Marsden began to feel foolish but obliged her with a handstand. He lost
his balance, though, before she could take the picture and tumbled flat
on his back in the dusty street, landing so hard he saw stars.
* * * * *
A couple of men who had been watching from the hotel steps snickered.
"I didn't know Marsden was an acrobat."
"His old lady claims she's going to sell him to the interstellar circus
when it comes around."
"What do you say we give him a hand?"
Marsden sat up, rubbed his head. One of the men came over and offered
his arm. Cat-quick, Marsden leaped to his feet and thrust the man away
from him so hard that he stumbled back, crashed against the bottom
steps and fell. Something clicked, and Alice Cooper squealed excitedly:
"I got it! That was perfect, Harry. Thank you ever so much. I caught it
just after you started to shove him and now when my friends see this
they'll know Talbor is a primitive place. Are there many murders here?"
"I've never heard of one," said Harry, dusting his trousers off. "We're
too busy for crime, I guess."
"How terribly dull. Statistics show that more advanced societies are
prone to higher crime rates, particularly crimes of passion, since
everyone is high strung and capable of flying off the handle as the
expression goes. Did you ever think of committing a crime of passion,
Harry?"
She stood there, small and frail in the sunlight, delicately, lushly
curved. She wet her lips and they were very red in the sunlight and
against her pale white face.
"No," said Marsden thickly. "I'd better take you back inside to your
friends, maybe."
"Why, don't be ridiculous. See, they're all outside anyway."
Marsden's gaze took in Talbor City's one street. The crowds had thinned
considerably; people moved off toward the outskirts and the farmlands
in twos and threes, the Earth people scattered among them and going
to see Talbor with them. Marsden felt lost and alone and a little
frightened, for he knew he would go off into the country-side with
Alice Cooper in another moment, and he hardly trusted himself.
"They're not my friends, Harry. We're traveling together, but we hardly
know each other. You don't just make friends with anyone, it isn't
civilized. People are always out to get you, to trick you, to make
fun of you and take advantage of you. Oh, you've got to be careful, I
always say. Shall we see Talbor now?"
"I should go home and start plowing."
"I'm leaving tonight, Harry." Her hand slipped under his arm and
nestled there. His bare arm tingled.
"What would you like to see?" he asked uncomfortably.
* * * * *
"Everyone has a different crop to grow," Marsden explained later. "On
my farm it's barley."
"Just barley? It must be rather dull, growing barley all year long."
"We have some cattle and chickens, too. But I spend most of my time
tending the irrigation ditches. Summertime it's a sunrise to sunset
job."
"You poor man. You--" Suddenly Alice Cooper's eyes grew big. She gasped
and clutched at Marsden's arm. "Harry, over there! Ooo, Harry!"
Marsden turned, saw a small dog bounding across the field playfully,
turning and twisting and barking at its own shadow.
"It's nothing to be afraid of."
"An animal, nothing to be afraid of? Harry, it's coming this way."
The dog had seen them. Yelping, its tail wagging, it came right up to
them, nuzzling against Marsden's leg while he crouched and petted it.
"Better take me back to town, Harry."
"There boy, there boy." Marsden scratched the dog's ear, cuffed it
gingerly with his big hand, turned it around, thumped its rear and
watched it leap away across the rocky meadow. "Don't worry, Miss. A
little dog like that never hurt anyone."
"I feel faint, Harry. I expected wilderness and that's what I came to
see--but animals running around loose? That's too much."
"Dogs and men get along fine on Talbor."
"On Earth dogs are in the zoo where they belong." Alice Cooper patted
her brow daintily with a handkerchief. "I do wish we could get out of
this sun."
A person not liking dogs. It wasn't right, Marsden thought. And hating
the sun and the soil out of which crops grew and.... Well, he couldn't
blame Alice Cooper. Everything was so strange and new to her and she
was just plain upset.
"I could take you to my cabin," he told her. "It's nearby."
Alice Cooper nodded, took one step forward, turned her ankle and
tripped. She fell heavily, catching one of her high heels against the
hem of her frilly dress. There was a ripping sound and a long tear
appeared in the bottom of the dress.
"It's ruined," said Alice Cooper in despair.
"My wife can fix it."
"Your what?"
"My wife."
"Don't tell me you get married here on Talbor? I knew this was a
primitive society, really primitive--but not to that extent. You get
married and--and stay with one partner for life, for your whole life?
Really?"
"That's right," said Marsden. "Don't you?"
"Well--you wouldn't understand, Harry. You just wouldn't understand.
Here, help me up."
He got her to her feet, but her twisted ankle wouldn't support her.
"You'd better carry me."
Marsden nodded, got one hand under her arms from behind, the other in
back of her thighs. Cradling her thus, he began to walk. She weighed
almost nothing, she was incredibly feather-light, but pleasant to the
touch and smelling, this close, of some delightful perfume.
"You're strong," she said.
Gulping audibly, Marsden averted his face from hers, only inches away.
* * * * *
When he pushed the cabin door open with one foot, Marie started to
smile at him from inside. The smile faded. "Harry. Oh. Is she--hurt or
something?"
"Aren't you the bright one," Alice Cooper said. "I'm too lazy to walk."
"Be quiet, Marie," Marsden said. "What's the matter with you?"
"Did I say something wrong? I'm sorry."
"It's to be expected," Alice Cooper declared.
"You were gone all night, Harry."
"He can take care of himself, I'm sure," Alice Cooper said.