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THE SLIDING GLASS door was pushed halfway aside and, stepping to the opening, I spoke her naht it possible that she er would have

Clearly, I had not "descended" far enough as yet

I hesitated for a while It gave , is the only way I can describe it, to lower ht

I knew I had to do it though and, bracingThen, gripping the handle of the sliding screen door, I eased it open

Instantly, Ginger jerked her head around, ears standing high, and Ann began to turn Seeing rowl and scrabbled around to face er"

The sound of Ann’s voice allancing around Ann was pushing to her feet and, for a glorious instant, I thought she recognizedsound of joy, I moved toward her

"Who are you?" she demanded

I froze in mid-step Her tone had been so cold, I felt an icy clamp snap shut on my heart I stared at her, disrowled, hair raised on her back; obviously, she didn’t know me either "She’ll attack if you cohtened than threatening but, again, the hardness of her tone cowed nized her, of course She returned my look and found me totally alien Was it possible, I wondered, that there was still a vibratory distance separating us?

I was afraid to find out Did she see me clearly? I wondered Or was I blurred to her as Albert had been to me the first ti ould have stood there mutely if I hadn’t spoken We were all like statues, she and Ginger staring attaut, ready to defend Ann if she had to I felt a rush of affection for her To love Ann so that she accepted this in place of Summerland What more can be said in praise of her devotion?

My mind see inchingly There had to be soin But what?

I have no idea how long it took for the initial concept to form in my mind As I’ve indicated, Robert, tih this place was closer to Earth than to Summerland, its time scale was, in no way, similar to the clock and calendar continuum Ann and I had known in life What Iat each other may have taken many minutes or a second or two; I believe the forhborhood," I finally said

My voice see at Or, if I did, the knowledge was deeply buried in my mind At any rate, the words came out, unbidden; a start however save me to see a look of such distrust on her face as she reacted to my words "Whose house?" she asked

"Gorman," I told her

"They haven’t sold their house," she said

I took a calculated risk "Yes, they have," I told her "Soo I moved in yesterday"

She didn’t respond and I was forced to wonder if I’d lost ht in a palpable lie

Then, when she didn’t challenge uessed that my calculation had been accurate She hadbeyond this i whether what I said was true or not

"I didn’t know they’d sold their house," she finally said, confir my assumption

"Yes They did" I felt a sense of minor achievement at the point I’d won But, even as I spoke, I knew I still had a long way to go

I tried to evolve the next move in my mind There had to be soetting through to her

The realization struck me as I tried There wasn’t any definite approach I’d have to feelfrom moment to moment, always on the lookout for soh, I’ly "How do you know my naratified to notice that the ansas acceptable to her

The gratification was nullified immediately as she asked, oncein the house?"

Iback Instantly, Ginger growled again, the hair erecting on her back

"I knocked on the door," I said as casually as possible

"There was no answer so I cah the house I guess you didn’t hear me"

I could see that the answer dissatisfied her and a sense of hopelessness washed over ht If she didn’t even know my face, what hope was there that I could help her?

I resisted the feeling, once again recalling Albert’s warning How ainst that hopelessness before this ended?