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.Ahead of the men on the slope, Evana ran barefoot, moving swiftly and smoothly, not using any handholds.“Pretty amazing, isn’t she?” Ambrose said, as the trio took a short break to watch her.“Quite a specimen,” Joss said.“She has her eye on you, by the way,” Garcia said.“All the men in the village would like to be on the receiving end of half the smiles she’s already given to you.”Joss reddened.“I didn’t notice.”He continued effortlessly up the hill ahead of the other two men, then onto a game trail where he’d seen her go.As he made his way, he couldn’t help thinking about her.He didn’t want to do anything impulsive or foolish, though.In the past he’d had relationships with attractive women that he came to wish had not occurred.For a time he’d thought that he and Kupi might be a couple despite their age difference.Now that he knew it wouldn’t work between them, he was back on “the market,” so to speak.Evana was perhaps six years younger than he was, with an outgoing personality, and she had undeniable physical attributes.But maybe she was too outgoing, too friendly.If she was that way with him, she was undoubtedly that way with other men, and he didn’t like that.Was she manipulative? He couldn’t tell yet, but suspected that might be the case.She waited on the trail ahead, her hands on her hips as she looked back at him.“It’s about time you got here!” she exclaimed.“Yeah,” Joss said, making a decision to behave coolly toward her.He stood beside her, looking back down the steep incline for their two companions, who were out of view.Evana made a couple of attempts at conversation with him, but he didn’t bite.“You’re not even breathing hard,” she finally said, “so I know you’re not too out of breath to talk.Are you the shy type?”“Maybe I’m not a type at all.Maybe I’m just me.”“Intriguing comment.I guess you don’t like me, then.” He looked at her steadily, measuring, judging.She smiled sweetly but not vacuously.He saw intelligence in her hazel eyes, and playfulness.“I didn’t say that,” he said.“Good, because I’m beginning to like you.”“Scars and all?” He lifted his right forearm, showing her the vinelike green scar on it.She nodded.“Scars and all.”From below, Joss heard one of the men call out.“We’re going back down, Evana! You liar, this is more than seven kilometers! And it’s straight up! Can you hear me?”“I hear you, Theo!” she shouted.“See you back in the village!” Looking at Joss, she said, “That’s what we call the collection of hovels we live in—the village.” She turned to continue up the game trail, on a section that headed away from the streambed and widened, so that they were able to walk side by side.“I don’t think I should go much farther myself,” he said, stopping on the trail after a while.“I should get back and let Kupi know where I am.She’ll be worrying.”“Is she your girlfriend?”“A friend.”“More than that?”He smiled tentatively.“A good friend.”“She’s more than that,” Evana said, moving past him and down the trail, heading back.“A woman can always tell.”“We were a couple once, that’s true.But that part of our relationship is over.”“Why?”“Well, aren’t we getting personal? Maybe I’ve already told you too much.”“What will we talk about on the walk back, then?”“Nothing, I guess.How about your life story?”“I have an unusual father, but his eccentricities have not been passed on to me.”“You think the Chairman is eccentric, eh? Well, I suppose he is, but he has a good heart, and the best of intentions for this planet.I say that despite the problems I’ve had fitting into his utopia.”“Mmmm, a good heart.Yes, I suppose that might be true, but his methods? I have a great deal to say about that.”“I’m sure everyone in the village does.”The two of them turned around and walked silently down the trail for several minutes, with her taking the lead when the way narrowed.Then she said with a glance back at him, “I used to play in the woods near my home as a child, making forts and secret passageways through the underbrush.It was my own magical world, my special private place.Until the revolution took it all away.” She kept talking, though he made no response [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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