Part 41 (1/2)

Then he was there, larger than she'd realized, his relative slenderness accentuating his height, the dense beard distorting and lengthening his already long face, and his plentiful dark brown hair, brushed straight back fro him seem that much taller now that he'd taken the hat respectfully off to enter her store

He ca fro not only his sounds but those of the door until it closed, leaving his breathing-and hers-loud in the roolanced down at her, nodded Terran-style, and looked over the shop carefully So at the tops of the cases-it had been ht to dust them, for who ever cliht brown eyes inspecting her face so quickly that she hadn't tiain, and said in surprisinglyto find your operation I suspect we are both the poorer for it”

At that he pulled frolittery objects, sos, necklaces

And, she suspected quickly, all of them real”These are for sale,” he said, ”for a reasonable return Since I aue I will siet more than scrap value

You are a jeweler, however, and will knohat you need”

His hands were the competent hands of an artisan, she decided as he turned the items out on her sales cloth Despite the iteless, and despite the worn look of his clothes the marks on his hands were those of soularly, not one as careless or unemployed Indeed, there were spatters, or patterns of colors on his skin, masked somewhat by the unusual amount of hair on his wrists, on the back of his hands, even down to his knuckles Cyra was distracted, yes, even shocked: she had never seen a man with hair so thick it looked like fur!

”Indeed, we shall look,” sheat so far too s-soely designed clasp pin, set with diamonds, starstones, and enaht, set with alass was in her hand, and the densitoht, as well

In a twelve day she would rarely expect to see so many fine pieces, much less at once

”The pin,” she said finally, ”is obviously custoner than to ned that hiaudy Set it aside and we can talk about it later Else?”

Cyra looked up-way up-into those brown eyes He looked at her without sign of distress, and so she continued, oddly comforted

”I would offer to buy the lot if ere closer to Festival,” she admitted, ”even the pin But these are all quality iteant, let us say-than I ht usually invest in at this season”

”That's not an offer,” the Terran returned, his face suddenly strained ”And I will need soested, ”you should choose those least dear to you and point them out to me I will offer on thes to a s the pin by itself, and retrieving deftly other pins and the two rings He leaned his hands on the counter then, as if tired

”An offer,” he said, ”with and without the pin You know that it is platinum; know that it is platinum from the very Arabbed up the pin, adn Impulsively she touched his hand, the one that held the other retrieved objects, and turning it over, pressed the pin into it

”In that case, this is better placed with soh Houses They fail to arrive here in sufficient number to make my purchase hile”

And then she named a price which was far more of her available capital than she normally risked-but far less than the value she perceived before her-and was oddly annoyed by the man's rather curt, ”That will do”She was even more annoyed by the rapt attention he paid as she counted the cash out-as if each coin was in doubt Then she realized he was looking at her face Involuntarily, she colored, whichthe Terrans if she could blush so easily

”No,” he sand suddenly, his Liaden gone stiffly for to see if I s or tattoos on your face”

Cyra felt her face heat evenup

”Our transaction is finished You o”

He reached his hand toward her face and she flinched

”Ah,” he said, wisely ”The rule is that you may reach and touch my hand, but I, II see things so clearly”

Startled, she stepped back

”Forgivethe proper words Indeed, she had overstepped before he had; it was folly to assume that one as Terran had no measure of manners

Then: ”But why this crash? Crash? You do not sees or drink, and ”

Now she was truly flustered; ently

”In truth, I a coffee constantly for the last three days Starting last night, I have been drinking strong tea, as well It has alh, you see, but I could tell it would not continue to work, so I need to buy food-I should eat very soon-I need to write the notes, though, and look once more before the crash”

Cyra held her hands even closer to her face

”You need not look at all These are none-”

But he was shaking his head, Terran-wise

”No, you misunderstand I need to look at the art so I remember what comes next Soain”

Cyra was sure she -but before she could reply he pocketed the coins from the counter top and hefted the fabric-covered blue case or portfolio he'd brought in, laying it across the counter and reaching quickly for the seals

”You, you love beautiful things-youover his words in his haste

”This one is my best so far! This is the reason I have come to Liadthis is where the Scouts are!”

Noasn't staring at Cyra at all, and she found the willpower to bring her hands down and coht be revealed

Some kind of tissue irled back froraph of a double star-with one redder and the other bluer-taken from the surface of an obviously wind-swept desert world with tendrils of high gray clouds just entering the photograph

But sections wereor else the photo-download had been inco her back to the brief ti to jewelry

”You painted this? You are painting it now?” She looked up into his face and rapidly down to the work again The detail was a, the co, ”yes, it is my work But I must not paint now, because now I am tired and spent and will only ruin what I have done For now, the work is not safe nearand hard on her first real co and hard in fact that she'd finally fallen asleep in the midst, and woke to find the beatenmachine, destroyed by the very process which should have perfected it

She heard her voice before she realized she was speaking- ”If you need a place-I can keep it here It will be safe! Then, when you are awake and ready, you can claihed, sudden and short, and with an odd twist of arin into his beard

”When I wake Yes, that is a good way to put it When I wake”

With a flourish he waved his hand over the tissue, swept it back over the painting, and sealed the portfolio

”My name,” he said quite for my family I am known as Little Gene To the census people I am BelansiumHGH, 4113” He paused, s

”When I'm lucky, the pretty ladies of the universe call me Bell Please, lady, if I may have your name, I would appreciate it if you would call me Bell”