Bearing an Hourglass Read Online Free

said. “Gawain brought me here! Ask him! He’ll tell you!”
    She looked into Norton’s face, then turned away, hurt. He felt like a monster who had just pulled the wings off a dozen beautiful butterflies.
    “She can’t see me,” Gawain said. “She can’t hear me. I told you that. She doesn’t really believe in me.”
    Norton was shocked. “You mean she thinks this is just a scheme to—to hit on—?”
    “I told you you’d have to handle the introduction yourself,” the ghost reminded him. “She’s ready to accept you; don’t mess it up.”
    Norton turned to Orlene again. “You really can’t see or hear—Gawain?”
    “Of course I can’t,” she said, her face still hurt. “Only his picture.” She gestured to a framed painting on the wall inside.
    Norton turned around to get a better view. It was Gawain, garbed in his armor, with a dragon painted on his shield and X’d out. The bold killer of dragons.
    Norton shook his head. “This is all wrong. I think I have insulted you, Orlene. I misunderstood—the situation. I apologize and I’ll leave.”
    “Oh, you mustn’t leave!” she protested. “I don’t care what brought you here, really. You glow so brightly! I never expected to see—”
    “I glow?”
    “Her magic power,” Gawain said from outside. “The right man glows. You’re it, all right.”
    “It’s hard to explain,” Orlene said. “It doesn’t mean I like a man, or want to. It just means that, objectively, he is—” She spread her hands helplessly.
    “I think I understand,” Norton said. He had thought he would be rejected, once he saw how lovely she was; now he was unable to turn down what was offered, though he remained disturbed by the situation. “Perhaps I will accept your tea after all.” He stepped back into the apartment.
    Orlene closed the door behind him, shutting out the ghost. That was a small relief. Norton sat in a comfortable chair while she bustled in her kitchenette, dialing the tea.
    The problem was that she was too pretty, too obviously nice. Norton felt subjectively as if his touch would despoil her. This was no one-night-stand woman, and it would be a crime to treat her that way. Especially since she herself was not aware of the ghost’s active participation. She would think that he, Norton, was simply a man taking advantage of a widow. Well, not exactly a widow. But it bothered him.
    Except for one thing—she saw him glow. She had no need to accept him; she could tell him to go and he would go. Why should she claim he was right for the purpose? Was her magic real, or was it a pretext to pick and choose? Was she in fact any better than she took him to be? She seemed like the ideal woman, but appearances could be deceptive. Especially when a ghost was involved.
    Orlene brought the tea in an old-fashioned pot and poured cups for them both. This wasn’t tea time, but time was not of the essence here. What was required was somethingto occupy their hands and eyes and nominal attention—a pretext to be somewhat at ease together. That was, Norton suspected, the true basis of tea; it was a social amenity.
    But it wasn’t enough. There was only so long a person could nurse along a cup of beverage, and it was necessary to make small talk meanwhile. How long could they postpone getting down to the subject?
    Norton’s desperately wandering eyes spotted a large, pretty, parlor-style book, the kind with phenomenal illustrations and very little text, as befitted the fashionable, wealthy nonreaders of the day. He reached for it.
    “Oh, that’s the picture-puzzle guide,” Orlene said quickly. “Magic technology art. I haven’t gotten into the puzzle, though I’ve been meaning to. I understand it’s very difficult.”
    “I like puzzles.” Norton opened the book. The first picture was of a section of the city park, with its tall trees seeming almost alive. Almost? Now he saw their leaves fluttering in the wind. It was a moving picture and it was