about to embark on one.”
“Not necessarily so,” Folkard replied, glancing back, a look they had come to recognise coming into his eyes. “Not necessarily so.” He somehow managed to sound simultaneously a little excited, and ill at ease. The captain strode off leaving Annabelle, Nathaniel and Arnaud to blink at his departing back.
Chapter Two
“In Which All Meet the Interlopers”
1.
“MY FATHER HAS always considered black hair on a woman to be rather unseemly. I have to say I cannot agree with him. Although I have never seen a woman with hair as black as yours, until now.”
Taking a deep breath, Annabelle suppressed a sigh. Despite Annabelle speaking very few words to her, Elizabeth Highmore seemed to have latched on as if they were sisters at heart purely from the anatomical fact of being the same sex. They could not have been more unalike.
She could not deny that she had tried to formulate all sorts of reasons why Elizabeth should not join the expedition, all of which failed for she could think of few ways to argue without cutting herself out of the trip as well.
True, the mere slip of a girl had shown some… doughtiness coming all the way from Earth in pursuit of her fiancé, but she seemed to carry the act of doing so as if deserving of martyrdom. To make the situation more unpleasant, she came out with such asinine remarks Annabelle struggled to determine whether the girl was a simpleton or simply pretended to be so that she could enjoy making veiled insults. “I believe there is some parlance in certain circles that blondes are dumb,” Annabelle quipped to test either theory.
Elizabeth coloured. “I…meant a compliment. I apologise. I haven’t…travelled before, and I am unaccustomed to making new acquaintances.”
“Well, you are certainly travelling now.”
Annabelle had no wish to be lumbered with caring for a weak woman…or stand by watching the men dote on her. One of those sentiments, she understood; the other she did not. She had no need for any man other than her George to dote on her, so she had no reason to care if others positively lavished affection on Elizabeth. Not that there seemed to be much chance of that. Folkard was too professional to do so, and had only a mind for his dear Charlotte, and as for Nathaniel and Arnaud…no need to worry there. No, if Elizabeth garnered any tenderness it would have to be from her brother when he arrived.
Inwardly, Annabelle sighed. Since her heavenly encounter, be it reality or a dream, she had begun to relish the new found tranquillity, the inner serenity to accept all that had come to pass. Her arrival on Mars had tilted the balance, upset her equilibrium. A situation made worse since her acquaintance with Elizabeth especially owing to the cramped conditions meaning she would have to bunk with her.
Annabelle felt…less whole. Almost as if this younger, slighter, sillier woman was in some ways better by the mere fact of having two legs, which made Annabelle the idiotic one. It wasn’t as if Elizabeth was the first woman she’d spent time with since the loss of her appendage, yet, this was Mars…where the first sight of a canal had caused memories to come flooding back brightly coloured and alive with pain. Still, there had been many good things to take account of during her first visit. A feeling of fellowship and acts of loyalty. She had endured. Nathaniel should feel some pride in that, and it stood to reason a little pride in her survival held sway. What was pain when weighed against the prospect of heaven? The thought eased her strange agitation
“I heard tell you lost a friend here.”
For a moment, Annabelle thought Elizabeth referred to her severed leg. A limb was an “old friend” was it not? “Yes. Kak’hamish is sorely missed.”
“Your friend was a Martian?”
“Most assuredly. I do hope that you and your brother are not the type to judge others by the detail of their birth in deference to whom they are at heart
“Not necessarily so,” Folkard replied, glancing back, a look they had come to recognise coming into his eyes. “Not necessarily so.” He somehow managed to sound simultaneously a little excited, and ill at ease. The captain strode off leaving Annabelle, Nathaniel and Arnaud to blink at his departing back.
Chapter Two
“In Which All Meet the Interlopers”
1.
“MY FATHER HAS always considered black hair on a woman to be rather unseemly. I have to say I cannot agree with him. Although I have never seen a woman with hair as black as yours, until now.”
Taking a deep breath, Annabelle suppressed a sigh. Despite Annabelle speaking very few words to her, Elizabeth Highmore seemed to have latched on as if they were sisters at heart purely from the anatomical fact of being the same sex. They could not have been more unalike.
She could not deny that she had tried to formulate all sorts of reasons why Elizabeth should not join the expedition, all of which failed for she could think of few ways to argue without cutting herself out of the trip as well.
True, the mere slip of a girl had shown some… doughtiness coming all the way from Earth in pursuit of her fiancé, but she seemed to carry the act of doing so as if deserving of martyrdom. To make the situation more unpleasant, she came out with such asinine remarks Annabelle struggled to determine whether the girl was a simpleton or simply pretended to be so that she could enjoy making veiled insults. “I believe there is some parlance in certain circles that blondes are dumb,” Annabelle quipped to test either theory.
Elizabeth coloured. “I…meant a compliment. I apologise. I haven’t…travelled before, and I am unaccustomed to making new acquaintances.”
“Well, you are certainly travelling now.”
Annabelle had no wish to be lumbered with caring for a weak woman…or stand by watching the men dote on her. One of those sentiments, she understood; the other she did not. She had no need for any man other than her George to dote on her, so she had no reason to care if others positively lavished affection on Elizabeth. Not that there seemed to be much chance of that. Folkard was too professional to do so, and had only a mind for his dear Charlotte, and as for Nathaniel and Arnaud…no need to worry there. No, if Elizabeth garnered any tenderness it would have to be from her brother when he arrived.
Inwardly, Annabelle sighed. Since her heavenly encounter, be it reality or a dream, she had begun to relish the new found tranquillity, the inner serenity to accept all that had come to pass. Her arrival on Mars had tilted the balance, upset her equilibrium. A situation made worse since her acquaintance with Elizabeth especially owing to the cramped conditions meaning she would have to bunk with her.
Annabelle felt…less whole. Almost as if this younger, slighter, sillier woman was in some ways better by the mere fact of having two legs, which made Annabelle the idiotic one. It wasn’t as if Elizabeth was the first woman she’d spent time with since the loss of her appendage, yet, this was Mars…where the first sight of a canal had caused memories to come flooding back brightly coloured and alive with pain. Still, there had been many good things to take account of during her first visit. A feeling of fellowship and acts of loyalty. She had endured. Nathaniel should feel some pride in that, and it stood to reason a little pride in her survival held sway. What was pain when weighed against the prospect of heaven? The thought eased her strange agitation
“I heard tell you lost a friend here.”
For a moment, Annabelle thought Elizabeth referred to her severed leg. A limb was an “old friend” was it not? “Yes. Kak’hamish is sorely missed.”
“Your friend was a Martian?”
“Most assuredly. I do hope that you and your brother are not the type to judge others by the detail of their birth in deference to whom they are at heart
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