Fine, he thought, and put the page of listings aside. Deb and Sheryl wee sitting cross-legged on the floor directly in front of the television set. His wife was on the sofa with her crochet in her lap and her untouched needles projecting antennae-like from the ball of yarn in her hand. On the screen, the newstar named Mike made a clever remark. The camera cut to the newstars named Donna, Gerald, and Ronald, who were chuckling. His wife smiled and nodded. "Beth," he said, "where's Jane?" His wife absently waved her ball of yard at him. Her lips parted slightly in anticipation as Donna began an involved response to Mike's quip, something about its having called to mind the rabbit that went into a clothing store to order a ham sandwich. Donna delivered the punchline, and the camera cut back to Mike, who laughed and rocked in his chair. Deb and Sheryl giggled. Beth smiled and nodded. "Beth?" "Jane's not here." Sheryl's voice was barely audible above the newstars' cheerful reiteration of the day's top stories. Vago to quit cast of The Frisco Foxes. Vice-president's son to get first haircut. Return of the comet. "I can see she's not here, Sheryl. Where'd she go?" "Daddy," Deb said. "I can't hear TV." Sheryl got to her feet and stretched her arms above her head. "I'm gonna go watch Doctor Nova in my room. There any crunchies left, Mom?" "You just ate," said Deb. "You're gonna get fat." Sheryl glared down at her sister for a moment before moving into her mother's line of sight. She planted a fist on a bony hip and cocked her head to one side. "Mah-um." "Go check, Sheryl Ann, you're in my way." Sheryl heaved a great sigh and stomped away in the direction of the kitchen. "Beth." "Mmm?" "Where's Jane?" His wife tore her gaze from the television screen and blinked at him. She noticed the ball of yarn and set it beside her thigh and folded her hands across her abdomen. "Jane went outside." She looked back at the screen. The newstars Mike, Donna, Ronald, and Gerald were smiling and waving at the camera. Credits rolled past too quickly to be read, and an announcer said to be sure to join us again at ten for more news, sports, and weather with the Eyewitness Newstars. "She finished helping in the kitchen. She went outside." During station identification, he said, "What's she doing outside?" "Oh. You know Jane. Mind in Montana." Deb looked over her shoulder and smirked. "She's stargazing, Daddy. She had a book, too." "It's going to be dark soon. Deb, go tell her to come in." "But Captain Steele's coming on now!" "Jane'll be okay," Beth said. They watched a thirty-second preview of next Tuesday's episode of Brogan's Boys. Be on hand for the hilarity when John's crush on his new teacher lands Brogan in hot water. "You know how girls her age get," Beth said. They watched a half-minute spot for Mister Max A. Million. Join the fun tomorrow as Max decides to buy Sylvia the Great Wall of China. "It's probably just some boy," Beth said. "All the same." He braced his forearms against his chair and started to push himself up, then relaxed as the image of a slim, beautiful woman who seemed to be barely out of her teens appeared on the screen. As she extolled the virtues of her Fast N Fancy panty-hose, she hooked a finger under the hem of her skirt and drew it upward, slowly, over one sleek thigh that went on forever. "I want some Fast N Fancy," Deb said. "You're too young." "Aw, Mom." "Hush." The slim, beautiful woman vanished a split-second after she had run out of thigh and exposed the merest hint of buttock. My God, he thought. He suddenly realized that he had been holding his breath for the better part of a minute and exhaled noisily. He glanced at his wife to see whether she had noticed. She had not. She was watching a commercial for taste-tempting new McDuck L'Orange. The teaser for Raygun Carnage began. Without taking his eyes from the screen, he got to his feet and moved sideways from the living room, using one hand to guide himself past obstacles. He paused at the door until this week's villainess, the Queen of the Femizons, had finished chortling over an apparently helpless Captain Steele. Then, humming along with the opening strains of the show's theme song, he walked through the dining room and the kitchen and went out into the warmth of a mid-summer twilight. |
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