It wasn't your fault ... it was probably mine. I suppose I should be apologizing to you."You didn't do anything except be you. Beautiful, caring, wond...erful you."She was looking at me curiously, I decided, hell, in for a penny, in for a pound. I had tried not telling her how I felt, and needed mental powers to get her to love me. Maybe without those powers I should try the alternative route."I love you, Sam. I've loved you all my life."She had a pained expression on her face."I love you too,. "I will. Patience, girl, patience."The girl at the front desk—yet another one; they seemed to have an inexhaustible supply of teeny-boppers in the area—told me where to go to find a shopping center with the stores I was looking for. So after breakfast I headed off in the car in the direction she'd told me.Of course my directions were a little skimpy. It was the usual when you asked a native how to get places; they were real good on the primary turns but tended to forget about things like forks. I knew they had no choice in this, as Lord Johnson was thegovernor of the area and that gave him absolute authority over us. So whenhe had selected me, and the news was given to my parents, they had toagree. Only consolation to them that the Lord has promised to pay for mytwo younger sisters marriage and also as my elder two brothers already hadchildren, so continuation of the family line was ensured.They did understand the horror of the path that I was to take, but theywere poor and powerless. I had woken with a spring in my step and a glint in my eye that only I knew the meaning of. I jumped in the shower, slipped into my bland, just above the knee skirt and sheer as I was allowed blouse, stroked the cat, gulped some juice and shut the door. I knew, subconsciously, what mischief I was going to get up to before I’d even reached the station.I stood for a while in the carriage smiling to myself, a warm feeling growing in my stomach. I knew the time between stations and how long I had.