Golden Vanity by Rachel Pollack

Author:Rachel Pollack [Pollack, Rachel]
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780425044834
Publisher: New York : Berkley Books, c1980.
Published: 2010-03-07T00:00:00+00:00

The trip took somewhere between twenty minutes and an hour. By their slower speed and constant curves Hump guessed they’d left the highway for most of the trip. He thought also they were climbing into the Berkshire Hills, but he couldn’t really tell. They passed other cars, going either way, only twice.

For the last few minutes the car turned onto a rough dirt road. When they stopped and Ann took the blindfolds off, Hump and Vanity discovered themselves by a large wooden house surrounded by dense trees. Behind them the road sloped down through the woods, and the steepness, plus a sharp drop in temperature told Hump they must have climbed quite high into the mountains; the trees made it impossible to really tell. As they all walked to the house, Vanity looked around with that eager curiousity that arose in the oddest moments to swamp her fears.

Inside, the house showed the elegant casualness of a rich man’s country retreat: giant living room with a picture window showing the trees, paneled walls, fireplace, big cushiony wooden furniture in yellows and greens, a large well-equipped kitchen, a bare wooden staircase leading to the upstairs bedrooms. But the servants had gone, and the good china dishes lay scattered about the living room and kitchen while dirty clothes filled a chair and a bright blanket with two pillows lay before the ash-filled fireplace. While Ann made them all tea Marilyn removed the message recorder from the telephone and took it into one of the back rooms. Hump and Vanity stared gloomily out the window at the dead grass lit by the sunlight.

“Come in the kitchen,” Ann called. They brought in the dirty dishes with them, and Hump set them on the dishwasher while Ann put out cups. “Thanks,” she laughed. “We do so much of the good work here we never get to clean up.”

“How long have you known Marilyn?” Hump asked.

“A couple of years.” Ann had a round pleasant face with pursed lips that made her look slightly doll-like. She wore wide white trousers and a heavy brown sweater. She looked a little like a big lumpy quilt.

“Do you like doing the good work?” Hump said.

She grinned. “It’s all right. It’s exciting when it’s not scary or discouraging. Though a lot of times I just get tired. Basically, you know, it’s a lot of garbage work, good old routine drudgery.” There was a moment’s silence as Hump decided not to ask about what the drudgery led to, the “choreographed” riots in Washington, the bombs hidden in food shipments to the spaceports. Maybe, he thought, Marilyn just dealt with the propaganda side.

“Anyway,” Ann said, “it gets us this place for the winter.”

“Wouldn’t it be a lot nicer in the summer?”

“That’s for sure. But the kind family who lets us use it like to come here themselves in the summer. Besides, there’s neighbors around in the summer.” She filled the teapot with hot water. “Grab the cups and we’ll go inside.”

“How do you get out when the snows come?”

“Fold-down helicar in the basement.

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