Free Victims of Nimbo by Gilbert L. Morris

trouble was really all his fault. Finally he did drift off, and he dreamed of Sarah Collingwood and how he would apologize when he saw her again.
     

8
Sarah Gets Some Help
    I n a short time, Abbey had grown close to Prince Jere. She was always attracted to a good-looking boy, anyway, and, although he was several years older, she was flattered by the way he paid attention to her. She had discovered he was a good singer, and she loved to listen to him. As for his poems, she was not a judge of that, for she knew little about poetry.
    The two of them sat on a platform that jutted out from the king’s castle. Below, the earth seemed very far away, and above was the pleasant sound of wind blowing through the trees. Jere had just finished singing a song, and he grinned at her. “How did you like that one?”
    “I liked the song fine, Prince Jere. You’re a marvelous singer.”
    “I wrote the words myself,” he informed her.
    “Well, I spent a lot of time listening to CDs back in OldWorld.”
    “What’s a Cee Dee?”
    “Oh, it’s a kind of music that’s canned.”
    “How can music be canned?”
    Abbey spent some time explaining the miracles of CDs and recordings to Jere. He was fascinated. “I wish there was such a thing as a Cee Dee here,” he said. “Then I could put all my songs on it, and everyone could listen.”
    “You’d be a star.”
    “A star?” Prince Jere looked toward the sky.
    “Oh, that’s what they called musicians who were very popular. Stars.”
    “Prince Jere, the star. Here. Let me sing you another one.”
    The prince sang another song, and then Abbey said, “Most of the songs back in OldWorld were about love.”
    “Really?”
    “Oh yes. About boys falling in love with girls. And courting them.”
    “What’s that?”
    Abbey began explaining. She had already explained courtship more than once to Enid, who could not seem to get the concept into her head.
    Jere listened, but he said, “Well, that would be great for us poets and songwriters, but I don’t think most men around here would like it.”
    “I guess they wouldn’t. The men have made slaves out of all the women.”
    “No, that’s not so,” Jere protested. “If you want to see slaves, you ought to go to the Earth Dwellers. They
really
make slaves out of people.”
    “But, Prince, the men here just don’t treat women right,” Abbey protested.
    The discussion that followed lasted for nearly an hour. Finally Abbey just threw up her hands in despair. “It’s like trying to explain colors to a blind person!” she said with exasperation. “Can’t you understand that women and men are of the same importance.”
    “But they’re not,” Jere said. “Men are stronger than females. And can climb vines faster.”
    “That’s true. But women are gentler. They’re just as smart.”
    “You would have a hard time convincing the Cloud People about that.”
    “You know what you’d do if you were a real man, Jere?”
    “Now what do you mean—if I were a ‘real man’?”
    “I mean your father thinks all you can do is sing songs and write poetry.”
    Jere’s face fell. “Well, you’re right about that,” he admitted.
    “Then why don’t you show him you can do more?”
    “And how could I do that?”
    “It’s easy. Sarah’s getting ready to go and face the chief of the Earth Dwellers. What’s his name?”
    “His name is Maroni.”
    “If you want to show what a man you are—braver than a girl—you’ll go with her.”
    “My father would never agree to that.”
    “You see? You’re so afraid of what your father would say, you won’t talk to him about doing what’s right. You know Sarah needs help.”
    “But it’s a foolish thing she’s doing!”
    “I’m telling you, Prince Jere, I’ve seen some strange things. But Goél always helped us.” Abbey went on to tell some of the adventures the Seven Sleepers had had. She finished by saying, “So this is a chance to prove you’re a man.”
    Prince Jere just