The first time I saw Montana it was in a department store called 'Menschen's Portal Emporium'. Tall and slim, with sleek black hair that fell to her shoulders, she wore a silk blouse and a tailored skirt. Her eyes shone a luminous green from a face the colour of beaten copper.
I was hit with an instant wave of emotion.
The French call it a 'coup de foudre', a lightning strike.
But it was love at first sight in any language.
She walked over to where I was waiting and gave me a broad grin.
"Hi, I'm Montana. Somebody will attend to you shortly."
Her voice was pleasant and assured, with a faint accent that I could not place.
I guessed that she was taking a break, and the clothes were probably a high-class uniform. I told myself to forget the smile; she was just being professionally friendly to a new client and way out of my league. I wondered if I should offer to shake hands.
"Peregrine," I replied.
"Nice to meet you, Peregrine," she said. "I heard you earlier talking to Cluan Cheap."
Oh," I said, "is he a friend of yours?"
He was the receptionist at the emporium, a creep who had given me a hard time when I first arrived. The fact that she knew that rattlesnake on first-name terms cut deep, but the depth of emotion it aroused in me was inexplicable, and I said to myself.
What's it to you whether she knows him or not?
"Cluan Cheap, him?" said Montana contemptuously.
"No, he's not my friend."
"I'm glad," I said.
The words came out without thinking, and the heat rose in my cheeks. I tried hard to remind myself that I was just another customer as far as she was concerned.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. None of my business."
"That's all right," she said. "I'm glad you're glad."
She put her hand over her mouth in embarrassment, and we laughed, both of us red in the face.
"We don't get many people around my age in here," she said.
"You look about seventeen. Are you?"
I nodded.
"Right, the first time. And you?"
"The same," she said. "Well, nearly. I'm sixteen, but it's my birthday next week."
"Happy Birthday," I said. "In case I'm not around to say it on the day.
"I'd like to be, though," I added, without thinking.
You idiot! I thought, but I was suddenly desperate that I might not see her again and tried to keep the conversation going.
"You have a slight accent, and if it's not rude to ask, where do you come from, Montana?"
"No, it's not rude. I was born on Earth, Major, and I am a Native American. My mother was Cheyenne, and my father was French Canadian."
"Quite a combination!"
"Yes, I am very proud of having such a unique heritage, but sadly, both my parents were killed in a plane crash when I was eight years old."
She spoke calmly, but I could see the hurt in her eyes. I wanted to hug her, but it was way too early for that; it would probably never even happen. I settled for a more formal kind of commiseration.
"I am so sorry, Montana. It must have been awful for you at such an early age."
"At any age," said Montana.
"They were wonderful people and wonderful parents that I will never forget, but I am lucky that Uncle Ernest was there to care for me and later adopt me."
"Uncle Ernest?" I said.
"Ernest Menschen. He is one of the two brothers who own this emporium.
I was right all along.
She was way out of my league.
The portal emporium was high-class, and I was a virtually penniless student from the wrong side of town. I had wandered in here by chance in the faint hope that I could find a cut-rate portal trip to fill in my gap year before I went to university.
Aware that I was asking her too many personal questions, I said,
"I didn't mean to pry."
"You didn't. It all came out without thinking," she replied, which is unusual for me."
We both became silent.
That was the moment we realised that something was happening between us.
A loud voice came from the back of the shop.
"Montana! Have you nothing better to do than stand around chatting? You have work to do, my girl."
She spoke sternly, but there was amusement in her voice.
"Sorry, Aunty," said Montana, recovering. Just taking a quick look so I'll know him if he comes in again."
"That's Aunty Gladys," Montana said with a grin.
"I know," I said. We met at the reception desk
"Really?" she said. "What did you think of her?"
I didn't get the chance to answer.
"Montana!" shouted Aunty, and this time she was serious.
"I'll have to go," she said.
She smiled at me, and my stomach lurched.
"Would you like to go out with me sometime?" I said impulsively.
I don't know where that came from. I'm normally shy with girls. Then it hit me. What was I doing? A gorgeous girl like her—no way could she be unattached.
"That is if you haven't already got a boyfriend, of course."
Montana raised her eyebrows in comic surprise.
"So, you're to be my boyfriend, are you?"
"No! Sorry, I didn't mean that—not that I don't want to be, of course. What I'm trying to say is, "
I gave up. "Look, I'm making a bit of a mess of this."
"No, you're not," she said softly. "I think it's sweet, and I don't have a boyfriend."
"Montana!"
"Sorry, Aunty! I'm coming. I love to go out with you, Peregrine," she called over her shoulder as she ran back towards the counter.
"Great! But how will I get… in touch?"
But I was talking to myself; she had disappeared behind the counter.
I followed her to make a more definite arrangement, but I hit an invisible wall and bounced back. The Portal Emporium is weird. I had sensed that from the moment I walked in, but I was not afraid. The invisible barrier lifted, but I decided not to venture any further. I would find some other way of contacting Montana. She said that she would 'love to go out with me', and I was not going to let her slip away.
I sat back down in the chair where I had earlier been told to wait until somebody was free to serve me. My mind was full of Montana, and then I remembered Mr Cheap, and what happened when I first arrived at the emporium…