Youth, Page 5

somewhere. We were just sort ofwalking and I looked around and he wasn't there." This was perfectlytrue, and Red felt on safe ground. "I told him it was lunch time. Isaid, 'I suppose it's about lunch time.' I said, 'We got to be gettingback to the house.' And he said, 'Yes.' And I just went on and then whenI was about at the creek I looked around and--"

  The Astronomer interrupted the voluble story, looking up from amagazine he had been sightlessly rummaging through. "I wouldn't worryabout my youngster. He is quite self-reliant. Don't wait lunch for him."

  "Lunch isn't ready in any case, Doctor." The Industrialist turned oncemore to his son. "And talking about that, son, the reason for it is thatsomething happened to the ingredients. Do you have anything to say?"

  "Sir?"

  "I hate to feel that I have to explain myself more fully. Why did youtake the chopped meat?"

  "The chopped meat?"

  "The chopped meat." He waited patiently.

  Red said, "Well, I was sort of--"

  "Hungry?" prompted his father. "For raw meat?"

  "No, sir. I just sort of needed it."

  "For what exactly?"

  Red looked miserable and remained silent.

  The Astronomer broke in again. "If you don't mind my putting in a fewwords--You'll remember that just after breakfast my son came in to askwhat animals ate."

  "Oh, you're right. How stupid of me to forget. Look here, Red, did youtake it for an animal pet you've got?"

  Red recovered indignant breath. He said, "You mean Slim came in here andsaid I had an animal? He came in here and said that? He said I had ananimal?"

  "No, he didn't. He simply asked what animals ate. That's all. Now if hepromised he wouldn't tell on you, he didn't. It's your own foolishnessin trying to take something without permission that gave you away. Thathappened to be stealing. Now have you an animal? I ask you a directquestion."

  "Yes, sir." It was a whisper so low as hardly to be heard.

  "All right, you'll have to get rid of it. Do you understand?"

  Red's mother intervened. "Do you mean to say you're keeping ameat-eating animal, Red? It might bite you and give you blood-poison."

  "They're only small ones," quavered Red. "They hardly budge if you touchthem."

  "They? How many do you have?"

  "Two."

  "Where are they?"

  The Industrialist touched her arm. "Don't chivvy the child any further,"he said, in a low voice. "If he says he'll get rid of them, he will,and that's punishment enough."

  He dismissed the matter from his mind.

  VIII

  Lunch was half over when Slim dashed into the dining room. For a moment,he stood abashed, and then he said in what was almost hysteria, "I'vegot to speak to Red. I've got to say something."

  Red looked up in fright, but the Astronomer said, "I don't think, son,you're being very polite. You've kept lunch waiting."

  "I'm sorry, Father."

  "Oh, don't rate the lad," said the Industrialist's wife. "He can speakto Red if he wants to, and there was no damage done to the lunch."

  "I've got to speak to Red alone," Slim insisted.

  "Now that's enough," said the Astronomer with a kind of gentleness thatwas obviously manufactured for the benefit of strangers and which hadbeneath it an easily-recognized edge. "Take your seat."

  Slim did so, but he ate only when someone looked directly upon him. Eventhen he was not very successful.

  Red caught his eyes. He made soundless words, "Did the animals getloose?"

  Slim shook his head slightly. He whispered, "No, it's--"

  The Astronomer looked at him hard and Slim faltered to a stop.

  With lunch over, Red slipped out of the room, with a microscopic motionat Slim to follow.

  They walked in silence to the creek.

  Then Red turned fiercely upon his companion. "Look here, what's the ideaof telling my Dad we were feeding animals?"

  Slim said, "I didn't. I asked what you feed animals. That's not the sameas saying we were doing it. Besides, it's something else, Red."

  But Red had not used up his grievances. "And where did you go anyway? Ithought you were coming to the house. They acted like it was my faultyou weren't there."

  "But I'm trying to tell you about that, if you'd only shut _up_ a secondand let me talk. You don't give a fellow a chance."

  "Well, go on and tell me if you've got so much to say."

  "I'm _trying_ to. I went back to the space-ship. The folks weren't thereanymore and I wanted to see what it was like."

  "It isn't a space-ship," said Red, sullenly. He had nothing to lose.

  "It is, too. I looked inside. You could look through the ports and Ilooked inside and they were _dead_." He looked sick. "They were dead."

  "_Who_ were dead."

  Slim screeched, "Animals! like _our_ animals! Only they _aren't_animals. They're people-things from other planets."

  For a moment Red might have been turned to stone. It didn't occur to himto disbelieve Slim at this point. Slim looked too genuinely the bearerof just such tidings. He said, finally, "Oh, my."

  "Well, what are we going to do? Golly, will we get a whopping if theyfind out?" He was shivering.

  "We better turn them loose," said Red.

  "They'll tell on us."

  "They can't talk our language. Not if they're from another planet."

  "Yes, they can. Because I remember my father talking about some stufflike that to my mother when he didn't know I was in the room. He wastalking about visitors who could talk with the mind. Telepathery orsomething. I thought he was making it up."

  "Well, Holy Smokes. I mean--Holy Smokes." Red looked up. "I tell you. MyDad said to get rid of them. Let's sort of bury them somewhere or throwthem in the creek."

  "He _told_ you to do that."

  "He made me say I had animals and then he said, 'Get rid of them.' I gotto do what he says. Holy Smokes, he's my Dad."

  Some of the panic left Slim's heart. It was a thoroughly legalistic wayout. "Well, let's do it right now, then, before they find out. Oh,golly, if they find out, will we be in trouble!"

  They broke into a run toward the barn, unspeakable visions in theirminds.

  IX

  It was different, looking at them as though they were "people." Asanimals, they had been interesting; as "people," horrible. Their eyes,which were neutral little objects before, now seemed to watch them withactive malevolence.

  "They're making noises," said Slim, in a whisper which was barelyaudible.

  "I guess they're talking or something," said Red. Funny that thosenoises which they had heard before had not had significance earlier. Hewas making no move toward them. Neither was Slim.

  The canvas was off but they were just watching. The ground meat, Slimnoticed, hadn't been touched.

  Slim said, "Aren't you going to do something?"

  "Aren't you?"

  "You found them."

  "It's your turn, now."

  "No, it isn't. You found them. It's your fault, the whole thing. I waswatching."

  "You joined in, Slim. You know you did."

  "I don't care. You found them and that's what I'll say when they comehere looking for us."

  Red said, "All right for you." But the thought of the consequencesinspired him anyway, and he reached for the cage door.

  Slim said, "Wait!"

  Red was glad to. He said, "Now what's biting you?"

  "One of them's got something on him that looks like it might be iron orsomething."

  "Where?"

  "Right there. I saw it before but I thought it was just part of him. Butif he's 'people,' maybe it's a disintegrator gun."

  "What's that?"

  "I read about it in the books from Beforethewars. Mostly people withspace-ships have disintegrator guns. They point them at you and you getdisintegratored."

  "They didn't point it at us till now," pointed out Red with his heartnot quite in it.

  "I don't care. I'm not hanging around here and getting d
isintegratored.I'm getting my father."

  "Cowardy-cat. Yellow cowardy-cat."

  "I don't care. You can call all the names you want, but if you botherthem now you'll get disintegratored. You wait and see,