ociously, raising a heavy hand in threat. Brute did
not cringe.

"I forget nothing!" snarled Adam. "You crazy Brute, I say it is
nothing!"

"But, Adam--"

"I say it is nothing!" howled Adam and sprang for him.

"Stop it!" snapped Goat, like the crack of a whip, and they froze in the
moment of their grappling. Sheepishly, they parted and stood side by
side before him.

"I'll listen to details after supper," said Goat. "The children are
hungry, and so am I."

2

Adam and Brute followed Goat Hennessey down the corridor, towering over
him like Saint Bernards on the heels of a terrier. They turned into the
dining room, a big square room centered with a rude table and chairs,
one wall pierced by a fireplace in which a big cauldron steamed over
smouldering coals.

The dining room swarmed with a dozen small creatures, human in their
pink flesh, more or less human in their twisted bodies. As soon as Goat
entered with Adam and Brute in tow, the assemblage set up a high-pitched
howling and twittering of anticipation and began beating utensils on the
dishes, table and walls.

"Quiet!" squawked Goat over the tremendous clatter, and the noise
subsided. They stood where they were, bright eyes fixed on him.

These were "the children." Some of them were humpbacked, like Evan,
the one who had carried the message to the tower. Some, like Evan, were
grotesquely barrel-chested, with or without the hump. Some were as thin
as skeletons, with huge heads; some were hulking miniatures of Brute.
One steatopygean girl was so bulky in legs and hindquarters that she
could waddle only a few inches with each step, yet her head and upper
torso were skinny and fragile.

Goat sat down at the head of the table, and immediately there was a
tumbling rush for places. Most of the children sat, chattering, while
two of the larger girls moved around the table, taking bowls to the
cauldron, filling them with a brownish stew and returning them.

They ate in silence. When supper was ended, the children scattered, some
to play, others to chores. Goat beckoned to Adam and Brute to follow
him. He led them down the corridor and into his study.

Goat turned on the light, revealing a book-lined, paper-stacked room
focused on a huge desk. He removed his marsuit to stand in baggy
trousers and loose tunic. Adam and Brute stood near the door, shifting
uncomfortably, for the study was normally forbidden ground.

Goat stood by a thick double window,