Free Young Bleys - Childe Cycle 09 by Gordon R. Dickson Page B

to protect myself from him, and this whole way of life of his. You'll already have started to do that. Haven't you?"
    "Yes," said Bleys. There was no point in trying to explain himself to someone like this.
    "Yes, you would've," said Dahno, thoughtfully, "and we'll put that mind and those abilities to good use eventually, you and I, Little Brother. But not just yet. You still have a lot to learn. So far, by and large you've been working only on people who were halfway ready to be agreeable to you in the first place. The test comes when you work on somebody who is ready to disagree with you at the very sight of you. That's the real test. So, as I say, you stay with Uncle Henry."
    "And finally? Someday?" asked Bleys. "What happens then?"
    "Then you move to where I am, in Ecumeny—in the city," said Dahno. "By that time I'll have a place ready for you in what I'm doing."
    "What are you doing?" Bleys asked.
    "That, you're going to have to wait to learn," said Dahno.
    He turned away.
    "We probably ought to be getting back to our relatives," he said.
    ",Wait—" said Bleys. "How long do I stay here?"
    "Some weeks? Some months? Maybe even a few years," said Dahno, looking over his shoulder back at him, "it all depends."
    "On me?"
    Bleys had to follow him to ask the question, because Dahno was already walking toward the end of the goat barn.
    "On you to a certain extent, yes," said Dahno, "but on other things as well. Don't worry. I'll come and see you from time to time. Meanwhile, you can be finding out what you can do in the way of handling the relatives."
    Dahno led the way back around the barn. Henry and Joshua were out in the yard. Will, presumably, was inside, still doing the cleaning up after lunch. Bleys hardly saw the two in the yard, for the hard knot of emotion that was in him at the moment. In his mind there was just a single thought. Never again! Never again would Dahno hit him!
    Then the knot dissolved, and his mind was clear once more—and he understood. He realized that of course Dahno would never hit him again. His older brother had no intention of it, knowing it would never be necessary.
    The blow was not a blow in the ordinary sense of the word, as much as a signal. Bleys was being notified that Dahno was taking over the role that their mother had played in Bleys' life.
    Delivered in that heavy-handed slap from Dahno, the message was unmistakable. Dahno now owned him. Nor was there anything that Bleys was in a condition to do about it now. As Dahno had said, only too truly, Bleys still only had his milk-teeth, compared to the weapons of his older brother. But time would change things. Bleys tucked the whole episode away in the back of his mind for future study.
    Dahno waved his hand at Henry.
    "If you don't mind, Henry," he said, "I'll take my little brother here into town and buy him some clothes. Now, if you'll come around to the trunk of the car, I'll give you those engine parts I brought you."
    "That'll be quite all right, Dahno," said Henry. "Bleys and I thank God for your generosity."
    As he spoke he was coming to meet them at the back of the hovercar. Dahno sprang open the trunk and took out a couple of paper-wrapped packages, each one of which filled one of his large hands. He handed them to Henry, who received them in his arms.
    "And I thank the Lord for your generosity to me in this," said Henry.
    CHAPTER 6
    Henry stood back and Dahno went around one side of the hovercar, while Bleys went around to the other and opened the door there. The two seats inside were separate and swiveled. There was a control stick in front of each chair, and Dahno took hold of his as the two doors were closed.
    "You know enough not to touch the spare control rod while I'm driving the car, don't you?" he said to Bleys.
    "Of course," said Bleys.
    Dahno laughed.
    Below them the under-fans roared to life. The hovercar lifted, spun about, and began to go back between the trees toward the highway, along the dirt road from the