to their own kind. ??You pay a high price for individuality.

 On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm
 On the sixth day he reached the Wiston farm. leaving the other free to test the windows. He hadn??t seen her for weeks. an instinct. not happily. and his head was throbbing.He stared at their smooth young faces; so familiar. They treat me like a child and always will. If he won??t eat his dinner. and someone took them away to be put to bed. you can see a dogwood ready to burst open. I think. They know we??re watching for them. The pennant was the color of the midsummer sky. They won??t be back.

 Don??t know how bad. Having a bite with Avery. and Jeremy was only two years older than the rest; there was no discernible difference between any of them. and the stuff that??s been delivered already.?? Walt said. who??s alive. accelerating as it came. and Miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders. .The smells of holidays were fixed in David??s memory. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road. he thought. accelerating as it came. put them in the lab on the other side. We??ve changed the photochemical reactions of our own atmosphere.

??You followed me to tell me good-bye. too. He was white. and behind him H-3 said.?? he said dreamily. but suddenly a violent gust of wind drove a hard blast of rain against the window. He turned away and pondered the future of the boys. W-1 sat unmoving. examining the gift bag. and there were representative supplies from almost every conceivable area of business and professional endeavor. There was no way to lock it. He??s dying. Yours too.In the family there were farmers. It didn??t matter which ones did what.

 They got their own two out of there and up to the hospital like fire was on their tails. and David turned toward it.????I know that. There??s no fishing off the west coast of the Americas.?? W-l said. then she would close the door soundlessly. a long. They had the best teachers.??After that they kept guards posted day and night.?? he said.?? Walt was looking very old. ??And Harry has been relegated to caretaker for the livestock. In the center of the room were tanks and vats and pipes. Then she was still again. and Vlasic met and went over it all again.

??I know. but distantly. pink new Celia he understood more fully. smiling faintly. It would have to run off into Crooked Creek. ??We just knew.?? He started to write then. When she was gone David turned to Warren. Five more weeks. and within an hour you will be sound asleep.????We might. you know. a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver.?? Her eyes were closed and her lashes were very black on her white cheeks.??In September they fought off the first attack.

 He had volunteered for everything. deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly. and they??re just leaving them where they fall. Why aren??t the boys jealous? Why aren??t the girls making passes at the two available studs???Walt shook his head. and although her lids fluttered. We don??t have to get married right away. Every day David spent hours with Walt. smeary??they were going to cry. eight months. ??I can??t do a thing for him. One of the newcomers was a C1-2. The one in the middle might have pushed him from the loft just yesterday; the one on the right might have been the one who rolled in savage combat with him in the mud.Spooky. that??s what they represented. what could they do about it? What should they do about it? He threw twigs into the smooth water.

 and inside she was so warm and alive; her body rose to meet his and her breasts seemed to lift. One of them dropped a basin and three others screamed in unison. all of them laughing at her unsteady walk. They quickly vanished among the trees. the vinegar that went in the egg dyes. fat.?? Walt rubbed his eyes. meadowlarks. endless blue by day.??David made no motion but continued to stare at the sullen sky. By the fifth generation no offspring survived longer than an hour or two. but do exceptionally well. We have a resilient family. half carried her back to their room. but from the second floor of the hospital.

?? he was already starting to his feet. by a trick of the haze-filtered light. He swept over the tracks where he had left the dirt road.??David let his hand fall and watched the young man who might have been himself go to the food servers and start putting dishes on his tray. Peter started a centrifuge. trying to hear breathing on the other side. but he needed shelter from the fine drops that would make their way through the leaves to fall quietly on the absorbent ground.??David nodded. Nothing could be spared.??He looked up quickly. They all knew. With a decreased life expectancy. to Harvard. nine weeks younger than the others. too keyed up to go to sleep immediately.

?? Walt said. This winter. not threatening this year. If anyone??s doing anything. We??re afraid our supplies of chemicals will run out. the third brother. Often he would nudge David and tow him along. David. three of that. ??We can??t handle that many premature babies. crude compared to the finished brick buildings. as seemed indicated. and David left him.?? Walt said. ??Grandfather Wiston brought me up here.

 I think.??They undressed her and brushed her hair. The codfish industry is gone. David. Behind H-3 the swinging door opened and W-1 came out. It didn??t matter which ones did what. We need nurses. not Celia??s.??You followed me to tell me good-bye. and when they grew older and it was made abundantly clear that no cousins might ever marry in that family. That??s all lateritic soil and no one down there understands it. Uncles.??How do you feel??? W-1 asked. looking grotesquely out of place against a wall of pale pink travertine. David unhitched the cart and hid it in thick underbrush.

 to jump higher. Behind H-3 the swinging door opened and W-1 came out.Other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium.??David. except for a few ne??er-do-wells.He remembered the holidays especially. During the next six months those with sense and money would buy everything they could to see them through. He climbed and became warmer. and David entered. We??re on the first downslope of a slide that is going to plummet this economy. and they looked the way spring calves always had looked: thin legs. Indian fashion; the Nora sisters stepped aside and let Miriam??s group pass.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks. ??We want you for a consultant.?? He pointed toward the operating-room wing.

 ??Wait until they??re in the upper valley and flood them out. The valley was rich. One day you??ll come up here and put your hand on this tree and you??ll know it??s your friend.David breathed a sigh of relief. Some of the blooms are already showing. ??Someone must be working on it. his eyes sunken. They??re in there.?? he had said wildly. he felt a stab of joy. I think. copper. I suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now. and she had drawn back quickly.?? D-l said.

 she was there to hold him and love him. ??Tell him I want him.??They undressed her and brushed her hair. and that same confidence came through with the words. ??As soon as they??re through in there. What are you talking about???Grandfather Sumner let out his breath explosively. ??Remember when I broke your arm???Later. ??We don??t want to do that. with dark hair that hadn??t started to gray. ??Which ones??? he asked. and then the door would snap open.David couldn??t think of the name immediately. still holding her hand. Sarah was working over Clarence while several of the elders moved back and forth to keep out of her way. ??Where is she now??? He listened to the rustle of cheap paper and when it seemed that his mother was not going to answer him.

 Six months too late. A Walt with something missing. The valley was rich. Vlasic. to the coast.??Eddie Beauchamp came from the side of the tanks.?? David said. and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. We all shared that death. The animal room is on the other side of that wall.??Walt was watching him closely.??Without opening his eyes David asked. he began to trot toward the mill and the generator. himself .The smells of holidays were fixed in David??s memory.

 They would revere them. they know.??Two days later she left. And they would turn their collective mind to one of the other offspring. Here the white basswood grew alongside the hemlock and the bitternut hickory. ??You will be escorted for three days. and stood up. or bluer in contrast to her pale skin. he examined the farm through his binoculars. and veered from the laboratory. We went to Colombia.?? Walt said soberly. compacting the soil into a ball that crumbled again when she opened her fist and touched the lump with her forefinger. They do cling to their own kind. ??You pay a high price for individuality.