Young Bleys - Childe Cycle 09 by Gordon R. Dickson

farm.
    Dahno, Bleys saw, as they left the farm behind, was a fast and excellent driver. By the time he hit the main highway and had found a strip for hovercars where he could let the vehicle out at full speed, the meter on the dashboard showed that they were doing over two hundred fifty kilometers an hour.
    Bleys had assumed that they were just going to the local
    store. But Dahno took him clear into Ecumeny. Once there they shopped in some of the larger stores for various kinds of work clothes, jackets, and boots for Bleys—and one formal suit of soft, black material like that Dahno himself was currently wearing.
    "That'll be for Sundays," Dahno said, speaking of the suit. "It won't hurt if you outshine Uncle Henry and his two boys a little bit. Not too much—but a little bit. And that suit should do just that, as well, to any thing the others at the church'll be wearing."
    They stopped for a snack at a restaurant, and Bleys found himself enjoying the day. Dahno was a different person, now. He was a warm and friendly companion; and he poured out information about Ecumeny, about Henry's church, and a hundred other things that would be useful to Bleys. It was clear he knew that it was information Bleys would need; and therefore it was information he supplied.
    By the time they had eaten, it had reached late afternoon. They left the restaurant, found the hovercar and headed back out toward the farm. As they went, Bleys' spirits sank in spite of himself.
    Today had been the sort of day he would like to have always. Comfort, pleasant company—and an unending spate of interesting information to be garnered up and stored away for future use in the back of his mind. Now he was going back to where the rooms were cold at night, the bed was hard under the stuffed mattress, and with the next daybreak there would be household duties to do; but there would be no conversation of any worth.
    Dahno was no longer talking, finally, and Bleys did not feel like talking himself. He stared out the windshield ahead; and the silence lasted between them until they drove at last up the dirt road to the farmyard.
    "Don't look so down, Little Brother," said Dahno. The half-mocking note that had been in his voice when he first spoke to Bleys was back there again. "There'll be other days and I'll make other visits; and we'll go into town again. Just do what you have to, here, and learn as much as you can."
    He reached across and opened the door on Bleys' side.
    Slowly Bleys got out, reached back in for his purchases, and looked back at him for a moment through the open door. "I had a good time," said Bleys.
    "Good," answered Dahno; and there seemed to be a note of real approval in his voice.
    Then he shut the door in Bleys' face, and the hovercar rose again on its fans, spun about and disappeared away down the road from the farm to the highway. Bleys found himself standing alone in the farmyard with his hands full of boxes and bundles that were the fruit of their shopping.
    He turned numbly to the house to take these things inside. But before he could reach it Will came out rather hurriedly, stopped very briefly to close the door softly behind him and then came swiftly down the steps.
    Will would have dashed on past Bleys without even looking at him, if Bleys had not stopped him. The younger boy's face was white, so that here and mere a freckle that Bleys had not noticed before stood out against the paleness of his skin.
    "What is it?" asked Bleys, catching Will's arm with one hand and holding him.
    "One of the goats got its head caught between a fallen fence bar and the bar below, and strangled," said Will. He wrenched himself loose from the grip of Bleys' hand and left at a run, disappearing around a comer of the barn.
    Wondering, Bleys went up the steps and in through the door.
    Henry was seated in a chair half-turned from the table, and standing before him was Joshua. Joshua's face was not pale but his expression was solemn and still.
    "—You