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The zouard at the second checkpoint presented no such problem He didn’t seeroup ho zo, but the detour would take us only a few blocks out of our way I was as anxious as Mab to know that Tina was safe in her bed It would let ht, there was always a house roup ho’s attendant looked up as we entered She was plulasses and her hair pulled back into a bun Before the plague, her cheeks must have been rosy, her blue eyes full of twinkles I always thought of her as a kind of zo, dear," she said, repeating the greeting when I introduced Mab "I’m afraid we don’t allow visitors after sunrise Except in case of eency, of course" Her pleasant sency?"
"I hope not We’re checking to ot home okay"
"She didn’t come in while I was on the desk, but I’ve only been here for half an hour I’ll check the book" She opened a red ring-binder that lay at her elboirling a stray tendril of hair around one index finger, she ran the other down the page She shook her head and turned back a page "Here’s where she signed out last night But she never signed in again" She flipped back to where she’d started "Nono, there’s no sign-in time" She closed the book and s about She’s sohed at the understaten in?"
"I’d say we’re lucky if she remembersoh, half the tin in for her We’re not supposed to do that, but really, the point is knohere the children are, not getting thenature"
Except Tina would bristle at being called a "child"--and we had no idea where she was
"Is it possible to check her room?" Mab asked
The house mother consulted the watch that squeezed her pluhts-out was tenShe probably isn’t asleep yet Even if she is, noould be a good ti in"
The house mother’s pleasant smile turned crafty "It would, wouldn’t it? If Tina wants her beauty sleep, she can make an effort to follow the rules" She picked up a telephone and pressed a button "In-house intercoer on the desk, then shook her head "No answer Either she’s fast asleep or she’s not in her room Sometimes she doesn’t return all day" She put down the phone, then spread her hands "With Tina, what can you do?"
WHAT COULD WE DO, I WONDERED, AS MAB AND I WALKED through the eht’s rally littered the ground I stepped over a bent sign with a broken stick; it read WHAT PART OF HUMAN DON’T YOU UNDERSTAND?
"Wait," I said, stopping in ave me We can call her"
"But the house mother tried that, child"
"That was an intercooes anywhere without that thing She probably sleeps with it on her pillow"
Mab watched as I pressed rando up the contact list Mab didn’t even have an old-fashioned, rotary-dial landline in her house She didn’t see the need, although there had been plenty of times when I’d tried to convince her it would be useful to call her--not use the dreae pub To Mab, the contraption inout of a science fiction movie
To be honest, it felt a little like that to ave up trying to carry one Now, the contact list eludedfor it and entered Tina’s number directly, a little surprised the phone let ht Answer the phone so I can stop worrying about you I won’t even yell at you Too e asking Tina to call e, my thue looked like soht? Abbreviations like that were part of the secret language kids use for texting
I pictured Tina squinting at it and scratching her head--"Ruok? What’s that supposed toto reply After all, she didn’t know I had a cell phone and wouldn’t recognize the nuue was poking out the side of my mouth as I concentrated; I pulled it back in Aree yuo okay Looking at the tiny letters on the screen, I was diso back and fix theot honize
As I put my phone away, Mab commented that it certainly required a lot of time and effort for a device that was supposed to ree
AS I UNLOCKED THE DOOR TO MY APARTMENT, BY FORCE of habit I pressedfor Juliet’s TV Silence I hoped she hadn’t already retired to her coffin for the day I really wanted an update on her search for the Old Ones Wherever the Old Ones were, Pryce wouldn’t be far away
Butopen to reveal Pryce hi room
"Hello, cousin Hello, auntie Do come in"
Pryce raised both hands, pal a weapon That didn’t mean there wasn’t one concealed soed the distance to et past hi deadly
"Don’t stand there all day I’ht And I believe what I have to say will be of interest to you both"