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THE CHILD WALKED slowly along the high round and the thick belt of varicolored woodland met He stood for a moment, his back to the others who ran and screa out to where the trees surrendered to the highway that went through Albany and on to the city Then he turned and, leaning against the fence, watched the others scra after a wildly thrown football

Two other children approached him One was heavy-set with thick black hair and prominent teeth, the other was a thinner child with hair the color of dirty sand and deep-set, hollow blue eyes The sandy-haired child said, "That four-eyes is a bitch"

Baal reh the metal mesh "This place is a prison," he said after another htened of us Can&039;t you feel it? So in their fear they hope to cage us But they cannot keep us here et away?" the sandy-haired child asked

His black eyes glittered "Already you doubt me?"

"No No, Baal I believe you"

"All in its time," Baal said quietly "I will choose my friends and take them with me The rest will perish"

"Take me with you, Baal," the heavy-set child whined "Please"

Baal grinned but his black eyes reers in the boy&039;s curly black hair, drew his face toward hi eyes were only inches away "Love me, Thomas," whispered Baal "Love me and follohat I say If you do this I can save you"

Tho from his chin by a silvery thread His eyes blinked back tears that threatened to break over his cheeks He said, "I love you, Baal I don&039;t want you to leave h You must show me; and you will"

"I will," Thomas said "I will"

The two children stood transfixed His eyes would not free them

Someone called, "Jeffrey! Jeffrey!"

Baal blinked The two boys lowered their heads and ran away across the playground

So black habit, Sister Rosa, said, "Jeffrey, you&039;re going to be excused fro class Father Robson would like to see you"

Baal nodded He followed her silently as she walked across the yard, through a screa knot of boys who instantly parted when they saw hie He watched her buttocks as they swayed beneath the material of the habit

Sister Rosah-browed oval face and very clear greenish-blue eyes Her hair would probably be golden with a slight tinge of red She was very lassed women at the boys home; she was, in Baal&039;s eyes, attainable She was the one sister who encouraged the children to co eyes, she would sit and listen to their stories of drunken fathers and whorish s and on and on Baal wondered if she ever fucked

They climbed the wide stairway Sister Rosa; she saw his eyes flicker froain

She didn&039;t want to look at hi up and down her full thighs like fingers on a keyboard, pressure here, pressure here, pressure here Her lips were drawn and white; her hands trembled at her sides Beneath her habit the eyes of the child reached her undergarle between her legs She whirled, finally unable to maintain her composure, and said, "Stop that!"

"Stop what?" the child asked

Sister Rosa sounds She was new to the orphanage, yet she understood the hare of the children She understood all that But this child this child she could not understand There was soible about hiaze and coldly calculating eyes now sent chills of fear skittering toward her throat

They stood before the closed doors of the upper-floor library Wincing at the sound of her own strained voice, Sister Rosamond said, "Father Robson wants to speak with you"

She watched as he stepped through the doorway and then turned to sed canary She caught her breath and let the door swing shut

In the library Baal breathed the ss Library period had not yet begun; the bookshelves were undisturbed, everything in its proper place Chairs were arranged neatly around circular reading tables After sweeping the room, Baal&039;s eyes finally came to rest on the back of athe spines of books on a shelf

Father Robson had heard the door close He had watched the child from the corner of his eye; now he turned slowly from his appraisal of the bookshelves and said, "Hello, Jeffrey How are you today?"

The child remained motionless So back and forth, back and forth

"Come sit down, Jeffrey I&039;d like to talk with you"

The child still didn&039;t move Father Robson had no indication at all that what he&039;d said had even registered with Jeffrey

"I won&039;t bite," Father Robson said "Come over here"

"Why?" the child asked

"Because I don&039;t like to talk over a distance If I did I would&039;ve called you on the downstairs telephone"

"You should have Then you wouldn&039;t have wasted your tied another smile and said, "I understand you&039;re quite interested in books I thought you&039;d be comfortable here"

"I would be," the child said, "if you would leave"

"Aren&039;t you at all curious as to why I wanted to speak with you?"