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"What do you need,Shoes, socks, pants, shirts Underwear, I suppose A light jacket A cap of sohs fifty or sixty pounds Oh, and his head is big, quite big for a boy, so the cap should probably be adjustable Can you get ht away?"

"Mrs Helios, may I ask--"

"No," Erika interrupted, "youto hiht away I never question Victor, no matter how peculiar a request may seem, and I never will Do I need to tell you why I never question my husband?"

"No, ma’am"

The staff had to know that the Erikas were beaten and were not perht you’d understand, Glenda We’re all in the same quicksand, aren’t hether we’re the provisioner or the wife"

Uncomfortable with this intimacy, Glenda said, "There’s no store open at this hour, selling boys’ clothing But …"

"Yes?"

Fear rose in Glenda’s eyes, and her previously placid face tightened orry "There arehere in the house"

"Here? But there are no children here"

Glenda’s voice fell to a whisper "You must never tell"

"Tell what? Tell whom?"

"Never tell … Mr Helios"

Erika pressed the battered-wife sympathy play as far as she probably dared: "Glenda, I as, but for any reason that suitsthe bearer of bad news All secrets are safe with me"

Glenda nodded "Follow round floor were a series of storage roohteen-foot walk-in cooler where a dozen of the highest-quality fur coats were stored--mink, ermine, arctic fox… Victor had no syed in the much more important antihuman movement

In addition to the rack of coats, there were nu clothes of all kinds that would not fit even in Erika’s enor a series of wives ere identical in every detail, Victor spared hi neardrobes But he did want his Erika to be at all times stylishly attired, and he did not expect her to choose froarment collection

From several drawers in the farthest corner of the roo, article after article, both for boys and girls, in various sizes

"Where did all this come from?" Erika asked

"Mrs Helios, if he learns about it, he’ll ter that’s ever , her secret life, she gives the rest of us a little hope"

"You knowthe bearer of bad news"

Glenda buried her face in a striped polo shirt

For a , for the shirt trembled in her hands, and her shoulders shook

Instead, Glenda inhaled deeply, as if seeking the scent of the boy who had worn the shirt, and when she looked up from it, her face was a portrait of bliss

"For the past five weeks, Cassandra has been sneaking off the estate at night, to kill Old Race children"

Cassandra, the laundress

"Oh," Erika said "I see"

"She couldn’t wait any longer to be told the killing could at last begin The rest of us … we so admire her nerve, but we haven’t been able to find it in ourselves"

"And … what of the bodies?"

"Cassandra brings them back here, so we can share in the excitement Then the trash men who take other bodies to the dump, they take the children, too, no questions asked Like you said--we’re all in this quicksand together"

"But you keep the clothes"

"You knohat the dormitory is like Not an inch of extra space We can’t store the clothes there But we can’t bear to get rid of thehts, take them over to the dormitory and, you know, play with the of the dead kids and listening to Cassandra tell how each one happened It’s the best thing ever, the only good thing we’ve ever had"

Erika knew that so to her when she found Glenda’s story disturbing, even creepy, and when she hesitated at the prospect of dressing the poor sweet troll in the clothes of murdered children Indeed, that she should think murdered instead of merely dead had to be an indication of a revolution in her thinking

She was torn by so like pity for Cassandra, Glenda, and the others on the staff, by a quiet horror at the idea of Cassandra stalking the most defenseless of the Old Race, and by coraer, and hatred

Her actions on behalf of Jocko crossed the line that Victor had drawn for her, for all of them, in the afore-mentioned quicksand The curious sense of companionship that had developed so quickly between her and the little guy should have been beyond her enized that itinterruption of function like the one that William, the butler, had experienced

She was allowed compassion, humility, and shaht be uish Victor didn’t intend that the finer feelings of his Erikas should benefit anyone but himself, or that anyone else should have the opportunity to respond to his wife’s tender attentions with anything other than the contempt and brutality hich he answered them

To Glenda, she said, "Go back to the dormitory I’ll select what I need from these and put the rest away"

"And never tell him"

"Never tell him," Erika confirmed

Glenda started to turn away, but then she said, "Do you think maybe …"

"Maybe what, Glenda?"

"Do you thinksoon?"

"Do youof theaze and then turned her face up to the ceiling as tears welled in her eyes In a voice thick with fear, she said, "There’s got to be an end, you know, there’s really got to be"

"Look at raain

With her fingers, Erika wiped the tears from the provisioner’s face "Don’t be afraid"

"It’s that or rage I’ soon"

"You know?"

"Yes Very soon"

"How? What end?"

"In most cases, not all ends are desirable, but in this case … any end will do Don’t you think?"

The provisioner nodded al help them?"

"Oh, yes, ma’am Life’s always been hard, you know, but lately harder"