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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f6f4128 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #65741 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/65741) diff --git a/old/65741-0.txt b/old/65741-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index ba2655b..0000000 --- a/old/65741-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1271 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of Run, Little Monster!, by Chester S. -Geier - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: Run, Little Monster! - -Author: Chester S. Geier - -Release Date: July 2, 2021 [eBook #65741] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RUN, LITTLE MONSTER! *** - - - - - - RUN, LITTLE MONSTER! - - By Chester S. Geier - - Fran had heard about the monsters men hunted - down and killed. But she had never seen one--until - the night that Sammy looked at her and screamed.... - - [Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from - Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy - January 1952 - Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that - the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.] - - -The girl ran like the hunted thing she was, her bare feet flashing over -the lush spring grass. She sobbed with the effort of breathing, and -her slight, immature body trembled with exhaustion beneath her ragged -dress. Fear was a wild glitter in her eyes as she stared about her in -search of refuge. - -The two boys came racing in pursuit, yelling threats between labored -snatches of breath. - -"Stop, Fran!" Davey Becker panted. "You can't get away! We'll get you!" -A thread of saliva stretched from his pendulous lower lip, soaking -into the front of his tattered shirt. He was a hulking figure with dull -eyes set deep under a low forehead. - -Sammy Becker was two years older than his brother, smaller and slimmer -yet making up in cunning and a shrewish driving force what he lacked in -bulk. At eighteen he was the acknowledged leader of the pair, an oddly -young-old figure with wizened features and pale eyes that gleamed with -sadistic urges. - -"Stop!" he screeched. "You better stop, you crazy orphan! You'll be -sorry!" - -She knew better than to stop. Frequent torment at the hands of Sammy -and Davey told her she could expect no mercy after having led them on -this long chase. In despair she realized it had been a serious mistake -to wander away from the house. Little enough protection was to be -expected of Big Luke Becker, but for the most part he didn't allow his -sons to bedevil her while the endless daily round of household chores -remained to be done. - -Briefly and poignantly she wished she had a father of her own--a real -father to comfort her and keep her from harm. She had never known -what her father was like. Vaguely she remembered having heard that he -had died in the war. Her mother had told her that once, a long time -ago--but even her mother was only a dim memory. A lot of people seemed -to have died in the war--millions of them. She could not understand how -there could ever have been that many people, for there did not seem to -be many at all in the world she knew. - -Darting a glance behind her, she saw Sammy and Davey were gaining. -Frantically she searched the grassy field again, bright and still under -the afternoon sun. - - * * * * * - -There seemed no place at all where she could hide. And she had to -hide. A stabbing pain in her chest warned her she couldn't keep up her -flight. - -She didn't want Davey and Sammy to reach her. Not out here, with no one -else around. She knew Sammy would beat her until her resistance was -gone. Then he would run his sweaty hands over her, laughing shrilly and -breathing hard. Sammy always managed it so that Davey was the one who -held her. She shuddered. She didn't like the things Sammy did with his -hands. - -A short distance ahead she saw that the field rose in a ridge, and -suddenly she recognized the spot. There was a ravine below the ridge, -choked with brush. She would be able to hide here, at least until she -had caught her breath and could run again. - -She drew upon her last dregs of strength and urged her legs into a -burst of speed. The ridge rose before her as she drew ahead of the two -boys. She struggled up the slope, and the brush along the crest whipped -at her legs and caught at her dress as she beat her way through it. She -went down the opposite slope in staggering leaps. Near the bottom of -the ravine she fell and rolled the last few yards until a wall of brush -brought her up short. - -She scrambled back to her feet. Bent low, she began darting through -gaps in the brush, ignoring the branches that raked and lashed at her. - -She heard a shout and caught a glimpse of Davey and Sammy on the ridge -crest. Evidently they had seen her from above, but once down in -the ravine the brush would cut off their view and make their search -difficult. She hoped to be well hidden by then. - -Threshing, crackling sounds rose behind her as the boys scrambled down -into the ravine. It was all somehow distant and unreal. A roaring -filled her ears, and her head felt strangely light. The pattern of -branches and leaves blurred smokily before her eyes. - -At last she reached a shallow crevice on the opposite side of the -ravine, screened by a clump of brush. It was hardly large enough to -squeeze her body into, but it was the best hiding place she could find -in what little time remained. - - * * * * * - -She pressed tightly into the crevice, trembling, her eyes shut. Davey -and Sammy mustn't find her! She repeated the thought over and over, -straining with a frantic intensity, as if she could avoid being -discovered by force of will alone. - -The dizzy sensation swept over her again. She had felt it before, -though not as strongly as now. And she had realized it was produced -by a serious change in her--a change announcing her emergence into -womanhood. It had given her a new sense of being, an exultant awareness -of power. But it was her weakness now. - -The noise of hurrying footsteps and rustling branches came from a point -frighteningly close. She heard Davey speak in a complaining tone. - -"Aw, let's go home, Sammy. Fran's gone, and I'm tired of chasing her." - -"She's around here somewhere," Sammy insisted in his nasal voice. "We'd -of seen her if she tried to climb out." - -He pushed at the bigger boy. "Come on, you addlebrained ox! Help me -look. I'm not letting her get away, no sirree! When I get hold of her--" - -Davey's usually vacuous face twisted in a scowl. "You're always making -me do something, Sammy. I'm not going to run after Fran all day long. -Why're you always after her? Whyn't you leave her alone?" - -"She's a girl," Sammy returned. "Don't you know what girls are for, you -bonehead?" His voice grew taunting. "Hey, you sweet on Fran? Golly, -that's a tickler! Wait'll I tell the fellows in town. Davey's sweet on -Fran! Davey's mooning over the orphan!" - -"You ... you stop that, Sammy!" Davey blurted. "You stop it or I'll -hurt you." - -"You hurt me and I'll tell the old man. I'll tell the fellows in town -about Fran, too." Sammy became slyly truculent. "You better help me -look. I'll tell on you." - -"Aw, whyn't you leave me alone?" Davey muttered. His big shoulders -slumped in defeat and listlessly he turned away to resume his part of -the search. - - * * * * * - -Branches crackled near Fran, and she grew rigid within her meager -hiding place. They mustn't find her, she thought again. They mustn't -find her! - -The crackling came nearer. She saw Sammy's head and shoulders as he -made an opening in the brush curtain with his hands. For an instant -he seemed to look directly at her. The breath seemed to catch in her -throat and her heart gave a sickening lurch. Sammy looked mad, not -laughingly devilish as he usually did when bent upon persecuting her. -She was afraid to think of what Sammy would do when he was mad. - -But incredibly he drew back and walked away. It seemed a miracle to her -that she had escaped being seen. Her dress was of a nondescript shade, -but her hair and the pale gleam of her skin should have given her away. - -A little wonderingly she glanced at one of the slender arms that were -pressed tightly against her sides. She stared, puzzled. The color of -the skin was a dull brownish-gray, blending almost indistinguishably -with the hue of the rock that touched it. A trick of the light she -thought, it had to be that, for it had tricked Sammy. - -The voices and the sounds made by the two boys grew fainter, dying away -with distance. She peered cautiously from her place of concealment. -Sammy and Davey had walked out of sight down the far end of the ravine. -She waited until certain that Sammy had not set a trap of some sort, -then slid out of the crevice and hurried toward the ravine's opposite -end. - -Her legs ached protestingly, but she forced herself to run. She -realized she had been away from the house much too long. Big Luke would -be angry--and his anger manifested itself in heavy blows of his big, -bony hands. - - * * * * * - -The Becker house was a large frame building, weather-beaten and fallen -into disrepair. Fran hated the sight of it, but it was the only home -she could recall having had. Once, during a summer evening in town, -Fran had heard a group of men talking about Luke Becker. She had kept -in the shadows at the side of the general store, and they hadn't seen -her. The Becker house, it seemed, had once been owned by a prosperous -farmer, a lonely widower whose sons had died in the war. Big Luke, -a refugee from the city after the first atom bomb raids, had taken -shelter at the house with his two small sons. - -Fran's mother had taken shelter there also, and stayed on. There had -been no place else to go. None of the refugees ever went back to the -city, or to any of the other cities that had been bombed. There was a -sort of light in the cities, a light you couldn't see. It burned you, -and you died. The light had filled the ruined cities for a long time, -and would continue to fill them for a long time to come. Men--the men -who were left after the bombing raids--lived in small towns now, and -on farms. Farming was one of the few ways to make a living that were -left. - -The farmer who had taken Big Luke in had died. An accident, the man on -the porch of the general store had said in his carefully low-pitched -voice. And he had laughed without humor. One of the farmer's machines -had killed him, and Big Luke had stayed on at the farm. It had been an -unsettled time, men were law unto themselves, and Big Luke, with his -powerful body, had gone unchallenged. - -There was a hint of something evil in the story Fran had heard, -suggested to her by the soft, meaningful tone of the man on the porch -of the general store. She wasn't quite certain what it was, but she -knew Big Luke was capable of anything sinister and cruel. And Sammy was -very much like his father. Davey ... well, Davey was not quite right in -the head. She guessed Davey would be friendly enough in his own way, if -Sammy didn't keep leading him on. - - * * * * * - -Silence lay over the house, extending to the couple of smaller -buildings behind it and the big barn and the silos off to one side. -Fran could see nothing of Davey and Sammy. She had been careful to -avoid being discovered by them again, and evidently they had taken more -time about returning. - -She slipped into the kitchen. Big Luke was not there, but after a -moment she heard the creak of springs in the parlor, followed by -shuffling footsteps. Big Luke appeared in the hall doorway, swaying -unsteadily on his feet as he scowled at her. A sickly reek, familiar to -Fran, announced that he had been drinking again. He always seemed to be -drinking. - -Big Luke had once been a heavy-fleshed man, but constant drunkenness -had left him gaunt and shrunken. Dark hollows lay under his cheekbones, -and loose skin sagged around his mouth. He looked at Fran with -blood-shot eyes, his dark, unkempt hair streaked with gray and the -sallowness of his face emphasized by a heavy growth of beard. - -"You," he said, his voice rasping. "Where you been, girl? Why weren't -you tending to your chores?" - -"I ... I was outside," Fran said. She moved slowly to put the kitchen -table between the man and herself. - -"Outside, eh?" He staggered forward, his gaze baleful. "Just where -outside? I been yelling my head off for you. Where's Sammy and Davey?" - -"They chased me!" Fran flared. "I walked a piece, and they started -chasing me! They're always chasing me!" - -"And I bet you like 'em to chase you," Big Luke growled. "Don't try to -fool me, you little snip. Don't try to tell me you ain't practicing -your woman's tricks on my boys." - -Fran felt a hotness leap into her face. "I never do a thing to them!" -she protested. "I hate them--Sammy especially. Why don't you tell him -to leave me alone?" - -"Uppity, just like your ma was, you little--" Big Luke abruptly leaned -across the table, and his calloused palm shot out, making a sharp clap -of sound as it struck Fran's cheek. - -She felt her head jerk around from the force of the blow. The side of -her face felt numb and large. - -"Don't get sassy with me, girl!" Big Luke snarled. "And next time you -go running off when there's work to be done, I'm going to fix you good -and proper. You're big enough to take a whip to. I'll have the skin off -you, by God!" - - * * * * * - -He glared at her a moment longer, then turned and staggered back toward -the parlor. Fran rubbed at her cheek, tears brimming in her eyes. She -had a sense of rebellion--and hopelessness. She had often thought of -running away, but no one in town would risk Luke Becker's wrath by -taking her in. And the thought of fleeing to one of the other towns -held possible dangers greater than those of her present life. - -Her shoulders bowed in defeat and leaden resignation, she turned to the -wood-burning stove. The fire had gone out, and the wood-box was almost -empty. She sighed and started for the woodshed out in the yard. - -Big Luke yelled after her, obviously alerted by the creak of the -kitchen door. "Where you running off to now, blast it?" - -"To get some wood." - -"Well, no more monkey-shines, if you know what's good for you!" - -The shed was large and shadowy. The single window had been boarded up -after the glass was broken. As Fran began heaping one arm with rough, -chopped lengths of wood, she heard a quick shuffle of footsteps and saw -Sammy crossing the yard toward the doorway. He still looked mad--even -madder than he had been back in the ravine. - -Her heart drumming, she drew back into the deeper shadows between -the side wall and the stacked wood. She knew she was caught. Sammy -evidently had seen her enter the shed. And Big Luke, angry with her -too, could not be depended upon for help. - -Yet oddly, a part of her, unfamiliar and mysterious, remained cool. -That part of her waited for Sammy Becker, while the rest of her quailed -his coming. - -Sammy glided through the doorway, a vengeful twist to his mouth, his -fingers curved talon-like to clutch. He stood for a moment, blinking -his pale eyes after the brightness of the yard. - -Then the rigidness went out of his fingers. His too-wise features -wrinkled puzzledly. - -"Hiding again, huh?" he half whispered, as though to reassure himself. -"Well, I'll get you this time! I'll fix you good!" - -He started forward, his hands outstretched. - - * * * * * - -Fran watched him, a bewilderment growing in her. The shed was not too -dark. It seemed incredible that Sammy could not see her crouching in -the shadows at the end of the wood stack. But he groped at air with his -hands, his movements always hesitant and uncertain. - -It was inevitable that he should sooner or later stumble across Fran. -She was ready. The piece of wood felt solid in her hand. She struck at -Sammy's head, and he stiffened startledly at the very first movement, -as though it had flashed out of nothingness itself, then lurched with a -yelp against the wood stack. A small avalanche rained down on him, and -Fran darted past and ran toward the house. - -Davey was on the back porch with a dipper of water raised to his mouth. -He stared at her with wide and somehow shocked eyes and remained frozen -until she had entered the kitchen. - -She realized that she had, despite everything, managed to keep a grip -on the load of wood. She emptied it into the box at the side of the -stove, and in doing so noticed a strangeness about the color of her -arms. She peered at them, feeling as shocked and staring as Davey had -looked, and her mind went back to the ravine and she remembered Sammy -not seeing her even while he looked directly into her hiding place. -And he hadn't seen her in the shed. Why? - -During supper Sammy was unusually quiet. He looked at Fran out of the -corners of his eyes, and in his wizened lace was a groping wonder--a -vague fear. - -Davey seemed to have forgotten his own experience. He forgot things -quickly. - - * * * * * - -Fran lay in her straw-padded bed with her eyes fixed on the rectangle -of the window, glowing luminously with moonlight. She thought back over -the events of the day, and a feeling of awe touched her. There was a -significance to what had happened, a kind of tingling importance that -she sensed but could not quite understand. - -She felt that she had somehow ... changed. She had entered into -womanhood--but there was more to it than that. She felt stronger, more -assured. Her very awareness seemed to have sharpened, to be reaching -out and bringing her new impressions she could not identify. - -She closed her eyes and sent her flowering perceptions out and away. -For a moment she seemed to float in nothingness, disembodied ... -spreading. And then she had the sensation of touching something. -She drew back, startled, yet fascinated and curious, like a child -discovering some new wonder. - -And a voice spoke to her, bell-like and ringingly dear--a voice which -in some incredible way she heard with her mind. - -"Why, hello! Who is this?" - -"I ... my name is Fran." - -"Oh, I understand. This is the first time for you, isn't it?" - -"Yes," she said. "I mean, whatever this is, it never happened before." - -In some odd way, the voice seemed to smile. "Don't let it frighten you, -Fran. You'll get used to your new ability." - -"But ... but what does it mean? And who are you? Where are you?" - -"You can call me Tom. I can't tell exactly where I am, because -distances and locations have no meaning when a mind can reach anywhere. -I don't think I'm very far away, though. As for what this means ... -well, that's a little difficult to explain, Fran." - - * * * * * - -The voice--she knew now that it was more than just a voice--seemed -to look out over an awesome vista, as if in search of some point of -interest, some particular feature she could understand. - -"You know about the war, Fran, and what happened to the big cities?" - -"Yes. I've heard about that." - -"Well, the war was fought with a new type of atom bomb, Fran. It was -designed to keep people out of cities, because cities were centers of -resistance. The bombs contaminated the cities with a deadly radiation -that's still there. People had to leave--but many of them were -affected by the radiation, and gave birth to children that were ... -different. Some were monsters, Fran. And some ... well, they didn't -_look_ changed, but they were--in strange and wonderful ways. It all -depended on the intensity of the radiations that produced them, you see. - -"You're one of those changed children, Fran--and so am I. Our ability -to receive each other's thoughts proves that. But what you really -should know is that there's serious danger in letting ordinary people -find out you're different. Because, Fran, when the monsters started -appearing they were done away with--killed. People were afraid of them. -And they're more afraid now than ever." - -The voice she had come to identify as Tom seemed saddened. "You see, -Fran, the war was the product of a machine age. But men have gone back -to the soil. They had to. There aren't many machines left any more, -and there's no way to build them or keep them going. So they've been -wearing out, breaking down. People used machines to communicate with -each other and spread ideas and knowledge. Without the machines, their -world has grown smaller. They're afraid of things that aren't part of -it. And we aren't of their little world, Fran. We're ... different. And -for that reason they'll try to destroy us if they learn what we are. - -"That mustn't happen, Fran. They've had their chance--and they've -failed. We have a right to ours, but it's a right we must fight for. We -must stay hidden and keep from being found out until we're ready.... -So be careful, Fran. Don't let those around you discover your new -abilities. They'll keep growing, I think. In some of us there's no way -of knowing what heights will be reached." - -"But isn't there something we can do?" she asked in silent, voiceless -protest. "Isn't there some place we can go? Isn't there any hope for us -at all?" - - * * * * * - -Tom's answer was slow and grave. "There is hope, yes. But we must be -patient. Mentally we're far beyond ordinary people, but physically most -of us are still children. We need time to grow, time to attain our full -powers. And we need time to find each other and plan for the future. We -can afford to wait, Fran. But above all we must be careful. - -"Right now, though, you'd better rest. You don't want to put too much -of a strain on yourself the very first time." - -Her mind leaped in dismay. "But, Tom--will I be able to reach you -again?" - -"You can reach me any time you send out your thoughts to me, Fran. -Don't worry about that." - -"All right, Tom." Sudden shyness made her falter. "I'm glad ... glad -I'm not alone." - -"I understand.... Good night, Fran." - -"Good night, Tom." - -She lay still for a long while. She found she _was_ tired, as though -she had been under some exhausting nervous tension. But her pulse raced -with excitement. - -Carefully she went back over what Tom had told her, sifting the -contents of his message for implications she might have missed. His -warning became vivid in her mind, and abruptly, chillingly, she -remembered the barking of dogs in the distance and men on horseback -racing far-off across a field. She remembered a faint, triumphant -baying and the muted thunder of guns. She remembered clutching in -fright at her Mother's hand and seeing Big Luke ride back to them -across the yard. - -An echo of his voice reached her over the years. - -"Got another monster, by God!" - -She remembered that had happened several times. She had thought -monsters were horrible animals of some sort, but now she knew they were -people, new and different people--like herself.... - - * * * * * - -Late summer sunshine lay over the porch in a flood of radiance as rich -as melted butter. Fran stood very quietly for a moment, letting the -warmth bathe her. She drew the fragrant morning air deep into her lungs -and felt the breeze caress her face and arms. Her brown hair changed -subtly in the light, became a gold-glinting auburn, and a faint golden -flush spread through her skin. - -She was dimly aware of the pigmentation adjustment, but she did not -try to control it just then. The chameleon effect, Tom called it, one -of several protective devices that nature had furnished her kind for -survival against the members of a hostile race. She let the impressions -drift like smoke through her mind, releasing herself wholly to the -beauty of the morning. - -She arched forward on the tips of her bare toes, her slender body -straining against the threadbare fabric of her dress to outline the -firm, gently rounded curves of growing maturity. She had a feeling of -vibrant, singing strength, as though she could launch herself with the -effortlessness of a bird into the gold-hazed, green distance and soar -tirelessly to the very end of the world. She had a depth and clarity of -perception that seemed to her capable of embracing green earth and blue -sky in one vast, magnificent sweep. - -She had a delighted sense of freedom, as though released from the -cocoon of hiding and caution in which she had kept herself during -the past months. For a superb instant she felt free and gloriously -happy--and she wanted to tell Tom, to share her emotions with him. Her -thoughts turned to him with increasing frequency. She felt a growing -need for his invisible presence and the comfort it gave. - -She had only to spread the gossamer fabric of her mind like vast -butterfly wings, shimmering and iridescent with her exalted sensations, -and Tom would be there, as he so often was in the moon-bathed stillness -of the night. Tom, so patient, so earnest and kind, his quiet strength -the foundation upon which the structure of her own being had come to -rest. - -But she did not reach out to him. She slumped, and the surging -loveliness in her faded. Her small face turned wistful. Tom would be -there--but reserved as always, somehow withdrawn from her. It was as -though he kept a barrier between them, a sort of immaterial wall that -made the intimacy of their mental contact an almost purely one-sided -thing. It hurt and puzzled her, and the hurt had grown as Tom's -importance to her had grown. - -She wondered if the wall would always be there. Didn't Tom sense her -disappointment and the reluctance of her own restraint? - - * * * * * - -Her eyes caught a flicker of movement across the yard, and she looked -up to see Sammy and Davey walking toward her from the direction of the -barn. She retreated back into her shell of caution. - -Sammy had bothered her very little of late. He seemed to sense the -change in her, to be aware of a greater strength and resistance. -She had often noticed him watching her with a kind of wondering -calculation, and it was almost entirely for his benefit that she -maintained her secrecy and watchfulness. - -Only once in the past weeks had he attempted to annoy her. They had -been momentarily alone in the kitchen, and Sammy had caught at her arms -from behind. She had whirled and broken free with the swiftness of a -wildcat, to face him with a knife snatched from the table. Sammy had -gaped at her for a second or two, and then had left the kitchen without -a word. - -She regarded Sammy as the greatest danger, but even Davey's dim mind -appeared to have grasped the change in relationships. And he had -somehow seized on it to widen his break from Sammy's control. As if -in defiance of his brother, Davey favored Fran with small, clumsy -kindnesses, but she knew Davey could not be depended upon. His moods -were mercurial, ranging from swift, hysterical excitement to long -intervals of sullen gloom. - -Sammy came to a stop several feet away, his pale eyes fixed on Fran and -a somehow startled expression on his wizened face. The intentness of -his gaze held her for an instant as she turned away to avoid him. - -He blurted, "Golly, Fran, you're pretty!" - -She felt a shocked dismay. Looking at herself in the stained mirror -in her bedroom, she had unselfconsciously noticed a ripening and -softening, and it was unpleasant to discover that Sammy had noticed -it too. She caught the blurred, cloudy movement of his thoughts and -shuddered as she sensed the impulses from which his admiration sprang. -She was only dimly sensitive to ordinary minds; there was too great a -difference--a lack of harmony. For the most part she avoided the murky, -alien contact. But in that instant she understood Sammy and saw his -motivations in a new light. - -"You tend to your chores and leave me alone!" she told him sharply, -breathless and upset. She hurried away from the porch, toward the -chickens in the yard, clutching the plate of scraps and crumbs she had -brought with her from the kitchen. - -"Aw, Fran, don't be mad," Sammy called after her, his voice cajoling -and his eyes sly. "Let's be friends." - - * * * * * - -She indicated her contempt by remaining coldly silent. Davey giggled -suddenly, and Sammy spat a curse at him and whirled to stalk into the -house. - -The air grew warmer and lost its dewy freshness. Big Luke returned from -a horseback trip to town with an earthenware jug, his eyes bleary and -lidded and his sagging face with the shine of drunkenness. He tramped -heavily into the house, and a short time later Fran heard him snoring. - -She busied herself with the small tasks that remained to be done before -the noonday meal. She drew water from the well, and then, a basket in -one hand, set out for the barn. - -The interior was shadowed and still cool, filled with the vague sounds -made by the chickens. As she searched in the hay for eggs, she saw a -shaft of sunlight blocked off by a movement behind her and heard a -rustle of sound. She whirled startledly to discover Sammy standing a -short distance away. She had been certain he was nowhere about when she -started for the barn. - -He made a placating gesture. "I wish you'd stop being mad at me, Fran. -I don't want you to be mad at me no more." He was breathing fast. -"You ... you're nice, Fran. You're pretty ... so pretty." - -She drew back, alarm a sudden frantic drumming in her. "Keep away from -me!" she spat. "Keep away from me with your lies and nasty tricks!" - -"Aw, Fran...." He was sidling closer. - -"Keep away, Sammy! Don't you touch me!" She moved backward over a deep, -uneven carpet of hay. - -He followed her for a few steps, his pale eyes glittering at her and -his hands splayed and tense. And then he lunged. He caught at her -shoulder as she darted aside. She heard the wash-worn fabric of her -dress rip and felt Sammy's arm circle her throat. Then his full weight -thrust against her and she was borne down into the hay. - -For a nightmare instant Sammy's breath panted against her cheek. And -then, like a wild thing, she heaved, twisted, scratched. In violent, -whip-like movement, she pulled partly away, kicked out with strong, -supple legs. She succeeded in thrusting Sammy aside and scrambled -erect, floundering through the deep, spongy surface under her feet. - -Her panicky flight took her deeper into the barn. Abruptly one foot -plunged through a gap in the hay and she fell. Before she could rise -again, Sammy had reached her and was pressing her back with a savage -eagerness. - -She knew anger, then. Hatred and disgust swept her in a wave of -scalding fury, drowning all caution, all thought of hiding. The -virulence in her leaped out in a blast of mental force. Sammy shrilled -with pain and convulsively jerked back, and for a stunned instant he -stared at her, his pale eyes bulging and his mouth loose with almost -mindless fright. - -A glow radiated from her. It shone from her eyes, her skin, her hair. -It lay over her like a supernal cloak. She was suddenly something more -than a girl, something more than human. - -Sammy drew away from her in superstitious dread, trembling, his mouth -working futilely. "Monster!" he gasped at last. "You ... you're a -monster! _A monster!_" - -Staggering drunkenly with panic, he ran from the barn. - -Fran surged erect, starkly and coldly aware of a new and greater -danger. She listened for a moment to Sammy's hoarse cries, and knew -only one course lay open to her. She would have to flee. In what little -time remained she would have to put as much distance between the -Beckers and herself as was possible. - - * * * * * - -Far away across the rolling field she heard the baying of hounds. She -whirled to a stop within a grove of trees, listening. She breathed -rapidly and deeply from the steady pace she had maintained well into -the afternoon. Her dress had been shredded into rag-like strips by -clutching branches, and her legs and arms were scratched and bleeding. - -The distant baying held a note of eagerness. The dogs unmistakably were -hot on her scent. Behind them, she knew, would be men on horseback, -armed and merciless. Sammy, of course, had alerted Big Luke, who in -turn had rounded up a group of neighboring farmers, always hungry for -sport of any kind as an escape from their drab and near-primitive -existence. - -She knew her lead was swiftly being cut down. A kind of instinct had -taken her toward the hills, which in more pleasant times she had seen -bulking darkly against the horizon and had watched with the yearning -to know what lay beyond. Once they had promised adventure; now they -offered refuge. In the hills she hoped to find rough ground that would -make the use of horses impossible and hinder the progress of men and -dogs. - -Her pulses raced with the awareness of dwindling time and distance, but -she delayed a moment longer. Again, as she had done twice before, she -sent her mind reaching out in an urgent, pleading call. - -"Tom! Tom--can't you hear me? Where are you, Tom? Why don't you answer?" - -As never before, she needed the comfort of his presence, needed his -help. But he was not there. He was gone--gone as though he had never -been. - -She was alone. And in the distance the dogs bayed eagerly, drawing -nearer, always nearer. - -She drew a sobbing breath and turned to resume her flight.... - -The hills towered around her in rocky grandeur. She stood on a narrow -ledge and looked down a long, broken slope toward a fringe of trees. -Shapes were moving there--the shapes of dogs and mounted men. - -Horses were useless now, but their riders would be fresh and their guns -would bring her within easy reach. She glanced despairingly at the -setting sun, aware that darkness was her only hope. - - * * * * * - -A strength and endurance beyond the ordinarily human had brought her -this far, a power she had never known lay in her slender limbs. Time -and again it had seemed impossible that she could continue further, but -always she had drawn upon some new fount of energy. But even that, she -realized, had its limit. - -A faint shout mounted to her on the breeze. One of the men was -gesturing upward--and she knew she had been seen. In another instant a -gun sent crashing echoes through the stillness. - -The muzzles of other weapons were raising toward her as she slid around -a shoulder of rock and lost herself from view. She resumed her climb -upward, a slender, nymph-like figure, her gold-glinting hair tumbled -about her small, pale face, her dress little more than a handful of -tatters. - -The baying of dogs and the shouts of men followed her. - -She wound her way up rocky terraces and across stretches of gravelly -soil. She worked around huge masses of rock and through narrow V-shaped -clefts. Once she was able to tumble a precariously balanced boulder -into a passage behind her to win a slight gain of time. But the sounds -of pursuit seemed always closer. - -Shadows were spreading and deepening over the hills as she reached -a narrow, rushing stream among the rocks. She dropped gratefully to -drink, and the deliciously cold water seemed to flood her with new -strength. A little more time, she thought pleadingly. Just a little -more time. Soon it would be dark. And then-- - -The touch of the water against her face brought a flash of inspiration. -If she were to walk through the stream, she might succeed in throwing -the dogs off the scent. She could hear them not far off, no longer so -eager or so loudly vocal, but still determined. - -The water was numbingly cold against her legs and stung where sharp -rocks had cut the flesh. Her path lay upward and her progress was -made slow and difficult by the tumbling rock surface over which the -stream flowed. But a current of triumph quickened in her. Ahead lay -darkness--and escape. - -The rocks under her feet were smooth and slippery from the constant -rush of water. She was thinking how easy it would be to fall when one -foot suddenly slid from a glass-like stone. Her ankle twisted with a -tearing sensation and a burst of pain, and outlines tilted crazily as -she plunged sidewise into the stream. - - * * * * * - -For a moment she lay utterly still, paralyzed with pain and horror. -It couldn't have happened, she told herself frantically. Not now of -all times! But when she finally rose and tried to walk, it was to find -that the ankle would not support her weight. Sick with agony from her -experiment, she dragged herself to the edge of the stream and lay with -her face in her arms. - -It was all over, she knew. There would be no escape after all.... - -Tom, she thought, then. _Tom!_ I need you, Tom! _Why don't you answer?_ - -Silence--and the baying of dogs. Close, now, so horribly close. - -"_Fran!_" - -Her heart leaped incredulously. That familiar presence ... rushing -nearer across some awful gulf. - -"Fran, where are you? I know what has happened, but I couldn't -reach you before this. Your being discovered so suddenly forced me -to complete certain preparations ahead of schedule.... But now, -Fran--think carefully. Carefully. Picture the spot where you're -located, the route you took reaching it. Picture it, Fran." - -She squeezed her eyes shut, concentrating, thinking over in split -seconds what had taken so many hours of toil and effort, of suffering -and fear. Yet even as she thought, doubt and hopelessness weighted her. -How could Tom possibly reach her in time? - -"It _can_ be done, Fran! Our abilities include the power to send -ourselves instantaneously through space--teleportation. But an -objective must be clearly visualized, or supplied by the mind of -another. Your thoughts made a path for me." - -A voice. Not a silent mental voice--but an audible voice that ended in -a soft chuckle. - -Unbelieving, she looked up. She saw a figure standing beside her and -knew instinctively that it was Tom. But-- - -It wasn't Tom. Tom was an identity, a label for someone she had never -seen. - -This was--Davey. - -_Davey!_ The realization exploded in her, sent alternate waves of fire -and ice crashing against the walls of reason. - -_Davey!_ But a changed Davey, taller and straighter, with a firmness -in his face and a brightness in his eyes that had never been present -before. He was somehow majestic--god-like. - - * * * * * - -Dazedly she realized that Davey was different, just as she was -different. Behind the outward dullness of Davey, so carefully hidden -that she had not suspected it, had been the flashing intelligence she -had known as Tom. - -He smiled again. "Yes, Fran. I'm a little surprised that you didn't -connect Tom with Davey before this. You should have remembered that -Davey was two years younger than Sammy--around the same age as -yourself--which meant Davey had been born after the atom raids, just as -you were, and was just as likely to have been ... changed. Maybe Davey -seemed a bit too empty--and he was, in more ways than one. He was never -all there mentally until now. - -"You see, Fran, an important part of Davey's mind was away most of -the time. He was in contact with other changed children--gathering -information, making plans for the future, developing his own abilities. -And he had to be careful not to let Sammy or Big Luke discover his -true nature. The difference between Davey and themselves was so great -that even family ties would have meant nothing. For that reason Davey -pretended to be a simple-minded tool who helped Sammy in teasing you. -But he wouldn't have done anything that meant actual harm." - -"But why did you call yourself Tom?" Fran asked. "Why didn't you tell -me you were different, too? We could have gone away--out of danger." - -Davey shook his head. "You needed time to develop your full abilities, -Fran, and that's done most quickly under pressure. If you knew Davey -was like yourself, that pressure would be gone. There was also the -chance that we might give each other away. And as for leaving, Fran, -for a long time there seemed no place at all we could go to where men -would not find us eventually. I and the others had to find an answer to -that." - -He hesitated, his gaze suddenly anxious. "It was really necessary for -you to think of me as Tom, Fran. I'm sorry I had to hurt you by being -secretive and on guard against you. And ... well, I hope you're not -disappointed that I turned out to be Davey." - -"No," she said quickly, smiling. For whether Tom or Davey, the kindness -and quiet strength, the comfort and peace she drew from them, was the -same. - - * * * * * - -The clamor of the pursuing dogs had drawn close. Now their lithe -shapes came bounding out of the deepening shadows. They splashed across -the stream, leaped forward with triumphant buglings. Fangs were bared, -muscles gathering for the attack. - -A soft, pale light glowed from Davey. It touched the dogs, and they -plunged to a stop, frozen. And then they were yelping, tumbling over -each other in panic as they whirled to flee. The shadows swallowed them. - -The pale light touched Fran, touched her ankle--and the pain was gone. -Pain would always go like that, she knew. - -"Come," Davey said. "We're going to a place that has been waiting for -us, Fran--a place none of us ever thought of until a while ago.... -Follow the pattern in my mind. Carefully, now. Carefully." - -The voices of men, puzzled and angry. The footsteps of men, grating on -rock, rushing nearer. - -"Quick, Fran! Quick!" - -A bright thread that seemed to run endlessly through an awesome -darkness. The hills around her vanished, and she felt herself whirl -dizzily across an unimaginable void. - -Then--The city took shape around her, glowing and spectral in the dusk. -She and Davey stood on a deserted street, littered with wreckage. Ruin -lay everywhere, but many of the buildings still stood. - -Davey said softly, "The radiation here would kill ordinary people, -Fran. But it gave birth to us and is a part of us. We of the new race -draw life and not death from it. The cities are home to us, for only we -can live in them. And we will live in peace, safely and without being -disturbed. In the cities we will build again, more wisely and strongly -than those before us." - -A group of figures appeared up the street, tall boys and slender -girls. They hurried forward, laughing and dancing, and their friendly -welcoming thoughts reached out. - -"Home...." Fran murmured. 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Geier</p> -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online -at <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you -are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this eBook. -</div> - -<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: Run, Little Monster!</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Chester S. Geier</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: July 2, 2021 [eBook #65741]</p> -<p style='display:block; text-indent:0; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</p> - <p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:0; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em; text-align:left'>Produced by: Greg Weeks, Mary Meehan and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net</p> -<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RUN, LITTLE MONSTER! ***</div> - -<div class="titlepage"> - -<h1>RUN, LITTLE MONSTER!</h1> - -<h2>By Chester S. Geier</h2> - -<p>Fran had heard about the monsters men hunted<br /> -down and killed. But she had never seen one—until<br /> -the night that Sammy looked at her and screamed....</p> - -<p>[Transcriber's Note: This etext was produced from<br /> -Imagination Stories of Science and Fantasy<br /> -January 1952<br /> -Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that<br /> -the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.]</p> - -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>The girl ran like the hunted thing she was, her bare feet flashing over -the lush spring grass. She sobbed with the effort of breathing, and -her slight, immature body trembled with exhaustion beneath her ragged -dress. Fear was a wild glitter in her eyes as she stared about her in -search of refuge.</p> - -<p>The two boys came racing in pursuit, yelling threats between labored -snatches of breath.</p> - -<p>"Stop, Fran!" Davey Becker panted. "You can't get away! We'll get you!" -A thread of saliva stretched from his pendulous lower lip, soaking -into the front of his tattered shirt. He was a hulking figure with dull -eyes set deep under a low forehead.</p> - -<p>Sammy Becker was two years older than his brother, smaller and slimmer -yet making up in cunning and a shrewish driving force what he lacked in -bulk. At eighteen he was the acknowledged leader of the pair, an oddly -young-old figure with wizened features and pale eyes that gleamed with -sadistic urges.</p> - -<p>"Stop!" he screeched. "You better stop, you crazy orphan! You'll be -sorry!"</p> - -<p>She knew better than to stop. Frequent torment at the hands of Sammy -and Davey told her she could expect no mercy after having led them on -this long chase. In despair she realized it had been a serious mistake -to wander away from the house. Little enough protection was to be -expected of Big Luke Becker, but for the most part he didn't allow his -sons to bedevil her while the endless daily round of household chores -remained to be done.</p> - -<p>Briefly and poignantly she wished she had a father of her own—a real -father to comfort her and keep her from harm. She had never known -what her father was like. Vaguely she remembered having heard that he -had died in the war. Her mother had told her that once, a long time -ago—but even her mother was only a dim memory. A lot of people seemed -to have died in the war—millions of them. She could not understand how -there could ever have been that many people, for there did not seem to -be many at all in the world she knew.</p> - -<p>Darting a glance behind her, she saw Sammy and Davey were gaining. -Frantically she searched the grassy field again, bright and still under -the afternoon sun.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>There seemed no place at all where she could hide. And she had to -hide. A stabbing pain in her chest warned her she couldn't keep up her -flight.</p> - -<p>She didn't want Davey and Sammy to reach her. Not out here, with no one -else around. She knew Sammy would beat her until her resistance was -gone. Then he would run his sweaty hands over her, laughing shrilly and -breathing hard. Sammy always managed it so that Davey was the one who -held her. She shuddered. She didn't like the things Sammy did with his -hands.</p> - -<p>A short distance ahead she saw that the field rose in a ridge, and -suddenly she recognized the spot. There was a ravine below the ridge, -choked with brush. She would be able to hide here, at least until she -had caught her breath and could run again.</p> - -<p>She drew upon her last dregs of strength and urged her legs into a -burst of speed. The ridge rose before her as she drew ahead of the two -boys. She struggled up the slope, and the brush along the crest whipped -at her legs and caught at her dress as she beat her way through it. She -went down the opposite slope in staggering leaps. Near the bottom of -the ravine she fell and rolled the last few yards until a wall of brush -brought her up short.</p> - -<p>She scrambled back to her feet. Bent low, she began darting through -gaps in the brush, ignoring the branches that raked and lashed at her.</p> - -<p>She heard a shout and caught a glimpse of Davey and Sammy on the ridge -crest. Evidently they had seen her from above, but once down in -the ravine the brush would cut off their view and make their search -difficult. She hoped to be well hidden by then.</p> - -<p>Threshing, crackling sounds rose behind her as the boys scrambled down -into the ravine. It was all somehow distant and unreal. A roaring -filled her ears, and her head felt strangely light. The pattern of -branches and leaves blurred smokily before her eyes.</p> - -<p>At last she reached a shallow crevice on the opposite side of the -ravine, screened by a clump of brush. It was hardly large enough to -squeeze her body into, but it was the best hiding place she could find -in what little time remained.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>She pressed tightly into the crevice, trembling, her eyes shut. Davey -and Sammy mustn't find her! She repeated the thought over and over, -straining with a frantic intensity, as if she could avoid being -discovered by force of will alone.</p> - -<p>The dizzy sensation swept over her again. She had felt it before, -though not as strongly as now. And she had realized it was produced -by a serious change in her—a change announcing her emergence into -womanhood. It had given her a new sense of being, an exultant awareness -of power. But it was her weakness now.</p> - -<p>The noise of hurrying footsteps and rustling branches came from a point -frighteningly close. She heard Davey speak in a complaining tone.</p> - -<p>"Aw, let's go home, Sammy. Fran's gone, and I'm tired of chasing her."</p> - -<p>"She's around here somewhere," Sammy insisted in his nasal voice. "We'd -of seen her if she tried to climb out."</p> - -<p>He pushed at the bigger boy. "Come on, you addlebrained ox! Help me -look. I'm not letting her get away, no sirree! When I get hold of her—"</p> - -<p>Davey's usually vacuous face twisted in a scowl. "You're always making -me do something, Sammy. I'm not going to run after Fran all day long. -Why're you always after her? Whyn't you leave her alone?"</p> - -<p>"She's a girl," Sammy returned. "Don't you know what girls are for, you -bonehead?" His voice grew taunting. "Hey, you sweet on Fran? Golly, -that's a tickler! Wait'll I tell the fellows in town. Davey's sweet on -Fran! Davey's mooning over the orphan!"</p> - -<p>"You ... you stop that, Sammy!" Davey blurted. "You stop it or I'll -hurt you."</p> - -<p>"You hurt me and I'll tell the old man. I'll tell the fellows in town -about Fran, too." Sammy became slyly truculent. "You better help me -look. I'll tell on you."</p> - -<p>"Aw, whyn't you leave me alone?" Davey muttered. His big shoulders -slumped in defeat and listlessly he turned away to resume his part of -the search.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Branches crackled near Fran, and she grew rigid within her meager -hiding place. They mustn't find her, she thought again. They mustn't -find her!</p> - -<p>The crackling came nearer. She saw Sammy's head and shoulders as he -made an opening in the brush curtain with his hands. For an instant -he seemed to look directly at her. The breath seemed to catch in her -throat and her heart gave a sickening lurch. Sammy looked mad, not -laughingly devilish as he usually did when bent upon persecuting her. -She was afraid to think of what Sammy would do when he was mad.</p> - -<p>But incredibly he drew back and walked away. It seemed a miracle to her -that she had escaped being seen. Her dress was of a nondescript shade, -but her hair and the pale gleam of her skin should have given her away.</p> - -<p>A little wonderingly she glanced at one of the slender arms that were -pressed tightly against her sides. She stared, puzzled. The color of -the skin was a dull brownish-gray, blending almost indistinguishably -with the hue of the rock that touched it. A trick of the light she -thought, it had to be that, for it had tricked Sammy.</p> - -<p>The voices and the sounds made by the two boys grew fainter, dying away -with distance. She peered cautiously from her place of concealment. -Sammy and Davey had walked out of sight down the far end of the ravine. -She waited until certain that Sammy had not set a trap of some sort, -then slid out of the crevice and hurried toward the ravine's opposite -end.</p> - -<p>Her legs ached protestingly, but she forced herself to run. She -realized she had been away from the house much too long. Big Luke would -be angry—and his anger manifested itself in heavy blows of his big, -bony hands.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The Becker house was a large frame building, weather-beaten and fallen -into disrepair. Fran hated the sight of it, but it was the only home -she could recall having had. Once, during a summer evening in town, -Fran had heard a group of men talking about Luke Becker. She had kept -in the shadows at the side of the general store, and they hadn't seen -her. The Becker house, it seemed, had once been owned by a prosperous -farmer, a lonely widower whose sons had died in the war. Big Luke, -a refugee from the city after the first atom bomb raids, had taken -shelter at the house with his two small sons.</p> - -<p>Fran's mother had taken shelter there also, and stayed on. There had -been no place else to go. None of the refugees ever went back to the -city, or to any of the other cities that had been bombed. There was a -sort of light in the cities, a light you couldn't see. It burned you, -and you died. The light had filled the ruined cities for a long time, -and would continue to fill them for a long time to come. Men—the men -who were left after the bombing raids—lived in small towns now, and -on farms. Farming was one of the few ways to make a living that were -left.</p> - -<p>The farmer who had taken Big Luke in had died. An accident, the man on -the porch of the general store had said in his carefully low-pitched -voice. And he had laughed without humor. One of the farmer's machines -had killed him, and Big Luke had stayed on at the farm. It had been an -unsettled time, men were law unto themselves, and Big Luke, with his -powerful body, had gone unchallenged.</p> - -<p>There was a hint of something evil in the story Fran had heard, -suggested to her by the soft, meaningful tone of the man on the porch -of the general store. She wasn't quite certain what it was, but she -knew Big Luke was capable of anything sinister and cruel. And Sammy was -very much like his father. Davey ... well, Davey was not quite right in -the head. She guessed Davey would be friendly enough in his own way, if -Sammy didn't keep leading him on.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Silence lay over the house, extending to the couple of smaller -buildings behind it and the big barn and the silos off to one side. -Fran could see nothing of Davey and Sammy. She had been careful to -avoid being discovered by them again, and evidently they had taken more -time about returning.</p> - -<p>She slipped into the kitchen. Big Luke was not there, but after a -moment she heard the creak of springs in the parlor, followed by -shuffling footsteps. Big Luke appeared in the hall doorway, swaying -unsteadily on his feet as he scowled at her. A sickly reek, familiar to -Fran, announced that he had been drinking again. He always seemed to be -drinking.</p> - -<p>Big Luke had once been a heavy-fleshed man, but constant drunkenness -had left him gaunt and shrunken. Dark hollows lay under his cheekbones, -and loose skin sagged around his mouth. He looked at Fran with -blood-shot eyes, his dark, unkempt hair streaked with gray and the -sallowness of his face emphasized by a heavy growth of beard.</p> - -<p>"You," he said, his voice rasping. "Where you been, girl? Why weren't -you tending to your chores?"</p> - -<p>"I ... I was outside," Fran said. She moved slowly to put the kitchen -table between the man and herself.</p> - -<p>"Outside, eh?" He staggered forward, his gaze baleful. "Just where -outside? I been yelling my head off for you. Where's Sammy and Davey?"</p> - -<p>"They chased me!" Fran flared. "I walked a piece, and they started -chasing me! They're always chasing me!"</p> - -<p>"And I bet you like 'em to chase you," Big Luke growled. "Don't try to -fool me, you little snip. Don't try to tell me you ain't practicing -your woman's tricks on my boys."</p> - -<p>Fran felt a hotness leap into her face. "I never do a thing to them!" -she protested. "I hate them—Sammy especially. Why don't you tell him -to leave me alone?"</p> - -<p>"Uppity, just like your ma was, you little—" Big Luke abruptly leaned -across the table, and his calloused palm shot out, making a sharp clap -of sound as it struck Fran's cheek.</p> - -<p>She felt her head jerk around from the force of the blow. The side of -her face felt numb and large.</p> - -<p>"Don't get sassy with me, girl!" Big Luke snarled. "And next time you -go running off when there's work to be done, I'm going to fix you good -and proper. You're big enough to take a whip to. I'll have the skin off -you, by God!"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>He glared at her a moment longer, then turned and staggered back toward -the parlor. Fran rubbed at her cheek, tears brimming in her eyes. She -had a sense of rebellion—and hopelessness. She had often thought of -running away, but no one in town would risk Luke Becker's wrath by -taking her in. And the thought of fleeing to one of the other towns -held possible dangers greater than those of her present life.</p> - -<p>Her shoulders bowed in defeat and leaden resignation, she turned to the -wood-burning stove. The fire had gone out, and the wood-box was almost -empty. She sighed and started for the woodshed out in the yard.</p> - -<p>Big Luke yelled after her, obviously alerted by the creak of the -kitchen door. "Where you running off to now, blast it?"</p> - -<p>"To get some wood."</p> - -<p>"Well, no more monkey-shines, if you know what's good for you!"</p> - -<p>The shed was large and shadowy. The single window had been boarded up -after the glass was broken. As Fran began heaping one arm with rough, -chopped lengths of wood, she heard a quick shuffle of footsteps and saw -Sammy crossing the yard toward the doorway. He still looked mad—even -madder than he had been back in the ravine.</p> - -<p>Her heart drumming, she drew back into the deeper shadows between -the side wall and the stacked wood. She knew she was caught. Sammy -evidently had seen her enter the shed. And Big Luke, angry with her -too, could not be depended upon for help.</p> - -<p>Yet oddly, a part of her, unfamiliar and mysterious, remained cool. -That part of her waited for Sammy Becker, while the rest of her quailed -his coming.</p> - -<p>Sammy glided through the doorway, a vengeful twist to his mouth, his -fingers curved talon-like to clutch. He stood for a moment, blinking -his pale eyes after the brightness of the yard.</p> - -<p>Then the rigidness went out of his fingers. His too-wise features -wrinkled puzzledly.</p> - -<p>"Hiding again, huh?" he half whispered, as though to reassure himself. -"Well, I'll get you this time! I'll fix you good!"</p> - -<p>He started forward, his hands outstretched.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Fran watched him, a bewilderment growing in her. The shed was not too -dark. It seemed incredible that Sammy could not see her crouching in -the shadows at the end of the wood stack. But he groped at air with his -hands, his movements always hesitant and uncertain.</p> - -<p>It was inevitable that he should sooner or later stumble across Fran. -She was ready. The piece of wood felt solid in her hand. She struck at -Sammy's head, and he stiffened startledly at the very first movement, -as though it had flashed out of nothingness itself, then lurched with a -yelp against the wood stack. A small avalanche rained down on him, and -Fran darted past and ran toward the house.</p> - -<p>Davey was on the back porch with a dipper of water raised to his mouth. -He stared at her with wide and somehow shocked eyes and remained frozen -until she had entered the kitchen.</p> - -<p>She realized that she had, despite everything, managed to keep a grip -on the load of wood. She emptied it into the box at the side of the -stove, and in doing so noticed a strangeness about the color of her -arms. She peered at them, feeling as shocked and staring as Davey had -looked, and her mind went back to the ravine and she remembered Sammy -not seeing her even while he looked directly into her hiding place. -And he hadn't seen her in the shed. Why?</p> - -<p>During supper Sammy was unusually quiet. He looked at Fran out of the -corners of his eyes, and in his wizened lace was a groping wonder—a -vague fear.</p> - -<p>Davey seemed to have forgotten his own experience. He forgot things -quickly.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Fran lay in her straw-padded bed with her eyes fixed on the rectangle -of the window, glowing luminously with moonlight. She thought back over -the events of the day, and a feeling of awe touched her. There was a -significance to what had happened, a kind of tingling importance that -she sensed but could not quite understand.</p> - -<p>She felt that she had somehow ... changed. She had entered into -womanhood—but there was more to it than that. She felt stronger, more -assured. Her very awareness seemed to have sharpened, to be reaching -out and bringing her new impressions she could not identify.</p> - -<p>She closed her eyes and sent her flowering perceptions out and away. -For a moment she seemed to float in nothingness, disembodied ... -spreading. And then she had the sensation of touching something. -She drew back, startled, yet fascinated and curious, like a child -discovering some new wonder.</p> - -<p>And a voice spoke to her, bell-like and ringingly dear—a voice which -in some incredible way she heard with her mind.</p> - -<p>"Why, hello! Who is this?"</p> - -<p>"I ... my name is Fran."</p> - -<p>"Oh, I understand. This is the first time for you, isn't it?"</p> - -<p>"Yes," she said. "I mean, whatever this is, it never happened before."</p> - -<p>In some odd way, the voice seemed to smile. "Don't let it frighten you, -Fran. You'll get used to your new ability."</p> - -<p>"But ... but what does it mean? And who are you? Where are you?"</p> - -<p>"You can call me Tom. I can't tell exactly where I am, because -distances and locations have no meaning when a mind can reach anywhere. -I don't think I'm very far away, though. As for what this means ... -well, that's a little difficult to explain, Fran."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The voice—she knew now that it was more than just a voice—seemed -to look out over an awesome vista, as if in search of some point of -interest, some particular feature she could understand.</p> - -<p>"You know about the war, Fran, and what happened to the big cities?"</p> - -<p>"Yes. I've heard about that."</p> - -<p>"Well, the war was fought with a new type of atom bomb, Fran. It was -designed to keep people out of cities, because cities were centers of -resistance. The bombs contaminated the cities with a deadly radiation -that's still there. People had to leave—but many of them were -affected by the radiation, and gave birth to children that were ... -different. Some were monsters, Fran. And some ... well, they didn't -<i>look</i> changed, but they were—in strange and wonderful ways. It all -depended on the intensity of the radiations that produced them, you see.</p> - -<p>"You're one of those changed children, Fran—and so am I. Our ability -to receive each other's thoughts proves that. But what you really -should know is that there's serious danger in letting ordinary people -find out you're different. Because, Fran, when the monsters started -appearing they were done away with—killed. People were afraid of them. -And they're more afraid now than ever."</p> - -<p>The voice she had come to identify as Tom seemed saddened. "You see, -Fran, the war was the product of a machine age. But men have gone back -to the soil. They had to. There aren't many machines left any more, -and there's no way to build them or keep them going. So they've been -wearing out, breaking down. People used machines to communicate with -each other and spread ideas and knowledge. Without the machines, their -world has grown smaller. They're afraid of things that aren't part of -it. And we aren't of their little world, Fran. We're ... different. And -for that reason they'll try to destroy us if they learn what we are.</p> - -<p>"That mustn't happen, Fran. They've had their chance—and they've -failed. We have a right to ours, but it's a right we must fight for. We -must stay hidden and keep from being found out until we're ready.... -So be careful, Fran. Don't let those around you discover your new -abilities. They'll keep growing, I think. In some of us there's no way -of knowing what heights will be reached."</p> - -<p>"But isn't there something we can do?" she asked in silent, voiceless -protest. "Isn't there some place we can go? Isn't there any hope for us -at all?"</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Tom's answer was slow and grave. "There is hope, yes. But we must be -patient. Mentally we're far beyond ordinary people, but physically most -of us are still children. We need time to grow, time to attain our full -powers. And we need time to find each other and plan for the future. We -can afford to wait, Fran. But above all we must be careful.</p> - -<p>"Right now, though, you'd better rest. You don't want to put too much -of a strain on yourself the very first time."</p> - -<p>Her mind leaped in dismay. "But, Tom—will I be able to reach you -again?"</p> - -<p>"You can reach me any time you send out your thoughts to me, Fran. -Don't worry about that."</p> - -<p>"All right, Tom." Sudden shyness made her falter. "I'm glad ... glad -I'm not alone."</p> - -<p>"I understand.... Good night, Fran."</p> - -<p>"Good night, Tom."</p> - -<p>She lay still for a long while. She found she <i>was</i> tired, as though -she had been under some exhausting nervous tension. But her pulse raced -with excitement.</p> - -<p>Carefully she went back over what Tom had told her, sifting the -contents of his message for implications she might have missed. His -warning became vivid in her mind, and abruptly, chillingly, she -remembered the barking of dogs in the distance and men on horseback -racing far-off across a field. She remembered a faint, triumphant -baying and the muted thunder of guns. She remembered clutching in -fright at her Mother's hand and seeing Big Luke ride back to them -across the yard.</p> - -<p>An echo of his voice reached her over the years.</p> - -<p>"Got another monster, by God!"</p> - -<p>She remembered that had happened several times. She had thought -monsters were horrible animals of some sort, but now she knew they were -people, new and different people—like herself....</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Late summer sunshine lay over the porch in a flood of radiance as rich -as melted butter. Fran stood very quietly for a moment, letting the -warmth bathe her. She drew the fragrant morning air deep into her lungs -and felt the breeze caress her face and arms. Her brown hair changed -subtly in the light, became a gold-glinting auburn, and a faint golden -flush spread through her skin.</p> - -<p>She was dimly aware of the pigmentation adjustment, but she did not -try to control it just then. The chameleon effect, Tom called it, one -of several protective devices that nature had furnished her kind for -survival against the members of a hostile race. She let the impressions -drift like smoke through her mind, releasing herself wholly to the -beauty of the morning.</p> - -<p>She arched forward on the tips of her bare toes, her slender body -straining against the threadbare fabric of her dress to outline the -firm, gently rounded curves of growing maturity. She had a feeling of -vibrant, singing strength, as though she could launch herself with the -effortlessness of a bird into the gold-hazed, green distance and soar -tirelessly to the very end of the world. She had a depth and clarity of -perception that seemed to her capable of embracing green earth and blue -sky in one vast, magnificent sweep.</p> - -<p>She had a delighted sense of freedom, as though released from the -cocoon of hiding and caution in which she had kept herself during -the past months. For a superb instant she felt free and gloriously -happy—and she wanted to tell Tom, to share her emotions with him. Her -thoughts turned to him with increasing frequency. She felt a growing -need for his invisible presence and the comfort it gave.</p> - -<p>She had only to spread the gossamer fabric of her mind like vast -butterfly wings, shimmering and iridescent with her exalted sensations, -and Tom would be there, as he so often was in the moon-bathed stillness -of the night. Tom, so patient, so earnest and kind, his quiet strength -the foundation upon which the structure of her own being had come to -rest.</p> - -<p>But she did not reach out to him. She slumped, and the surging -loveliness in her faded. Her small face turned wistful. Tom would be -there—but reserved as always, somehow withdrawn from her. It was as -though he kept a barrier between them, a sort of immaterial wall that -made the intimacy of their mental contact an almost purely one-sided -thing. It hurt and puzzled her, and the hurt had grown as Tom's -importance to her had grown.</p> - -<p>She wondered if the wall would always be there. Didn't Tom sense her -disappointment and the reluctance of her own restraint?</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Her eyes caught a flicker of movement across the yard, and she looked -up to see Sammy and Davey walking toward her from the direction of the -barn. She retreated back into her shell of caution.</p> - -<p>Sammy had bothered her very little of late. He seemed to sense the -change in her, to be aware of a greater strength and resistance. -She had often noticed him watching her with a kind of wondering -calculation, and it was almost entirely for his benefit that she -maintained her secrecy and watchfulness.</p> - -<p>Only once in the past weeks had he attempted to annoy her. They had -been momentarily alone in the kitchen, and Sammy had caught at her arms -from behind. She had whirled and broken free with the swiftness of a -wildcat, to face him with a knife snatched from the table. Sammy had -gaped at her for a second or two, and then had left the kitchen without -a word.</p> - -<p>She regarded Sammy as the greatest danger, but even Davey's dim mind -appeared to have grasped the change in relationships. And he had -somehow seized on it to widen his break from Sammy's control. As if -in defiance of his brother, Davey favored Fran with small, clumsy -kindnesses, but she knew Davey could not be depended upon. His moods -were mercurial, ranging from swift, hysterical excitement to long -intervals of sullen gloom.</p> - -<p>Sammy came to a stop several feet away, his pale eyes fixed on Fran and -a somehow startled expression on his wizened face. The intentness of -his gaze held her for an instant as she turned away to avoid him.</p> - -<p>He blurted, "Golly, Fran, you're pretty!"</p> - -<p>She felt a shocked dismay. Looking at herself in the stained mirror -in her bedroom, she had unselfconsciously noticed a ripening and -softening, and it was unpleasant to discover that Sammy had noticed -it too. She caught the blurred, cloudy movement of his thoughts and -shuddered as she sensed the impulses from which his admiration sprang. -She was only dimly sensitive to ordinary minds; there was too great a -difference—a lack of harmony. For the most part she avoided the murky, -alien contact. But in that instant she understood Sammy and saw his -motivations in a new light.</p> - -<p>"You tend to your chores and leave me alone!" she told him sharply, -breathless and upset. She hurried away from the porch, toward the -chickens in the yard, clutching the plate of scraps and crumbs she had -brought with her from the kitchen.</p> - -<p>"Aw, Fran, don't be mad," Sammy called after her, his voice cajoling -and his eyes sly. "Let's be friends."</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>She indicated her contempt by remaining coldly silent. Davey giggled -suddenly, and Sammy spat a curse at him and whirled to stalk into the -house.</p> - -<p>The air grew warmer and lost its dewy freshness. Big Luke returned from -a horseback trip to town with an earthenware jug, his eyes bleary and -lidded and his sagging face with the shine of drunkenness. He tramped -heavily into the house, and a short time later Fran heard him snoring.</p> - -<p>She busied herself with the small tasks that remained to be done before -the noonday meal. She drew water from the well, and then, a basket in -one hand, set out for the barn.</p> - -<p>The interior was shadowed and still cool, filled with the vague sounds -made by the chickens. As she searched in the hay for eggs, she saw a -shaft of sunlight blocked off by a movement behind her and heard a -rustle of sound. She whirled startledly to discover Sammy standing a -short distance away. She had been certain he was nowhere about when she -started for the barn.</p> - -<p>He made a placating gesture. "I wish you'd stop being mad at me, Fran. -I don't want you to be mad at me no more." He was breathing fast. -"You ... you're nice, Fran. You're pretty ... so pretty."</p> - -<p>She drew back, alarm a sudden frantic drumming in her. "Keep away from -me!" she spat. "Keep away from me with your lies and nasty tricks!"</p> - -<p>"Aw, Fran...." He was sidling closer.</p> - -<p>"Keep away, Sammy! Don't you touch me!" She moved backward over a deep, -uneven carpet of hay.</p> - -<p>He followed her for a few steps, his pale eyes glittering at her and -his hands splayed and tense. And then he lunged. He caught at her -shoulder as she darted aside. She heard the wash-worn fabric of her -dress rip and felt Sammy's arm circle her throat. Then his full weight -thrust against her and she was borne down into the hay.</p> - -<p>For a nightmare instant Sammy's breath panted against her cheek. And -then, like a wild thing, she heaved, twisted, scratched. In violent, -whip-like movement, she pulled partly away, kicked out with strong, -supple legs. She succeeded in thrusting Sammy aside and scrambled -erect, floundering through the deep, spongy surface under her feet.</p> - -<p>Her panicky flight took her deeper into the barn. Abruptly one foot -plunged through a gap in the hay and she fell. Before she could rise -again, Sammy had reached her and was pressing her back with a savage -eagerness.</p> - -<p>She knew anger, then. Hatred and disgust swept her in a wave of -scalding fury, drowning all caution, all thought of hiding. The -virulence in her leaped out in a blast of mental force. Sammy shrilled -with pain and convulsively jerked back, and for a stunned instant he -stared at her, his pale eyes bulging and his mouth loose with almost -mindless fright.</p> - -<p>A glow radiated from her. It shone from her eyes, her skin, her hair. -It lay over her like a supernal cloak. She was suddenly something more -than a girl, something more than human.</p> - -<p>Sammy drew away from her in superstitious dread, trembling, his mouth -working futilely. "Monster!" he gasped at last. "You ... you're a -monster! <i>A monster!</i>"</p> - -<p>Staggering drunkenly with panic, he ran from the barn.</p> - -<p>Fran surged erect, starkly and coldly aware of a new and greater -danger. She listened for a moment to Sammy's hoarse cries, and knew -only one course lay open to her. She would have to flee. In what little -time remained she would have to put as much distance between the -Beckers and herself as was possible.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Far away across the rolling field she heard the baying of hounds. She -whirled to a stop within a grove of trees, listening. She breathed -rapidly and deeply from the steady pace she had maintained well into -the afternoon. Her dress had been shredded into rag-like strips by -clutching branches, and her legs and arms were scratched and bleeding.</p> - -<p>The distant baying held a note of eagerness. The dogs unmistakably were -hot on her scent. Behind them, she knew, would be men on horseback, -armed and merciless. Sammy, of course, had alerted Big Luke, who in -turn had rounded up a group of neighboring farmers, always hungry for -sport of any kind as an escape from their drab and near-primitive -existence.</p> - -<p>She knew her lead was swiftly being cut down. A kind of instinct had -taken her toward the hills, which in more pleasant times she had seen -bulking darkly against the horizon and had watched with the yearning -to know what lay beyond. Once they had promised adventure; now they -offered refuge. In the hills she hoped to find rough ground that would -make the use of horses impossible and hinder the progress of men and -dogs.</p> - -<p>Her pulses raced with the awareness of dwindling time and distance, but -she delayed a moment longer. Again, as she had done twice before, she -sent her mind reaching out in an urgent, pleading call.</p> - -<p>"Tom! Tom—can't you hear me? Where are you, Tom? Why don't you answer?"</p> - -<p>As never before, she needed the comfort of his presence, needed his -help. But he was not there. He was gone—gone as though he had never -been.</p> - -<p>She was alone. And in the distance the dogs bayed eagerly, drawing -nearer, always nearer.</p> - -<p>She drew a sobbing breath and turned to resume her flight....</p> - -<p>The hills towered around her in rocky grandeur. She stood on a narrow -ledge and looked down a long, broken slope toward a fringe of trees. -Shapes were moving there—the shapes of dogs and mounted men.</p> - -<p>Horses were useless now, but their riders would be fresh and their guns -would bring her within easy reach. She glanced despairingly at the -setting sun, aware that darkness was her only hope.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>A strength and endurance beyond the ordinarily human had brought her -this far, a power she had never known lay in her slender limbs. Time -and again it had seemed impossible that she could continue further, but -always she had drawn upon some new fount of energy. But even that, she -realized, had its limit.</p> - -<p>A faint shout mounted to her on the breeze. One of the men was -gesturing upward—and she knew she had been seen. In another instant a -gun sent crashing echoes through the stillness.</p> - -<p>The muzzles of other weapons were raising toward her as she slid around -a shoulder of rock and lost herself from view. She resumed her climb -upward, a slender, nymph-like figure, her gold-glinting hair tumbled -about her small, pale face, her dress little more than a handful of -tatters.</p> - -<p>The baying of dogs and the shouts of men followed her.</p> - -<p>She wound her way up rocky terraces and across stretches of gravelly -soil. She worked around huge masses of rock and through narrow V-shaped -clefts. Once she was able to tumble a precariously balanced boulder -into a passage behind her to win a slight gain of time. But the sounds -of pursuit seemed always closer.</p> - -<p>Shadows were spreading and deepening over the hills as she reached -a narrow, rushing stream among the rocks. She dropped gratefully to -drink, and the deliciously cold water seemed to flood her with new -strength. A little more time, she thought pleadingly. Just a little -more time. Soon it would be dark. And then—</p> - -<p>The touch of the water against her face brought a flash of inspiration. -If she were to walk through the stream, she might succeed in throwing -the dogs off the scent. She could hear them not far off, no longer so -eager or so loudly vocal, but still determined.</p> - -<p>The water was numbingly cold against her legs and stung where sharp -rocks had cut the flesh. Her path lay upward and her progress was -made slow and difficult by the tumbling rock surface over which the -stream flowed. But a current of triumph quickened in her. Ahead lay -darkness—and escape.</p> - -<p>The rocks under her feet were smooth and slippery from the constant -rush of water. She was thinking how easy it would be to fall when one -foot suddenly slid from a glass-like stone. Her ankle twisted with a -tearing sensation and a burst of pain, and outlines tilted crazily as -she plunged sidewise into the stream.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>For a moment she lay utterly still, paralyzed with pain and horror. -It couldn't have happened, she told herself frantically. Not now of -all times! But when she finally rose and tried to walk, it was to find -that the ankle would not support her weight. Sick with agony from her -experiment, she dragged herself to the edge of the stream and lay with -her face in her arms.</p> - -<p>It was all over, she knew. There would be no escape after all....</p> - -<p>Tom, she thought, then. <i>Tom!</i> I need you, Tom! <i>Why don't you answer?</i></p> - -<p>Silence—and the baying of dogs. Close, now, so horribly close.</p> - -<p>"<i>Fran!</i>"</p> - -<p>Her heart leaped incredulously. That familiar presence ... rushing -nearer across some awful gulf.</p> - -<p>"Fran, where are you? I know what has happened, but I couldn't -reach you before this. Your being discovered so suddenly forced me -to complete certain preparations ahead of schedule.... But now, -Fran—think carefully. Carefully. Picture the spot where you're -located, the route you took reaching it. Picture it, Fran."</p> - -<p>She squeezed her eyes shut, concentrating, thinking over in split -seconds what had taken so many hours of toil and effort, of suffering -and fear. Yet even as she thought, doubt and hopelessness weighted her. -How could Tom possibly reach her in time?</p> - -<p>"It <i>can</i> be done, Fran! Our abilities include the power to send -ourselves instantaneously through space—teleportation. But an -objective must be clearly visualized, or supplied by the mind of -another. Your thoughts made a path for me."</p> - -<p>A voice. Not a silent mental voice—but an audible voice that ended in -a soft chuckle.</p> - -<p>Unbelieving, she looked up. She saw a figure standing beside her and -knew instinctively that it was Tom. But—</p> - -<p>It wasn't Tom. Tom was an identity, a label for someone she had never -seen.</p> - -<p>This was—Davey.</p> - -<p><i>Davey!</i> The realization exploded in her, sent alternate waves of fire -and ice crashing against the walls of reason.</p> - -<p><i>Davey!</i> But a changed Davey, taller and straighter, with a firmness -in his face and a brightness in his eyes that had never been present -before. He was somehow majestic—god-like.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>Dazedly she realized that Davey was different, just as she was -different. Behind the outward dullness of Davey, so carefully hidden -that she had not suspected it, had been the flashing intelligence she -had known as Tom.</p> - -<p>He smiled again. "Yes, Fran. I'm a little surprised that you didn't -connect Tom with Davey before this. You should have remembered that -Davey was two years younger than Sammy—around the same age as -yourself—which meant Davey had been born after the atom raids, just as -you were, and was just as likely to have been ... changed. Maybe Davey -seemed a bit too empty—and he was, in more ways than one. He was never -all there mentally until now.</p> - -<p>"You see, Fran, an important part of Davey's mind was away most of -the time. He was in contact with other changed children—gathering -information, making plans for the future, developing his own abilities. -And he had to be careful not to let Sammy or Big Luke discover his -true nature. The difference between Davey and themselves was so great -that even family ties would have meant nothing. For that reason Davey -pretended to be a simple-minded tool who helped Sammy in teasing you. -But he wouldn't have done anything that meant actual harm."</p> - -<p>"But why did you call yourself Tom?" Fran asked. "Why didn't you tell -me you were different, too? We could have gone away—out of danger."</p> - -<p>Davey shook his head. "You needed time to develop your full abilities, -Fran, and that's done most quickly under pressure. If you knew Davey -was like yourself, that pressure would be gone. There was also the -chance that we might give each other away. And as for leaving, Fran, -for a long time there seemed no place at all we could go to where men -would not find us eventually. I and the others had to find an answer to -that."</p> - -<p>He hesitated, his gaze suddenly anxious. "It was really necessary for -you to think of me as Tom, Fran. I'm sorry I had to hurt you by being -secretive and on guard against you. And ... well, I hope you're not -disappointed that I turned out to be Davey."</p> - -<p>"No," she said quickly, smiling. For whether Tom or Davey, the kindness -and quiet strength, the comfort and peace she drew from them, was the -same.</p> - -<hr class="tb" /> - -<p>The clamor of the pursuing dogs had drawn close. Now their lithe -shapes came bounding out of the deepening shadows. They splashed across -the stream, leaped forward with triumphant buglings. Fangs were bared, -muscles gathering for the attack.</p> - -<p>A soft, pale light glowed from Davey. It touched the dogs, and they -plunged to a stop, frozen. And then they were yelping, tumbling over -each other in panic as they whirled to flee. The shadows swallowed them.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<div class="figcenter"> - <img src="images/illus.jpg" alt=""/> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p>The pale light touched Fran, touched her ankle—and the pain was gone. -Pain would always go like that, she knew.</p> - -<p>"Come," Davey said. "We're going to a place that has been waiting for -us, Fran—a place none of us ever thought of until a while ago.... -Follow the pattern in my mind. Carefully, now. Carefully."</p> - -<p>The voices of men, puzzled and angry. The footsteps of men, grating on -rock, rushing nearer.</p> - -<p>"Quick, Fran! Quick!"</p> - -<p>A bright thread that seemed to run endlessly through an awesome -darkness. The hills around her vanished, and she felt herself whirl -dizzily across an unimaginable void.</p> - -<p>Then—The city took shape around her, glowing and spectral in the dusk. -She and Davey stood on a deserted street, littered with wreckage. Ruin -lay everywhere, but many of the buildings still stood.</p> - -<p>Davey said softly, "The radiation here would kill ordinary people, -Fran. But it gave birth to us and is a part of us. We of the new race -draw life and not death from it. The cities are home to us, for only we -can live in them. And we will live in peace, safely and without being -disturbed. In the cities we will build again, more wisely and strongly -than those before us."</p> - -<p>A group of figures appeared up the street, tall boys and slender -girls. They hurried forward, laughing and dancing, and their friendly -welcoming thoughts reached out.</p> - -<p>"Home...." Fran murmured. She drew closer to Davey and felt a deep -content.</p> - -<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RUN, LITTLE MONSTER! ***</div> -<div style='text-align:left'> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will -be renamed. -</div> - -<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part -of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project -Gutenberg™ electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG™ -concept and trademark. 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