someone to give me a chain to rattle as I walked through the halls.'
Wayness, with difficulty, restrained a grin. “That was a rude remark.”
“I thought so too. Three days later I called both families over on the pretext of asking for advice. I was changing my will, I told them, and could not decide whither too leave everything to the Naturalist Society, or to the Coalition for the Protection of the screech-owl and the Heron. There was silence in the room. Challis finally said, very tentatively, that surely other possibilities must exist. I said no doubt she was right and I'd give the matter some thought when I had the leisure to do so, and I rose to my feet. Moira asked me why I dangled a length of chain from my belt. I said that I liked to rattle it as I walked up and down the halls.' Pirie Tamm chuckled. “Varbert and Ussery have since become noticeably more polite. They expressed enthusiasm upon hearing of your arrival, and spoke of introducing you to suitable young people — whatever that means.”
'It means they’ll look me over and decide I'm still a frump and pair me off with a dog-breeder's assistant, or a very tall divinity student, or perhaps a junior underwriter from Ussery’s office. I will be asked how I liked Old Earth, and where, exactly, is Cadwal — of which none will have ever heard.”
Pirie Tamm gave a bark of laughter. “Not unless you have met a Society member, which is unlikely, since there are only eight left.”
“Surely there are nine, Uncle Pirie! Don’t forget to count me!'
“I counted you, never fear! But as of today we must omit Sir Regis Everard from the count, since he has died.”
“That is depressing news,' said Wayness.
“So it is.” Pirie Tamm looked over his shoulder. “Something dark stands back there in the shadows counting on its fingers.”
Wayness peered into the shadows. “You are giving me the shudders.'
“Ha hum,” said Pirie Tamm. “Indeed. Ah, well; we must learn to deal impersonally with the topic. Never forget, the institution provides a livelihood for multitudes of the living. Reckon them up! Priests, mystics, grave diggers, composers of odes, paeans and eulogies; also doctors, hangmen, mortuary attendants, tomb builders and tomb robbers — which prompts me to ask if you have come across the name Adrian Moncurio? Not yet? The name will surface sooner or later, since he was a former member. As you may recall, it was Moncurio who presented me with the beautiful amphorae.”
“A tomb robber is a good friend to have,“ said Wayness.
Two weeks went by. One evening Pirie Tamm entertained his daughters Moira and Challis, with their husbands Varbert and Ussery at dinner. For the occasion Wayness wore one of, her new costumes: a high-collared dark mulberry pullover blouse with a skirt of soft mulberry, dark blue and dark red stripes which clung to her hips, then hung in soft lines almost to her ankles. When she descended the stairs, Pirie Tamm was moved to exclaim: “Upon my soul, Wayness! You've become a full out and out three-masted smasher!'
Wayness kissed his cheek. 'You'll make me vain, Uncle Pirie.'
Pirie Tamm gave a snort of amusement. “I'm sure that you have no illusions about yourself.'
'I try to be practical,” said Wayness.
The guests arrived and were received at the door by Pirie Tamm. For a time there was a flurry of greetings and counter-greetings, then a new set of exclamations as Wayness was discovered. Moira and Challis gave her quick head-to-toe inspections, followed by a spate of enthusiastic comments: “My, how you have grown! Challis, would you have recognized the child?”
“It’s hard to think back to that funny little waif who found Earth such a strange and frightening place!'
Wayness smiled pensively. “Time works changes, for better or worse. You both seem far older than as I remember you.'
“They are relentless socialites and have led fast hard lives,” said Pirie Tamm.
“Father! What a thing to say!” cried Moira.
“Pay no attention, Wayness dear!' said Challis. “We ate quite ordinary upper class folk.”
Varbert and Ussery came forward and were introduced: Varbert, tall and lean as a pickerel with a beak of a nose, ash-blond hair, a receding chin; Ussery somewhat shorter, plump of cheek, soft of midriff, with a mellow voice and a sententious style of speaking. Varbert used the critical manner of a discriminating aesthete who could be satisfied with nothing less than perfection; Ussery somewhat more tolerant in his judgments, was both easy and jovial in his remarks. 'So this is the notable Wayness: equal parts tomboy and bookworm! I say, Varbert! She is not at all what I expected!'
“I try to avoid preconceptions,” said Varbert indifferently.
'Aha!” said Pirie Tamm. “That is the mark of a disciplined mind!'
'Quite so. I am thereby ready for anything, at all times and on all occasions, and who knows what might blow in from the outer worlds?'
Wayness said: 'Tonight, since it is a special occasion, I am wearing shoes.'
“What an odd girl!' murmured Varbert to Moira, just at the edge of audibility.
'Come,” said Pirie Tamm briskly. 'Let us all have a glass of sherry before dinner.”
The party trooped into the drawing room, where Agnes served sherry and where Wayness again became the focus of attention.
'Why are you visiting Earth this time?' asked Moira. “Is there any special reason?'
'I'm doing some research on the early Naturalist Society. I may also take a few trips here and there.'
'Alone?' demanded Challis, eyebrows raised. 'It's not wise for an inexperienced young girl to travel alone on Earth.'
Ussery said in reasonable tones: “She probably won’t be alone for very long.'
Challis chilled her over-jovial husband with a glance. “Molra is quite right. This is a wonderful old world, but for a fact we breed some strange creatures in the dark places.”
“I see them often,” said Pirie Tamm. “They hide in the Faculty Club at the University.”
Varbert felt impelled to remonstrate. “Come now, Pirie! I'm at the Faculty Club every day! We have a distinguished membership!”
Pirie Tamm shrugged. “I may be a trifle extreme in my views. My friend Adrian Moncurio is far more uncompromising. He asserts that all the honest folk are gone from Earth, leaving a residue of deviates, freaks, nincompoops, hyper-intellectuals and sweet-singers. '
“That's utter nonsense,' snapped Moira. “None of us fit these categories!”
Ussery spoke mischievously: “Speaking of music, are you performing at the lawn party?”
Moira spoke with dignity: 'I have been asked to participate in the program, yes. I shall do either ‘Requiem for a Dead Mermaid’ or 'Bird Songs of Yesteryear’.”
“I especially like your 'Bird Songs',“ said Challis. “The piece is ever so plaintive.”
'It seems that we are in for a treat,' said Ussery. “I believe I will have another taste of that excellent sherry. Challis, have you invited Wayness to the party?'
“Naturally, she is welcome to come. But there won’t be any young people on hand, and I doubt if she'll find much excitement, or anyone to interest her.'
'No matter,” said Wayness. “If I wanted excitement, or interesting company, I could have stayed home on Cadwal.”
“Really!” said Moira. “I thought Cadwal was a nature preserve, where the only activity was nursing sick animals.'
'You should visit Cadwal and see for yourself' said Wayness. “I think that you would be surprised.'
'No doubt, but I am not up to such adventures. I have little tolerance for discomfort and bad cooking and nasty insects.'
'I share your sentiments,” said Varbert. “One could make a nice philosophical case that the outer worlds were never intended for our habitancy, and that the Gaen Reach is an unnatural construct.”
Ussery gave a jocular laugh. “If nothing else, we Earthlings avoid a number of very picturesque diseases, such as Daniel's Number Three Dengue and the Big-eye, Shake-leg and Chang-chang.”
“Not to mention pirates and slavers and all the wild things that happen Beyond.'
