aboard Argos.
The Bloocher clan watched for a time. Then Greegry got bored and tried to climb a redwood, and Thonny began taking bets on when Killer would move again.
Junior had married Curdis Hann.
She was twenty then and twenty-two now. It was time and past time, and Curdis was a good man and a boyhood friend to all of them. Still, it made things awkward.
Two years had passed since the communal tractor failed. Most of Spiral Town thought of it that way, and blamed the driver and his ill luck. But the terrible machine had sent its lightning like an ancient stored flame through William Bloocher's nervous system. Dad was a helpless cripple now, his mind damaged too. And Jemmy, his oldest boy, was only nineteen.
So Junior had charge of the Bloocher farm, and Junior's husband must live with the Bloochers for now. They must call Junior Margery. Now the Margery, Margery Junior's mother, was Mom to everyone, even Dad, even Curdis. Curdis Hann became another brother, at twenty-one an older brother who didn't have property yet.
In a year Jemmy would be twenty. Curdis and Junior-Margery- would have their land, the New Hann. Then Bloocher land would be Jemmy's to farm.
They'd picked a plot not far beyond the last reach of Spiral Town's farms, where a stream ran down from the mountains. It was infested with Destiny weeds, of course. In the lazy days of midsummer they'd leased Varmint Killer from the Council.
Killer didn't require much supervision. It didn't take orders anymore. Jemmy had led it here by offering it Destiny prey wiggling in a patch of Destiny weeds. Now it just sat in the weeds and waited.
It would not harm life of Earth. It sensed Destiny life, somehow; Jemmy had never heard an explanation that made sense. It wasn't smart enough to see what a human being would: that Destiny life didn't have proper leaves. Photosynthesis went on in lacy extrusions from the branches, and on the branches and trunks themselves.
If a creature of Destiny moved, Killer killed it. When no prey surfaced for a time, it would kill some weeds, then move on.
It wasn't doing much right now.
Greegry had actually reached the top of the redwood. His perch didn't look comfortable, and Jemmy wondered if he was afraid to descend. There weren't any branches on that long, smooth trunk.
Greegry called, 'Hey!'
Jemmy waved languidly.
'There's a dust cloud way down at the end of the Road. Jemjemjemmy! Curdis! I think there's a caravan coming!'
'Great!' Curdis called.
Caravans came three times every two Destiny years: midsummer, first days of spring, last days of autumn. This was midsummer, idle time: neither sowing nor reaping season, a good time for a caravan to visit.
Killer's long tongue lashed into the bronze vegetation and out. Then Killer itself lurched into motion. 'Something must have come out of a burrow,' Thonny said softly. 'It wants the rest of the family.'
Jane called, 'Thonthonthonny! You owe me four checks!' Jane was only eight.
Greegry called, 'Curdis, there's someone on a bike. He's stopping near our bikes!'
'I'll go see,' Curdis said. He stood, and Junior joined him. Jemmy got up too, but Curdis gestured him back.
Killer was in the Destiny weeds. They heard the snap! snap! snap! of Killer's whip tentacles. Jane had crawled close to watch.
Thonny was probably right: it was trying to reach prey in a burrow. A whip could be trapped that way.
The whip sounds came less frequently. And here came Curdis, jogging. 'We've got to move Killer,' he panted. 'Jemmy, see if you can get him to follow the pop-hopper.'
Jemmy picked up the cage. The pop-hopper didn't look good. 'What's up?'
Margery was in range by now. 'That girl was from the Council,' she called to all. 'All fees forgiven if we take Varmint Killer to the Tavern before sunset. The caravan's come early.'
They could use the money! Jemmy moved toward the Destiny weeds. Killer had to be approached with respect. He stopped twelve meters away and lifted the cage into view. You never got closer than ten meters, because that was the range of its whips.
Killer was motionless.
So was the pop-hopper.
The wind would be out to sea, and that meant he was downwind. Jemmy began to circle, the cage held high. Dad swore that it didn't matter; Killer couldn't smell; it sensed Destiny life by some other means.
Curdis lost patience. 'We'll have to catch another one. Greegry, get down from there. Thonny, find a stick. You get to the far side of that clump-that clump, way away from Killer-and you beat your way through. Anything jumps up, whack it. You're trying to scare it this way, right? Greegry! Find a stick and go help Thonny. Jemjemjemmy?'
'It's dead, Curdis.'
'Dump it and stand by with the cage. Get your gloves on.'
Jemmy opened the cage and dumped the little shelled corpse and the withering weeds he'd put in with it. He began picking fresh yellow and bronze lace.
Killer wailed, a long, loud cry of warning. Then its whips began flailing around it, lashing the Destiny plants at root level. It slid slowly through the dark patch, lashing everything in its way. Though it was not moving straight toward Jemmy, Jemmy eased back.
The decrepit machine didn't take orders anymore. It sought Destiny weeds and Destiny animals. When they were not about, its tropism was weak and it went where it would.
A tree-sized Destiny plant balked it. Killer pulled in its whips until it had rolled past. Plant life was only part of Killer's job. A human- Curdis-would pull up the stumps Killer left behind.
'Hyah!' Curdis bellowed, and three boys leapt on something that tried to sprint out from under them. Jemmy ran toward them. Thonny trapped its beak in a bag. The others were sitting on the shell; its short legs scrabbled in futility.
The Destiny thing was a bit big for the cage. They pushed its bulk in with the butt of a stick. 'Good enough. It's jammed in, it can't crawl out,' Junior said.
Killer had slashed away most of the weed patch. It rested now. Curdis picked up the cage and walked toward it.
Killer began to move.
Curdis retreated. Killer wasn't fast. They moved down toward the Road, Curdis and the cage, the old machine following.
The heavy cage was passed to Jemmy, then to Junior, and back to Curdis before they'd crossed three and a half kilometers to Warkan's Tavern. Curdis had Thonny and Brenda making bike runs to get lemonade to the others.
The sun was still high, and Quicksilver a bright spark above it. The dust plume that must be an oncoming caravan was closer now, but not close. Other young adults were beginning to gather.
The Warkan place was the Bloochers' neighbor, down the Road on the seaward side. It was still part farm. The four Warkan kids and their parents ran the tavern in the evenings. They kept a distillery and a truck garden going, and an extensive orchard. They did less weeding than most, and parts of the Warkan farm were often overgrown with dark Destiny plants.
The Tavern's waiters and waitresses were in their mid- and late teens. They had to talk to each other, if only to coordinate their tasks. Jemmy had worked through two caravan visits. He hoped to again.
Land that was allowed to become infested was subject to confiscation by the Council. But the Warkans could afford to lease Varmint Killer frequently. Likely they would pay the Council a premium to get Killer to Warkan's Tavern by sunset, for the entertainment value.
Mom and Dad weren't as friendly to the Warkans as in time past. They preferred Harry's Bar, near the Hub, that catered to an older crowd.
But Warkan's Tavern felt like home.
Youngsters in the gathering crowd danced near Killer, or hovered well back and shouted advice, while the
