ng himself to do it. Orville's
visits grew shorter, and Orville's manner grew more irritated. Still, George had
no son.

One day, he waited until Joe was napping, and slipped out through the
iron-maiden elevator, right down into the utilidor.

The tram driver recognised him and took him out to the cabin. The last mile of
the utilidor was dusty and disused. George leaped off the tram and walked
quickly to the cabin, his heart racing. It had been so long since he'd seen Bill
and little Tom. He missed them terribly.

The little cabin was even smaller than George remembered it, and it looked sad,
sagging and ramshackle. He hesitated at the door, then, feeling a stranger,
knocked.

There was movement inside, but no voices, and the door stayed shut. George
opened the door.

It was a disaster. The kitchen cupboards were smashed in, the little table
knocked over and splintered, the bedding scattered and soiled. Deep shadows
collected in the corners.

"Bill?" George called, softly. A shadow stirred, an indistinct figure within its
depths.

"Bill, it's George. I missed you. I need to talk with you. I'm confused."

The shadow stirred again. George crept forward, peering, his old eyes
night-dimmed.

Bill huddled in the corner, wracked and wasted. He stared up at George through
eyes filmed with tears. He held up his hands. They had already begun to shape
themselves into hooves, but George could still see that both his thumbs were
gone. His ears were pointed and long.

"Oh, Bill," George said.

His brother let out a braying sob, and George saw he had no tongue.

#

Orville came looking for them the next morning.

"Where are the sons?" George asked him, while stroking the donkey's head in his
lap.

Orville smiled a slightly abashed smile. "I'm keeping them safe. I didn't think
that Bill was in any shape to take care of them."

George said, "I'll take care of them. Bring them here. Joe, too -- he's in the
room. I'll take care of them all."

Orville smiled his abashed smile again, then gave George an ironic salute. "Yes,
sir," he said. He patted Bill's haunch and smiled to himself.

George didn't know how to respond to irony, so he held his brother more tightly.
Eventually, Orville went away, and then came back a while after that. He drove
an electric cart. In the front seat, three sons bounced -- Tom, bright and
curious; another, strong and big; a third, whose little pot belly jiggled as he
talked and talked and