miracles? They thought they were pretty damn' smart, didn't they? The Bryd decided it had better look in on Marillyn. It found her in a glassed-in porch of the sanatorium, with her reclining chair facing south, and the sun pouring down through the magnolias. The Bryd liked this. Everything was restful and peaceful and pleasant— But something was wrong as hell in Marillyn's mind. She had a small bottle of something in one hand under the light blanket, and she was lying back running over everything in her mind. Dale loved Ann and Ann loved Dale. But they couldn't get married because of Dale's exaggerated sense of duty. Marillyn didn't want to keep them apart. She could adjust herself to a very pleasant life in a place like this, but Dale wouldn't let her. As fast as he could save some money, he'd dream up some new scheme to get her cured. Well, Marillyn reasoned, she wasn't of any use to anybody. Why should she stay in Dale's way? The Bryd was puzzled. What did she think she could do? She had the little bottle under the blanket, she was thinking. A few drops of that and—the Bryd was positively flabbergasted. The girl was getting ready to kill herself. The Bryd probed into her mind for an instant and discovered that she wasn't being a martyr and had no complexes; she was just trying to straighten things out for Dale and Ann. Oh, beans, thought the Bryd. If humans weren't the dumbest beings ever! It watched Marillyn raise the bottle to her lips. It simultaneously took the form of a nurse, standing there at Marillyn's side, and Marillyn gasped and said, "Oh, nurse, I didn't know you were there." "I am," said the Bryd in its best contralto voice. "Did you wish something, Miss?" The hand with the bottle of poison fell back under the blanket. "No, I didn't call." "May I move your chair out of the sun, Miss?" "It isn't in the sun," Marillyn said. The Bryd raised its eyebrows. It did some quick work on the wind, and there was the sun, shining steadily through an opening in the magnolia trees.
Prev.
Back
Top