Again and again since summer these sessions had been held. Mark had drawn a line of honey from an ant hill up the wall into the Andrew brothers' quarters, and the ants had followed. Mark had soaked every match he could get his hands on in a salt solution, dried them carefully, and restacked them in the boxes, and not one of them had lighted, and he had sat with a straight face and watched one after another of the older brothers try to get a fire. Mark had removed every nameplate from every door in the dormitories. He had tied the Patrick brothers' feet together as they slept and then yelled to them to come quickly.

"He's gone too far this time," Andrew said. "He stole the yellow Report to Hospital tags, and he's been sending dozens of women to the hospital to be tested for pregnancy. They're in a panic, our staff is overworked as it is, and no one has time to sort out this kind of insanity."

"We'll talk to him," Barry said.

"That's not good enough any longer! You've talked and talked. He promises not to do that particular thing again, and then does something worse. We can't live with this constant disruption!"

"Andrew, he had a series of terrible shocks last summer. And he's had too much responsibility for a boy his age. He feels a dreadful guilt over the deaths of all those children. It isn't unnatural for him to revert to childish behavior now. Give him time, he'll get over it."

"No!" Andrew said, standing up with a swift, furious motion. "No! No more time! What will it be next?" He glanced at his brother, who nodded. "We feel that we are his targets. Not you, not the others; we are. Why he feels this hostility toward me and my brothers I don't know, but it's here, and we don't want to have to worry about him constantly, wondering what he'll do next."

Barry stood up. "And I say I'll handle it."

For a moment Andrew faced him defiantly, then said, "Very well. But, Barry, it can't go on. It has to stop now."

"It will stop."

The younger brothers left, and Bruce sat down. "How?"

"I don't know how. It's his isolation. He can't talk this out with anyone, doesn't play with anyone… We have to force him to participate in those areas where the others would accept him."

Bruce agreed. "Like the Winona sisters' coming-of-age party next week."

Later that day Barry told Mark he was to attend the party. Mark had never been formally accepted into the adult community, and would not be honored by a party just for him.

He shook his head. "No, thank you, I'd rather not."

"I didn't invite you," Barry said grimly. "I'm ordering you to attend and to participate. Do you understand?"

Mark glanced at him quickly. "I understand, but I don't want to go."