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6. The Moral of a White Lie
The fact that neither Bob nor the Hunter could accept the face value of Daphne’s statement carried no weight at all; Je
The girl's indifference to the truth or falsehood of what she said was bothering the Hunter more, and more. The long average life of his species had made it a matter of common knowledge, many generations before, that even the most trivial lie is eventually revealed for what it is; it comes home to roost, because the false information leaves a trail through so many memories.
But Je
All the partners could do was wait, worry, and wonder. Perhaps the worst part was the impossibility of ignoring the chance that the child might be right- which would force extensive re-pla
In fact, the girls were back in little more than half an hour, though it naturally seemed much longer. Their voices, well before they arrived, indicated that the enthusiasm was still boiling, and Daphne cried out to her brother the moment they came in sight.
"It's still there! Je
"Throttle back, little one. There are at least four Maetas on the island. I suppose, since you talk about her house being 'on the way,' you mean Charlie Teroa's sister, but I didn't know she worked at the library."
"She does. Also for Dad, sometimes," Je
"But I still want to see this thing for myself," Bob said firmly, "before I go asking Maeta or anyone else where it came from. Je
"You went off too fast for me to point that out, Silly. Now I've got to go myself sometime-"
"Well, go ahead," retorted his sister. "We saw Andre coming away from there, and Je
"What?-Oh, I see-well, I don't-" Bob was completely lost for the moment, and even the Hunter had not expected Je
"If Andre was going toward the dock, Bob and I can meet him with the boat," Je
"You take Bob's bike back home, and then wait for us if you like library. We may be pretty late getting there, though, so if you want to do something else, don't wait too long."
"All right." The small brown figure with the almost-white pigtails disappeared up the path without argument. Je
"You get back in the boat. I have something to say to you." Her tone was clearly, even to the Hunter, expressive of extreme a
"No, of course not."
"Then why didn't you let me convince her that we'd found the thing, and send her off investigating Maeta's past or whatever else might amuse her and keep her out of trouble-and out of our hair?"
"You mean you know that isn't the casing?"
"How would I know? It does fit the description as far as I can tell, but I've never seen the real thing- as you had to go and point out to the kid. Why didn't you go along with my line?"
Bob answered with unusual speed and vehemence.
"Partly because you're right-I'm slow on the up-take. Partly because even if I'd seen what you were up to, or rather been sure of it, I'd still be worried about being around when she learned the truth. I don't want anyone, least of all any of my own family, to be in a position to call me a liar."
"Of course not." Je
Bob made no answer. The Hunter could have provided him with a full-length speech on the subject, but Je