know that the difference between good and evil is illusion. We also know not to confuse the two.”
“Goody.”
“The real truth is that you know that nobody cares at the Covenstead whether you’re a bad little girl or not.”
“Oh, no, they just get those condescending smiles on their faces—”
“They don’t care! Your bondage is your guilt. But it’s yours, Bonnie. You should take a lesson from Constance. She knows what it is to be free.”
“Bonnie’s bound, Connie’s free. Sounds like some kind of a spell to me.”
“I can’t get through to you. You just do not understand that the evil is the guilt.”
Bonnie sneered. “Drop the holier-than-thou condescension, will you? It bores me. I can be a damned good witch without your help, Clark.”
Shaking his head, he went into the animal room. “Let’s concentrate on the problem at hand. If we don’t come up with three grand worth of coils for the rhesus field, we are out of business.”
George followed Clark. Bonnie was preparing a likely-looking frog for its physical. “If we compress the observation time to forty-eight hours, we can be on-line with this beauty by Thursday night.”
“There’s yellow gik coming out of its anus, Bonnie dear,” Clark said.
“That’s A & D ointment. I just took its temperature.”
“Clark makes a good point, Bonnie. If we expanded the field we could go with a rhesus tomorrow morning. As soon as we get the coils.”
“I have no money. And we couldn’t pry another purchase order out of accounting with a crowbar. So let me finish getting little frogger here measured.”
“Bonnie, we can get two thousand dollars between the two of us. Surely you’re good for another thou.”
“Wrong.”
George went close to her. There were two ways to characterize this little witch: one, she was delicious and delightful; two, she was one stubborn lady. At night she swam through his senses. But only in fantasy. She wouldn’t take her old professor seriously. “Even in the animal room you smell like an angel.” She smiled. “Bonnie, you know what this means to me. I’m past fifty, darling.”
“I’m well aware of that.”
“Aside from making me as sexually interesting to you as it so obviously does, it means that I will die a sad old man if I don’t succeed with this experiment. You’re young, you have your life ahead of you. This is my last throw, honey. After this, sunset and bye-bye.”
She put the frog back into its terrarium. “George Walker, you are a hypocrite, a charmer, and a bastard. If I gave you a thousand, it would be out of other people’s money. Their happiness money. And they would be so mad if they couldn’t get high. Mad at me.”
“What do I have to do, go down on bended knee?” Even as he spoke, his eyes went to the two rhesus monkeys in their big cage. They stared back at him, sullen and bored. He could sense their hatred.
“It might be fun to watch but it wouldn’t help.”
George went over to the rhesus cage. He was tempted to make a face back at the ugly beasts. “How much smaller is Tess than Gort?”
“Tess is eighteen pounds. Gort’s twenty-two.”
“I mean in body mass?”
“Tess is 56.75 cubic centimeters of monkey. She’s approximately 77 percent of Gort’s mass. What are you getting at?”
“Tess might fit into a three-foot field. That’s only nine more coils. You wouldn’t have to give any money.”
“Good. My customers would kill me very, very slowly if I stole their money. And that’s what it would amount to. I’ve got about sixty dollars of my own.”
George put his hands on her trim hips. She did not move away and she did not respond. She simply became very still. Such plans he had for this slip of a girl! If the rhesus phase succeeded, she was next. Dear little Bonnie was going to be the first person to die and live to tell about it. Assuming he could convince her. Assuming the mere suggestion didn’t send her running for the nearest bus depot.
“Goody.”
“The real truth is that you know that nobody cares at the Covenstead whether you’re a bad little girl or not.”
“Oh, no, they just get those condescending smiles on their faces—”
“They don’t care! Your bondage is your guilt. But it’s yours, Bonnie. You should take a lesson from Constance. She knows what it is to be free.”
“Bonnie’s bound, Connie’s free. Sounds like some kind of a spell to me.”
“I can’t get through to you. You just do not understand that the evil is the guilt.”
Bonnie sneered. “Drop the holier-than-thou condescension, will you? It bores me. I can be a damned good witch without your help, Clark.”
Shaking his head, he went into the animal room. “Let’s concentrate on the problem at hand. If we don’t come up with three grand worth of coils for the rhesus field, we are out of business.”
George followed Clark. Bonnie was preparing a likely-looking frog for its physical. “If we compress the observation time to forty-eight hours, we can be on-line with this beauty by Thursday night.”
“There’s yellow gik coming out of its anus, Bonnie dear,” Clark said.
“That’s A & D ointment. I just took its temperature.”
“Clark makes a good point, Bonnie. If we expanded the field we could go with a rhesus tomorrow morning. As soon as we get the coils.”
“I have no money. And we couldn’t pry another purchase order out of accounting with a crowbar. So let me finish getting little frogger here measured.”
“Bonnie, we can get two thousand dollars between the two of us. Surely you’re good for another thou.”
“Wrong.”
George went close to her. There were two ways to characterize this little witch: one, she was delicious and delightful; two, she was one stubborn lady. At night she swam through his senses. But only in fantasy. She wouldn’t take her old professor seriously. “Even in the animal room you smell like an angel.” She smiled. “Bonnie, you know what this means to me. I’m past fifty, darling.”
“I’m well aware of that.”
“Aside from making me as sexually interesting to you as it so obviously does, it means that I will die a sad old man if I don’t succeed with this experiment. You’re young, you have your life ahead of you. This is my last throw, honey. After this, sunset and bye-bye.”
She put the frog back into its terrarium. “George Walker, you are a hypocrite, a charmer, and a bastard. If I gave you a thousand, it would be out of other people’s money. Their happiness money. And they would be so mad if they couldn’t get high. Mad at me.”
“What do I have to do, go down on bended knee?” Even as he spoke, his eyes went to the two rhesus monkeys in their big cage. They stared back at him, sullen and bored. He could sense their hatred.
“It might be fun to watch but it wouldn’t help.”
George went over to the rhesus cage. He was tempted to make a face back at the ugly beasts. “How much smaller is Tess than Gort?”
“Tess is eighteen pounds. Gort’s twenty-two.”
“I mean in body mass?”
“Tess is 56.75 cubic centimeters of monkey. She’s approximately 77 percent of Gort’s mass. What are you getting at?”
“Tess might fit into a three-foot field. That’s only nine more coils. You wouldn’t have to give any money.”
“Good. My customers would kill me very, very slowly if I stole their money. And that’s what it would amount to. I’ve got about sixty dollars of my own.”
George put his hands on her trim hips. She did not move away and she did not respond. She simply became very still. Such plans he had for this slip of a girl! If the rhesus phase succeeded, she was next. Dear little Bonnie was going to be the first person to die and live to tell about it. Assuming he could convince her. Assuming the mere suggestion didn’t send her running for the nearest bus depot.
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