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Authors: Judith Michael
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word ripped from him. 'Goddamn bastards.' She followed his gaze to the wire cages where, a short time before, she had laughed at the scampering mice. But none scampered now. They lay in limp piles, a breeze from the broken window gently stirring tiieir flat white fur.
With a vicious kick Garth sent the empty tear-gas canister sailing through the air, scattering papers that lay in disarray on the floor. Glass crunched under his feet. 'A year of Bill's work, a year of experiments and study—' His voice rose. 'Remember those kids I told you about, bom with diseases we can't cure? They're at the end of a road that begins here. Do you see what this means? Do you see that tMs university thinks it's more important to clear out a bunch of students than to protect the work of its scientists?'
'I don't think you mean that,' Stephanie said quietly. She was trembling, not from the tear gas but from Garth's anguish, the depth of his caring. He knew what was important; he knew what he wanted and where he was going. His world was far larger than hers.
Kneeling on the floor, she began to pick up the scattered papers, putting them in a box she found cm the desk. Garth studied her bent head, the heavy auburn hair falling forward around her face. Wonderful, calm Stephanie. Wise beyond her years one minute; a young girl the next. Waiting. And who was he to think he could give her what she was waiting for? Beside her, he still felt like a bumpkin.
She stood up. 'I think I've cut myself.'
Blood ran down her hand. 'All that glass,' he said angrily. 'Let me see.'
She held out her hand like a child. Carefully he drew out a long sliver, found a gauze pad in a drawer and pressed it to the cut. She flinched. 'Something still in there/ he said.
It was her turn to look at his bent head as he rummaged in the drawer again and found tweezers. 'All the comforts,' he murmured. 'Always cut yourself in a biologist's lab.' He looked up and caught her watching him. 'Doyou know,' he said conversationally, 'you are probably the only woman in the world who can look beautiful after being tear-gassed? You have just passed the Andersen beauty test. We administer one canister of tear gas, and those whose beauty is only skin deep are transformed immediately into hiccuping toads, ^liy doyou laugh? I am tellingyou that I love you and I want to many you and I think I have found the splinter so if you will hold veiy still I will remove it.'
He bent over her hand and probed in the wound. 'Sorry,* he said when she flinched again. 'I would also like to take you home and make love to you, a desire I have had for several weeks in the less conducive atmosphere of Bryn Mawr. There. Done.' Without looking at her he reached for more gauze and wrapped her hand in a neat bandage. 'Boy Scout training in the wilds of Minnesota. What do you think?'
'About what?* she asked faintly.
'One or both of the above.'
She moved forward confidently, knowing already the shape his body would take in enclosing hers. 'Yes,' she said. 'To both of the above.'
In May the bushes on Bryn Mawr's campus bloom densely pink and white and the ground is a carpet of petals that drop as new ones appear. A hot sun bums away the April rains and birds cluster in ancient trees. It is the season of weddings.
In the courtyard of Thomas Library, Laura stood b^de Stephanie, casting a critical eye on the circular pond with its placid ducks, the neat rows of chairs beside it and the long tables set with food and drink. 'It's not so much a wedding,' she said thoughtfully, 'as a garden party. Didn't you want something more formal, darling?'
'I wanted this,' Stephanie said dreamily, watching her Mends and Garth's gathor in small groups, waiting for the ceremony to begin.
'Stand stilt both of you/ commanded Gordon and clicked his camera.
*And leaving school/ Laura went on. 'Are you sure, Stephanie?'
'Mother, if Garth is in Illinois, how can I stay here?'
*He could have waited two years.'
'No, he couldn't. The
With a vicious kick Garth sent the empty tear-gas canister sailing through the air, scattering papers that lay in disarray on the floor. Glass crunched under his feet. 'A year of Bill's work, a year of experiments and study—' His voice rose. 'Remember those kids I told you about, bom with diseases we can't cure? They're at the end of a road that begins here. Do you see what this means? Do you see that tMs university thinks it's more important to clear out a bunch of students than to protect the work of its scientists?'
'I don't think you mean that,' Stephanie said quietly. She was trembling, not from the tear gas but from Garth's anguish, the depth of his caring. He knew what was important; he knew what he wanted and where he was going. His world was far larger than hers.
Kneeling on the floor, she began to pick up the scattered papers, putting them in a box she found cm the desk. Garth studied her bent head, the heavy auburn hair falling forward around her face. Wonderful, calm Stephanie. Wise beyond her years one minute; a young girl the next. Waiting. And who was he to think he could give her what she was waiting for? Beside her, he still felt like a bumpkin.
She stood up. 'I think I've cut myself.'
Blood ran down her hand. 'All that glass,' he said angrily. 'Let me see.'
She held out her hand like a child. Carefully he drew out a long sliver, found a gauze pad in a drawer and pressed it to the cut. She flinched. 'Something still in there/ he said.
It was her turn to look at his bent head as he rummaged in the drawer again and found tweezers. 'All the comforts,' he murmured. 'Always cut yourself in a biologist's lab.' He looked up and caught her watching him. 'Doyou know,' he said conversationally, 'you are probably the only woman in the world who can look beautiful after being tear-gassed? You have just passed the Andersen beauty test. We administer one canister of tear gas, and those whose beauty is only skin deep are transformed immediately into hiccuping toads, ^liy doyou laugh? I am tellingyou that I love you and I want to many you and I think I have found the splinter so if you will hold veiy still I will remove it.'
He bent over her hand and probed in the wound. 'Sorry,* he said when she flinched again. 'I would also like to take you home and make love to you, a desire I have had for several weeks in the less conducive atmosphere of Bryn Mawr. There. Done.' Without looking at her he reached for more gauze and wrapped her hand in a neat bandage. 'Boy Scout training in the wilds of Minnesota. What do you think?'
'About what?* she asked faintly.
'One or both of the above.'
She moved forward confidently, knowing already the shape his body would take in enclosing hers. 'Yes,' she said. 'To both of the above.'
In May the bushes on Bryn Mawr's campus bloom densely pink and white and the ground is a carpet of petals that drop as new ones appear. A hot sun bums away the April rains and birds cluster in ancient trees. It is the season of weddings.
In the courtyard of Thomas Library, Laura stood b^de Stephanie, casting a critical eye on the circular pond with its placid ducks, the neat rows of chairs beside it and the long tables set with food and drink. 'It's not so much a wedding,' she said thoughtfully, 'as a garden party. Didn't you want something more formal, darling?'
'I wanted this,' Stephanie said dreamily, watching her Mends and Garth's gathor in small groups, waiting for the ceremony to begin.
'Stand stilt both of you/ commanded Gordon and clicked his camera.
*And leaving school/ Laura went on. 'Are you sure, Stephanie?'
'Mother, if Garth is in Illinois, how can I stay here?'
*He could have waited two years.'
'No, he couldn't. The
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