Brothers to Dragons by Charles Sheffield Read Free Book Online Page B

his head. He picked up the packet, ripped the paper open at one end, and shook the contents out onto the table. They were squares of old newspaper.
    Miss Magnolia frowned down at them. "What the hell's that?"
    "Trial run, my dear." The professor nodded at Job. "I could not risk a pickup with an unknown quantity. I sent him down to Sammy's, then called Sammy and said to make up a dummy test package. Job came back twenty minutes ago. Sammy told me the boy obeyed instructions exactly. Did you talk to anyone on the way there, Job, or on the way back?"
    "No, sir."
    Professor Buckler nodded. "How would you like to stay here?" He was speaking to Job, but his eyes remained on the woman. "Stay at Bracewell Mansion, I mean, and work for me and Miss Magnolia? We need someone reliable. Someone who is not afraid of the streets. Someone who can run errands, and pick up and deliver for us."
    "I would like that, sir. Very much." Job did not hesitate.
    "Then I want you to go back to the house with the red door—you remember the way?—and collect another package for me." The professor nodded at Miss Magnolia. "All right? The real thing, this time."
    "Hell, I don't know." She was scowling again. "Just one test, and no background—"
    "I checked background. And you were the one who insisted we had to have someone quick, to replace Poppy." He turned to Job. "Off you go now. I need to speak again to Miss Magnolia. Don't worry about your food—this is cold, anyway. There'll be plenty more when you get back, whenever you want it."
    Job hurried down the stairs and headed into the street. This time on the way to the red-doored house he felt no urge to speak to any vendors. He was shaking with excitement and anticipation. Twelve hours ago he had nowhere to go, nothing to do. Now he had a place to live, and a job.
    And plenty to eat. Whenever he wanted it.
    Of all the marvels at Bracewell Mansion, the idea that food might be available whenever you chose to eat was the one that Job found most incredible.

Chapter Five
    Paradise Lost
    December 31st. Darkness and snow. Falling on the last day of the year, and on Job's tenth birthday. He stood in the gentle down-drift of flakes on the front steps of Bracewell Mansion and knew he was in paradise. In the city's desert of misery, toil, and deprivation, he had stumbled on an oasis of ease and plenty.
    Every morning and afternoon he ran a couple of errands, picking up small packages and occasionally delivering one. He had new shoes and warm clothes for his travels through the city, and a smog mask for bad days. The professor, and even in a grudging way Miss Magnolia, had come to trust him, so they no longer worried that he might talk to the street people; and when Professor Buckler discovered Job's command of not only chachara-calle , but half a dozen other languages in use around the area, he encouraged the boy to chat, to listen, to look, and to become an extension of Buckler's own inquisitive eyes and ears.
    Little errands, twice a day. That was all that anyone seemed to expect of him. In return Job was allowed to eat and drink as much as he liked. He had his own bed in his own room, and the run of all the floors except the three that Miss Magnolia controlled and which Job was strictly forbidden to visit.
    "Women's territory," Buckler had said to him. "Paint and powder and underwear and female intimacies. Avoid them. You wouldn't want to go there if you could."
    He was wrong—Job was intrigued, by the very fact that they were off-limits. But he was not about to do anything that might jeopardize his position at the mansion, and he was scared of Miss Magnolia.
    The evening snowfall was continuing, in big, pure-white flakes. The steps of the mansion were completely covered. It was colder, but even cold was a pleasure to Job, knowing he could go in any time to closed-in warmth. Tonight was a big party night. He had been told to stay out of certain rooms while preparations were being made. But once the