Davey started toward her, and she lifted a hand and he flinched back and then ran behind their mother, hiding in her tangle of wires and hoses. Marci gave the flashlight a series of hard cranks that splashed light across the washing machine and then turned to Alan. "That's your brother?" Alan nodded. "Well, I see why you didn't want me to come home with you, then." # Kurt was properly appreciative of Alan's bookcases and trophies, ran his fingertips over the wood, willingly accepted some iced mint tea sweetened with honey, and used a coaster without having to be asked. "A washing machine and a mountain," he said. "Yes," Alan said. "He kept a roof over our heads and she kept our clothes clean." "You've told that joke before, right?" Kurt's foot was bouncing, which made the chains on his pants and jacket jangle. "And now Davey's after us," Alan said. "I don't know why it's now. I don't know why Davey does *anything*. But he always hated me most of all." "So why did he snatch your brothers first?" "I think he wants me to sweat. He wants me scared, all the time. I'm the eldest. I'm the one who left the mountain. I'm the one who came first, and made all the connections with the outside world. They all looked to me to explain the world, but I never had any explanations that would suit Davey." "This is pretty weird," he said. Alan cocked his head at Kurt. He was about thirty, old for a punk, and had a kind of greasy sheen about him, like he didn't remember to wash often enough, despite his protestations about his cleanliness. But at thirty, he should have seen enough to let him know that the world was both weirder than he suspected and not so weird as certain mystically inclined people would like to believe. Arnold didn't like this moment of disclosure, didn't like dropping his carefully cultivated habit of hiding this, but he also couldn't help but feel relieved. A part of his mind nagged him, though, and told him that too much of this would waken the worry for his brothers from its narcotized slumber. "I've told other people, just a few. They didn't believe me. You don't have to. Why don't you think about it for a while?" "What are you going to do?" "I'm going to try to figure out how to find my brothers. I can't go underground like Davey can. I don't think I can, anyway. I never have. But Davey's so... *broken*... so small and twisted. He's not smart, but he's cunning and he's determined. I'm smarter than he is. So I'll try to find the smart way. I'll think about it, too." "Well, I've got to get ready to go diving," Kurt said. He stood up with a jangle. "Thanks for the iced tea, Adam." "It was nice to meet you, Kurt," Alan said, and shook his hand. #