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.Amidst the bustle, no one asked Jon to do anything, and for the second timesince he d lived with the Foresters, he felt an outsider.Even Zoë, caught up with old friends,ignored him.So he found a chair in a dark corner, sat down, and watched what was going on.Eventually, a young man, who d passed back and forth several times, reappeared andcame over to where Jon was sitting. I m Tomas, he said, and you re Jon, I think the stranger who arrived this afternoonwith the southwest family.People have begun to gather for the evening meal, and I thought youmight like to join me.Jon agreed, and Tomas led him into down a corridor to the dining hall, where they joineda group of men and women already sitting at one of several long tables. You know, you re the first person who s not a Forester whom I ve ever seen here,Tomas said. Not that you re not welcome.You look like us, you know.No outsider would takeyou for a stranger.If I didn t know all five families by sight, I d have taken it for granted youbelonged here. You speak too quickly, an old man across the table interrupted, eyeing Jonsuspiciously. He may look like a Forester, but we know he s not one. Yes.I d heard that Peter and Helen had an alien with them.This will have to be broughtup at the Council. The woman who spoke didn t appear unfriendly, but she, too, studied Jonclosely.But then Helen appeared. I ve been looking for you, Jon.But I see you ve been making friends.She smiled at Tomas, patting him on the head.They were evidently on good terms. That s what I hoped you d do, she continued. Stay here now, but find us later.Eachfamily has its own sleeping quarters, and you ll want to stay in ours.Jon wished she d taken him with her, but he had no choice but to remain with Tomas.The dinner was long, and accompanied by much noise and laughter, with people moving fromone place to another in order to speak with friends.Tomas bombarded Jon with questions aboutthe Valley of Women, and Jon gave detailed accounts of his life there without saying anythingin particular about himself.The others listened as well, adding a few questions of their own.Butthen the topic changed and Jon and the valley were forgotten.Eventually, Tomas himself left,explaining that there was a girl at another table he wanted to see just a friend, he assured Jon.But by then, people were beginning to leave the room.Seeing Ethel in conversation with an older woman across the hall, he went over to her. There you are, Jon, she said. I need your help in arranging our quarters. This is a big building. Yes it has to be.Four months of the year we live together in the Mountain House, sothere has to be enough space to keep us from getting in each other s way.Of course not everynight is like this.In a few days we ll settle down.But after eight months in the forest, company isa welcome change, even though there are fewer of us than when I was a girl.You must have seenthe vacant places at dinner.And that s true for the Mountain House itself.Some sections havebeen closed off altogether, since no one needs them now.Zoë and David joined them and they went off together, down a long hallway. The others will find us in due time, Ethel said. I don t know where Karl and my sisterhave gotten to, but Papa is talking to his cousins, so there s no telling when he ll get to bed, andyou know John he has more friends than anyone else I know.The girls cluster around him likebees on a spring flower, she laughed, taken with the inventiveness of her simile. If I weren this aunt and if I were a few years younger I d probably be one of those bees myself.Each family had its own suite of rooms with a door to the central corridor and a stronger,barred door to the outside, but the latter didn t appear to be used, since a heavy chair stood infront of it.Perhaps it was intended for emergencies.The Foresters who d helped carry theirpacks into the building had left them next to the corridor door.Ethel handed the items one by oneto Jon or Zoë or David, instructing where they should go.Afterward, she told Jon he was to sharesleeping quarters with David and John a small room with a high, slot-like south window andthree beds built into the wall, one above the other.Karl, for some reason, had a room to himself perhaps a prerogative of being the oldest brother. Take your pick, David told him, so Jon chose the highest bed, where he placed hisbelongings on the shelf at its foot.David took the lowest bunk, but, having put his things away,left, saying he d be back in a bit.Jon lay down and was soon fast asleep.Waking briefly in thenight, he could hear the two brothers breathing, so they d managed to enter the room withoutwaking him.And when he woke the next morning, the two brothers were already up.Jon thrusthis head out to let them know he was awake. Since you have nothing to do today, feel free to stay in bed as long as you like, Johntold him. But if you want to bathe before breakfast, you ll need to come with us.The men usethe pools first, and then the women.It s a stupid custom, if you ask me
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