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Show "^59. quietly on B i l l ' s knee. His hair had grown in in a xray that made him look like a l i t t l e man. There were only txro cans of milk l e f t ; he'd have to s t a r t thinning i t more xrith carrot xrater. Already L i t t l e Bill xras calling out e a r l i e r every morning for food. And the xrind s t i l l blew. Everywhere Bill touched he picked up black from the smoke. Bis hands had become raxr and cracked, washing up the d i r t and ashes just around the stove xrhere he cooked.. His soap xras holding out, though, and xrith i t and. the big pans of boiling xrater he could heat on the alxrays hot stove he had gradually again got Little B i l l ' s clothes clean; i t had been a bad time when he f i r st got up from his sick s p e l l . There'd been no clean diapers. Claf had just dropped the diapers outside the door and Sunny, apparently a f t e r Olaf had got him to s t a r t changing the baby, had just dropped them anywhere he took them off. Bill had rigged up a stretcher behind the stove, xrashed up the ones indoors f i r s t , and xras pouring boiling xrater on the ones outside, thaxring out the ones on the top of xrashing them up the pile/and spreading them out on the stretcher every night. Bill got up and xralked over slowly and laid Little Bill doxm in his bed. He'd gone to sleep in B i l l ' s arms. First time he'd ever done that and he looked at him carefully wondering if Ac x?as getting the sickness. |