"Oh, no, you don't! I'm not an invalid yet."
Ricky glanced at Rupert and then left. Val reached for his shirt
defiantly. But his brother raised no objection. The painful stiffness
Val had felt at first wore off and he was able to move without feeling
as if each muscle were tied in cramping knots.
"May I pay Jeems a visit?" he asked as they went out into the hall.
Rupert nodded toward a door across the corridor.
"In there. He's a stubborn piece of goods. Reminds me of you at times.
If he'd ever get rid of that scowl of his, he'd be even more like you.
He warms to Ricky, but you'd think I was a Chinese torturer the way he
acts when I go in." There was a shade of irritation in Rupert's voice.
"Maybe he's afraid of you."
"But what for?" Rupert stared at the boy in open surprise.
"Well, you do have rather a commanding air at times," Val countered. If
Ricky had told Rupert nothing of Jeems' confession, he wasn't going to.
"So that's what you really think of me!" observed Rupert. "Go reason
with that wildcat of yours if you want to. I'm beginning to believe that
you are two of a kind." He turned abruptly down the hall.
Val opened the door of the bedroom. The sunlight was fading fast and
already the corners of the large room were filled with the gray of dusk.
But light from the windows swept full across the bed and its occupant.
Val hobbled stiffly toward it.
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