Learning to Spy Read Online Free PDF Page B

come down quickly so we could hurry up and finish. She wasn’t the one I’d planned to talk to, and I wasn’t good with fast changes.
    “He made me do a test run,” I said. “Then he let me help him.”
    “What was your test?” She watched me working the cow.
    I wondered why she was being so friendly, or if I should tell her the extent of my knowledge. I figured I’d be using it before long anyway, so I let my guard down a little.
    “I had to prove I wasn’t afraid to examine a pregnant cow.”
    Her pale brows pulled together. “How does that prove anything?”
    “Well, most people don’t take to reaching inside a cow’s butt.”
    The princess or whatever she was froze like I’d squirted fresh milk in her face. Her jaw dropped, but she closed it just as fast. Then her gaze turned to the large animal before her.
    “You reached inside... But why? Why not perform a blood test?”
    “Blood tests are expensive and they take too long. Besides, farmers’ve been sticking their arms up cows’ backsides since, well, since as long as I’ve known about it.”
    She stared back at me as if I’d sprouted a second head.
    “Anyway, palpation is really better than blood tests,” I continued without breaking my milking rhythm. “It’s easy once you get the hang of it. The organs are all right there together, and anyone, regardless of size, can palpate a dairy cow.”
    My voice sounded like the old doctor’s as I supplied that extra bit of knowledge, and I had to swallow the tightness in my throat. Dr. Green had always treated our times together like he was a professor, and I was his veterinary student in training. Now I didn’t even know where he was.
    Cato didn’t speak. Instead she pulled out a stool and began poking at her cow’s udders. I’d just finished up, and I sat watching as she leaned forward and grabbed a teat. Then she started squeezing it like it was a water balloon.
    “You’re not going to get a thing that way,” I said, standing and going to her. “Here.”
    I put my hand over hers. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, but her hands were warm just like mine. Seeing both our hands together, I couldn’t tell that she was in any way different from me, that she was a non-human or whatever.
    “Feel the movement?” I asked.
    She studied my method and soon her cow was letting down.
    “I’m doing it!”
    I straightened up and backed away letting her take over. I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to respond to this display of pride, but it looked definitely human to me. Aliens, my butt. It was very much like her reunion with her brother, and the conversation I’d just overheard. I was anxious to get back to my bunk and replay that one in my mind. What was he doing in the woods? And why was he in the desert? Whatever the reason, he sure wanted to go back there.
    “I’ll get to work on the other one,” I said.
    “Wait,” she called. “Do you mind if I call you Prentiss?”
    I glanced back and shook my head.
    “Thank you, Prentiss. You’re not like the others. I appreciate your teaching me and letting me help you.”
    What was I supposed to say to that ? I didn’t ask to be here, and I was pretty sure I didn’t have a choice when it came to what I was going to do or what she as going to do. Still, she sat there looking at me with those raindrop-blue eyes as if I’d just given her some precious gift. The gift of working like a farm hand.
    I nodded and quietly milked the third cow. Then I joined her at the second churn.
    “I’ll take care of the rest,” she said. “You can return to your quarters and prepare for sleep.”
    “Thanks,” I said, handing her my bucket.
    How much longer would this go on? And why was she acting like she was just as stuck as I was? None of it made sense. I had to get answers.

Chapter 9
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    T he next day we got a holiday. I didn’t know if it was Sunday or how many days had passed since I’d opened my eyes in this place, but it felt