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small part of the Conspiracy, though of course that did not justify the rest of it.
"And?" the Adult inquired in that uncomfortably prodding way they had.
"And about eating the bad stuff-it's supposed I-.o be nutritious," Jenny continued. "Candy-it tastes good,
but after a while it can pall, and maybe it is not as good for the body as it seems." She was evidently
remembering their tummy aches of last night. "So the adults try to keep children from getting into
trouble by eating too much of the wrong things. And about going to bed early. I did feel better when I
got a good night's sleep, instead of when I didn't get enough because of staying up late pillow-fighting."
She looked apologetically at the other two. "And about not knowing how to summon the stork-I suppose
there could be a problem if children started doing it, because they wouldn't be ready to take care of
babies. I mean, it's fun seeing a baby once in a while, but I wouldn't want to have to take care of it all the
time. And suppose a child got a baby, just for fun, and then got tired of it? That would be pretty bad for
the baby."
Che was amazed. Jenny's alien upbringing in the World of Two Moons must be telling; she had actually
made it seem as if there were a sensible reason for the Conspiracy.
Still "And the panties?" the Adult prodded.
"Well, I really don't know about them, but maybe they have something to do with the stork. " Jenny
paused, trying to work it out. "It seems that adults maybe really like summoning the stork, and they feel
more like it if they see panties, and maybe children would feel like it too if they saw panties, and they
might stumble onto the secret, so they have to be protected from that too."
"That will do, Jennifer." Again that contemptuous dismissal. The gaze swung across to pin Che again.
"Identify yourself."
"I am Che Centaur, of the Winged Monsters."
"Do you agree with the Adult Conspiracy?"
Che knew that the correct answer was Yes. But he was tired of being browbeaten by adult attitudes. It
was time to make a stand. So he ventured into dangerous territory.
"No."
"Elucidate."
If the Adult thought he wouldn't know the word, she would be disappointed. She wanted his reasons?
Well, he might as well get into a lot of trouble, as long as he was traveling that route. "Maybe the adults
think they have a reason for keeping things from children and making them do things for their own
good. But I think that's the wrong way to do it. Children should get good information and good
experience, so they can grow to be responsible when they finally have to be adults. If saying a bad word
starts a fire, then they should be warned about that, so they know not to set the house afire. And if too
much candy makes a bellyache, they should be told, and allowed to try it, and after they see that it's true,
they won't do it again.
If not getting enough sleep makes children feel bad the next day, they should be allowed to try it until
they find out how much sleep is best. They don't need to have adults deciding for them all the time."
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He paused, afraid the Adult was going to lift her monstrous foot and squish him to nothing. But she
merely sat there listening. "And?" she prompted.
"And about summoning the stork-well, I think that even a small child wouldn't want to hurt a baby. So if
children were taught how to summon the stork, but also told how important it is to take care of the
babies, and that they would have to do that instead of going out to play whenever they wanted to, I think
most of them wouldn't do it. The few who did do it-well, my sire says that folk do have to take the
consequences of their actions, and I think that's fair for children too. So I think children should be
educated completely, about both actions and consequences, and then allowed to do what they wish. I
don't think any Adult Conspiracy is needed-if adults take the trouble to teach their children properly."
He stopped talking, waiting for the dread verdict that he had answered incorrectly, so that they would
not be allowed to see the Good Magician. Yet it wasn't in him to falsify; it wasn't the centaur way.
The Adult's gaze scared across the two girls. "Do you agree?"
Gwenny and Jenny exchanged yet another glance. they fidgeted.
"Well?" the Adult demanded in that warning tone.
"Well, yes, I guess," Gwenny said with understandable reluctance.
"You actually approve of giving such information to children?" the Adult said with that this-is-your-last-
chance attitude.
"Yes," Jenny agreed. "I don't care what you think, he's making sense."
"And you too, Gwendolyn?" It was the verge of doom.
"Yes!" Gwenny said recklessly.
"And you are prepared to face the consequences of your attitude?" The gaze managed to transfix all
three of them simultaneously.
They were in too deep to escape. They nodded with foolhardy bravery.
"Then you are about to join the Adult Conspiracy," the Adult said. She reached somewhere far away and
brought back two dolls. Each was the size of one of the girls. She set them down on the floor before the
three of them. "Show me how these figures would summon the stork."
"But we don't know that!" Gwenny protested.
"Don't you?"
"Of course we don't!" Jenny said.
"Are you sure?"
The girls looked wildly at Che. "I think she wants us to figure it out," he said. "It's our punishment for
agreeing that we don't agree with the Adult Conspiracy. My punishment, really, only since you support
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me, you must share it."
They glanced up at the Adult, but she remained impassive. Somehow that was more frightening than
whatever they had expected from her. They glanced at the dolls, which were male and female.
"Well, if I want to be chief, I'd better learn how to figure things out," Gwenny decided. "I think I do
have half a hint about it-maybe I mean half a brother. My little brother Gobble Goblin is-well, my father
Gouty got together with a woman who wasn't my mother to summon the stork, and the stork brought
Gobble. So from that I know that folk don't have to be married to do it; they can do it even when they're
not married, and when it's wrong.
They don't have to be in love, either; my father never loved anyone. Just so long as there's a male and a
female.
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