a july haze hung over the valley, dimming outlines; heat shimmered the air above the fields. it was a day without hard edges. the breeze that moved through the valley was soft and warm. the corn was luxuriant, higher than a man’s head. the wheat was golden brown, responsive to any change in the wind; the entire field moved at once, as if it were a single organism rippling a muscle, relieving tension perhaps. beyond the corn the land broke and tumbled down to meet the river, which looked smooth and unmoving. the river was crystal clear, but from the second floor of the hospital, by a trick of the haze-filtered light, the water became rust-colored and solid, metal dulled by neglect.

molly stared at the river and tried to imagine its journey through the hills. she let her gaze drift back toward the dock and the boat there, but trees concealed it from the upper floor of the hospital. there was a film of sweat on her face and neck. she lifted her hair from the back of her neck where some of it clung, plastered to her skin.

“nervous?” miriam slipped her arm about molly’s waist.

molly rested her head against miriam’s cheek for a second, then straightened again. “i might be.”

“i am,” miriam said.

“me too,” martha said, and she moved to the window also, and put her arm through molly’s. “i wish they hadn’t chosen us.”

molly nodded. “but it won’t be for so long.” martha’s body was hot against her, and she turned from the window. the apartment had been made from three adjoining hospital rooms with the partitions removed; it was long and narrow with six windows, and not one of them was admitting any breeze that late afternoon. six cots lined the walls; they were narrow, white, austere.

“let me do your hair now,” melissa called from the far end of the room. she had been combing and braiding her own hair for the past half hour, and she turned with a flourish. dressed in a short white tunic with a red sash, corn-straw sandals on her feet, she looked cool and lovely. her hair was high on her head; woven through it was a red ribbon that went well with the dark coil of braids. the miriam sisters were inventive and artistic, the style setters, and this was melissa’s newest creation, which would be copied by the other sisters before the end of the week.

martha laughed delightedly and sat down and watched melissa’s skillful fingers start to arrange her hair. an hour later when they left their room, walking two by two, they moved like a single organism and looked as alike as the stalks of wheat.

other small groups were starting to converge on the auditorium. the louisa sisters waved and smiled; a group of ralph brothers swept past in a run, their long hair held back by braided bands, indian fashion; the nora sisters stepped aside and let miriam’s group pass. they looked awed and very respectful. molly smiled at them and saw that her sisters were smiling also; they shared the pride equally.

as they turned onto the broader path that led to the auditorium steps, they saw several of the breeders peeking at them over the top of a rose hedge. the faces ducked out of sight, and the sisters turned as one, ignoring them, forgetting them instantly. there were the barry brothers, molly thought, and tried to pick out ben. six little claras ran toward them, stopped abruptly, and stared at the miriam sisters until they went up the stairs and into the auditorium.

the party was held in the new auditorium, where the chairs had been replaced by long tables that were being laden with delicacies usually served only at the annual celebration days: the day of the first born; founding day; the day of the flood . . . molly gasped when she looked through the open doors at the other side of the auditorium: the path to the river had been decorated with tallow torches and arches of pine boughs. another ceremony would take place at dockside, after the feast. now music filled the auditorium and sisters and brothers danced at the far end and children scampered among them, playing their own games that appeared governed by random rules. molly saw her smaller sisters intent on pursuit, and she smiled. ten years ago that could have been she, and miri, melissa, meg, and martha. and miriam would have been somewhere else, having been eluded again, wringing her hands in frustration or stamping her foot in anger that her little sisters were not behaving properly. two years older than they, she carried her responsibility heavily.

most of the women wore white tunics with gaudy sashes, and only the susan sisters had chosen to dress in skirts that swept the floor as they whirled about, now joined hand to hand, now apart, like a flower opening and closing. the men wore tunics, longer and cut more severely than the women’s, and had knotted cords from which hung leather pouches, each one decorated with the symbol of the family of brothers to whom the wearer belonged. here a stag head, there a coiled snake, or a bird in flight, or a tall pine tree . . .

the jeremy brothers had worked out an intricate dance, more subdued than the flower dance, but requiring concentration and endurance. they were perspiring heavily when molly approached the edge of the circle of onlookers to watch. there were six jeremy brothers, and jeremy was only two years older than the rest; there was no discernible difference between any of them. molly couldn’t tell in the confusion of their twisting bodies which one was jed, who would be one of her fellow travelers down the river of metal.

the music changed, and molly and her sisters swept out to the floor. dusk turned to night and the electric lights came on, the bulbs now covered with globes of blue, yellow, red, green. the music grew louder and more and more dancers spun around, while other groups of brothers and sisters lined up at the festive tables. the little kirby brothers started to cry in unison, and someone took them away to be put to bed. the little miriam sisters were quiet now, mouselike against a wall, eating cakes with their fingers; all had chosen pink cake with pink icing, which stuck to their fingers, their cheeks, their chins. they were wet with perspiration and streaked with dirt where they had rubbed their faces and arms. one of them was barefoot.

“look at them!” miri cried.

“they’ll outgrow it,” miriam said, and for a moment molly felt a stab of something she could not identify. then the miriam sisters rushed off in a group to the tables and consulted and disagreed on what to choose and finally ended up with plates filled with identical tidbits: lamb kebobs and sausage-filled pastries, sweet-potato sticks glazed with honey, whole green beans, bright and glistening with a vinegar sauce, tiny steaming biscuits.

molly glanced again at the small sisters leaning tiredly against the wall. no more pink cakes with pink icing, she thought sadly. one of the little sisters smiled shyly at her and she smiled back, and then went with the others to find a seat, to feast and await the ceremonies.

roger, the eldest of them all, was the master of ceremonies. he said, “a toast to our brothers and our sister who will venture forth at dawn to find—not new lands to conquer, nor adventures to prove their courage, nor riches of gold or silver, but rather that most priceless discovery of all—information. information we all need, information that will make it possible for us to erupt into a thousand blooms, a million! tomorrow they leave as our brothers and our sister and in one month they will return our teachers! jed! ben! harvey! thomas! lewis! molly! come forward and let us toast you and the most priceless gift you will bring to us, your family!”

molly felt her cheeks burn with pleasure as she made her way through the crowd, now standing and applauding wildly. at the front of the room she joined the others on stage and waited for the cheering and applause to die, and she saw her little sisters standing on chairs, clapping with abandon, their faces red, smeary—they were going to cry, she thought. they couldn’t contain such excitement much longer.

“and now,” roger said, “for each of you we have a gift . . .”

molly’s gift was a waterproof bag to carry her sketch pads and pencils and pens in. it was the first time she had ever owned something not shared by her sisters, something uniquely hers. she felt tears welling, and could not hear the rest of the ceremony, was not aware of the other gifts, and presently they were being led to the dock and the final surprise—a pennant flying from the mast of the small boat that would carry them to washington. the pennant was the color of the midsummer sky, deep blue so clear that in daylight it would blend into the sky perfectly, and in the middle of it, a diagonal lightning blaze of gleaming silver. a canopy covered the forward section of the boat, and it too was blue and silver.

there was another toast, wine that tingled and made her head light, and then another, and now roger was laughing as he said, “the party will continue, but our brave explorers will retire.” jed shook his head, and roger laughed again. “you have no choice, my brother. your last toast was doctored, and within an hour you will be sound asleep, so you will start your trip fresh and rested. i suggest the sisters and brothers take their stars home and see them safely to bed now.”

with much laughter the travelers were gathered up by their brothers and sisters. molly protested feebly as her sisters half led, half carried her back to their room.

“i’ll repack your things,” miriam said, examining the gift bag. “how beautiful this is! look, it is all carved . . .”

they undressed her and brushed her hair, and miri caressed her back and rubbed her shoulders, and melissa brushed fairy kisses on her neck as she unwound the ribbon from her hair.

molly felt a pleasant inertia envelop her and she could only smile and sigh as her sisters prepared her for bed, and then two of them unrolled the floor mat and waited there as the others guided her to it, all of them laughing at her unsteady walk, the way she almost buckled at the knees, and her attempts to keep her eyes open. on the mat they caressed and delighted her until she floated away from them entirely, and then they carried her to her own cot and pulled the thin summer blanket over her, and miri bent over and kissed her eyelids tenderly.