lady acrobat from the wooden circus. The namelessinfant remained neglected in its cradle in the nursery, watched overby a faceless nurse. He did not see the sister doll at first glance,but a second look revealed that she stood in the Henry dolls room,peeking around the high headboard of the bed. Was Dollhouse Coraspying on Dollhouse Henry and his slave? Henry felt his face tinglewith hot prickles at the very thought.Martinwas also interested in what Dollhouse Cora was up to. Is that dolla little you, Miss?Yes,Cora said firmly. Im watching you sleep.Oh.Well, Miss. Martin flushed, too, and seemed quite flustered.Thats a peculiar hobby, Miss, I must say.Nursesays it isnt nice, Cora said blithely. Shesays its snooping, but Ithink its just curiosity. She wants me to play something else.Ifyou did that in real life, Cora, it would be very rude, Henrypointed out, itching with the urge to remove the sister doll from theboy dolls room. It would make me very angry.Well,its only pretend, Henry, Cora reminded him, unconcerned.Nurseshut the window. If Little Miss keeps her coat buttoned up, Imsure well be fine, Sir.Corawhirled to face Nurse, her expression delighted and eager. We cango?Yes,Miss. Do you want to wear your green coat or your red cape?Corathought about it a moment. Green coat, please.WhileNurse got Cora into her coat, Henry and Martin stood before thedollhouse, looking at their little china effigies.Ireally want to get that sister doll out of there, Henry murmured.Do you think I could just? He reached for the china girl,but Martin stayed his hand.Youdbest not, Martin whispered. It will only upset her, Sir. Shedoesnt mean anything by it, after all. Its just an innocentgame.Idont like it, Henry grumped. Its not thatinnocent. While Cora might not know exactly what she was playingat, he thought her instincts were accurate: at some point, perhaps afew years in the future, shed love to watch Martin in bed.Wereready, Sir, Nurse called, and Henry turned reluctantly away fromthe dollhouse, leaving Dollhouse Cora in her voyeuristic position.Theywalked to the park playing the lift-and-swing game, and Henry madehimself play a little longer than he cared to do for Coras sake,though he still called an end to it long before she was ready toquit.Doesntit make your shoulders hurt? he asked, wanting to convince herthat she was better off being through with the game.Itdoesnt matter, she insisted. Its so much fun that I dontcare.Thissounded like Martins arguments in favor of any number of thingsthat were surely painful, and just that thought made him blush, butthen that thought in relation to his little sister was utterlyshameful, and he turned a mortified red, nearly purple.Areyou all right, Sir? Nurse put her hand on Henrys arm and peeredinto his beet-colored face with a worried expression. You suddenlygot so very red.Imfine, Henry insisted, shaking his head, willing everyone to lookelsewhere. Martin grinned at him over the top of Coras head.Theymade their leisurely way around the menagerie, spending extra timewith the bears, as usual. Henry bought everyone pretzels and peanutsand bottles of ginger ale as they strolled along the path. Theysteered clear of the shit-flinging chimpanzees, which no