and sipped his coffee. Well, I went to a few more parties thansome of the other boys in my cohortYourwhat?Mycohort. My age group. Everyone born between September 1, 1883 andAugust 31, 1884.Oh.I sort of wondered how that worked.Theslave calendar centers around the companion sale, since companionsbring in the most money. September 1st is like New YearsDayeverything starts over. The name of your cohort changesyougo from being fifteens to being sixteens, see? But it doesnthappen for just companions-in-training; it happens for everyone inthe cohort. All the footmen and butlers and coachmeneveryone.Andwhen was it you were sorted? At 12?Yes.Youre given your number when youre just little, he said,pointing to his tattoo, but you dont get the disc until youveproven yourself worthy, which either happens or does not when yourea thirteen, after you get your assignment. You get your trainingassignment when youre a twelve, you see, but once you get thatassignment youre a thirteen.Youtold me a long time ago that you were one of the first to earn yourmark.Iwas the second companion-in-training in our cohort to receive it. Myfriend Richard was the first.Henryfelt a niggling unease at the mention of Richard. Something about theway Martin had talked about the dead boy in the past made himslightly jealous, even though it was ridiculous to be jealous of aboy who was dead,after all.Butabout the parties: I went to more of them than most others in ourcohort because I played in the band. Richard and I were both in theband, as was my friend Georgie. He was another of the Superior boys,one of the dark-haired ones. Martin paused to sip his coffeeagain. Being in the band, we didnt participate in thegoings-on, of course, but we sawa lot. The summer party is the last chance for all the sixteens to betogether before the companions are sent away and...a lot of feelingsget expressed.So,wait. Are you sixteens or seventeens when youre sold?Oh,were actually seventeens, I suppose, but we never get called thatbecause we leave right away, you see. We still think of ourselves assixteens.Well,how many sixteens were there, anyway? I know there were twenty-threecompanions in your group.WhenI left, there had been one-hundred-twenty-seven in my cohort,including companions. Thats everybody: all the butlers, footmen,coachmen, grooms, and men-of-all-work, and a lot of themare sold as eighteens or older. Of course, boys candie, so there might be fewer now. Actually, some boys are sold offsooner than companions, though theres no fuss made over them,unfortunately.Whichboys?Stableboys like our Little Bob and Danny. Johnny, as well. Little Bob andDanny were actually sold right after they were sorted, but Johnny wasonly 10 when Mr. Tim chose him. It was a bit irregular, I must say.It was only done because Mr. Blackwell has been such a valued patronof the House.Henryhad been taken along when Father and Timothy chose Johnny two yearsprior, but he hadnt realized there had been anything unusual aboutthe sale. Theyd gone to the Ganymede showroom and there had beenfive small boys there for them to choose from. Henry hadnt takenan interest in any of the boys; he had been sulking about beingdragged along to the slave House