Hansi had the huge hands of his old man but they were soft.

Felix tried to take his hand back, or at least switch to his left, so he’d be unable to get at his restraints or his pistol even, if this Hansi made a grab for it. Hansi grabbed tighter.

What if he screamed, or threw a fit, Felix wondered. Or crapped his pants or something?

“Wah wah.”

“Oh, I’ll give you wah wah, all right, Hansi. Is that what Gebi does for you?”

Hansi frowned and nodded, and pulled harder.

“Easy, Hansi. I need my arm for later, okay?”

Felix let himself be towed toward the patrol car. He looked over his shoulder, but saw no faces in the window. They could still be watching from somewhere. For a moment he wondered again if this was some joke of Gebhart’s. Had Gebhart or some others at the post come up with this initiation rite, a way to show the new recruit up?

He tugged back a little. Hansi slowed, and looked at him with a blank expression.

He had frightened this big lug? For the first time, he stared into

Hansi’s face. He couldn’t read it at all. He became suddenly ashamed at the thoughts that had come tumbling into his mind along with the resentment and the low burning desire to get back at Gebhart for this crazy things like a cannibal family luring people here, like some dark Grimm tale. If he’d heard right at all, Gebhart had a kid with Down’s, and he and Himmelfarb seemed to know one another because of that. And that was why he’d come all the way up here. Just to help, a bit.

“Wah wah, wah wah.”

They stopped at the car.

“Hansi? I need my hand back so I can get into the car okay?

For the wah wah?”

That worked. He sat on the edge of the seat.