"Jesse snorted a short laugh at his own joke and went to the hen house. The flock of Polish chickens kwarked and clucked at his intrusion. He made cer...ain the flock had plenty of scratch and water. The small string of dim sixty-watt bulbs gave enough light and a little heat to break some of the chill in the coop and keep the chickens' water from freezing over.Jesse grunted to himself as he straightened up, looked around at the chickens huddled together on the perches and said, "To hell with. Fortunately, the bed in Dave’s room was a King, so it easily accommodated the three of them as they cuddled naked together and went to sleep.Dave awoke early and studied Holly and Tan. They were pretty and kind of cute as they slept. Tan’s almost tiny oriental body had a tanned hue to it, not unlike his own all-over tan. She was thin and beautiful. Holly was the healthy and athletic-looking girl-next-door: the cut of her hair, shape of her face, use of makeup, and everything about her. He felt. He was still alive, but he could not last much more than a few hours. He was bleeding all over the floor so Jed and Al each grabbed a foot and dragged him outside.Cindy had dropped the knife, and the other woman was holding Cindy in her arms. Cindy never said anything, or cried, or showed any other reaction. Al asked her to sit down at the table and motioned the other woman to join them. Al turned to Cindy and said, "Ma'am, that was a brave act of self defense ifen I ever seen one. Now, eat yer. Someone who stole others work and modified them just enough to claim them as his without truly understanding what he was doing. What the meaning was behind the art he destroyed in his own fumbling attempt. She needed to protect art from being despoiled.“Nothing is more important to an object than its use,” growled Theophil. “Art is a luxury afforded to societies with the wealth to idle time on waste and frivolity.”“Frivolity?” Kora’s face twisted in outrage. “It provides escape for people from.