"I—I can't."
"How long has she been in there?" I asked Sukey. "Do you know?"
"All of the time, I suppose."
I shook my head. "It's risky business, but we can't leave her, I suppose. I'll go in."
"I can't let you do that," Harry said. "I'm the logical one to go. Listen!" We could hear her crying. A vexed, lost-little-girl sound.
I shoved Harry aside. "You don't know what you're getting into," I said. "Take Sukey, and—"
That was the first and only time that Harry ever swung at me. The first thing I knew, I was sitting on the ground with my head spinning.
Harry was looking down at me and grinning sardonically. "I hated to do that, Chuck," he said, "but you see, it has to be me that goes after her."
He turned and took both of Sukey's thin shoulders in his hands. He couldn't speak for a while. His eyes were talking, though; saying they were awfully sorry. And then he took a couple of steps into that colored mist before he stopped and looked back.