She tried to make her voice sound calm, but there was a sinking feeling in her stomach, and a small questioning voice in the back of her mind kept asking did he? did he? did he? Furiously, she thrust the thought aside.
"I saw him at the zoo today," Linda said.
"You did?" Abby said, relieved, and then she thought of her dream of the zoo and of Linda standing there and Dr. Gower beside the girl. Could she be psychic? No, there was a simpler explanation. "I saw you both there," she went on, smiling, "on television this afternoon."
Linda frowned. "But Dr. Gower didn't arrive until the program was over, Aunt Abby."
"I saw you," Abby insisted.
"But I'm certain of it."
"You must be mistaken, dear," Abby said in a tone of finality. And that settled that.
The doorbuzzer sounded, and Gretchen whirred to answer it. Abby pressed a button beneath the table, and the image of Dr. Gower appeared on a small screen set invisibly in the opposite wall. She could feel her blood accelerate at the sight of him, but she wondered why he looked disturbed.
She rose. "I'm going in to see Dr. Gower, dear," she told Linda. "Now, don't rush your food."
Linda nodded abstractedly. She wasn't in a rushing mood.