Three months passed. Toby always took the time to smile when he saw Rusty, but Adam steered him away from actually trying to talk to the robot. The older children were always teasing Rusty in one way or another. Adam insisted they avoid anything which would make the older children turn on Toby and he, and Toby reluctantly agreed.
Toby never joined in with the teasing, though. Not even when Adam started to join in. Instead Toby stayed away from Adam when that mood took him, and tried to ignore the way Rusty was being treated.
One lunchtime, when the suns were blazing down and the children were allowed to play on the field, Toby took on the challenge of climbing a particularly tall tree. They weren’t supposed to climb any of the trees, especially not one this big, but a discussion abo
