"Asaro, Catherine - Echea" - читать интересную книгу автора (Asaro Catherine)

On the fourth night, she addressed that
fear. Her question came at me sideways,
her body more rigid than usual.

"If I break something," she asked, "what
will happen?"

I resisted the urge to ask what she had
broken. I knew she hadnТt broken anything.
House would have told me, even if the
girls hadnТt.

"Echea," I said, sitting on the edge of
her bed, "are you afraid that youТll do
something which will force us to get rid
of you?"

She flinched as if I had struck her, then
she slid down against the coverlet. The
material was twisted in her hands, and her
lower jaw was working even before she
spoke.

"Yes," she whispered.

"DidnТt they explain this to you before
they brought you here?" I asked.

"They said nothing." That harsh tone was
back in her voice, the tone I hadnТt heard
since that very first day, her very first
comment.

I leaned forward and, for the first time,
took one of those clenched fists into my
hands. I felt the sharp knuckles against
my palms, and the softness of the fabric
brushing my skin.

"Echea," I said. "When we adopted you, we
made you our child by law. We cannot get
rid of you. No matter what. It is illegal
for us to do so."

"People do illegal things," she whispered.

"When it benefits them," I said. "Losing
you will not benefit us."

"YouТre saying that to be kind," she said.