"Barker, Clive - The Great and Secret Show v1" - читать интересную книгу автора (Barker Clive)

"I love you, Jo-Beth."
"You can't. You don't know me."
"I do! And I'm not going to give up on that because of gossip. We don't even know if any of this is true." In his vehemence, all trace of his stammer had disappeared. "This could be all lies, right?"
"It could," she conceded. "But why would anybody invent a story like that? Why did neither your mother nor mine ever tell us who our fathers were?"
"We'll find out."
"Who from?"
"Ask your momma."
"I already tried."
"And?"
"She told me not to go near you. Not to even think of you..."
Her tears had dried as she'd told the story. Now, thinking of Momma again, they began to flow. "But I can't stop that, can I?" she said, appealing for help from the very source she'd been forbidden.
Watching her, Howie longed to be the holy fool Lem had always called him. To have the freedom from censure only idiots, animals and babes-in-arms were granted; to lick and lap at her, and not be slapped away. There was no denying the possibility that she was indeed his sister, but his libido vaulted taboo.
"I think maybe I should go," she said, as though sensing his heat. "Momma wants the Pastor."
"Say a few prayers and maybe I'll go away, you mean?"
"That's not fair."
"Stay awhile, please," he coaxed. "We don't have to talk. We don't have to do anything. Just stay."
"I'm tired."
"So we'll sleep."
He reached and touched her face, very lightly.
"Neither of us got enough sleep last night," he said.
She sighed, and nodded.
"Maybe it'll all come clear if we just let it be."
"I hope."
He excused himself and went through to the bathroom to empty his bladder. By the time he got back she had taken off her shoes and was lying on the bed.
"Room for two?" he said.
She murmured yes. He lay down beside her, trying not to think about what he'd hoped they'd be doing between these sheets.
Again, she sighed.
"It'll be all right," he said. "Sleep."

II
Most of the audience gathered for Buddy Vance's final show had drifted away by the time Grillo got back to the woods. They'd decided, apparently, that he wasn't worth the wait. With the onlookers dispersed the barrier-guards had become lax. Grillo stepped over the rope and approached the policeman who looked to be in charge of the operation. He introduced himself, and his function.
"Can't tell you much," the man replied, in answer to Grillo's questions. "We've got four climbers going down now, but God knows how long it'll take to raise the body. We haven't found it yet. And Hotchkiss tells us there's all kinds of rivers under there. The corpse could be in the Pacific for all we know."
"Will you work through the night?"
"Looks like we'll have to." He looked at his watch. "We've got maybe four hours of daylight left. Then we'll be relying on the lamps."
"Has anybody investigated these caves before?" Grillo asked. "Are they mapped?"
"Not that I know of. You'd better ask Hotchkiss. He's the guy in black over there."
Again, Grillo made his introductions. Hotchkiss was a
tall, grim individual, with the baggy look of a man who'd lost substantial amounts of weight.
"I understand you're the cave expert," Grillo said.
"Only by default," Hotchkiss replied. "It's just that nobody knows any better." His eyes didn't settle on Grillo for a moment, but roved and roved in search of some place to rest. "What's below us...people don't think much about."
"And you do?"
"Yeah."
"You've made some kind of study of it?"
"In a strictly amateur capacity," Hotchkiss explained. "There's some subjects just take hold of you. This did me."
"So have you been down there yourself?"
Hotchkiss broke his rule, holding his gaze on Grillo's face for a full two seconds before saying: "Until this morning these caves were sealed, Mr. Grillo. I had them sealed myself, many years ago. They wereЧthey areЧa danger to innocents."
Innocents, Grillo noted. A strange word to use.
"The policeman I was talking toЧ"
"Spilmont."
"Right. He said there's rivers down there."