"Brooks, Terry - Landover 01 - Magic Kingdom for Sale - Sold" - читать интересную книгу автора (Brooks Terry)

Terry Brooks 13

"Good. One final comment, then. I heard everything you
said, I duly recorded every word, and I happen to agree with
most of it. And I say to you nevertheless, so what? There
have been thousands of speeches given, thousands of com-
mittee meetings held, thousands of articles written address-
ing the very problems you so eloquently outline in your tir-
adeЧand how much difference has any of it made?"

Ben sighed. "Not much."

"That is understating it. Since this is so, what difference
do you think you are going to make?"

"I don't know. But that's not the point."

"No, I don't suppose it is for you. So, what the hell? If
you want to enter into a one-man war with the system in an
effort to change it, fine and dandy. But a little moderation
in your commitment wouldn't hurt. A day off now and then
for some of life's less pressing matters might give you some
perspective and keep you from burning out completely.
Okay?"

Ben nodded. "Okay. Yeah, okay. But I'm not good at
moderation."

Miles grinned. "Tell me about it. Now let's talk about
something else. Let's talk about last night. Believe it or not,
a few people asked about you at the bar meetingЧsaid they
missed seeing you."

"They must be desperate for companionship, then."

Miles shrugged. "Maybe. What was so important that you
had to cancel out? New case?"

Ben thought about it a moment, then shook his head. "No,
nothing new. Just something I wanted to follow up on." He
hesitated. Then impulsively he reached down into his brief-
case and pulled out the Wishbook. "Miles, want to see some-
thing really odd? Take a look at this."

He thumbed the catalogue open to the item about Lan-
dover and passed it across the desk. His friend shifted for-
ward to take it from him and then settled back again in the
chair.

"Magic kingdom for sale . . . LandoverЧisland of en-