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

Rosen's, Ltd.ЧChristmas Wishbook.

He sat down slowly in front of it and picked it up. A Christ-
mas catalogue of wishes and dreamsЧhe had seen the kind
before. An annual release from a department store that os-
tensibly offered something for everyone, this particular cat-
alogue was for the select few onlyЧthe wealthy few.

Annie had always liked it, though.

Slowly, he began to page through it. The offerings jumped
out at him, a collection of gifts for the hard-to-please, an
assortment of oddities that were essentially one-of-a-kind
and could be found nowhere but in the Wishbook. Dinner
for two in the private California home of a famous movie
star, transportation included. A ten-day cruise for sixty on
a yacht, fully crewed and catered to order. A week on a
privately owned Caribbean island, including the use of wine

6 MAGIC KINGDOM FOR SALE - SOLD!

cellar and fully stocked larder. A bottle of one-hundred-and-
fifty-year-old wine. Hand-blown glass and diamond crea-
tions, designed per request. A gold toothpick. Sable coats
for little girls' dolls. A collector's chess set of science fiction
film characters carved from ebony. A hand-woven tapestry
of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The list of offerings went on, item after item, each more
exotic and strange than the one before. Ben took a strong
pull on his scotch, almost repulsed by the extravagance of
it all, but fascinated nevertheless. Then he thumbed ahead
into the center of the catalogue. There was a transparent
bathtub with live goldfish encased in the framework. There
was a silver shaving kit with your initials inlaid in gold. Why
in God's name would anyone . . . ?

He caught himself midway through the thought, his eyes
drawn instantly to an artist's rendering of the item being
offered on the pages that lay open before him.

The promo of the item read as follows:

MAGIC KINGDOM FOR SALE

LandoverЧisland of enchantment and adventure
rescued from the mists of time, home of knights and
knaves, of dragons and damsels, of wizards and
warlocks. Magic mixes with iron, and chivalry is
the code of life for the true hero. All of your fan-