"Carol Emshwiller - At Sixes and Sevens" - читать интересную книгу автора (Emshwiller Carol)

тАЬWill you help me bury him?тАЭ

****

So we do that. We put him right next to where Howie is. With flowers
and half that chocolate bar Daniel left. She wraps him in an old shawl. A
flowery one with fringe. Some sort of heirloom I suppose. I donтАЩt think she
should do that, but I donтАЩt say a word. IтАЩm not one to criticize.

Afterwards she thanks me and says I should go on home, sheтАЩs going
to sit there for a while.

At first that pup tries to follow me but it soon gives up and goes back
to Iris.

WeтАЩre all in trouble if it gets to be the size of Howie and keeps on
jumping on people. IтАЩd be doing everybody a favor, yet again, if I got rid of it
before it gets up to that size.

****

The drought goes on. WeтАЩve never seen it this bad. And hot! I wish I
knew if Iris was finding a way to keep on dancing and doing spells even with
a broken leg. She is getting better. I should feel sorry for her with just that
bouncy puppy out there, and I sort of do but not if sheтАЩs a witch.

****

I donтАЩt go over there as often as I did and I thought Daniel had
stopped going over, too, but then I see him coming home from the wrong
direction. He doesnтАЩt lie. When I ask he says he was checking on her. That
she was up and had cooked apple tarts. He says they were delicious.

I ask if the worms were good.

I can just see them sitting on that smelly old couch gobbling
tartsтАФwhich are no doubt full of that love potion of hersтАФone wispy
dishwater blond and one dark, not very tall man with hairy arms. I donтАЩt see
why either one would want the other.

Maybe if I dance all the harder.... Or maybe I shouldnтАЩt be enjoying
dancing. And what about those herbs I cooked up that make me feel so
energetic? I still have some of that tea left. I think IтАЩll go on back to her
place and steal some more dried green things.

****

This time itтАЩs easy. ThereтАЩs nobody home. And here are the apple
tarts. I shouldnтАЩt. Who knows what will happen? But they look so good.