"Carol Emshwiller - Water Master" - читать интересную книгу автора (Emshwiller Carol)

The man stands still as though startled and maybe frightenedтАФsurely impressed. Amos Acularius even
impresses me and I can only see his back. Except he always has impressed me, even when he toured his
gates down there in town.

But maybe his arms are out like that for a different reason. I move up next to him. He's shouting. Maybe
he's swearing. Even this close, I can't hear because of the rushing water. Except he doesn't look angry.
Maybe it's a prayerтАФfor or to the rushing, roaring torrents. Could that be? Could he be talking to the
water?

The man comes to himself after a minute and he starts shouting, too. He looks like he's swearing though
of course we can't hear. Knowing him, he probably is. Then the man sets his dynamite, carefully, in the
middle of the dam. Lights the fuse. Amos Acularius does nothing! Keeps talking to himself. Just stands
there and lets them be set and lit.

I want to shout: You can't depend on prayer or spells with dynamite. I pull on his fringe. "Amos!" (I dare
to call him Amos.) "Do something! Hurry!" But it's as if I'm nothing but a flyтАФhardly even a bother.

The man moves off the dam as we move on to it. Amos A. grabs my hand and trots me across. He'd go
faster if he wasn't pulling me. He's still mouthing things, but I can't hear. I'm too scared about the
dynamite to be scared of the water rushing down so near, and with hardly any railing. We cross right by
where the fuse is fizzing and Amos doesn't try to stop it. I keep yelling, Amos, Amos, as if he could hear
me. I try to hold him back but he pulls me on. I try to pull away so I can put it out myself, but he won't let
go.
At the other side, he throws me, face down, and himself on top of me, his arms wrapped around my
head, not his own. I've always done the protecting (all those brothers and sisters). I've never, in my
whole life, been protected by anybodyтАФnot that I remember, though I suppose as a baby I must have
been.

I feel his body all along my backтАФall along where I've just been scraped and bruised, but I like the feel
of him, even though I hurt. I hope we never have to get up.

The dynamite goes off but with the sound of the water I can hardly hear it. Mostly I feel the shaking of
the ground.

Stones clatter down around us and on top of us, though hardly any on me because Amos is protecting
me.

We lie, until it stops. It feels like a long time, but I know it can't be. Then we look up, over and down at
what used to be the dam. It sounds out even louder than before and the sound is different.
AngrierтАФthough it always sounded angry.

"Well, they've got water down there now. Will in a minute anyway." Amos Acularius, still on top of me,
speaks right into my ear or I'd never have heard him. How can he say that so slowly and calmly after
what just happened? "For a while, more than they bargained for. Are you all right?"

"But you? You must be bruised all over your back."

He helps me up.