"Jack Finney - Invasion of the Body Snatchers" - читать интересную книгу автора (Finney Jack)

I glanced at her quickly, but she was staring straight ahead through the windshield. "What do you
think?" I said casually. "You think there's connection?"
"Yes." She didn't look to me for confirmation, but simply nodded as though she were certain. After a
moment she added, "Have there been other cases like Wilma's?"
"A few." Watching the asphalt street in the headlight beams, I watched Becky, too, from the corners of
my eyes.
But she didn't react, or say anything, for nearly a block. Then we swung into her street, and as I drew
the car in to the curb, and stopped at her walk, she said тАУ still looking straight ahead through the
windshield тАУ "Miles, I'd meant to tell you this, after the movie." She took a deep breath. "Ever since
yesterday morning," she began slowly, keeping her voice calm, "I've had the feeling that" тАУ she finished in
a panicky rush of words тАУ "that my father isn't my father at all!" Darting a horrified glance at the dark,
shadowed porch of her home, Becky covered her face with her hands and began to cry.




five


I don't claim much experience with crying women, I but in stories I read, the man always holds the girl
close and lets her cry. And it always turns out to have been the wise, understanding thing to do; I've
never heard of a single authenticated case where the wise, understanding thing was to distract her with
card tricks, jokes, or tickling her feet. So I was wise and understanding. I held Becky close and let her
cry, because I didn't know what else to do or say. After what we'd seen in Jack Belicec's basement
tonight, if Becky believed her father was an impostor who resembled her real father exactly, I didn't
know how to argue with her.
Anyway, I liked holding Becky. She wasn't a big girl, exactly, but she wasn't small, and nothing in her
construction had been skimped or neglected. There in my car, on the silent street in front of her home,
Becky fitted into my arms very nicely, her cheek on my lapel. I was worried and scared, even panicky,
but there was still room for enjoying the warm, alive feel of Becky pressed close.
When the crying tapered off to an occasional sniffle, I said, "How about staying at my place tonight?"
The idea was suddenly and astonishingly exciting. "I'll sleep down on the davenport and all that, and you
can have a room to yourselfтАУ"
"No." Becky sat up, keeping her head ducked so I couldn't see her face, and began fumbling through
her purse. "I'm not frightened, Miles," she said quietly, "just worried." She opened a compact and,
bending close to the little dashboard light, carefully touched up the tear marks with a powder puff. "It's as
though Dad were sick," she went on. "Just not himself, andтАУ" She stopped, applied lipstick, folded her
lips inward momentarily, then studied her face for a moment in her compact mirror. "Well, it's just no time
for me to leave," she finished, snapped her compact shut, looked up at me, and smiled. Suddenly she
leaned toward me and quickly kissed me on the mouth, very firmly and warmly. Then she opened her
door and slipped out. "'Night, Miles. Phone me in the morning." She walked quickly along the brick path
leading to the darkened porch of her home.
I watched her go. I sat staring after her fine full figure, heard the tiny gritting of her shoes on the rough
bricks of the path, heard her light steps go quickly up the stairs, and saw her disappear into the gloom of
the porch. A pause, the front door opened, then closed behind her. And all the time I was sitting there
shaking my head at myself, remembering my thoughts about Becky early in the evening. She was not,
after all, turning out to be just a good pal who happened to wear skirts. Put a nice-looking girl you're
fond of in your arms, I was realizing, have her weep a little, and you're a cinch to feel pretty tender and
protective. Then that feeling starts to get mixed up with sex, and if you're not careful, you've made at least
a start toward falling in love. I grinned then, and started the car. So I'd be careful, that's all. With the