"Carolyn Ives Gilman - Okanoggan Falls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gilman Carolyn Ives)

"Never mind,тАЭ he said, and looked away.

That night, lying in bed, she told Tom all she had learned.

"Sand,тАЭ he said in disbelief. тАЬThe bastards are moving us out so they can have bathtub sand."

He was not feeling charitable toward the Wattesoons. After their dinner guest had left in his tinted
limousine, Tom had gotten a call from the mayor of Walker, the closest Wal-Mart metropolis. The
captain in charge of their evacuation was an unbending disciplinarian who had presented the residents
with a set of non-negotiable deadlines. The news from Red Bluff was even less encouraging. The captain
assigned there was a transparent racist who seemed to think evacuation was too good for the native
population. Force seemed to be his preferred alternative.

"Larry wants us to mount a unified resistance,тАЭ Tom said. тАЬA kind of тАШHell no, we won't goтАЩ thing. Just
stay put, refuse to prepare. It seems pretty risky to me."

Susan lay reflecting. At last she said, тАЬThey would think it was an immature response."

"What, like children disobeying?тАЭ he said, irritated.

"I didn't say I agreed. I said that was what they would think."

"So what should we do?"

"I don't know. Behave in a way they associate with adults. Somehow resist without seeming to resist."

Tom turned his head on the pillow to look at her. тАЬHow come you learn all these things? He won't give
me anything but the official line."

"You're his counterpart, Tom. He has to be formal with you. I don't count."

"Or maybe you count more. Maybe he's sweet on you."

"Oh, please!"

"Who would have thought I'd lose my wife to a potato?тАЭ Tom mused.

She quelled the urge to hit him with a pillow. тАЬYou know, he's something of a philosopher."
"Socrates the spud,тАЭ he said.

"More like Marcus Aurelius. I don't think he really wants to be here. There is something in his past, some
tragedy he won't talk about. But it might make him sympathetic to us. We might win him over."

Tom rose on one elbow to look at her earnestly. тАЬMy god, he really did open up to you."

"I'm just putting two and two together. The problem is, I'm not sure what winning him over would get us.
He's just following orders."

"Jeez, even one friend among the Wattesoon is progress. I say go for it."