"Kathleen Ann Goonan - The Bones of Time" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goose Mother)

furniture crowded the large bedroom, a fit setting for the sister of
the king of Hawaii, but the kahuna ignored a cluster of mahogany
side chairs and carefully unrolled a mat he had brought with him
onto the Belgian carpet. He sat cross-legged upon it in a single, lithe
movement.
Kaiulani had watched the kahuna approach the house from her
second-story window an hour ago. She had been staring across the
tops of the blossom-laden mimosas at the brown, craggy slopes of
Diamond Head, wondering why her mother had chosen to die. How
could anything be more beautiful than the deep blue line of sea, the
sweet scent of pink-spined mimosa fans, and the hush of surf beyond
the narrow tidal swamp? Her mother had said something once, a
few months ago, about old Hawaii vanishing. Eaten by the sharks,
she had said. Who were the sharks? Kaiulani wondered, blinking
against sudden tears, gripping the windowsill as hard as she
wanted to grip the slender thread of her motherтАЩs life and hold it on
this side of death.
Then the kahuna had emerged from the shade of the long green
lane that led to Ainahau, startling Kaiulani.
He wore only a loincloth, and his white hair was short. His bare
feet raised puffs of dust from the unpaved drive. In his outstretched
arms he carried with obvious reverence a large, bulky bundle. As he
passed the tortoiseshell carriage with gleaming silver fittings in
which Kaiulani and her mother made their many obligatory social
calls, he seemed a throwback to an ancient world, one which
Kaiulani was young enough to have only glimpsed.
He stopped before vanishing beneath the porch roof. With
fathomless eyes he had stared up at her as the white curtains
snapped in the wind. She had stared back, wondering what he
thought of her.
Now, on the threshold of her motherтАЩs room, she did not want to
enter: not with him there. Her father gripped her hand more tightly
when she balked in the foyer like a stubborn horse.
тАЬWhat is it?тАЭ he asked.
тАЬWhat is he doing here?тАЭ she asked. Her old Hawaiian nursemaid
told her many frightening stories about kahunas, but she had rarely
seen one, and never close up. This one had been at her aunt
LiliuokalaniтАЩs house only two months ago, though. His look an hour
ago had chilled her. Implacable, judging, urging.
тАЬYou must go in,тАЭ her father said, voice hoarse from weeping.
тАЬYour mother has been asking for you. She loves you so.тАЭ
Kaiulani felt utterly alone as she stepped inside; the door clicked
shut behind her.
Neither the new electric light in the wall sconce nor gentle oil
lamps illuminated the room, and the sun was likewise resolutely
excluded. Princess LikelikeтАЩs room had been darkened at her request
since she took to her bed after Christmas, though a thin stripe of
light leaked through the curtains and bisected the kahunaтАЩs thin
dour face.
Kaiulani breathed shallowly, not wanting the camphor-laden air