"Gray, Julia - Guardian 01 - The Dark Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gray Julia)

'What about you, Alyssa?' Elam called.
'No, thank you,' she replied demurely.
'Why not?'
'Because I don't want to.'
'Because it's haunted?' he teased.
'Every where's haunted,' she responded quietly.
Terrel knew that Alyssa frequently talked to ghosts; it was one of the reasons for her having been confined to the madhouse. Although most children grew out of their invisible companions, she had persisted in the one-sided conversations. According to her, she had learnt a lot this way, especially from her dead grandmother - including some things she couldn't possibly have known otherwise. Her strange behaviour had finally exhausted the patience of the living members of her family, and had eventually led to her being diagnosed as insane.
Terrel wasn't sure what to make of Alyssa's claims. He was sure she wouldn't lie deliberately, but he had never seen the faintest flicker of a ghostly presence even when -according to Alyssa - one was apparently standing right in front of him. Naturally they had talked about this a good deal, and she had told him - among other things - that some of the other inmates carried their ghosts with them, and that some ghosts were 'real' while others were 'made up'. He'd never been able to clarify this distinction in his own mind, but it was obviously significant to Alyssa.
A short while later Elam, who had set off towards the island but then wisely thought better of it, pulled himself out and sat down on the jetty to let the last of the day's sunlight warm him. He moved close to Alyssa, taking advantage of the strange fact that none of the clouds of mosquitoes, which swirled above the surface of the lake, ever went near the girl. Terrel was still in the water, washing himself as best he could and trying to get the smell of horses out of his hair. The coolness of the water did not affect the aching in his limbs - which was there all the time - and he revelled in its silken embrace.
'That's only true if you accept that it's the same everywhere,' Alyssa stated abruptly.
'What is?' Elam asked, obviously mystified.
'Maybe not all rivers run downhill in other parts of the world,' she added, ignoring him.
'What are you talking about?' he persisted.
'Perhaps islands don't float.'
'But islands do float,' Terrel said. 'So that they can move. They're supposed to.'
'That one doesn't,' Alyssa commented, pointing.
'That's different,' Elam said. 'It's only in a lake, not the sea, so it doesn't have to float.'
'All the islands of the Empire float,' Terrel added.
'How can anything as big as Vadanis float? she asked. 'It's hundreds of miles long. And it's made of rock. Rocks sink.'
'I don't know,' Terrel admitted. He had often asked himself the same question, but in the end it came down to a matter of faith. He believed that the Floating Islands moved. This was partly because everyone - almost everyone - believed it, and partly because he'd seen it explained in a book, complete with maps and diagrams.
'It just does,' Elam said impatiently. 'Only barbarians live on land that doesn't move. Everyone knows that.'
'You can tell Vadanis is moving in the ocean by watching the stars,' Terrel added knowledgeably.
'But how can you be sure of that?' Alyssa countered. 'Have you ever even seen the sea?'
'You know I've never been anywhere,'1 he replied bitterly, hurt that she would even ask him such a question.
'Then how do you know the sea's moving past Vadanis? How do you know it even exists?'
Terrel couldn't think of any answer to that.
'Have you ever seen Makhaya?' Elam asked her.
'No.'
'Does that mean it doesn't exist either?'
'Perhaps.'
'So if you can't see something, it just doesn't exist?' he suggested incredulously. 'What happens if you close your eyes? Do I vanish?'
'Of course!' she exclaimed, all wide-eyed innocence. She was baiting him now.
Elam threw up his arms in despair.
'Well, I've been to Makhaya,' he told her. 'I know it exists.'
'Maybe you were dreaming.'
'I give up. You talk to her, Terrel.'
'Are ghosts like that?' Terrel asked thoughtfully. 'Is that why we can't see them?'
'Oh, good grief,' Elam groaned. 'You two are hopeless!' He stomped off to retrieve his clothes.
'Ghosts walk differently,' Alyssa replied placidly. 'For you they're always just around the next corner.'
'Will I ever be able to see round the corner?' Terrel asked.
Alyssa shrugged.
'I'm not a seer,' she said.
Some time later, as sunset approached, the trio were walking back up the slope towards the house when Terrel came to a sudden halt.
'Come on,' Elam urged him. 'If we're not inside by curfew, someone'll tell Ziolka and we'll be stuck in our cells for days.'
Terrel didn't move, his eyes unusually wide but unfocused.
'We should go in,' Alyssa echoed, but her concern was evident in her voice. 'Or we'll all get into trouble.'
'No,' Terrel replied flatly. 'We should stay out here. In the open.' Something deep inside him was trembling, but on the surface he was calm, and sure of himself for once.
'Why?'
'There's going to be an earthquake.'