"Nina Kiriki Hoffman - Past the Size of Dreaming" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hoffman Nina Kiriki)

opposite elbows.
No one Julio knew. A fiddle tune called тАЬLock the Door After the SilverтАЩs Been StolenтАЭ played in his
mind. He had a bad feeling about this.
Julio lifted the bow off the strings. тАЬMay I help you?тАЭ
тАЬIтАЩm sure you can,тАЭ said the man. His bass voice held the rise and fall of music in a minor key,
sparking JulioтАЩs respect. тАЬSo kind of you to offer.тАЭ
тАЬWhat can I do for you?тАЭ Who was this guy? Had Mr. Noah sent him?
No. Mr. Noah didnтАЩt know people who could enter rooms without going through doors. Or he
didnтАЩt know he knew.
тАЬYou can come with me,тАЭ said the stranger. His voice held compulsion.
JulioтАЩs feet walked toward the door. тАЬWait,тАЭ he said, and glanced over his shoulder at his backpack.
Textbooks, notebooks, classwork, a couple of granola bars, his favorite pens and pencils, his
musical-notation book full of half-finished compositions, his pennywhistles and spoons, and that English
homework he was supposed to drop off at Ms. OrlaтАЩs office before he left today. And the violin case.
He should at least put this violin away in the case, where it would be safe. It was a special violin Mr.
Noah trusted Julio with: and Julio treasured that trust more than most other things in his life.
He couldnтАЩt leave all that behind.
His feet didnтАЩt listen. They kept walking.

JULIO sat in the backseat of the car, staring at the rear of the driverтАЩs silver head. The tune that played
through JulioтАЩs mind held melancholy resignation. He held the violin bow up so that the horsehairs
wouldnтАЩt come into contact with anything, and he had laid the violin across his lap. After JulioтАЩs third
(unanswered) question, the man said, тАЬBe quiet now, son.тАЭ
Words abandoned Julio. Questions still beat at his throat, but he couldnтАЩt voice them.
The back windows of the car were blacked out; Julio couldnтАЩt see any scenery to the sides, but he
watched out the front window, memorizing road signs when he could, looking for landmarks. If his future
held escape, this knowledge would come in handy later.
Mom would worry. Would anybody else? Probably not anytime soon. His friends knew he planned
to practice in the music room this afternoon and wouldnтАЩt join them at the haunted house. They wouldnтАЩt
expect to see him until tomorrow.
They left town behind and went by a road Julio didnтАЩt know into the mountains. Miles passed. It
would be a long walk home, if he could work free of the compulsion the man had laid on him.
Finally the car turned off the road onto a narrow paved track. Mountains loomed close above the car
to the right; pines hemmed the left side. Despair wove through the song on JulioтАЩs inner sound track. If he
were on foot, and the man were drivingтАФ
Well, he could cut through the forest, and the car couldnтАЩt follow. He wasnтАЩt good at nature, though.
He would get lost. He didnтАЩt know how to spend a night in the wild. If it rained, how could he protect the
violin?
On the other hand, if he could get the keys to the car ...
The man parked the car in front of a house made of stone, crowded close by dark pines, and
graveled up to its front. тАЬGet out now,тАЭ said the man, his deep voice inviting and compelling at once.
Julio managed to protect the violin and bow from harm as his body responded to the command in the
manтАЩs voice, a minor victory.
тАЬCome inside.тАЭ
He followed the stranger into the strange house, and found himself in a dimly lit but prosaic living
room with a fire burning in the fireplace, and comfortable chairs near it. As the front door closed behind
Julio, a younger man who looked about JulioтАЩs age, black-haired and yellow-eyed, came into the room
and took a scat by the fire. He was pale and solemn. тАЬMaster? Who is this?тАЭ
The stranger smiled. тАЬOne of the weak links in the golden chain we seek,тАЭ he said. тАЬObserve,
apprentice.тАЭ He turned to Julio and said, тАЬSit down, child.тАЭ