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

Julio sat, and the man sat across from him, his silver eyes alert and narrow.
тАЬNow,тАЭ said the older man, тАЬyou may answer questions. You may not ask any. Tell me about your
friends.тАЭ
Julio knew who this man was asking him about. JulioтАЩs stomach went cold. So he was a weak link in
the chain of friends? Anger thawed his stomach again. He didnтАЩt know how to resist magical compulsion,
but he could try.
 тАЬSpeak.тАЭ
тАЬSpike McTavish, I met him in second grade. I won his favorite marble, and after he beat me up and
took it back, we got to be friends. Not really good friends, though. I donтАЩt like people who punch other
people. I havenтАЩt seen Spike in a couple of years. Lily Onslow. IтАЩve known her since kindergarten. She
has a huge stuffed animal collection. Her favorite isтАФтАЭ
тАЬSlop.тАЭ
Julio sat with the violin across his lap, the bow upraised. He was more sensitive to sound than other
people he knew, delighting in it more and suffering from it more, depending. He had had previous
experiences with people who could control him with nothing but their voices, and he hated it. His friend
Edmund could do it, but Edmund didnтАЩt do it on purpose, and when alerted, would stop. How far did
this manтАЩs control of Julio extend?
He checked the second manтАФa boy, really. The first man called him тАЬapprentice.тАЭ They worked
together.
The boy gazed at him and said nothing. Julio couldnтАЩt look to him for help.
тАЬNot those friends,тАЭ said the kidnapper, but before he could voice his next order, Julio lifted the violin
to his shoulder and drew the bow across the open A string. He stared into the manтАЩs eyes. What would
he a good tune in a situation like this? тАЬFar and AwayтАЭ? тАЬSlip the leashтАЭ? тАЬSidestep HornpipeтАЭ? He
began тАЬSidestep Hornpipe,тАЭ lively and quick with an undertone of slipping out from under.
The older man sat back in his chair, eyelids half lowered, and listened. The younger man leaned
forward, his eyes intent.
When Julio finished the tune, he waited a moment. The stranger seemed dazed. Could it have
worked? Julio had no magic that he knew of. тАЬThanks for an interesting afternoon,тАЭ Julio said, and rose
to his feet. тАЬIтАЩll be going now.тАЭ He took two steps toward the front door.
тАЬSit,тАЭ said the man. тАЬStay.тАЭ
Woof, thought Julio as he complied.
тАЬYou know the friends I mean,тАЭ said the man. тАЬThe ones connected to the haunted house. Tell me
about those friends.тАЭ
Nathan, a ghost; Edmund, a witch; Susan, who could talk to houses; and Deirdre, staunch and
straightforward and almost as ordinary as Julio. He didnтАЩt want to talk about any of them to someone
who would grab someone from school and take him far away without warning or explanation.
тАЬTell me,тАЭ the man repeated, leaning forward. His voice was thrilling, enticing.
Julio opened his mouth, Fought to close it, clutched the neck of the violin until he was afraid heтАЩd
break it. No. I wonтАЩt. And you canтАЩt force me. тАЬNo,тАЭ he said. тАЬNo.тАЭ
Excitement flowed through him. If I donтАЩt have to do this, maybe I donтАЩt have to do the rest,
right? I can get up. He pushed himself to his feet. He headed for the door again.
тАЬStop!тАЭ cried the man.
JulioтАЩs legs froze, but his arms and chest didnтАЩt. He leaned so far forward he fell, crushing the violin
beneath him. Mr. NoahтАЩs violin, his favorite, not one of the cheap rentals Julio had learned on before he
got to high school and met Mr. Noah, a man who was almost as interested in music as Julio was.
Julio had betrayed Mr. NoahтАЩs trust.
He sat up, lifted the violinтАЩs black neck with scrolled headpiece and pegs still intact, looked at the
crushed body, the honey-colored outer wood, the pale unvarnished inner skin. Strings still bound the
black tailpiece to the headpiece, but it was all crazy and wrong. He touched the scraps of wood, found
the edge of one of the f-shaped sound holes. No way could he put this back together.