"Janet Kagan - Mirabile" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kagan Janet)

instead of proper kids! The only thing I ask is that you donтАЩt cart them off until
youтАЩre sure theyтАЩre ready.тАЭ
 тАЬYouтАЩll worry yourself sick!тАЭ
тАЬNo. IтАЩll worry the same way I worry about you. Do I look sick?тАЭ
She stood off and let me look. She looked about as good as anybody could. She
knew it, too. Just grinned again and said, тАЬTake Leo with you. Susan, too, if you
think sheтАЩs ready. I warn you, she thinks she is, but sheтАЩll listen to you on the
subject.тАЭ
And that was the end of it as far as Elly was concerned. I walked back to my
room, thoughtful all the way.
Damnify knew how I could have missed it. And there IтАЩd been aggravating the
situation as well, calling Susan тАЬmy assistant,тАЭ letting her do the gene-read on LeoтАЩs
pansies. Then I thought about it some more.
SheтАЩd done a damn fine gene-read. If sheтАЩd heard Leo talk about the pansies,
sheтАЩd have no doubt thought to try that second as well.
The more I thought, the more I saw Elly was right. It was just so unexpected that
IтАЩd never really looked at it.
I crawled into that comfortable bed and lay there listening to the night sounds off
the loch and all the while I was wondering how soon I could put Susan to work. I
drifted off into sleep and my dreams were more pleased by it all than I would have
admitted to Elly.
I woke, not rested enough, to an insistent shaking of my shoulder and opened my
eyes to see a goggle-eyed something inches from my face. Thinking the dream had
turned bad, I mumbled at it to go away and rolled over.
тАЬPlease, Mama Jason,тАЭ the bad dream said. тАЬPlease, I gotta talk to you. I canтАЩt
tell Elly, and IтАЩm afraid itтАЩs gonna hurt her.тАЬ
Well, when a bad dream starts threatening Elly, I listen. I sat up and discovered
that the bad dream was only Jen, the nine-year-old. тАЬGimme half a chance, Jen,тАЭ I
said, holding up one hand while I smeared my face around with the other, trying to
stretch my eyes into focus so I could see my watch. My watch told me IтАЩd had
enough sleep to function rationally, so I levered myself up.
JenтАЩs eyes unpopped, squinched up, and started leaking enormous teardrops. She
made a dash for the door, but by then I was awake and I caught her before she made
her exit. тАЬHold on,тАЭ I said. тАЬYou donтАЩt just tell me somethingтАЩs out to hurt Elly and
then disappear. AinтАЩt done.тАЭ
Still leaking tears, she wailed, тАЬItтАЩs supposed to be a secretтАжтАЭ
Which she wanted somebody to force out of her. Okay, I could oblige, and she
could tell the rest Mama Jason made her tell. I plopped her firmly on the edge of the
bed. тАЬNow wipe your nose and tell me what this is about. YouтАЩd think I was the
chimera the way youтАЩre staring.тАЭ
тАЬYou gotta promise not to hurt Monster. HeтАЩs SusanтАЩs.тАЭ
I did nothing of the sort. I waited and she went on, тАЬI didnтАЩt know he was so big,
Mama Jason!тАЭ She threw out those two skinny arms to show me just how big, which
actually made it about three feet long tops, but I knew from the fingertip-to-fingertip
glance that went with the arm fling that she meant much bigger. тАЬNow IтАЩm scared for
Susan!тАЭ
тАЬWhat do you mean, heтАЩs SusanтАЩs?тАЭ
тАЬSusan sneaks out at night to feed him. I never saw him, but he must be awful.
She calls him Monster and he gurgles.тАЭ She shivered.
I gathered her up and held her until the shivering stopped. Obviously all this had