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

тАЬUnbelievable,тАЭ he said.
тАЬWorse,тАЭ I told him, тАЬin this case, seeing isnтАЩt believing. I still canтАЩt believe in
something like that. The mind wonтАЩt encompass it.тАЭ
He laughed at the screen, then again at me. тАЬMaybe that accounts for your
granddaddyтАЩs monster. It was so silly-looking anybody who saw it wouldnтАЩt believe
his own eyes.тАЭ
I couldnтАЩt help itтАФI kissed him on the cheek. тАЬLeo, youтАЩre a genius!тАЭ
He squeaked like Susan. тАЬMe? What did I do?тАЭ
тАЬElly,тАЭ I said, тАЬcongratulations! You now have the only lodge on Mirabile with an
Earth-authentic Loch Ness monster.тАЭ I grinned at Susan, who caught on
immediately. I swear her smile started at the mouth and ran all the way down to her
toes.
Feeling rather smug, I went on, тАЬLeo will make bells so your lodgers can scare it
away if it gets too close to them, wonтАЩt you, Leo?тАЭ
тАЬOh!тАЭ said Leo. He considered the idea. тАЬYou know, Annie, it might just work. If
everybody went to Loch Ness to try to get a glimpse of the monster, maybe theyтАЩll
come here, too. Scary but safe.тАЭ
тАЬExactly.тАЭ I fixed him with a look. тАЬNow how do we go about it?тАЭ
 He grinned. тАЬWe follow our family traditions: we tell stories.тАЭ
тАЬYou think if I hang around for a week or so thatтАЩll make it a safe monster?тАЭ
тАЬYeah, I think so.тАЭ
тАЬGood,тАЭ I said. тАЬSusan? WhatтАЩs the verdict? Are you going off to the lab? If IтАЩm
going to stay here, somebodyтАЩll have to help Mike coddle those red daffodils.тАЭ
No squeak this time. Her mouth dropped open but what came out was, тАЬUh, yes.
Uh, Elly?тАЭ
Elly nodded with a smile, sad but proud all in one.
So while they bustled about packing, I had a chance to read through all the
material in shipsтАЩ records on both moose and Nessie. By the time they were ready to
leave for town, I had a pretty good idea of our game plan. I sent Susan off with
instructions to run a full gene-read on both creatures. Brute force on the moose, to
make sure it wouldnтАЩt chain up to something bigger and nastier.
Then we co-opted the rest of EllyтАЩs kids. Leo gave each of them a different
version of our monster tale to tell.
Jen, I thought, did it best. She got so excited when she told it that her eyes
popped and she got incoherent, greatly enhancing the tale of how Leonov Opener
Denness had saved Annie Jason Masmajean from the monster in Loch Moose.
Leo brought bells from his workshop. TheyтАЩd been intended to keep beastlies
away in the northern territory, but there was no reason they wouldnтАЩt do just as good
a job against a monster that was Earth-authentic.
Two days later, the inn was full of overnightersтАФmuch to EllyтАЩs surprise and
delightтАФall hoping for a glimpse of the Loch Moose monster.
In my room, late night and by nova-light, Leo got his first peek at the creature.
Once again it was swimming in the loch. He stared long and hard out the window.
After a long moment, he remembered the task weтАЩd set ourselves. тАЬShould I wake
the rest of the lodgers, do you think?тАЭ
тАЬNo,тАЭ I said, тАЬyou just tell them about it at breakfast. Anybody who doesnтАЩt see it
tonight will stay another night, hoping.тАЭ
тАЬYouтАЩre a wicked old lady.тАЭ
I raised IlanithтАЩs camera to the window. тАЬYup,тАЭ I said, and, twisting the lens
deliberately out of focus, I snapped a picture. тАЬHope that didnтАЩt come out well,тАЭ I