"Replica03 - Another Amy - Kaye, Marilyn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kaye Marilyn)

"Hey," Tasha cried in outrage, "watch it! You could suffocate me with that!"
Amy laughed. "I'm not that strong. Or maybe I am, I don't know."
"Let's find out," Tasha said, grabbing a pillow and throwing it. Soon it was just like old times.


10

Amy heard the heavy slam of the limo door outside. She hit the Pause button on the remote. "Eric's home," she told Tasha.
Tasha looked at the clock on her nightstand. "He hasn't even been gone two hours! Wow, she sure got sick of Him fast." The girls scrambled off the bed and ran downstairs.
Eric was sticking his head in the door. He looked around furtively. "Are Mom and Dad here?" he asked Tasha.
"No, they went out. Why?"
Eric came in. He only had to take one step for the girls to see that something was wrong. "You're limping!" Amy exclaimed.
Eric made his way slowly to a chair and sank down. "I think I've got a broken toe." He took off his sneaker and sock. Amy knelt down and looked.
"What do you think?" Eric asked her.
"Eric, I'm not a doctor."
"I just thought that with your powersЧ"
"I don't have X-ray vision."
Tasha looked too. "I don't think there's much you can do for a broken toe, anyway. What happened, exactly?"
"The great movie star stepped on it."
"And broke your toe?" Amy asked. "Wow, that's amazing!"
Eric looked at her askance. "You're happy she broke my toe?"
"No, of course not," Amy said impatiently. "Don't you see what this means? If an ordinary person stepped on your toe, it might hurt, but your toe probably wouldn't break. A person would have to be awfully strong to do that."
"As strong as a clone?" Tasha asked.
"Well, stronger than your average girl. I think I could probably break Eric's toe."
"Let's not try and find out," Eric said hastily. "Anyway, you don't have to be that strong. There was a boy in my cabin at camp when I was six years old who stepped on the counselor's foot and broke two toes."
"Tell us about the date," Amy demanded. "Everything. Start to finish, don't leave out one detail."
"That girl," Eric said, "may or may not be a clone, but I can tell you this much. She isn't human."
Amy listened to Eric's tale of his date with the Wicked Witch of the West and took his remarks with a grain of salt. He was a little annoyed when she didn't respond with more sympathy.
"She just hurt your macho pride when she played as well as you did," she declared.
"Amy, she's evil!" Eric exclaimed. "You gotta believe me."
Amy considered this. "You know, I'm remembering how scared and confused I felt when I first learned what I am. Maybe this is how she's dealing with it. Did you notice if she had any bruises on her arm?"
"She was wearing long sleeves. Did you do my math assignment?"
"Yeah, it's in your room. Eric, are you sure she didn't say or do anything that might prove she's like me?"
"If you were anything like her, you wouldn't be in this house." Eric got up. "I just hope she isn't going to make me lose money." He hobbled toward the kitchen, and the girls followed him. "I don't think they're going to want a limping extra in the movie." He checked the schedule he'd posted on the refrigerator. "Saturday . . . that's a relief, they don't need me tomorrow. Just the girls."
"How come?" Amy asked.
"I don't know." He looked at the schedule again. "They're supposed to meet at the pool. Maybe it's a girls' swimming class."
"A swimming class," Amy repeated. "Oh, wow!"
"What?" Tasha asked.
"Swimming means bathing suits. If Aimee's wearing a bathing suit, I can see if she has a birthmark like mine!"
"But how are you going to get close enough to have a look?" Eric asked. "They've got guards protecting the sets."
"And her mother won't be too thrilled to see you again," Tasha added.
What they said was true, but Amy didn't let it bother her. "I'll think of something."
As it turned out, it wasn't all that hard to get close. There was a guard at the gym door. But Amy knew there was a special tutoring program held on Saturday mornings in the school library, and the main door would have to be open. It didn't take her long to hurry through the building and arrive at the end where the gymnasium and pool were.
She heard voices coming from the physical education office, and the door was ajar. Positioning herself where she could see inside but no one inside would notice her, she counted half a dozen girls, all wearing the navy blue tank suits and white swim caps that the girls at Parkside were required to wear in swimming classes. In these outfits, they all looked alike; but upon closer scrutiny, Amy could see that Aimee wasn't among them. They were giggling as they had their makeup applied by a man dressed all in white, with a white bonnet covering his hair and a white mask covering the lower half of his face. He looked more like a surgeon than a cosmetician.
Amy scurried past the door and ducked into the girls' locker room. There she found the regulation suits, undressed quickly, and put one on. Then she gathered up her hair and pulled a white swim cap over it.
She gave herself a quick once-over in the mirror. She looked just like the others. Turning sideways, she twisted her head so she could see her back. Yes, the small crescent moon was completely visible. If Aimee was here, and if she was wearing the same type of suit, her crescent moon would be visible too. If she had one.
Amy decided it might be best if she went ahead and got into the pool while it was still empty. She could position herself in a corner, stay underwater as much as possible, and hope to blend in with the others when they all came in.
Unfortunately, she wasn't going to be the first in the pool. Through the smoky glass that surrounded the area, she saw that someone was already in the water. She moved closer. With a little concentration, she could see dearly, but it took her a second to absorb what she was seeing.
Someone wasn't just in the pool. Someone was floating facedown.
Aimee Evans! It had to be.