"Peg Kerr - The Wild Swans" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kerr Peg)

Hey, ho, nobody home.




тАФTRADITIONAL




Elias lay huddled in a ball under a dirty pink blanket in a corner of an abandoned warehouse,
dreaming of swans.
In his dream, he flew swiftly through the early morning chill, the earth shrouded in curling mists
beneath him. Other swans flew on either side of him, their necks stretched out full length, feathers
fluttering at the tips as their wings pumped rhythmically, their feet tucked up neatly underneath. The rush
of air made their pinions vibrate with a peculiar, throbbing hum. As the rising sun slowly turned the pale,
pearly gray light to a warm yellow, the swan flying directly to his right caught and held his eye with an
inscrutable, silent stare. Then, it banked, beginning a lazy spiral toward the earth below. The rest
followed it, arrowing down to circle the roof of a lone cottage sticking up through the mist.
Elias wheeled to match their course, joining up with the flock again just as the cottage door opened
and a figure darted out.
Elias shifted and muttered in his sleep. In the darkness of the warehouse, something knocked over a
pile of cans with a metallic clatter and scuttled off into the darkness. A rat.
тАЬHey, Elias. You awake?тАЭ
Elias groggily raised his head, and as he blinked up at the dark silhouette stooping over him, the last
swirling tendrils of the dream vanished. It took him a moment to identify the voice. тАЬGil?тАЭ
 тАЬUh-huh.тАЭ
тАЬTimeтАЩs it?тАЭ
тАЬLittle before midnight. I think.тАЭ
тАЬMmm. WhereтАЩs Andre and Tom?тАЭ
тАЬAndreтАЩs out hustling with Luke. DonтАЩt know where Tom went.тАЭ Striking a match, Gil stopped to light
the end of a candle stuck in a tuna can beside EliasтАЩs head. Elias struggled up to a sitting position on his
pallet of torn blankets and Gil sat down beside him. Rain spattered against the grimy, cracked window
above their heads. тАЬYou got a fag?тАЭ Gil asked.
тАЬNo,тАЭ Elias said. тАЬI wish you wouldnтАЩt call them that,тАЭ he added mildly as Gil rooted through AndreтАЩs
small pile of possessions, pushing the dirty clothes and a syringe aside until he found a pack with four
battered cigarettes in it. Gil tapped one out and leaned toward the candle to light it. Elias wondered how
often Gil rifled through his things while he was away.
тАЬCanтАЩt help it, guv,тАЭ Gil said, taking a deep drag and smiling broadly. He was a wiry kid of seventeen,
a year younger than Elias, dressed in black jeans with a belt buckle that read тАЬBoy ToyтАЭ in rhinestones, a
T-shirt ripped at the shoulder, and a black beret. тАЬMy dad got stationed overseas a lot. I was in England
when I started smoking. Every bloke over there called тАШem that.тАЭ He raised an eyebrow and proffered
the cigarette to Elias. His hand had a fine tremor.
Elias shook his head. тАЬNo, thanks.тАЭ Something about GilтАЩs words had snagged a memory of the
dream. He saw again in his mind the thatched roof of the cottage, glimpses through the fog of sheep
browsing in the nearby meadow, the low stone fencesтАФтАЬEngland,тАЭ he murmured to himself.
тАЬWhat?тАЭ
Elias shook his head. тАЬOh, just a dream I had.тАЭ One last flash of memory welled up before the dream
faded entirely: the swans were watching over someone, protecting himтАФor was it a her? As he looked