"Krinard, Susan - Twice A Hero" - читать интересную книгу автора (Krinard Susan)

"He wrote in his notes from the journey that they found a buried temple in the jungle, not far from the central ruins at Tikal, and did a bit of exploring. A fortuitous discovery put them on to an opening that proved to be, from Perry's account, the entrance to a burial chamberЧ"
"And," Mac said, "that being a less enlightened age with regard to ancient artifacts, they looted it."
Homer pressed his lips together. "It's true that not every treasure in this house was acquired by modern ethical means. But the only thing Perry and Liam took away that day was a single miniature stone tablet that they broke in two. Each of them took one halfЧ"
"Чand made them into pendants," Mac guessed, turning the stone chip over in her hand. "As mementos?"
"Or a sort ofЕ gesture of friendship, I suppose. Perry carried his back to San Francisco and passed it down through the family."
"And what about O'Shea?"
"Liam O'Shea vanished in the jungle on a second trip they made to the ruins four years later," he said. "Perry came back alone after a falling out with O'Shea. Liam's death was assumed to be some kind of accident, butЧ"
Mac felt her stomach knot, almost as if she were learning of the death of someone she'd cared about and not a total stranger whose picture she'd first seen a few minutes ago. "But?"
Homer let the silence hang. She picked up the photo and examined the man who'd lost his life adventuring. The face of Liam O'Shea was utterly unmoved by any knowledge of his fate. He looked as though he'd spit in the eye of Death itself.
"How did it happen?" she prompted.
"That is the question, MacKenzie. The question that has to be laid to rest."
"You mean how he died?"
"Whether it really was an accident, or something else. Something like betrayal."
"Wait a minute." Mac set down the photo. "What is this all about? Curses and bad karma and how Perry's partner died in the jungleЧ"
He lifted a hand. "I'm getting to that. Maybe you'll understand when you read this letter. Perry's letter." Homer rattled the yellowed, handwritten page he held in his hand. "We don't know to whom he wrote it. Only this page remains, but it's the killer." He gave a dark laugh. "Read it."
She did, scanning the elegant script so unlike her own hasty scrawl. " 'Our quarrel was a terrible one, and I was too angry to consider the consequences of my actions. I left him in the jungleЧand I will, until the day of my death, know that I was responsible for his. It remains a burden on my soul, a devil's bargain I cannot be rid of. Is Liam cursing me from the unmarked grave he found in that jungle?' "
"Now do you understand?" Homer said wearily.
"You meanЧ" Mac dropped the letter as if it had burst into flame. "You mean my great-great-grandfather killed his partner?"
"You read the letter. What do you think?"
A thousand times she and Homer had discussed esoteric matters of philosophy and tossed opinions at each other like balls in a tennis match. But this was no mild debate. "Curse," Homer had said. And so had Peregrine Sinclair.
"At a loss, Brat?" Homer said. "I'm not surprised. Didn't know about this skeleton in our family closet, did you? Not a pretty legacy. I don't think those bones were ever buried completely." He sank back on the bed. "One evil deed can echo through the generations."
All at once his meaning was crystal clear. She looked at the photograph again, trying to imagine that peaceful camaraderie rent by violence. "You think that my great-great-grandfather murdered his partner in the jungle and made it look like an accident."
He sighed. "I do, to the shame of all Sinclairs."
"And you thinkЕ but you couldn't, Homer. You've never been superstitiousЧ"
At least not until you became ill. Mac bit her lip. "You think that somehow what he did so many years ago caused our family bad luck ever since?"
"What causes anything, Brat? Why did your father die in Vietnam and your mother lose her life to mental illness? Why is your brother finding it so hard to get funding for his promising research? Why am I in this blasted bed?"
Odd how Homer's matter-of-fact delivery could make it all sound so reasonable. Homer, who'd always seemed so proud of the Sinclair name and the spirit of adventure it stood for.
Adventure tainted by murder.
Mac shivered. "What was Perry's motive to murder his partner? Didn't you say they were close friends?"
"I don't know. His reasons were lostЧ"
"Then what other proof do you have that Perry did something so terrible? Did O'Shea leave any descendants to accuseЧ"
"No."
"But if all you have is that letterЧ"
"He all but admits he did it."
"Then why haven't I heard about this before? How did he cover such a thing up?"
Homer shrugged. "Who knows? Money can buy secrecy, Brat. Except in one's own heart."
The guilt in the letter. That was what Homer meant. But the way he spoke, the regret in his eyesЧit was as if Homer had become Perry and taken that guilt upon himself.
Mac stood up. "All right. It's a terrible thing and I'm very sorry. But you had no part in whatever Peregrine did. None of us were there."
"We didn't have to be. The blood Perry spilled is still on Sinclair hands."
God. Mac looked away. The illness had finally begun to affect Homer's once razor-sharp mind. This morbid delusion wasn't going to help him, not so close to the end. She had to pull him out of it.
"How long have you believed this, Homer?"
"Believed? Not so long." He let out a shuddering sigh. "Certain things have just become clearer to me lately. Clearer and more important."
Mac felt a profound desire to take the blasted photo and tear it into little pieces. She picked it up and held it taut between her hands.
How did you leave this world, Liam O'Shea? Did someone you trust betray you? Did you curse the Sinclairs as you died?
Good grief, she was getting as bad as Homer, "Why are you telling me this now?" she asked. "If you're worried that I'll suffer from this 'curse'Ч"
"You already have, Brat. I don't want you to come to a bad end like the rest of us."
"Damn it, Homer." She leaned fiercely over the bed. "You're not making any sense."
He pushed up with a burst of strength. "I know why you withdrew from the challenges of life, MacKenzie. Maybe you didn't realize it. You lost too much too early. Couldn't risk losing more, saw what happened to anyone who did. I can't blame you. But now I have to ask you to take a risk. Not only for me and for our family, but for yourself."
A chill ran through Mac, a premonition of sudden and terrifying change. "Homer, IЧ"
"I have a mission for you, MacKenzie. An old man's last request. And your first quest. Fitting."