"Henry Kuttner - The Portal in the Picture " - читать интересную книгу автора (Kuttner Henry)

THE
PORTAL IN
THE PICTURE
Prologue
SHE called herself Malesca. Her agent called her the "Loveliest Girl in the World" and I suppose he wasn't
far wrong, at that. If I'd known she was playing the Windsor Roof that night I'd have gone somewhere
else.
But by the time I was at the table, having a sandwich and a highball, it was too late. The lights dimmed,
the spot went on and there stood Malesca, bowing to the storm of applause. I wasn't going to let her spoil
my drink. I could always look somewhere else while she was on. I ate white meat of chicken, drank my
highball and thought about other thingsтАФuntil the famous velvet voice began to sing.
I listened to her sing. A chair creaked. In the dimness someone sat down beside me. I peered through the
gloom, recognizing the man, a top figure in show business.
"Hello, Burton," he said.
"Hello."
"Mind if I join you?"
I waved my hand and he gave his order to the waiter who slid up noiselessly. Malesca was still singing.
The man beside me watched her, as rapt and intent as everybody else in the club except me.
Two .encores later, when the lights went up, I realized that he was staring at me curiously. My disinterest
in the singer must have been pretty obvious.
"No like?" he asked in a puzzled voice.
Even before Korzybski that particular question would have been meaningless. I couldn't answer him and I
knew it. So I
3
didn't bother. I just didn't say anything. I could see Malesca from the corner of my eye, hear the rustle of
her stiff skirts as she came through the tables toward me. I sighed.
She was wearing some light flowery scent I knew she hadn't picked out for herself. She put her hand on
the table edge and leaned toward me.
"Eddie," she said.
"Well?"
"Eddie, I haven't seen you for ages."
"That's right."
"Listen, why don't you wait around? Take me somewhere after my last show. We could have a drink or
something. How about it, Eddie?"
Her voice was pure magic. It had been magic on radio and records and video. It would soon be magic in
the movies. I didn't say a word.
"EddieтАФplease."
I picked up my glass, emptied it, brushed crumbs off my coat, laid the napkin beside the plate.
"Thanks," I said. "Wish I could."
She stared at me, the familiar, searching stare full of incomprehension. I could hear the applause still
echoing.
"EddieтАФ"
"You fieard me," I said. "Take a walk. Take an encore. Go on, beat it."
Without a word she turned away and went back to the floor, her skirts frothing and hissing as she
squeezed between the tables. The man beside me said: "Eddie, are you crazy?"
"Probably," I said. I wasn't going to explain to him.
"All right, Eddie. You know the answers, I suppose. But something must be wrong. The most beautiful
woman in the world throwing herself at your feetтАФand you won't even look at her. That just isn't
sensible."
"I'm not a very sensible guy," I told him. It was a lie, of course. I'm the most sensible guy in the worldтАФin