"Madeline L' Engle - A Swiftly Tilting Planet" - читать интересную книгу автора (L'Engle Madeleine)

Meg watched as the smile was wiped from his face and replaced with an
expression
of-what? Nothingness, she thought.
The twins stopped talking. Mrs. Murry stood, her wooden spoon resting against
the lip of the saucepan. Mrs. O'Keefe continued to stare morosely into the
fire.
9g
Charles Wallace appeared to be concentrating on the tesseract.
-Father is just listening, Meg thought. -The President is doing the talking.
She gave an involuntary shudder. One minute the room had been noisy with
eager
conversation, and suddenly they were all silent, their movements arrested.
She
listened, intently, while her father continued to hold the phone to his ear.
His
face looked grim, all the laughter lines deepening to sternness. Rain lashed
against the windows. -It ought to snow at this time of year, Meg thought.
-There's something wrong with the weather. There's something wrong.
Mr. Murry continued to listen silently, and his silence spread across the
room.
Sandy had been opening the oven door to baste the turkey and snitch a
spoonful
of stuffing, and he stood still, partly bent over, looking at his father.
Mrs.
Murry turned slightly from the stove and brushed one hand across her hair,
which
was beginning to be touched with silver at the temples. Meg had opened the
drawer for the beater, which she held tightly.
It was not unusual for Mr. Murry to receive a call from the President. Over
the
years he had been consulted by the White House on matters of physics and
space
travel; other conversations had been serious, many disturbing, but this, Meg
felt, was different, was causing the warm room to feel colder, look less
bright.
"Yes, Mr. President, I understand," Mr. Murry said at last. "Thank you for
calling." He put the receiver down slowly, as though it were heavy.
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Dennys, his hands still full of silver for the table, asked, "What did he
say?"
Their father shook his head. He did not speak.
Sandy closed the oven door. "Father?"
Meg cried, "Father, we know something's happened. You have to tell us-please."
His voice was cold and distant. "War."
Meg put her hand protectively over her belly. "Do you mean nuclear war?"
The family seemed to draw together, and Mrs. Murry reached out a hand to
include
Calvin's mother. But Mrs. O'Keefe closed her eyes and excluded herself.
"Is it Mad Dog Branzillo?" asked Meg.
"Yes. The President feels that this time Branzillo is going to carry out his