"Madeline L' Engle - Time Quartet 01 - A Wrinkle in Time" - читать интересную книгу автора (L'Engle Madeleine)

"I hate being an oddball," Meg said. "It's hard on Sandy and Dennys, too. I don't know if
they're really like everybody else, or if they're just able to pretend they are. I try to pretend,
but it isn't any help."
"You're much too straightforward to be able to pretend to be what you aren't," Mrs. Murry
said. "I'm sorry, Meglet. Maybe if Father were here he could help you, but I don't think I can do
anything till you've managed to plow through some more time. Then things will be easier for you.
But that isn't much help right now, is it?"
"Maybe if I weren't so repulsive-lookingтАФmaybe if I were pretty like youтАФ"
"Mother's not a bit pretty; she's beautiful," Charles Wallace announced, slicing liverwurst.
"Therefore I bet she was awful at your age."
"How right you are," Mrs. Murry said. "Just give yourself time, Meg." ^
"Lettuce on your sandwich. Mother?" Charles Wallace asked.
"No. thanks."
He cut the sandwich into sections, put it on a plate, and set it in front of his mother.
"YoursтАЩll be along in just a minute, Meg. I think I'll talk to Mrs. Whatsit about you."
"Who's Mrs. Whatsit?" Meg asked.
"I think I want to be exclusive about her for a while," Charles Wallace said, "Onion salt?"
"Yes, please."
"What's Mrs. Whatsit stand for?" Mrs. Murry asked.
"That's her name," Charles Wallace answered. "You know the old shingled house back in the
woods that the kids won't go near because they say it's haunted? That's where they live."
"They?"
"Mrs. Whatsit and her two friends. I was out with Fortinbras a couple of days agoтАФyou and the
twins were at school, Meg. We like to walk in the woods, and suddenly he took off after a squirrel
and I took off after him and we ended up by the haunted house, so I met them by accident, as you
might say."
"But nobody lives there," Meg said.
"Mrs. Whatsit and her friends do. They've very enjoyable."
"Why didn't you tell me about it before?" Mrs. Murry asked. "And you know you're not supposed
to go off our property without permission, Charles."
"I know," Charles said. "That's one reason I didn't tell you. I Just rushed off after
Fortinbras without thinking. And then I decided, well, I'd better save them for an emergency,
anyhow."
A fresh gust of wind took the house and shook it, and suddenly the rain began to lash against
the windows.
"I don't think I like this wind," Meg said nervously.
"Well lose some shingles off the roof, that's certain," Mrs. Murry said. "But this house has
stood for almost two hundred years and I think it will last a little longer, Meg. There's been
many a high wind up on this hill."
"But this is a hurricane!" Meg wailed. "The radio kept saying it was a hurricane!"
"It's October," Mrs. Murry told her. "There've been storms in October before."
As Charles Wallace gave Meg her sandwich Fortinbras came out from under the table. He gave a
long, low growl, and they could see the dark fur slowly rising on his back. Meg felt her own skin
prickle.
"What's wrong?" she asked anxiously.


Fortinbras stared at the door that opened into Mrs. Murry's laboratory which was in the old stone
dairy right off the kitchen. Beyond the lab a pantry led outdoors, though Mrs. Murry had done her