"MacLeod, Ian R - Sealight" - читать интересную книгу автора (Macleod Ian R)

IAN R. MACLEOD

SEALIGHT

YOU WILL BE CAREFUL, dear?"

"Of course I'll be careful." Ran Kirving carried his mother from her bed to the
wicker wheelchair, smoothing the blankets over the remains of her legs.

"Tomorrow's a big day, son. The happiest day of your life."

"Yes, Mother." He kissed her temple.

"So you will be careful, won't you?"

Ran smiled and patted her hand. Then he picked up the bag of skidling sandwiches
she'd made him the night before. "See you this evening."

He took the stairs of the creaky tenement three at a time, past the screams of
babies, the slow rumble of household arguments that would last into the night,
the cabbages talk reek of too many lives pressed too close together.

The courtyard was filled with flapping washing and sunlight. Ran paused to take
a breath of the relatively fresh air. As always, it was flavored with rotting
seaweed and stagnant canal.

"What a lovely morning? a voice called.

Ran looked up and saw Piir leaning from the creaky balcony of her parents'
tenement. She was still in her nightgown, her red hair tied back from her wide
and innocent face.

"Yes," Ran said, squinting at her through the fluttering sheets, telling himself
over and over again how lucky he was to be marrying her, hoping that with enough
repetition he might come to believe it.

"I've just got the hem of my dress to finish," Piir said. She laughed. "Think of
me, all in white." She turned slightly and the flashing sunlight caught the
rounded shape of her figure, the curve of her belly that people were already
starting to notice.

"I've got to go," Ran said with a wave.

Piir waved back. "You will be careful, won't you?"

It was a fine day for fishing. The wind had veered away from the dimly foul
stench of the marshes and Ran's sail snapped taut in the breeze. The sea was
flat blue and almost waveless. Even the ancient hull of Ran's boat had decided