"Patricia A. McKillip - The House on Parchment Street" - читать интересную книгу автора (McKillip Patricia A)

"Dad, we haven't even seen the Chamber of Horrors yet," Bruce said. "We got stuck on the Stuart
Kings."
"Oh, by all means," Uncle Harold said. "Take your time." He tucked Aunt Catherine's hand under his
arm. "I'll go and commune with the famous statesmen."

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"What is the Chamber of Horrors?" Carol said, looking over Bruce's shoulder as he turned pages.
"It's full of murderers, criminals тАж old-fashioned torturesтАж ." His voice died away. He stood frowning
down at the guidebook, and for a moment Carol did not even hear him breathe. "CarolтАФ"
"What is it?"
"Look at that man in the picture."
"Hold still, I can'tтАФOhтАж ." Her fingers closed tightly on his wrist as she stared at the pale grim face
half-hidden under his thumb. Her voice rose in a wail. "He's a ghostтАФwhat's he doing in the Chamber of
Horrors?"
"Sh! He's not in the Chamber of Horrors." He looked around. "Come on. This way."
Carol followed him out of the room. They saw the man again, one of a group of people in a motionless
wax tableau. They stopped in front of it. Five men sat at a table. Their hats and clothes were dark; there
was no lace on their plain white collars and cuffs. A small boy stood before them on a footstool. His hair
was bright in the somber room. There were bows on his shoes and round his knees. His collar was
peaked with points of lace. Behind him a portly man wearing a helm and a breastplate of steel quieted
three anxious women whose rich clothes seemed to draw the light away from the darkly dressed men.
"It's not him," Carol said softly.
"But it could be."
тАЬItтАЩs not.тАЭ
"That's not the pointтАж . Carol, those men are dressed exactly like the ghost wasтАФand the girl has that
same kind of white lace collar, and her hair comes down in curls like that woman'sтАФshe's from their
time."
Carol stared at them. They were frozen in some elusive, unexplained moment. "What are they doing?"
" 'When Did You Last See Your Father?' It's a reproduction of a painting."
"I don't get it."
"I don'tтАФ" He lifted his head, looking down the room. "Dad."
Uncle Harold left Mary Queen of Scots kneeling with her head on a chopping-block and came to them.
"Problem?"
"Yes. What is happening here?"
"Oh. It's quite simple. The men in black are Puritan leaders. They are looking for the boy's father, who is
evidently a Royalist leader, because if he were a good staunch Puritan, he wouldn't let his family wear
such rich colorful clothes. One of the women is probably the boy's mother."
"Would that be during the Civil War?"
"During it, or shortly after it, I expect. The Puritans seem to be definitely in power."
"Dad. That painting in your studyтАФthis reminds me of it."
Uncle Harold glanced at him. "I didn't know you had looked that closely at it."
"Yes. I like it."
"So do I. The dress seems to be of the same period, doesn't it. Perhaps she was looking for her father,
too. She always seemed to me to be looking for someone. тАж I wonder where your mother is. I think I
left her in the Chamber of Horrors."
"I'm here," Aunt Catherine said. "And I am starving. Intellectual pursuits always have that effect on
me."
"But Dad," Bruce said, "we haven't seen the Chamber of Horrors yet." They were finally ready to leave,