"Judith Moffett - The Bird Shaman's Girl" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moffett Judith)

The Bird ShamanтАЩs Girl
by Judith Moffett

Judith MoffettтАЩs first stories of the Hefn invasion were assembled into the
novel The Ragged World, which was followed by another novel, Time,
Like an Ever-Rolling Stream. Her most recent story in the series was тАЬThe
BearтАЩs BabyтАЭ in our Oct/Nov 2003 issue. These days, Ms. Moffett divides
her time between Swarthmore, PA, and a hill farm in Kentucky. She says
she has finished up work on a third Hefn novel (of which this story forms
a part) and she is now writing and publishing more poetry again. For this
story, Ms. Moffett is grateful to Polly Schaafsma, and to Solveig A. Turpin
and Jim Zintgraff, whose written and photographic work on Pecos River
rock art were of great help.

****

1

Even at the end of May you could find snow in the Wasatch Range of Utah
if you went high enoughтАФsnow on the ground, snow occasionally falling
from the sky. Pam Pruitt stood behind one of the cameramen and watched
a group of actors haul their burdened handcarts up a steep slope. Wooden
wheels screeched on wooden axles. Neil Reeder, a handsome teen in a
tattered coat and britches, with a rag tied over his head and ears, was
pushing a cart from behind while a man and woman strained backwards as
they pulled on the handle. Snow swirled around them. As he passed the
camera Neil looked directly into the lens, face contorted with effort and
determination, heavy shoes slipping on the icy stones. The next instant a
wheel came off the cart and Neil, with a startled yelp, went sprawling.

тАЬCut!тАЭ the director yelled. тАЬWeтАЩll do one more take, folks. Dave, move
that mark two feet downhill, I want Neil to release the wheel a little sooner.тАЭ
The actors trooped back down the slope while props people reattached the
wheel and rolled the carts down. Neil saw Pam standing with Lexi Allred, his
costar in the series they were filming, and waved. Pam and Lexi waved
back. тАЬPlaces, everybody. Neil, see the mark? About two feet sooner.тАЭ Neil
nodded. The director called тАЬReady? Roll тАШem. AndтАФaction!тАЭ And the
Ephremite pioneers began again to toil up the mountainside, pulling and
pushing their handcarts toward the New Jerusalem and the cameras.

Pam glanced sideways at Lexi, eleven years old and in a peck of
trouble. Lexi, radiantly beautiful even in that getup, stood clutching a silvery
emergency blanket over her long dress and shawls. Feeling PamтАЩs regard
upon her, she looked up and smiled, and Pam smiled back.

This time the director was satisfied with the broken wheel and the
actors regrouped to begin a different scene. тАЬIтАЩm in this one,тАЭ Lexi said.
She gave the emergency blanket to Pam. Walking to join the others, she
lifted her shawls and redraped them so they covered her head as well as
her shoulders. Pam shook out and folded up the blanket, and handed it to