"Island of Dr Death by Gene Wolfe" - читать интересную книгу автора (Nebula Award Stories 6)

"Hey tough!" Into Jason's Jaguar, feeling the leather
upholstery soft 'and smelly; you fall asleep.
Awake in town, bright lights flashing in the car win-
dows. Jason is gone and the car is growing cold; you wait
for what seems a long time, looking out at the shop win-
dows, the big gun on the hip of the policeman who walks
past, the lost dog who is afraid of everyone, even you
when you tap the glass and call to him.
Then Jason is back with packages to put behind the
seat. "Are we going home now?"
He nods without looking at you, arranging his bundles
so they won't topple over, fastening his seatbelt.
"I want to get out of 'the car."
He looks at you.
"I want to go in a store. Come on, Jason."
Jason sighs. "All right, the drugstore overthere, okay?
Just for a minuite."
The drugstore is as big as a supermarket, with long,
bright aisles of glassware and notions and paper goods.
Jason buys fluid for his lighter at the cigarette counter,
and you bring Um a book from a revolving wire rack.
"Please, Jason?"
He takes it from you and replaces it in the rack, then
when you are in .the oar again takes it from under his
jacket 'and gives it to you.
It is a wonderful book, thick and heavy, with the edges
of the pages tinted yellow. The covers are glossy stiff
cardboard, and on the front is a picture of a man in rags
fighting a thing partly like an ape and partly like a man,
but much worse than either. The picture is in color, and
there is real blood on the ape-thing; the man is muscular
and handsome, with tawny hair lighter than Jason's and
no beard.
"You like that?"
You are out of town already, and without the street
lights it's too dark in the car, almost, to see the picture.
You nod.
Jason laughs. "That's camp. Did you know that?"
You shrug, riffling the pages under your thumb, think-
ing of reading, alone, in your room tonight!
"You going to tell your morn how nice I was to you?"
"Uh-huh, sure. You want me to?"
"Tomorrow, not tonight. I think she'll be asleep when
we get back. Don't you wake her up." Jason's voice says
he will be angry if you do.
"Okay."
"Don't come in her room."
"Okay."
The Jaguar says 'Hutntntaca . . ." down the road, and
you can see the whitecaps in the moonlight now, and the