"Jody Lynn Nye - The Grand Tour" - читать интересную книгу автора (Nye Jody Lynn)

upper-class, right out of an old-fashioned thriller, but welcoming, new, and smelling of starch and
furniture polish. Trains must indeed be an important memory to be able to present him with such detail.
Chuck was sure heтАЩd never have thought of the bob├иche cups around the base of the light bulbs
himself, nor the white, lace-edged covers protecting the arms of the seats.
He felt a twinge of resentment as he followed Keir toward their assigned seats. HeтАЩd half hoped the
other travelers would disappear when they boarded, going off to their own spirit quests with some
other guide, leaving him and Keir alone. But no such luck. They were all right behind him. This was
worse than his normal life. He wouldnтАЩt even have privacy while he traveled. Their rows of seats were
in the middle of the car. He was going to have to share his guide and his personal journey with not one,
but four total strangers. He hoped he wouldnтАЩt have to pour out his innermost thoughts and feelings in
front of them, not to mention all the other passengers seated around them. He didnтАЩt like having a
crowd imposed upon him. At the same time he felt guilty for being so selfish. But how bad was it to
want to have just a little attention for himself?
The resentment became an uncomfortable weight on his shoulders that was only partly lessened
when he wrestled the huge steamer trunk up into an overhead rack. The storage spaces looked small,
but the trunk fit just fine. Chuck reminded himself that he was not in a physical world, for all he could
sense, feel, smell, and above all, see it. The other bags he stowed where he could, silently negotiating
for room with the two women, who were trying to put their possessions as close as they could to their
row. The tall man in tweed and the bearded, middle-aged man, who had one bag apiece, stowed their
suitcases underneath their chairs, and were sitting patiently waiting for the others to settle down.
Chuck felt his face getting hot as he tried to find space for the last three briefcases in his arms in the
midst of other passengers moving toward their seats. Was the crowd never going to let up? The mob
grew thicker and thicker, until he was holding his bags straight up in the air. Thousands of people
streamed past him in the aisle, men in baseball caps, women wearing trenchcoats, uniformed
schoolchildren, each bumping into his ribs or his knees with their luggage. Where were they coming
from? Where were they all going to sit? The train couldnтАЩt possibly hold this many people!
тАЬItтАЩs just a nuisance,тАЭ Keir called to him over the heads of the mob. тАЬIgnore it. It will be over soon.тАЭ
тАЬOver?тАЭ Chuck asked. тАЬWhere are all these people going?тАЭ
тАЬTheyтАЩre not real,тАЭ Keir said. тАЬBe calm.тАЭ
As quickly as the deluge of passengers began, it ended, leaving no trace of its passage. Chuck was
left standing in the middle of the corridor with his valises held high over his head, back to back with
the plump woman. Puzzled, he glanced around, as though the crowd might have slipped out of sight
behind one of the seats. The red-haired woman looked as confused as he felt. Briskly assuming the
appropriate shape for each, Keir guided them to their seats and took their extra bags from them. He
passed along the center aisle, straightening and turning bundles in the racks. An empty spot opened up
above ChuckтАЩs head. Deftly, Keir tucked the briefcases into the gap. Chuck felt a sense of satisfaction
as the things fit as neatly into place as a piece into a jigsaw puzzle. Things were looking up. The brown
plush seats, arranged three on each side of the aisle, were comfortable, after all, and he loved train
travel.
The bearded man had taken the center seat in the row of three facing the engine. Chuck, who
preferred to ride facing forward, had the choice of the aisle or the window. Why couldnтАЩt the bearded
man have taken either end, and left an empty seat between them? At least each seat had its own pair of
wide, padded armrests. They wouldnтАЩt have to fight over them. He chose the aisle for the moment. The
red-haired woman laid immediate claim to the window seat facing the rear of the train, and the man in
tweed sat down next to her, stiffly upright, with his hands placed on his knees. The tall woman in
white floated into a forward seat on the other side of the aisle.
In the seat facing Chuck, a plump, round-faced man with wisps of golden hair on his round head
wearing a tan business suit offered him a cheerful smile. Across the aisle from him, a sharp-faced man
in a blue suit striped with charcoal gray glanced up from a ledger he was reading to offer a friendly
nod. The woman beside him, a comfortable-looking, white-haired matron Chuck guessed to be in her