"Joyce Carol Oates - The Gravedigger's Daughter" - читать интересную книгу автора (Oates Joyce Carol)

woman. A тАЬvirgin.тАЭ She never thought of it now, all that was past. Niles Tignor had rescued her. Niles
Tignor was her hero. HeтАЩd taken her from Milburn in his car, theyтАЩd eloped to Niagara Falls. Her
girlfriends had been envious. Every girl in Milburn adored Niles Tignor from afar. HeтАЩd brought his bride
Rebecca then to live in the country east and a little north of Chautauqua Falls. Four Corners, it was
called.

Their son Niles Tignor, Jr. had been born here. Niley would be three years old, end of November.

She was vain of being Mrs. Tignor, and she was vain of being a mother. Wanting to shout at the man in
the panama hat You have no right to follow me! I can protect myself.

It was so. Rebecca had a sharp piece of scrap metal in her jacket pocket. In secret, nervously she was
fingering it.

If itтАЩs the last thing I do mister I WILL MARK YOU.

In school in Milburn, Rebecca had had to fight sometimes. She was the town gravediggerтАЩs daughter,
other kids taunted her. She had tried to ignore them, best as she could. Her mother had so advised her.
But you must not stoop to their level Rebecca. She had, though. Frantic flailing and kicking fights,
sheтАЩd had to defend herself. Damn bastard principal had expelled her, one day.

Of course she had never attacked another. She had never hurt any of her classmates not really, even the
ones whoтАЩd deserved to be hurt. But she didnтАЩt doubt that if she was desperate enough fighting for her
life she could hurt another person, bad.

Ah! the point of the steel was sharp as an ice pick. She would have to stab it deep into the manтАЩs chest,
or throatтАж

тАЬThink I canтАЩt do it, asshole? I can.тАЭ

Rebecca wondered if the man in the panama hat, a stranger to her, was someone Tignor knew. Someone
who knew Tignor.

Her husband was in the brewery business. He was often on the road for days, even weeks. Usually he
appeared to be prospering but sometimes he complained of being short of cash. He spoke of the
business of brewing, marketing, and delivering beer and ale to retailers through New York State as
cutthroat competitive. The way Tignor spoke, with such zest, you were made to think of slashed and
bleeding throats. You were made to think that cutthroat competitive was a good thing.

There were rivalries in the brewery business. There were unions, there were strikes and layoffs and labor
disputes and picketing. The business employed men like Niles Tignor, who could handle themselves in
difficult situations. Tignor had told Rebecca that there were enemies of his who would never dare
approach himтАФтАЬBut a wife, sheтАЩd be different.тАЭ

Tignor had told Rebecca that he would murder with his bare hands anyone who approached her.

The man in the panama hat, Rebecca wanted to think, did not really look like a man in the brewery
business. His sporty straw hat, tinted glasses, and cream-colored trousers were more appropriate for the
lakeshore in summer than the industrial edge of Chautauqua Falls in autumn. A long-sleeved white shirt,
probably high-quality cotton or even linen. And a bow tie. A bow tie! No one in Chautauqua Falls wore