"Tom Purdom-Moonchild" - читать интересную книгу автора (Purdom Tom)

"You can get the containers as soon as they go by," Dr. Oliver murmured.
The couple came down the walk with their hands gesturing and their attention obviously concentrated
on their conversation. Harvey and his father both stepped closer to Ted to give them room to pass. They
went on by without a glance and another couple came around the bend on the other side and walked by.
"Don't let him do it," Harvey whispered. "They'll kill him if they find out he did it."
 Fingers dug into his shoulders. Rough hands spun him around. His father's red, contorted face glared
down at him.
"Give him the container! Give him the container and shut up!"
The fingers squeezed his shoulders like a set of clamps. His father's eyes were glaring at him like the
eyes of a madman.
The angry mask glanced up and down the path. Dr. Oliver reached inside the robe and jerked the
container out of Harvey's belt. He swung on Ted and Ted grabbed the container away from him and
shoved it under his belt.
Harvey stepped away from his father and rubbed his aching shoulders. Dr. Oliver stalked down the
path and Ted shook his head and followed him. Ted looked back once and then turned away with his
eyes on the ground.
Harvey slumped against the tree trunk. Three voices chattered on the other side of the bend and he
stood up and tried to look composed.
Three young girls ran around the bend. They ran past him without a glance in his direction and he
slumped against the tree again.
More voices rose on the other side of the bend. He pushed himself away from the tree and trudged
around the bend as if he were walking through a fog.
Two boys his own age had dropped onto a bench and started arguing about an international chess
game they had seen on television. They looked up when he came around the bend and turned back to
their argument.
A big moth fluttered past his ear. He waved it away without touching it and a flash of red caught his
eye.
His right hand slid along the top of the bushes as if he were resting it on a banister. People flowed past
him as if in a dream. A man and a woman looked at him strangely.
The peaceman was standing by a fountain with a pair of girls. He looked relaxed but his eyes were
watching every side of the clearing as he talked. He jerked his hand at Harvey and gave him a wink as
soon as Harvey entered the clearing.
"How's it going?" the peaceman said.
Harvey stopped ten steps from the peaceman. One of the girls turned her head and eyed him
curiously.
The peaceman frowned. The other girl turned her head and raised her eyebrows.
"I've got something I have to tell you," Harvey said. "Can I talk to you alone?"
The peaceman ran his hands across a girl's shoulder and stepped toward him. "Sure. What's the
matter?"
"We'll still be here when you're finished," one of the girls said.
The peaceman stopped in front of him. Harvey looked around the clearing and the peaceman pointed
down a path. "Let's go that way."
The peaceman strolled down the path and Harvey found himself moving with him. They stopped
beside a big, flower-covered bush and the peaceman studied Harvey's face.
"What's the matter, son? What can I do for you?"
Harvey's fists clenched. He was standing on one side of a huge canyon and his father and Ted were
standing on the other side. His father had grown up on Earth and lived there most of his life. Ted had
been five years old when their family had moved to the Moon.
"I need some help with my father," Harvey said. "He's getting himself in a lot of trouble. Somebody has
to help me stop him before he gets into trouble."