"Quintin, Jardine - Skinner's Festival" - читать интересную книгу автора (Quintin Jardine)

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ISBN 0 7472 4140 6

Printed and bound in France by
Brodard Taupin.
Reproduced from a previously printed
copy.
HEADLINE BOOK PUBLISHING A division of Hodder Headline






Dedicated to the memory of William Reid Jardine,
19081976

***
Panic was etched on the face of the clown on the unicyle.
Even through the happy smile make-up, it registered as he
struggled to regain his balance, rocking frantically backwards and
forwards on his unsteady perch. His arms flailed, and for a second
it seemed certain that he was gone, but with a violent last-ditch
heave he pulled himself back to the vertical, straightening quickly
in the saddle and resuming his compromise with gravity. The real-
life smile returned behind the rictus.
He swerved suddenly towards Skinner and Sarah.
Under Bob's arm, Sarah's shoulders still shook with laughter
from the sight of this silent struggle. She leaned against her
husband as the clown drew closer. Fully in command of his steed
once more, the unicyclist thrust out his right hand, offering them a
leaflet. Sarah reached up and took it from him, waving him
goodbye as he wobbled on towards his next target.
She studied the handbill. 'Le Cirque Mobile. Leith Links.
Performances 7:30 and 10:00 nightly.'
'Hmm. Hope the rest are a bloody sight more "mobile" than
him,' Skinner said, dryly.
'Let's find out some night. My treat.'
'Put like that. Doctor Sarah Grace Skinner, you're on.'
His wife hugged him tight with her left arm as they made their
way, slowly and haphazardly, through the crowds which thronged
the open area at the foot of the Mound, around the grey-pillared
Royal Scottish Academy, and its yellow stone neighbour, the
National Gallery of Scotland. The classical formality of the
buildings was in strange contrast to the garish make-up and dress
of the Fringe performers who were muling around the pedestrian