"Robert Rankin - Brentford 05 - The Brentford Chainstore Mas" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rankin Robert)

bedpan, and then took flight.'

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'In a spaceship?'
'According to Mrs Bryant, yes.'
'Makes you think,' said John Omally.
'Makes you think what?'
'No, just makes you think. It's a figure of speech.'
Well, I think there should be a law against it,' said Old Pete. 'If a woman can't lie safely in her bed without
some incubus claiming to be a space alien taking advantage of her. Where's it all going to end?'
'Search me,' said Omally.
Why?' asked Old Pete.
'No, it's another figure of speech.'
 'But you do think there should be a law against it?'
'Absolutely,' said John Omally. 'There should be an Act of Parliament.'
'Then you actually believe all that old rubbish, do you, Omally?'
'Pardon me?'
'About space aliens and incubi. You actually believe all that's true and there should be an Act of
Parliament?'
'I do, as it happens, yes.'
'I see.' Old Pete finished his rum and placed the empty glass upon the bar counter. 'Then what if I were
to tell you that I personally witnessed the "incubus" making his getaway down the drainpipe? In fact I even
recognized him.'
Omally's self-composure was a marvel to behold. 'I wouldn't be at all surprised,' said he.
You wouldn't?'
'Not at all, and if you were to tell me that this shape-shifting incubus had taken on the appearance
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of, well. . .' Omally glanced about the alehouse, as if in search of a suitable candidate. Well, let's say myself,
for example. It wouldn't surprise me one little bit.'
Old Pete ground his dentures. This was not the way he had planned things at all. The wind-up, followed
by the sting, was the way he'd planned things. Good for at least a bottle of rum.
Would you care for another drink?' asked Omally. 'Perhaps a double this time? You look a bit shaky.
Encounters with the supernatural can have that effect on people.'
Omally ordered the drinks.
Old Pete accepted his with a surly grunt. Omally pressed a five-pound note into his hand. Why not get
yourself a half-bottle for later on?' said he. 'For medicinal purposes.'
You're a gentleman,' said Old Pete.
'I'm a scoundrel,' said Omally, 'and so are you.'
The two men raised glasses and drank each other's health.
'But I'll tell you this,' said Omally. 'Back in the old country we don't make light of incubi and faerie folk
and things of that nature.'
'Don't you, though?' said Old Pete.
We do not. There's a strong belief in such things in Holy Ireland.'
'Is there?' said Old Pete.
'There is, and shall I tell you for why?'
'Please do,' said Old Pete.
'Souls,' said Omally. 'The souls of the dead.'
'Go on.'
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'It is popularly believed', said Omally, 'that the faerie folk are the souls of the dead, the soul being an