"Laura Resnick - Under a Sky More Fiercely Blue" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Laura)

help from my friends."
"But such friends are..." I tried to think of a phrase that would not
insult him. It wasn't easy, for power is everything to such men, and theirs
had been stripped away like flimsy garments. "Many such friends have been
jailed, and others, though they are respected, have little, um... The Fascists




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changed many things here," I concluded awkwardly. "Your friends may not be as
influential as they once were."
"So I've heard. But nothing ever changes _that_ much. Especially not
here."
"So you are going to Villalba to see Don Vizzini?"
He looked at me thoughtfully. "You know him?"
I shook my head. "But everyone knows _of_ him. A man like you would
have no other reason to go to Villalba."
"Toto, do you know someone reliable? Someone who can take me to
Vizzini?"
Suddenly excited, imagining myself in a heroic scene, I said, "I can
take you!"
"Forget it. You're a kid. Anyhow, you've never been to Villalba."
"You'd have trouble finding anyone in Serradifalco who's older than me
and younger than my grandfather. Trouble, too, finding anyone in my village
who _has_ been to Villalba."
"What will your mother think when you don't come home?"
I had thought he would ask, since no man, not even a man like Luciano,
ignores his mother's wishes. "When I come home, she will be proud if I can
tell her I helped you."
"But think of how she'll suffer until then."
"She has suffered before," I said with the callousness of youth.
"Since she lives here, I don't doubt it." He rose to his feet. "Are you
sure you can take me to Villalba without getting caught?"
"For three years I have stolen fuel and meat from the soldiers without
getting caught. I've smuggled cheese and grain through these mountains to my
family, and I've traded on the black market." Pleased that he seemed to take
my accomplishments seriously, I concluded, "I can get you to Villalba safely."
He agreed to let me guide him, and we set off toward Villalba. As the
hours passed, I discovered that he enjoyed conversation, though he preferred
to ask questions rather than answer them. I explained that, when he appeared,
I had been on my way to the estate of a _latifondista_ -- a landowner -- to
steal a sheep.
"Of course, many _latifondisti_ are not as wealthy as they once were,"
I said as we followed a dry riverbed through the hills, heading north. "First
the Fascists, then the war... Still, they are richer than we are, and I think
this one can certainly spare one sheep for my family."
"There's just you, your mother, and your grandfather now?"
"Yes. And my grandfather is very ill, so it's my duty to make sure we
have something to eat."