"Kristine Kathryn Rusch - The Room of Lost Souls" - читать интересную книгу автора (Rusch Kristine Kathryn)

тАЬThat was the point of our visit,тАЭ he says.

тАЬAnd she wanted to take me?тАЭ I canтАЩt believe anyone who studied that
place would bring a child to it.

тАЬYou suited up and followed her. You grabbed her hand as she went
through that door. I think you were trying to keep her from going inside.тАЭ

But I wasnтАЩt. I was entranced with the lights, as fascinated as she had
been.

тАЬI saw you go in,тАЭ he says. тАЬI called to you both, but the door closed
behind you.тАЭ

тАЬAnd then?тАЭ I ask.

тАЬAnd then I couldnтАЩt get you out.тАЭ

Minutes became hours. Hours became a day. He tried everything
short of going in himself. He smashed at the window, tried to dismantle the
walls, sent in some kind of grappler to grab us. Nothing worked.
 тАЬThen, one day, the door opened.тАЭ His voice still holds a kind of awe.
тАЬAnd there you stood, your hands over your ears. I grabbed you and pulled
you out, and held you, and the door closed again. Before I could go in.
Before I could reach inside....тАЭ

His voice trails off, but I remember this part. I remember him clinging
to me, his hands so firm that they bruise me. It feels like he holds me for
days.

тАЬYou couldnтАЩt tell us anything,тАЭ he says. тАЬYou didnтАЩt think any time had
gone by at all. You were tired and cranky and overwhelmed. And you never
wanted to go in again.тАЭ

тАЬYou asked?тАЭ

He shakes his head. тАЬYou said. Without prompting. We stayed for a
month. We never got her out.тАЭ

And then he ordered the ship to leave. Because he knew he could
spend the rest of his life struggling against that place. And he had a child. A
miracle child, who had escaped.

тАЬI dropped you with your grandparents and came back. I figured I
could go in and get her. But I couldnтАЩt. Except for you, I didnтАЩt know anyone
who had gotten out.тАЭ

тАЬWhich is why you want me to go,тАЭ I say.