"Geoff Ryman - Was" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ryman Geoff)

"There!" Aunty Em said, soothing.

The meat was hard and dry in the middle and very, very salty, and there
were bubbles of salty fat in the gravy, and there were no vegetables with
the meat. Dorothy's mother had always eaten lots of crisp vegetables, lots
of fresh fruit, like she could never get enough of it. Dorothy was going to
ask for some, but looked around, and saw there was no fruit or vegetables.
Dorothy chewed and swallowed. But she couldn't lie. She couldn't say it was
nice.

"It's greasy," she whispered. If this was what they fed people in Kansas,
what did they feed dogs?

Aunty Em tried to be nice. "Well," she said, with another drawn-out sigh.
"How about some nice hot cornbread to soak it up? Fresh-made this
morning." She didn't wait for an answer. She turned away smartly, and
began to saw away at the bread. Dorothy could see she was still mad.
Aunty Em dropped the bread on her plate from high up. The bread was
bright yellow.

From under the house came a low, warning growl.

"Nice doggy. Nice doggy," Uncle Henry was saying outside the front door.
Dorothy's back was toward it. She didn't dare look around.

"You just eat up, honey," said Aunty Em. "I'll go make sure Toto's happy."

Dorothy heard Em's boots on the floor. Dorothy sat still and tried to
swallow the meat and she chewed the bread, and it went round and round
in her mouth, rough and gritty. She began to weep silently and slowly,
listening to what they were doing to Toto.

"He's gone right under!" grunted Henry.

"Well, hook him out with the broom," Aunty Em was whispering.

Dorothy did nothing. If she had been big and brave she would have done
something. She would have hit Aunty Em with the broom and called Toto
and walked away and never come back. But she knew what the world was
like, now. It was like that train ride. Here, at least, she would be fed.
"Got him," said Henry.

Aunty Em came back in, smiling at Dorothy. "It's going to rain, soon," she
said. "Oh, you can smell it in the wind. We need that rain. And you, young
lady. You need a bath."

Dorothy nodded, solemnly. She did. She liked baths. The water was hot,
and it smelled nice, and she always felt pretty afterward. Aunty Em kept
smiling. She pulled a big metal tub out of the corner, and poured a kettle
into it. The water was boiling. Dorothy heard the ring-ing sound of the