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

"I'm dying," said Jonathan, smiling. "But aside from that I'm pretty good, I
guess." It was an innocent statement of fact.

Too innocent. Ooops, thought Jonathan. Now he won't rent me a car.

But this was Kansas, not Los Angeles. The man went very still for a
moment, then said quietly, "You need a hand with your luggage?"

"Don't have any," said Jonathan, smiling almost helplessly at the man, as if
he regretted turning him down.

"You from around here? Your face looks kinda familiar."

"I'm an actor," Jonathan replied. "You may have seen me. I played a priest
in 'Dynasty.' "

"Well, I'll be," said American Gothic. "What you doing here then?"

It was a long story. "Well," said Jonathan, already imitating the other
man's manner. "I suppose you could say I'm here to find some-body."

"Oh. Some kind of detective work." There was a glint of curios-ity, and a
glint of hostility.

"Something like detective work," agreed Jonathan, and smiled. "It's called
history." He took the keys and walked.


Manhattan, KansasтАФSeptember 1875

After the Kansas were placed on the greatly reduced reservation near
Council Grove, a substantial decline occurred. For example, in 1855тАФthe
year their agent described them as "a poor, degraded, super-stitious,
thievish, indigent" type of peopleтАФthe Commissioner of Indian Affairs
reported their number at 1,375. By 1859 it was down to 1,035 and in 1868
to 825. Finally, while this "improvident class of people" made plans for
permanent removal to Indian Territory, an official Indian Bureau count
placed their number at "about 600." Clearly the long-range trend appeared
to be one of eventual obliteration. тАФWilliam E. Unrau, The Kansa Indians:
A History of the Wind People, 1673-1873


The brakeman danced along the roofs of the train cars, turning
brake-wheels. The cars squealed and hissed and bumped their way to a
slowly settling halt. The train chuffed once as if in relief.

There was a dog barking. The noise came from within the train, as regular
as the beating of its steam-driven heart. The dog was hoarse.