"Dan Simmons - Carrion Comfort (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Simmons Dan)

"Are you absolutely sure about this one? It could have been an accident."
"Don't be ridiculous," snapped Willi. He turned toward me. "This one was very hard to Use. Very
strong. I blocked his memory of turning on the gas. Had to hold it away for two hours. Then forced
him into the room. He struggled not to strike the match."
"You should have had him use his lighter," said Nina.
"He didn't smoke," growled Willi. "He gave it up last year."
"Yes," smiled Nina. "I seem to remember him saying that to Johnny Carson." I could not tell
whether Nina was jesting.
The three of us went through the ritual of assigning points. Nina did most of the talking. Willi
went from being sullen to expansive to sullen again. At one point he reached over and patted my
knee as he laughingly asked for my support. I said nothing. Finally he gave up, crossed the parlor


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to the liquor cabinet, and poured himself a tall glass of bourbon from father's decanter. The
evening light was, sending its final, horizontal rays through the stained-glass panels of the bay
windows, and it cast a red hue on Willi as he stood next to the oak cupboard. His eyes were small,
red embers in a bloody mask.
"Forty-one," said Nina at last.
She looked up brightly and showed the calculator as if it verified some objective fact. "I count
forty-one points. What do you have, Melanie?"
"Ja," interrupted Willi. "That is fine. Now let us see your claims, Nina." His voice was flat and
empty. Even Willi had lost some interest in the Game.'
Before Nina could begin, Mr. Thorne entered and motioned that dinner was served. We adjourned to
the dining room -Willi pouring himself another glass of bourbon and Nina fluttering her hands in
mock frustration at the interruption of the Game. Once seated at the long, mahogany table, I
worked at being a hostess. From decades of tradition, talk of the Game was banned from the dinner
table. Over soup we discussed Willi's new movie and the purchase of another store for Nina's line
of boutiques. It seemed that Nina's monthly column in Vogue was was to be discontinued but that a
newspaper syndicate was interested in picking it up.
Both of my guests exclaimed over the perfection of the baked ham, but I thought that Mr. Thorne
had made the gravy a trifle too sweet. Darkness had filled the windows before we finished our
chocolate mousse. The refracted light from the chandelier made Nina's hair dance with highlights
while I feared that mine glowed more bluely than ever.
Suddenly there was a sound from the kitchen. The huge Negro's face appeared at the swinging door.
His shoulder was hunched against white hands and his expression was that of a querulous child.
". . . the hell you think we are sittin' here like goddamned-" The white hands pulled him out of
sight.
"Excuse me, ladies." Willi dabbed linen at his lips and stood up. He still moved gracefully for
all of his years.
Nina poked at her chocolate. There was one sharp, barked command from the kitchen and the sound of
a slap. It was the slap of a man's hand-hard and flat as a smallcaliber-rifle shot. I looked up
and Mr. Thorne was at my elbow, clearing away the dessert dishes.
"Coffee, please, Mr. Thorne. For all of us." He nodded and his smile was gentle.
Franz Anton Mesmer had known of it even if he had not understood it. I suspect that Mesmer must
have had some small touch of the Ability. Modern pseudosciences have studied it and renamed it,
removed most of its power, confused its uses and origins, but it remains the shadow of what Mesmer
discovered. They have no idea of what it is like to Feed.