"Dean Wesley Smith - The Last Garden In Time's Window" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Dean Wesley)

G-r-a-n-d-f-a-t-h-e-r," I sat. The tingling started, I closed my eyes, and this time found myself outside, in
a mountain forest of pine and brush. The air was biting cold and very crisp.
Slowly I looked around, trying to take in every detail. There was nothing to see but pine trees,
rocks, and brush. The air felt like morning and the sun was low on the horizon. There was a slight dew on
the ground in places.
What looked like a game trail moved off down the slight hill, so I followed, moving easily through
the brush and marveling at how real the discover walk felt, right down to the branches scratching my
arms. This magic was still so new to me, it often surprised me.
After a hundred paces the trees thinned and I could see a 1950's pickup truck with an old camper
on the back. A canvas tent was set up to one side, and three rifles were leaning against the back of the
camper. A deer had been skinned and was hanging on a pole between two trees, cooling.
I knew instantly that I was in another of my own memories. The smallest gun leaning against
Grandpa's old camper was mine. I got to carry it back the first time my father had let me go hunting with
him and my grandparents. The deer hanging was the last one my dad shot before he died that whiter in a
car accident. I had never gone hunting with my grandparents again, even though they always asked me to
go.
I opened my eyes, snapping the vision of that old camp away, replacing it with the hot little trailer. It
almost felt good after the cool mountain air in the last memory vision.
I stood and moved outside, tying to get some fresh air. My magic clearly wasn't strong enough to
overpower the memories of my own childhood. It was clear I really didn't have any choice. I was going
to have to button up the trailer, get back on the plane, and go back to Scottsdale and Dirk and keep
learning until I had enough skill to do this right. I had enough money to pay the rent on the space in this
crummy little park, so that wasn't a problem.
But leaving was. I needed some closure, and going back wasn't going to give that to me. I needed
to know why my grandparents had died. Suddenly and together, in the same bed.
The beep of my cell phone startled me. I flipped it open. "Yeah?"
"You all right, kid?" Dirk asked, his rich voice filling my mind with the image of his face. That was a
phone-magic trick to give his words more power. I had worked on it a few times but didn't do it naturally
yet.
"I've been better," I said.
"Come on back," Dirk said, the image of his face smiling at me in my mind. "I'm sorry about your
grandparents. I'll help you get this worked out."
"I know you would," I said. "Thanks."
"The discover spells are not going to work," Dirk said, his mental image in my head frowning. "Not
worth your time trying them anymore at your ability. They'll just get overwhelmed by your own memories,
as you have discovered."
I felt stunned and sick to my stomach. I should have known that a powerful magician like Dirk
would know everything his apprentice was doing. More than likely he knew my every thought.
"So besides coming back there, what can I do?"
"Nothing," Dirk said, his voice firm and seeming to echo in my mind. But it seemed a little too
strong. Along the edges of the answer I could sense a half-truth. It was a skill I had picked up while
working in corporate jobs. I tended to always know when someone wasn't telling me the entire truth.
Dirk had told me it was part of my untrained magic power.
"You know that's not possible," I said. "At least not now. I need to know why this happened."
 "It was an accident."
"If it was," I said, "I need to find out why. Something like this just doesn't happen to my
grandparents. I was hoping my magic would help me understand."
"And it will, given time."
I stood, silent, thinking, listening to what wasn't being said more than what was. Finally, I told Dirk,
"I've got one more thing to try, then I'll be back."