"Douglas Smith - Spirit Dance" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Douglas)

Ed cleared his throat. "Uh, Grey Legs, this is Leiddia Barker. Leiddia,
this is an old friend, Gwyn Blaidd. Gwyn's the friend of Mr Arcas I
mentioned."
"You know Robert?" she asked.
The door to the store opened before I could reply. A man stood with one
foot in the store, hand still on the door. "Leiddia!" he barked. "Hurry
up!"
She didn't look at him. "I'm coming," she snapped, thumping some cans on
the counter.
As Ed rang up the order, I looked the man over. Late forties, maybe six
feet, a paunch and thinning black hair slicked back. Gelert growled at
him, and I didn't stop him. I didn't like his smell.
Leiddia paid Ed, took the bag of groceries, and turned to the door. Not
waiting for her, the man let the door slam, walked to a beat-up Cutlass
parked in front and got in. He had never even looked my way. As Leiddia
shifted the bag to her other arm, I stepped past her and opened the door.
"Thanks," she said, stepping through. Hesitating, she looked at the car,
then back at me. "Blaidd. That's a strange name."
"It's Welsh."
"Why does Ed call you Grey Legs?"
The car's horn blared. Jumping out of the car, he moved quickly toward us,
fists clenched. "Damn it! What're you doing?" he snarled at her, then spun
to face me. "Who the hell are you, mister? I ..." His voice trailed off.
"Hello, Tom," I said. "Long time."
He swallowed hard. "Gwyn! I didn't know you were back."
I smiled. "I didn't figure our past relationship called for a postcard."
"Uh, yeah, right. Uh, Leiddia, don't be too long. I gotta get to work." He
turned and got back in the Olds, with a glance over his shoulder.
She raised an eyebrow, staring after him. "Never seen anything affect old
Tommy like that." She looked me up and down. "Will I see you again?"
"I'm camping by Deer's Pond. North shore," I said.
Smiling a cat-with-the-canary smile, she strolled casually to the car and
got in. They drove off and I went back inside.
"So what do you think of our Leiddia?" Ed asked.
"I think I just passed some kind of test. She's the one who talked to
Robert?"
"Yeah. I said an old friend of his was coming into town and wanted to
surprise him. That's when she told me about him leaving." He looked
puzzled. "Weird her showing up just as you arrive. She's not in town much.
You gonna go see her?"
"I think she'll find me. How does Tom Barker come to be her stepfather?"
Ed grimaced. "She and her mom moved here about two years ago. The mother
had some money and a good property, which got Tom interested. I don't know
what she saw in him."
"He's still the same?"
"Grade-A asshole? Yeah, plus there's been some incidents with him and her
mother. Cops at the house, but she's never laid any charges."
"Physical abuse?"
He nodded. "Vera knows the night nurse at Mercy. The mother's been in a
few times, always with a story about some accident around the home. The