"Sherwood Smith - Mom and Dad" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Sherwood)

Sort of knew where the kids were.

How many other parents were going through this nightmare? There had to be others. We couldn't be the
only ones. I'd tried hunting for some kind of support group on the InternetтАФSeeking other parents
whose kids disappear to other worldsтАФand not surprisingly the e-mail I got back ranged from offers
from psychologists for a free mental exam to тАЬopportunitiesтАЭ to MAKE $$$ IN FIVE DAYS.

So I'd gone digging again, this time at the library, rereading all those childhood favorites: C. S. Lewis; L.
Frank Baum; Joy Chant; Ruth Nicholls; and then more recent favorites, like Diana Wynne Jones. All the
stories about kids who somehow slipped from this world into another, adventuring widely and wildly,
before coming safely home via that magic ring, or gate, or spell, or pair of shoes. Were there hints that
adults missed? Clues that separated the real worlds from the made up ones?

тАЬEvidence,тАЭ I said, trying to be logical and practical and adult. тАЬThey've vanished like this three times that
we know about. Doors and windows locked. Morning back in their beds. Sunburned. After the last time,
just outside R.J.'s room you saw two feathers and a pebble like nothing on earth. You came to get me,
the kids woke up, the things were gone when we got there. When asked, the response was, and I quote,
тАШWhat feathers?'тАЭ

But Rick knew he had seen those feathers, and so we'd made our private deal: wait, and take it easy.

Rick rubbed his hands up his face, then looked at me. And broke the deal. тАЬWhat if this time they don't
come back?тАЭ

We sat in silence. Then, because there was no answer, we forced ourselves to get up, to do chores, to
follow a normal routine in hopes that if we were really, really good, and really, really normal, morning
would come the same as ever, with the children in their beds.

I finished the laundry. Rick vacuumed the living room and took the trash cans out. I made three lunches
and put them in the fridge.

I put fresh bath towels in the kidsтАЩ bathroom.

At one o'clock we went to bed, and turned out the light, but neither of us slept; I lay for hours listening to
the clock tick, and to Rick's unhappy breathing.
****

Dawn. I made myself get up and take my shower and dress, all the while listening, listening ... and when I
finally nerved myself to check, I found a kid-sized lump in each of the three beds, a dark curly head on
each pillow. R.J.'s face was pink from the sunтАФfromwhat sun?тАФand Lauren had a scrape on one arm.
Alisha snored softly, her hands clutching something beneath the bedclothes.

I tiptoed over and lifted the covers. Her fingers curled loosely around a long wooden wand with golden
carving on its side. If it wasn't a magic wand, I'd eat it for breakfast.

Alisha stirred. I laid her covers down and tiptoed out.
****
тАЬA magicwand ?тАЭ Rick whispered fiercely. тАЬDid you take it?тАЭ