"Justin Stanchfield - Gypsy Wings" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stanchfield Justin)

Be careful.

тАЬYou find the break in the fence?тАЭ Mackie speared a thin slice of deer meat
onto his plate.
 тАЬYep. A tree fell across it and knocked the top three poles off.тАЭ Jerry tried to
sound nonchalant. тАЬWasnтАЩt too hard to find.тАЭ

тАЬYou fix it?тАЭ

тАЬI will.тАЭ Jerry stole a glance at Wes, but the boy was silent, his attention fixed
on a hairline crack on his plate. His father chewed slowly, then looked pointedly at
him.

тАЬYou see those aeroplanes go by?тАЭ

тАЬYes, Pa,тАЭ Jerry said.

тАЬWes said they landed in our field. That so?тАЭ

тАЬYes.тАЭ Jerry stole a look at his mother, but she steadfastly kept her face
turned away. He took a deep breath. тАЬThey landed up by the cottonwoods.тАЭ

MackieтАЩs eyes narrowed. тАЬYou tell them to leave?тАЭ

тАЬThey were just passing through,тАЭ Jerry said.

тАЬThey better be.тАЭ Mackie took another bite and spoke as he chewed. тАЬI wonтАЩt
have gin-runners and warmongers on my place. Understand?тАЭ

Jerry nearly said it wasnтАЩt his place anymore, but quickly thought better of it.
Instead, he simply nodded. He forced himself to eat, but his mouth was so dry he
could barely swallow. A breeze sprang up and rattled the door, the air heavy with the
touch of coming rain.

тАЬStormтАЩs here,тАЭ Wes muttered, his gaze still fixed on his plate.

A peal of thunder rolled over the house. Jerry flinched as it shook the
windows and faded, certain he caught the sound of whirring engines skipping
bird-like on the wind.

****

The rain shower was brief, more bluster than downpour. Jerry wished it had
been longer as he sweated through his chores. It took him longer to patch the broken
fence than he expected and by the time he was finished the afternoon was on the
wane. All the while Wes stood in the middle of the yard, throwing rocks at chickens
or drawing crooked lines in the dust with a stick. Now and then the boy would speak
to someone who wasnтАЩt there, the one-sided conversations unintelligible. Annoyed at
having to work while his brother did nothing, Jerry scowled as he herded the milk
cow into the barn and locked her in the stanchion. The alternating streams of hot