"Lisa Tuttle - Jamie's Grave" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tuttle Lisa)

тАЬHungry,тАЭ he said. His voice was puzzled.

тАЬOf course you are, poor darling, after so much hard work. ItтАЩs not time for tea yet, but come inside and
IтАЩll give you a glass of milk and a biscuit. Would you like that?тАЭ

He seemed utterly exhausted, and she carried him inside. Although he had claimed to be hungry, he
drank only a little milk and seemed without the energy even to nibble a biscuit. Mary settled him on the
couch in front of the television, and when she came back a few minutes later she found him asleep.

After she had put Jamie to bed, Mary went back to the garden to look at his excavation.

It was a hole more round than square, no more than a foot across and probably not more than two foot
deep. As Mary crouched down to look into it she saw another, smaller hole, within. She didnтАЩt think
Jamie had made it; it seemed something quite different. She thought it looked like a tunnel, or the
entrance to some small animalтАЩs burrow. She thought of blind, limbless creatures tunneling through the
soft earth, driven by needs and guided by senses she couldnтАЩt know, and she shuddered. She thought of
worms, but this tunnel was much too large. She had not been aware of moles in the garden, but possibly
Jamie had accidentally uncovered evidence of one.

She picked up the spade which Jamie had abandoned, and used it to scoop earth back into the hole.
Although she began casually, she soon began to work with a purpose, and her heart pounded as she
pushed and shovelled furiously, under a pressure she could not explain to fill it in, cover up the evidence,
make her garden whole again.

Finally she stood and tamped the earth down beneath her feet. With the grass gone, the marks of digging
were obvious. She had done the best she could, but it wasnтАЩt good enough. It wasnтАЩt the same; it
couldnтАЩt be.

As she walked back into the house, Mary heard a brief, faint scream, and immediately ran through to
JamieтАЩs room.

He was sitting up in bed, staring at her with wide-open yet unseeing eyes.

тАЬDarling, whatтАЩs wrong?тАЭ

She went to him, meaning to hug him, but her hands were covered with dirt from the hole; she couldnтАЩt
touch him.

тАЬWhatтАЩs that?тАЭ he asked, voice blurred with sleep, turning towards the window.

Mary looked and saw with a shock that the window was open, if only by a few inches. She didnтАЩt
remember opening it, and she was sure it was too heavy for Jamie to lift by himself.

тАЬIтАЩll close it,тАЭ she said, and went to do so. Her hands looked black against the white-painted sash, and
she saw bits of earth crumble and fall away. She felt as disturbed by that as if it really had been
grave-dirt, and felt she had to sweep it up immediately.

When she returned to the bed Jamie was lying down, apparently asleep. Careful not to touch him with
her dirty hands, she bent down and kissed him, hovering close for a time to feel the warmth of his
peaceful breathing against her face. She loved him so much she could not move or speak.