"Phyllis_A._Whitney_-_Feather_On_The_Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Whitney Phyllis A)

He went on more lightly. "I don't know why I should trust you with this momentous announcement, but I have the feeling we may be in the same boat in some ways. I'm not sure where my voyage is heading, but it may be interesting to find out."
"Go on," I said. "What brought you here? Not just idle curiosity about a garden?"
He looked away from me. "I met Edward Aries first when we worked together at a lumber camp in the States-in Washington. That must have been fifteen years ago. He'd just left Victoria, and he wasn't up to that rugged job at first. We hit it off pretty well, and maybe I helped him to grow out of an adolescence that had lasted too lon/g. We kept in touch after that, and I saw him once in a while. When he went off on that Amazon expedition, he wrote me a letter that reached me after his death."
Now I listened with growing interest. Anything that touched Edward Aries might be on my main road. If Alice was Edward's child, that would be that.
"What was in the letter to bring you here?" I asked directly.
He shook his head. "You move too fast, Mrs. Thorne. As you say, I've no reason to think that you won't go right to Mrs. Aries with what I've told you."
"Why shouldn't I?"
"That's up to you." He was serious now, all trace of pretense gone. "Only it might be better for her if you would wait. I'm not planning anything that will hurt her, and it's better not to add new shocks until she's stronger. Later, perhaps it won't matter."
"What I don't understand is why you've opened up to me like this. Why?"
"Maybe I do some things on impulse. You're inside the house. You'll meet Edward's wife and her husband. What if those two had something pretty vicious on their minds out there in Brazil?"
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I stared at him. "Is that what Edward wrote to you? That he expected trouble?"
Kirk sat down on the bench beside me. "No more now. But you can see why it wouldn't be kind to blurt out any of this to Mrs. Aries. Not until-well, until I know what needs to be done. In the meantime, Mrs. Thorne, what I said about your being a mystery guest isn't true. Dillow told me why you've come. He told me about the kidnapping of your daughter and why Mrs. Aries invited you to visit her."
This was even more upsetting. "Why would he tell you?"
"He knows about my connection with Edward. At least, he knows part of it. He'd never have hired me otherwise. Of course Mrs. Aries has no idea of any of this. I'm just a cap and a uniform to her. Her eyes aren't all that good since her stroke, and she hasn't spotted that I'm a fake. A pretty good one though-don't you think?"
"I've never been convinced," I said. Too many revelations were coming too fast, and I wasn't sure what I thought.
"Don't be upset. I told you we might be on the same voyage-of discovery. That is, to find the truth about Alice. Though she's only part of why I'm here."
The Corwins, I thought. They were the real reason why he'd come. To pay a debt for his friend.
"Did Edward's letter talk about the Corwins?" I asked.
"Some. It's possible we could help each other get to the bottom of this-if you're willing."
"How?"
"I'm not sure yet. What do you feel about Alice? Do you believe she's your child?"
I shook my head unhappily. "From what I've seen, I don't think she can possibly be Debbie. I'm planning to fly home in a day or two. So none of this really affects me. There won't be any voyage for one. Do you want her to be Edward's daughter?"
"I suppose I do. Because of something he wrote, I couldn't let this pass. I owe him that."
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"After all this time? Why now?"
"The Corwins haven't been easy to find. They move around a lot. I gave up for a while. Then I saw a Victoria newspaper a couple of months ago that spoke about Mrs. Aries's great-granddaughter coming to visit Radburn House, along with her mother and stepfather. So I came-and talked Dillow into taking me on. Right now I'm waiting to see what will happen next."
There was a lot missing in his story. But as I'd told him, none of this mattered to me. I'd be gone soon, with nothing to hold me here.
Kirk looked around. "Here she comes now-probably sent to look for you."
I saw Alice as she came toward us, hopping from one cedar round to the next. When she discovered us sitting on the bench she came to a halt, staring. Her look defied me to mention hand lotion. This morning she wore jeans and a pullover blue sweater, and her short fair hair had been tied with a yellow ribbon on top of her head.
"Hi," she said to Kirk, and then spoke to me. "Uncle Tim says he'd like to see you, but I'm not to tell the old lady if I take you up to his room."
"That's fine," I said.
"Couldn't you call Mrs. Aries something else?" Kirk asked her. " 'Old lady' sounds so-"
"I know-disrespectful. That's the way I mean it. I don't like her and she doesn't like me. How can I call her Greatgrandmother?"
"What do you think, Mrs. Thome?" he asked solemnly.
"I think Kirk is right," I told her. "If someone called you 'child' at every other breath, you wouldn't like it either."
She considered that. "But I am a child, and she's an old lady. Your name's Jenny, isn't it? I think I'll call you that. Dillow sent me to tell you to come to breakfast. The old ... she is having breakfast in her room, like always, but you're to go to the dining room. Dillow says she wants to see you as
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soon as you've eaten. And, McKaye, Dillow says she'll need the car this morning."
"So it's McKaye now?" Kirk said. "Well, I'd better get going. So long, Mrs. Thorne. See you later, Alice."
Before he could leave, Alice spoke again. "I know! I can call her Corinthea." She rolled the name through all its vowels, relishing the sound. "That's a great name, McKaye. Don't you think so?"
"I'd like to see you use it to her face," Kirk said as he walked off.
That struck Alice as funny, and she looked after him, smiling for the first time since I'd seen her. It was a smile that lighted her whole face and showed even teeth. For once, she looked almost friendly.
My heart didn't do a flop this time. It began to beat hard right up in my throat. For the instant of that smile I saw what Mrs. Aries had seen in the picture of Debbie-the flash of recognition, the clear resemblance to that younger child who had always smiled so readily.
"What's the matter?" Alice asked. "You look funny-peculiar."
The flash was already gone, and Alice Aries didn't in the least resemble the small daughter I remembered. Nevertheless, for an instant I had seen the likeness too, and I was shaken by an uncertainty that was terrifying-because it wouldn't be easily resolved.
"Are you going to be sick?" Alice asked with interest. "Sometimes I get sick, and I don't even know when it's going to happen. Once I threw up all over Farley. But that was when I was little. And after that he didn't shake me so much any more."