"Kate Wilhelm - Deepest Water" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilhelm Kate)

the art. They carve the concrete walls at the airportтАжтАЭ

тАЬWhy?тАЭ

тАЬI think itтАЩs a religious act,тАЭ he said thoughtfully. тАЬNothing else quite explains it. TheyтАЩre expressing their
religion through art. Little boys, four years old, five, theyтАЩre already artists. They do the traditional things
the same way their ancestors from the beginning of time did them, and then they do their own thing on the
back of stairs, on boxes, whatever is at hand. In that climate nothing lasts very long except stone, and
when the paint fades, gets washed away, or eaten by mold, they repaint it exactly the way it had been
before. If a wooden object or building crumbles, they rebuild it exactly as it was before. You canтАЩt tell by
looking if anything was made that morning or a hundred years ago. TheyтАЩre preserving the past, keeping
the faith, but here or there, hidden away, they express whatever it is they need to say through their art.тАЭ

She had felt the box all over, the delicate tracery of flowers and stems, and thought that it was a magic
box, that it contained secrets no one would ever decipher, except the boy who had carved it.

тАЬHoney,тАЭ Jud had said that day, тАЬthis is important, listen up. When I die, I want my ashes to be buried in
this box, here by the lake. I might never ask another thing of you, but this is important. Will you do that
for me?тАЭ

She had nodded solemnly. At ten years of age, she had not yet believed in dying. It did not occur to her
to ask why he was telling her, not her mother. The divorce came two years after that. Perhaps he had
already known Lynne would not be around to carry out his wishes.

She touched the box on BriceтАЩs desk and again felt the mystery of the carved wood, the unknown,
unknowable mystery of the artist who had carved it.

She felt the mystery of the man whose ashes were inside it, her father, unknown, unknowable forever
now.

2

She ended up taking the sleeping pill that night and slept until Brice shook her awake at nine.

тАЬHow do you feel?тАЭ he asked.

Human, she thought, human monster with a watermelon for a head and leaden legs; thatтАЩs what sleeping
pills did to her. But feeling anything at all was an improvement. She said, тАЬOkay,тАЭ and pulled herself up
and out of bed.

тАЬYou should have gotten me up,тАЭ she said in mild protest at the kitchen table when Brice said he already
had taken her mother to the airport.

тАЬHoney, you were a walking zombie, out on your feet. I just wish that idiot cop hadnтАЩt said ten this
morning; I would have let you sleep until noon, or even all day.тАЭ He was opposite her at the breakfast
table, studying her face anxiously.

She drank her coffee, and when she started to rise to get the carafe, he jumped up and hurried across the
kitchen; in passing, he kissed the top of her head.