"Kate Wilhelm - The Girl Who Fell into the Sky" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilhelm Kate)

Mississippi, still in fine shape, I bet. Probably hasnтАЩt been opened in
nearly thirty years, more than thirty years. ItтАЩs a beauty. Cherry
wood. Keys mahogany-colored and ivory, not black and white.тАЭ
The words rang false to JohnтАЩs ears. тАЬYou mean over in Greeley
County?тАЭ
тАЬYep.тАЭ
тАЬDad, thatтАЩs a three hundred mile drive, and itтАЩs going to be
hotter tomorrow than today. ItтАЩs going up to one ten before the
afternoonтАЩs over.тАЭ
He looked past his father, out the window at the lawn, kept
green by nearly constant watering this summer. No breeze stirred;
heat shimmies rose from the white concrete of the sidewalk; the
leaves of the red Japanese maple drooped. And he knew where all
this would lead, knew why his mother had called him at the office
only half an hour ago. Of course, his father could not drive three
hundred miles in this weather, could not have anything to do with
moving a piano. He took a deep breath.
 His mother returned with a tray, three tall sweating glasses,
twists of lemon, sugar frosted rims. Her face was smooth,
imperturbable as she looked at him; there was a glint of
understanding in her eyes, a spark of determination that he knew
quite well. She really would take the axe to the wheels if she had
to. She was seventy-three, his father seventy-four.
He drank deeply. тАЬYou know you canтАЩt do that, Dad,тАЭ he said
then. тАЬItтАЩll keep. ItтАЩs kept this long.тАЭ
His father shook his head. тАЬItтАЩs kept because Louis Castleman
kept it. That nephew, Ross Cleveland, heтАЩll drive in there hot as
hell, take a look around, piss-poor land, isolated house, nothing
there for him, and heтАЩll head up to Goodland first thing, make a
deal with Jennings and head for home again. And Jennings will put
that piano in his caf├й and let customers spill beer in it, lay
cigarettes down on it.тАЭ
тАЬDad, have you even been over there for the past twenty-five
years? How do you know itтАЩs there? And what difference can it
possibly make? You donтАЩt need it. You donтАЩt have room for it. A
player piano! What for?тАЭ
тАЬItтАЩs there,тАЭ his father muttered. тАЬI saw it listed on the inventory.
Just a matter of getting the nephew to let me take stuff out, accept
my offer. Be worth his while, of course, but he might want a
separate appraisal or something. The landтАЩs not worth a damn, but
he might want to realize a little from the possessions.тАЭ He looked at
Mary, his eyebrows touching, and said, тАЬAnd I want it because itтАЩs
mine. Oh, IтАЩll pay for it, but I intend to go over there first thing in
the morning and collect the thing and bring it home as soon as Ross
Cleveland shows up to inspect his inheritance.тАЭ
John looked helplessly from his father to his mother. Neither of
them would give an inch to the other, but they would let him
propose a third alternative, the one his mother was waiting for, the
one she had called him for. And his father would protest, curse a
bit, maybe storm out briefly before agreeing to let John go collect