"Kate Wilhelm - Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilhelm Kate)

тАЬI love you, too, David. Always.тАЭ Her eyes were closed and her lashes were very black on her
white cheeks. David leaned over and kissed her forehead, pulled the blanket higher about her, and
watched her sleep for a long time before he lay down beside her and also slept.
During the night she roused once, moaning, twisting about, and he held her until she
quieted. She didnтАЩt wake up completely, and what words she said were not intelligible.
The next morning they left the oak tree and started for the Sumner farm. She rode Mike until
they got to the cart; by then she was trembling with exhaustion and her lips were blue again,
although the day was already hot. There wasnтАЩt room for her to lie down in the cart, so he padded
the back of the wooden seat with his bedroll and blanket, where she could at least put her head
back and rest, when the road wasnтАЩt too bumpy and the cart didnтАЩt jounce too hard. She smiled
faintly when he covered her legs with another shirt, the one he had been wearing.
тАЬIt isnтАЩt cold, you know,тАЭ she said matter-of-factly. тАЬThat goddamn bug does something to
the heart, I think. No one would tell us anything about it. My symptoms all involve the
circulatory system.тАЭ
тАЬHow bad was it? When did you get it?тАЭ
тАЬEighteen months ago, I think. Just before they made us leave Brazil. It swept Rio. ThatтАЩs
where they took us when we got sick. Not many survived it. Hardly any of the later cases. It
became more virulent as time went on.тАЭ
He nodded. тАЬSame here. Something like sixty percent fatal, increasing up to eighty percent
by now, I guess.тАЭ
There was a long silence then, and he thought that perhaps she had drifted off to sleep. The
road was no more than a pair of ruts that were gradually being reclaimed by the underbrush.
Already grass covered it almost totally, except where the rains had washed the dirt away and left
only rocks. Mike walked deliberately and David didnтАЩt hurry him.
тАЬDavid, how many are up at the northern end of the valley?тАЭ
тАЬAbout one hundred ten now,тАЭ he said. He thought, two out of three dead, but he didnтАЩt say


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it.
тАЬAnd the hospital? Was it built?тАЭ
тАЬItтАЩs there. Walt is running it.тАЭ
тАЬDavid, while youтАЩre driving, now that you canтАЩt watch me for reactions or anything, just
tell me about it here. WhatтАЩs been happening, whoтАЩs alive, whoтАЩs dead. Everything.тАЭ
When they stopped for lunch, hours later, she said, тАЬDavid, will you make love to me now,
before the rains start again?тАЭ
They lay under a stand of yellow poplars, and the leaves rustled incessantly though no wind
could be felt. Under the susurrous trees, their own voices became whispers. She was so thin and so
pale, and inside she was so warm and alive; her body rose to meet his and her breasts seemed to
lift, to seek his touch, his lips. Her fingers were in his hair, on his back, digging into his
flanks, strong now, then relaxed and trembling, then clenched into fists that opened
spasmodically; and he felt her nails distantly, aware that his back was being clawed, but
distantly, distantly. And finally there were only the susurrant leaves and now and then a long,
heaving sigh.
тАЬIтАЩve loved you for more than twenty years, did you realize that?тАЭ he said after a long
time.
She laughed. тАЬRemember when I broke your arm?тАЭ
Later, in the cart again, her voice came from behind him, softly, sadly. тАЬWeтАЩre finished,