"Connie Willis - To Say Nothing of the Dog" - читать интересную книгу автора (Willis Connie)

тАЬThirty-six,тАЭ Carruthers said at random.
тАЬWhat about him?тАЭ the verger said, pointing at the new recruit, who was now trying to figure out
how his pocket torch worked and who didnтАЩt look bright enough to be a member of the Home Guard, let
alone AFS.
тАЬHeтАЩs my brother-in-law,тАЭ Carruthers improvised. тАЬEgbert.тАЭ
 тАЬMy wife tried to get me to hire her brother to work on the fire watch,тАЭ the verger said, shaking his
head sympathetically. тАЬCanтАЩt walk across the kitchen without tripping over the cat. тАШHowтАЩs he supposed to
put out incendiaries?тАЩ I asks her. тАШHe needs a job she says. тАШLet Hitler put him to work,тАЩ I says.тАЭ
I left them to it and started down what had been the nave. There was no time to lose. WeтАЩd gotten
here late, and even though it was only a bit past four, the smoke and masonry dust in the air already made it
almost too dark to see.
The recruit had given up on his pocket torch and was watching Mr. Spivens digging determinedly
into the rubble next to the steps. I sighted along him to determine where the north aisle had been and started
working my way toward the back of the nave.
The bishopтАЩs bird stump had stood on a wrought-iron stand in front of the parclose screen of the
SmithsтАЩ Chapel. I picked my way over the rubble, trying to work out where I was. Only the outer walls of
the cathedral and the tower, with its beautiful spire, were still standing. Everything else-the roof, the
vaulted ceiling, the clerestory arches, the pillars-had come crashing down into one giant unrecognizable
heap of blackened rubble.
All right, I thought, standing on top of a roof beam, that was the apse, and along there was the
DrapersтАЩ Chapel, although there was no way to tell except by the blown-out windows. The stone arches had
come down, and there was only the bayed wall left.
And here was the St. Laurence Chapel, I thought, scrabbling over the rubble on my hands and
knees. The clutter of stone and charred beams was five feet high in this part of the cathedral, and slippery.
It had drizzled off and on all day, turning the ash to blackish mud and making the lead slates from the roof
as slick as ice.
The GirdlersтАЩ Chapel. And this must be the SmithsтАЩ Chapel. There was no sign of the parclose
screen. I tried to judge how far from the windows it would have stood, and started digging.
The bishopтАЩs bird stump wasnтАЩt underneath the mass of twisted girders and broken stone, and
neither was the parclose screen. A broken-off length of kneeling rail was, and part of a pew, which meant I
was too far out into the nave.
I stood up, trying to orient myself. ItтАЩs amazing how much destruction can distort the sense of
space. I knelt down and looked up the church toward the choir, trying to spot the base of any of the north
aisle pillars to see how far out into the nave I was, but they were hopelessly buried.
I needed to find where the arch had been and work from there. I looked back up at the GirdlersтАЩ
ChapelтАЩs east wall, aligned myself with it and the windows, and started digging again, looking for the
supporting pillar of the arch.
It had been broken off six inches from the floor. I uncovered the space around it, then, sighting
along it, tried to estimate where the screen would have been, and started digging again.
Nothing. I heaved up a jagged piece of the wooden ceiling, and under it was a giant slab of marble,
cracked across. The altar. Now I was too far in. I sighted along the new recruit again, who was still
watching Mr. Spivens dig, paced off ten feet, and started digging again.
тАЬBut we are from the AFS,тАЭ I heard Carruthers say to the verger.
тАЬAre you certain youтАЩre with the AFS?тАЭ the verger said. тАЬThose coveralls donтАЩt look like any AFS
uniform IтАЩve ever seen.тАЭ
He wasnтАЩt having any of it, and no wonder. Our uniforms had been intended for the middle of an
air raid, when anyone in a tin helmet can pass for official. And for the middle of the night. Daylight was
another matter. CarruthersтАЩs helmet had a Royal Engineers insignia, mine was stencilled тАЬARPтАЭ and the
new recruitтАЩs was from another war altogether.
тАЬOur regular uniforms were hit by a high explosive,тАЭ Carruthers said.