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

The verger didnтАЩt look convinced. тАЬIf youтАЩre from the fire service, why werenтАЩt you here last night
when you might have done some good?тАЭ
An excellent question, and one that Lady Schrapnell would be sure to ask me when I got back.
тАЬWhat do you mean you went through on the fifteenth, Ned?тАЭ I could hear her asking. тАЬThatтАЩs a whole day
late.тАЭ
Which was why I was scrabbling through smoking roof beams, burning my finger on a still-melted
puddle of lead that had dripped down from the roof last night, and choking on masonry dust instead of
reporting in.
I pried up part of an iron reinforcing girder, nursing my burnt finger, and started through the heap
of roof slates and charred beams. I cut the finger IтАЩd burnt on a broken-off piece of metal and stood up,
sucking on it.
 Carruthers and the verger were still at it. тАЬI never heard of any Post Thirty-six,тАЭ the verger said
suspiciously. тАЬThe AFS posts in Coventry only go up to Seventeen.тАЭ
тАЬWeтАЩre from London,тАЭ Carruthers said. тАЬA special detachment sent up to help out.тАЭ
тАЬHowтАЩd your lot get through?тАЭ the verger said, picking up his shovel aggressively. тАЬThe roads are
all blocked.тАЭ
It was time to lend assistance. I went over to where they were standing. тАЬWe came round Radford
way,тАЭ I said, fairly sure the verger wouldnтАЩt have been out that direction. тАЬA milk lorry gave us a lift.тАЭ
тАЬI thought there were barricades up,тАЭ the verger said, still clutching his shovel.
тАЬWe had special passes,тАЭ Carruthers said.
Mistake. The verger was likely to ask to see them. I said hastily, тАЬThe Queen sent us.тАЭ
That did it. The vergerтАЩs tin helmet came off, and he came to attention, his shovel like a staff. тАЬHer
Majesty?тАЭ
I placed my ARP helmet over my heart. тАЬShe said she couldnтАЩt look Coventry in the face till sheтАЩd
done something to help. тАШTheir beautiful, beautiful cathedral,тАЩ she said to us. тАШYou must go up to Coventry
straightaway and offer them whatever help you can.тАЩтАЭ
тАЬShe would,тАЭ the verger said, shaking his bald head reverently. тАЬShe would. тАШTheir beautiful,
beautiful cathedral.тАЩ It sounds just like her.тАЭ
I nodded solemnly at the verger, winked at Carruthers, and went back to my digging. The rest of
the collapsed arch was underneath the roof slates, along with a tangle of electrical cords and a broken
memorial tablet that read, тАЬMay you know rest et-,тАЭ a wish which apparently had not been granted.
I cleared a space three feet wide around the pillar. Nothing. I crawled over the rubble, looking for
the rest of the pillar, found a fragment of it, and began digging again.
Carruthers came over. тАЬThe verger wanted to know what the Queen looked like,тАЭ he said. тАЬI told
him she was wearing a hat. She did, didnтАЩt she? I can never remember which one wore the hats.тАЭ
тАЬThey all did. Except Victoria. She wore a lace cap affair,тАЭ I said. тАЬAnd Camilla. She wasnтАЩt
queen long enough. Tell him Her Majesty saved Queen VictoriaтАЩs Bible when Buckingham Palace was
bombed. Carried it out in her arms like a baby.тАЭ
тАЬShe did?тАЭ Carruthers said.
тАЬNo,тАЭ I said, тАЬbut itтАЩll keep him from asking why youтАЩre wearing a bomb squad helmet. And it
might get him talking about what was saved last night.тАЭ
Carruthers pulled a piece of paper from the pocket of his coveralls. тАЬThe altar candlesticks and
cross from the high altar and the SmithsтАЩ Chapel were saved by Provost Howard and the fire watch and
taken to the police station. Also a silver paten and chalice, a wooden crucifix, a silver wafer box, the
Epistles, the Gospels, and the regimental colors of the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, Seventh Battalion,тАЭ
he read.
It matched the list in Provost HowardтАЩs account of the raid. тАЬAnd not the bishopтАЩs bird stump,тАЭ I
said, surveying the rubble. тАЬWhich means itтАЩs here somewhere.тАЭ
тАЬNo luck finding it?тАЭ Carruthers asked.
тАЬNo,тАЭ I said. тАЬI donтАЩt suppose thereтАЩs any chance anyone arrived earlier and has already found it?тАЭ