"Jane Yolen - Briar Rose" - читать интересную книгу автора (Yolen Jane)

There were tears shimmering in her eyes. She lowered the side of the
bed and kissed her again.
Having done their duty, Shana and Sylvia straightened up and
Sylvia went to stare out the window at the snow. Shana moved to
the foot of the bed and set her Vuitton tote softly on top of the quilt.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Becca took Gemma's hand in hers.
It felt boneless, as though whoever had once resided in the skin had
moved, gone.
"Left no forwarding address," Shana whispered, as if reading
Becu s thoughts.
"Gemma? Gernma, it's me, Becca," Becca said breathily. "I've
brought Syl and Shane to see you. We love you."
"We love you," they chorused dutifully.
For a long moment there was no response at all and Becca
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Jane Yolen

wondered if Shana had been right and there was truly no one ho
Then, as if slowly returning from a far journey, Gemma filled
skin again, breathed a shuddering sigh, and opened her eyes.
were the faded blue of a late winter sky.
Becca squeezed her grandmother's hand carefully, aware h
fragile a thing it was she held. "Gemma . . ." she began again
"Once upon a time," Gemma said, her voice like a child's,
and whispery. "VA-iich is all times and no times but not . . ."
stopped, drew in a little breath that nonetheless seemed to fill
up again. ". . . the best of times." Her breath was as pale as her
and smelled like old potpourri, musty and sweet.
"Oh God," Sylvia said, her voice tight, "not that again."
didn't leave the window and stared even more intently at the sn
as if fascinated by it, but her shoulders were shaking and B
hoped she wasn't going to cry. Shana was a noisy weeper, as if
were trying to bring everyone in on her grief, and Gemma a
became agitated when someone near her cried.
"Once upon a time there was a castle," Gernma said.
stopped.
"What castle?" prompted Becca.
"We all know what castle, Becca. Leave it!" Picking off an invi
hair from her cream-colored blazer, Shana hissed, "Don't ma
any worse than it is."
Becca opened her mouth to argue, but the old woman had fi
back to sleep.

'They waited about twenty minutes, but she didn't rouse agai
"That's it, then," Sylvia said, consulting a thin gold watch
turning briskly from the window. "Time to go." Her eyes were
and there was a single thin mascara line down her right chee
"She may come round again," Becca said, almost pleading. '
often does. And you've both come so far to see her. You may