"Robert F. Young - Operation Peanut Butter" - читать интересную книгу автора (Young Robert F)

"Now don't you start!" His father's face was drawn and the circles under his eyes were so dark they
were almost black. "I've got troubles enough without you nagging me! And don't you dare buy another
jar of peanut butter, do you hear me? Not another jar!"
Geoffrey was crying when he left the house. His tears had dried by noon, but his eyes were still red,
and so was his nose, and Sally Sunbeam looked at him closely when she and Mr. Wings flew down and
perched on his shoulders. What's the matter, Geoffrey?" she asked.
тАЬItтАЩs my father," Geoffrey said. He's mad because it won't rain and he won't let my mother buy any
more peanut butter."
Mr. Wings and Sally Sunbeam looked at each other over Geoffrey's nose. Mr. Wings' eyes were
puzzled. тАЬWhy should he be mad because it doesn't rain?"
тАЬBecause his tomato plants are dying and his sweetcorn is drying up,тАЭ Geoffrey said. "Every time he
looks at his cabbages it makes him sick.тАЭ
There was a silence. The sandwiches lay in Geoffrey's lap, as yet unshared. After a while he picked
them up, gave one to Mr. Wings and one to Sally Sunbeam. He took a small bite of his own and began
to chew.
Presently: "You don't have to worry about the peanut butter," Sally Sunbeam said. "We've got
enough now ... What will happen to your father if it doesn't rain?"
тАЬHe'll lose his farm," Geoffrey said. тАЬWe'll all have to go to the Poor House."
There was another silence during which Mr.Wings and Sally Sunbeam regarded one another
solemnly. тАЬWell,тАЭ Mr. Wings said finally, тАЬI suppose we couldтАФ"
тАЬWe do owe him something for the peanut butter," Sally Sunbeam said.
Mr. Wings nodded, as though it were all settled. He looked at Geoffrey. "IтАФI guess it's time to say
good-by, Geoffrey," he said. "I'm afraid you won't be seeing us any more."
Geoffrey's heart missed two beats. "I won't? Why?"
"We're going away," Sally Sunbeam said. "A long ways away." Her eyes looked funny and her little
mouth was quivering. "Thank you for all the peanut butter sandwiches . . . Good-by, Geoffrey."
"Good-by, Geoffrey," Mr. Wings echoed, and then there were two flurries of wings over the brook
and in the willows, a gold one and a silver one, and Geoffrey found himself all alone.

He felt so bad he couldn't eat his supper that night and his father was madder than ever. "It's those
peanut butter sandwiches," his father shouted. "He's eaten so many of them he can't eat normal food any
more!"
"Now PeteтАФ"
"I haven't eaten hardly any of them," Geoffrey said. "I gave most of them away."
"Gave them away! To who?"
He'd done it nowтАФgiven the whole show away. But it was all right. Mr. Wings and Sally Sunbeam
were probably miles away by now. It wasn't necessary to keep them secret any longer.
"I gave them to my friends," he said. "I gave them to Mr. Wings and Sally Sunbeam."
Down came his father's fork on the plate with an awesome clatter. A cloud so dark it could have
been a rain cloud settled over his father's face. "You've been in those damned woods daydreaming again!
What kind of a son have I got anyway?"
"Pete, stop it! I know it's been a bad year, but you can't pick on him all the time like this."
"I didn't daydream Mr. Wings and Sally Sunbeam," Geoffrey said staunchly. "Mr. Wings and Sally
Sunbeam are real."
"Real, are they?" his father said. "You take me in the woods and show them to me then! If they're
real I ought to be able to see them."
"They're gone by now," Geoffrey said. "At least I think they're gone. But I can show you where I saw
them. I can show you their house."
His father was standing. The cloud on his face was darker than before. "Come on," he said. "And
believe me, you'd better show me something!"