"Timothy Zahn - A Coming of Age" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zahn Timothy)

she was studying.

"Do I have to?" Jessy asked plaintively, her eyes not leaving the scurrying insects.

"Yes," Lisa said. Don't worry, you'll be able to come here again. But I want to show you what the
library is mostly for."

Reluctantly, Jessy pried herself away from the display and followed Lisa up one more flight of
stairs.

It was like traveling from the hive to the city building in an instant. Suddenly, everything from the
heavy wooden chairs and tables to the quiet colors and quieter footsteps labeled the room as adult.
Jessy froze just inside the doorway, and even LisaтАФwho had known what to expectтАФfelt a strange
reluctance to go any further. But she was determined, and taking Jessy's hand she forced herself to
walk toward the tall shelves she could see off to the right.

It wasn't an easy trip. They first had to pass by a tall desk, from behind which an even taller librarian
gazed down at them, then they walked through a lounge area where several adults and a couple of
teens sat with books. Lisa could almost feel their eyes on the back of her head as she and Jessy
passed, and she sighed with relief when they finally reached the shelves and ducked into the space
between two of them, out of sight of the adults.

Jessy looked up at the shelves, packed solidly with books from floor to ceiling. "What are those?"
she asked, sounding awed.

"They're books," Lisa told her, pulling one out at random and carefully opening it. Neat lines of
black letters on white paper stared back at her. "You see, when you get to be a teen and go to school,
you'll learn how to read these. You can find out things from them." Gazing at the page, she looked
for the handful of letters she knew. They were there, certainlyтАФbut in so many combinations!

"Can I hold it?" Jessy asked, and Lisa felt a teekay tug on the book.

Automatically, she countered with her own teekay. "No, Jessy," she said, leafing through the pages
in hopes of finding pictures that might give her a clue as to what the words might be.

"I want it," Jessy insisted.

"May I help you?"

Startled, Lisa looked up as the tall woman who'd been behind the front counter came down the aisle
toward them. Her lips held a pleasant smile, but there was something in her eyes that reminded Lisa
of the storm cloud she'd had to pull a Nine out of a year ago. "N-no, not really, thank you," she
managed. "I was just showing Jessy what books are."



file:///G|/Program%20Files/eMule/Incoming/...thy%20Zahn%20-%20A%20Coming%20of%20Age.htm (21 of 190) [12/31/2004 12:01:27 AM]
A Coming of Age

"I see. Hello, Jessy," the adult said, and Lisa thought her smile a little more genuine this time.