"Roger Zelazny - Amber Chronicles, The 06 - Trumps of Doom" - читать интересную книгу автора (Zelazny Roger)

"Sure." I left him there and did those things. The sky had grown a lot
darker, the wind a bit more chill. I tried again to reach Luke, from a phone
on the comer, but he was still out.
We were happy. It had been a terrific day. The weather was perfect, and
everything we did had worked out right. We went to a fan party that evening
and afterward had a late dinner at a really good little place we'd stumbled
upon by accident. We lingered over drinks, hating for the day to end. We
decided then to prolong a winning streak, and we drove to an otherwise
deserted beach where we sat around and splashed around and watched the moon
and felt the breezes. For a long while. I did something then that I had sort
of promised myself I would not. Hadn't Faust thought a beautiful moment
worth a soul?
"Come on," I said, aiming my beer can at a trash bin and catching hold
of her hand. "Let's take a walk."
"Where to?" she asked, as I drew her to her feet.
"Fairy land," I replied. "The fabled realms of yore. Eden. Come on."
Laughing, she let me lead her along the beach, toward a place where it
narrowed, squeezing by high embankments. The moon was generous and yellow,
the sea sang my favorite song.
We strolled hand in hand past the bluffs, where a quick turning of the
way took us out of sight of our stretch of sand: I looked for the cave that
should be occurring soon, high and narrow . . .
"A cave," I announced moments later. "Let's go in."
"It'll be dark."
"Good," I said, and we entered.
The moonlight followed us for about six paces. By then, though, I had
spotted the turnoff to the left.
"'This way," I stated. "It is dark!"
"Sure. Just keep hold of me a little longer. It'll be okay." Fifteen or
twenty steps and there was a faint illumination to the right. I led her
along that turning and the way bright- ened as we advanced.
"We may get lost," she said softly.
"I don't get lost," I answered her.
It continued to brighten. 'The way turned once more, and we proceeded
along that last passage to emerge at the foot of a mountain in sight of a
low forest, the sun standing at midmorning height above its trees.
She froze, blue eyes wide. "It's daytime!" she said.
"Tempus fugit," I replied. "Come on."
We walked through the woods for a time, listening to the birds and the
breezes, dark-haired Julia and I, and I led her after a while through a
canyon of colored rocks and grasses, beside a stream that flowed into a
river.
We followed the river until we came, abruptly, to a precipice from
whence it plunged a mighty distance, casting rainbows and fogs. Standing
there, staring out across the great valley that lay below, we beheld a city
of spires and cupolas, ,gilt and crystal, through morning and mist.
"Where are we?" she asked.
"Just around the comer," I said. "Come."
I led her to the left, then down a trail that took us back along the
face of the cliff, passing finally behind the cataract. Shadows and diamond