"Elizabeth Moon. The Speed of Dark " - читать интересную книгу автора

don't tell Dr. Fornum about Marjory because she would ask questions I don't
want to answer. So that makes two big secrets, swords and Marjory.
When I've eaten, I drive over to my fencing class, at Tom and Lucia's.
Marjory will be there. I want to close my eyes, thinking of Marjory, but I
am driving and it is not safe. I think of music instead, of the chorale of
Bach's Cantata No.39 .
Tom and Lucia have a large house with a big fenced backyard. They have
no children, even though they are older than I am. At first I thought this
was because Lucia liked working with clients so much that she did not want
to stay home with children, but I heard her tell someone else that she and
Tom could not have children. They have many friends, and eight or nine
usually show up for fencing practice. I don't know if Lucia has told anyone
at the hospital that she fences or that she sometimes invites clients to
come learn fencing. I think the hospital would not approve. I am not the
only person under psychiatric supervision who comes to Tom and Lucia's to
learn to fight with swords. I asked her once, and she just laughed and
said, "What they don't know won't scare them."
I have been fencing here for five years. I helped Tom put down the new
surface on the fencing area, stuff that's usually used for tennis courts. I
helped Tom build the rack in the back room where we store our blades. I do
not want to have my blades in my car or in my apartment, because I know
that it would scare some people. Tom warned me about it. It is important
not to scare people. So I leave all my fencing gear at Tom and Lucia's, and
everyone knows that the left-hand-but-two slot is mine and so is the
left-hand-but-two peg on the other wall and my mask has its own pigeonhole
in the mask storage.
First I do my stretches. I am careful to do all the stretches; Lucia
says I am an example to the others. Don, for instance, rarely does all his
stretches, and he is always putting his back out or pulling a muscle. Then
he sits on the side and complains. I am not as good as he is, but I do not
get hurt because I neglect the rules. I wish he would follow the rules
because I am sad when a friend gets hurt.
When I have stretched my arms, my shoulders, my back, my legs, my
feet, I go to the back room and put on my leather jacket with the sleeves
cut off at the elbow and my steel gorget. The weight of the gorget around
my neck feels good. I take down my mask, with my gloves folded inside, and
put the gloves in my pocket for now. My epee and rapier are in the rack; I
tuck the mask under one arm and take them out carefully.
Don comes in, rushed and sweating as usual, his face red. "Hi, Lou,"
he says. I say hi and step back so he can get his blade from the rack. He
is normal and could carry his epee in his car if he wanted without scaring
people, but he forgets things. He was always having to borrow someone
else's, and finally Tom told him to leave his own here.
I go outside. Marjory isn't here yet. Cindy and Lucia are lining up
with epees; Max is putting on his steel helmet. I don't think I would like
the steel helmet; it would be too loud when someone hit it. Max laughed
when I told him that and said I could always wear earplugs, but I hate
earplugs. They make me feel as if I have a bad cold. It's strange, because
I actually like wearing a blindfold. I used to wear one a lot when I was
younger, pretending I was blind. I could understand voices a little better