JК
Bag of Bones :: Кинг Стивен
Страница: 160 из 425She shook her head, but theway she was looking at him… it was as if she almost knew. Do you think that’s possible?”
“Yes.”
“He said, Tm your grandpa.” And I almost grabbed her back, Mike, because I had this crazy idea… I don’t know…”
“That he was going to eat her up?” Her cigarette paused in front of her mouth. Her eyes were round. “How do you know that? How can you know that?”
“Because in my mind’s eye it looks like a fairy tale. Little Red Riding Hood and the Old Gray Wolf. What did he do then?” ’te her up with his eyes. Since then he’s taught her to play checkers and Candyland and box-dots. She’s only three, but he’s taught her to add and subtract. She has her own room at Warrington’s and her own little computer in it, and God knows what he’s taught her to do with that… but that first time he only looked at her. It was the hungriest look I’ve ever seen in my life. ’5nd she looked back. It couldn’t have been more than ten or twenty seconds, but it seemed like forever. Then he tried to hand her back to me. He’d used up all his strength, though, and if I hadn’t been right there to take her, I think he would have dropped her on the cement walk. “He staggered a little, and Rogette Whitmore put an arm around him. That was when he took the oxygen mask from her—there was a little air-bottle attached to it on an elastic—and put it over his mouth and nose. A couple of deep breaths and he seemed more or less all right again. He gave it back to Rogette and really seemed to see me for the first time. He said, “I’ve been a fool, haven’t I?’ I said, “Yes, sir, I think you have.” He gave me a look, very black, when I said that. I think if he’d been even five years younger, he might have hit me for it.”
“But he wasn’t and he didp.’t.”
“No. He said, “I want to go inside. Will you help me do that?’ I said I would. We went up the mortuary steps with Rogette on one side of him, me t sort of like a harem girl. It wasn’t a very nice feeling. When we got into the vestibule, he sat down to catch his breath and take a little more oxygen. Rogette turned to Kyra. I think that woman’s got a scary face, it reminds me of some painting or other—”
“The Cry? The one by Munch?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s the one.” She dropped her cigarette—she’d smoked it all the way down to the filter—and stepped on it, grinding it into the bony, rock-riddled ground with one white sneaker. “But Ki wasn’t scared of her a bit. Not then, not later.
“Yes.”
“He said, Tm your grandpa.” And I almost grabbed her back, Mike, because I had this crazy idea… I don’t know…”
“That he was going to eat her up?” Her cigarette paused in front of her mouth. Her eyes were round. “How do you know that? How can you know that?”
“Because in my mind’s eye it looks like a fairy tale. Little Red Riding Hood and the Old Gray Wolf. What did he do then?” ’te her up with his eyes. Since then he’s taught her to play checkers and Candyland and box-dots. She’s only three, but he’s taught her to add and subtract. She has her own room at Warrington’s and her own little computer in it, and God knows what he’s taught her to do with that… but that first time he only looked at her. It was the hungriest look I’ve ever seen in my life. ’5nd she looked back. It couldn’t have been more than ten or twenty seconds, but it seemed like forever. Then he tried to hand her back to me. He’d used up all his strength, though, and if I hadn’t been right there to take her, I think he would have dropped her on the cement walk. “He staggered a little, and Rogette Whitmore put an arm around him. That was when he took the oxygen mask from her—there was a little air-bottle attached to it on an elastic—and put it over his mouth and nose. A couple of deep breaths and he seemed more or less all right again. He gave it back to Rogette and really seemed to see me for the first time. He said, “I’ve been a fool, haven’t I?’ I said, “Yes, sir, I think you have.” He gave me a look, very black, when I said that. I think if he’d been even five years younger, he might have hit me for it.”
“But he wasn’t and he didp.’t.”
“No. He said, “I want to go inside. Will you help me do that?’ I said I would. We went up the mortuary steps with Rogette on one side of him, me t sort of like a harem girl. It wasn’t a very nice feeling. When we got into the vestibule, he sat down to catch his breath and take a little more oxygen. Rogette turned to Kyra. I think that woman’s got a scary face, it reminds me of some painting or other—”
“The Cry? The one by Munch?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s the one.” She dropped her cigarette—she’d smoked it all the way down to the filter—and stepped on it, grinding it into the bony, rock-riddled ground with one white sneaker. “But Ki wasn’t scared of her a bit. Not then, not later.