"Andrews, V C - crystal" - читать интересную книгу автора (Andrews V.C)

One night Mr. Philips forgot his keys; It was as
simple as that. Even though I was just a little over
eleven, I had been helping in the administrative
office as usual, filing purchase orders, receipts,
and repair orders. I had left Molly Stuart's watch
in Mr. Philips's bathroom when I had taken it off
to wash my hands. I didn't have a watch, and she
let me borrow hers once in a while. When she saw
I didn't have it on my wrist, she asked me about it,
and I remembered. This was after supper, when
we were all in our rooms doing homework. I told
her not to worry. I knew where it was. She fumed
and fumed until blood flooded her face. She was
positive someone would have stolen it by now
because Mr. Philips's office door was never
locked. So I left my room and hurried downstairs.
I entered, put on the lights, and looked in the
V. C. ANDREWS
bathroom. There it was on the sink where I had
left it.
I turned to leave, and that was when I saw Mr.
Philips's keys on his desk. I knew they were the
keys to the secret files, the files that held information
about each of us. Other kids were always
asking me if I had ever seen the files out while I
was working there. I never had.
My heart skipped a beat. I looked at the door
and back at those magical keys. It was close to
impossible for an orphan to learn about his or her
biological past, at least until he or she turned
eighteen. All I had ever been told was that my
mother had been too sick to keep me and that I
had no father.
I had never done a dishonest thing in my life,
but this was different, I thought. This was not
stealing. This was merely taking something that
really belonged to me: knowledge about my own
past. Quietly, I closed the front door, and then I
went to the desk, picked up the keys, and found
the one that would open the drawers containing
the secret files.
Funny, how I stood there, afraid to touch the
file that had my name on its tab. Was I afraid to
break a rule or afraid to learn about myself?
Finally, I got up enough nerve and pulled out my
file. It was thicker than I had imagined it could be.
I turned off the office lights so I wouldn't attract
any attention and sat on the floor by the bathroom
with the door only slightly ajar. A thin shaft of
CRYSTAL