"Diane Duane - Young Wizard's 07 - Wizard's Holiday" - читать интересную книгу автора (Duane Diane)

She heard Kit let out an exasperated breath. “It’s the TV.”
“It’s acting up again?” Nita said. Kit’s last attempt to use wizardry to repair
his family’s new home entertainment system had produced some peculiar side
effects, such as the TV showing other planets’ cable channels without warning.
“Neets,” Kit said, “it’s worse than just acting up now. I think the TV’s trying
to evolve into an intelligent life-form.”
Nita’s eyebrows went up. “That could be an improvement ...”
“Yeah, but evolution can have a lot of dead ends,” Kit said. “And I’m getting
really tempted to end this one with a hammer. The TV says it’s meditating...but most
things get quieter when they meditate.”
She snickered. “Knowing your electronics, you may need that hammer.
Meanwhile, I don’t want to talk about your TV. I want to talk about your
refrigerator.”
“Uh-oh,” Kit said.
“Uh-oh,” something inside Nita’s house also said, like an echo. She glanced
around her but couldn’t figure out what had said it. Weird… “Kit,” Nita said, “I’m
dying here. You saw what lunch was like today. Nothing human could have eaten it.
Mystery meat in secret sauce again.”
“Fridays are always bad in that cafeteria,” Kit said. “That’s why I eat at home
so much.”
“Don’t torture me. What’s in your fridge?”
There was a pause while Kit walked into his kitchen, and Nita heard his
refrigerator door open. “Milk, eggs, some of Carmela’s yogurt drinks, beer, some
of that lemon soda, mineral water, half a chocolate cake, roast chicken—”
“You mean cold cuts?”
“No, I mean half a chicken. Mama made it last night. You’ve had this recipe
before. She rubs it with this hot-smoked paprika she gets from the gourmet store,
and then she stuffs it with smoked garlic, and then she—”
 Nita’s mouth had started to water. “You’re doing this on purpose,” she said.
“Let me raid your fridge.”
“Hey, I don’t know, Neets, that chicken breast would be pretty good in a
sandwich with some mayo, and I don’t know if there’s enough for—”
“Kit!”
He snorted with laughter. “You really need to get your dad to buy more food
when he shops,” Kit said. “You keep running out on Friday. If he’d just—”
“KIT!!”
Kit laughed harder. “Okay, look, there’s plenty of chicken. Don’t bust your
gnaester. You coming over later?”
“Yeah, after we shop.”
“Bring a spare hammer,” Kit said. “This job I’m doing might need two.”
“Yeah, thanks. Keep everybody out of the fridge for five minutes. See you
later, bye!”
Nita hung up, then stood for a moment and considered her own refrigerator.
“You know what I’ve got in mind,” she said to it in the Speech.
And you keep having to do it, the refrigerator “said.” Being inanimate, it
wasn’t actually talking, of course, but it still managed to produce a “sound” and
sensation that came across as grumpy.
“It’s not your fault you’re not as full as you should be, come the end of the
week,” Nita said. “I’ll talk to my dad. Do you mind, though?”
It’s my job to feed you, the refrigerator said, sounding less grumpy but still a