"Harlan Ellison - Spider Kiss" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ellison Harlan)

attentiveness. He cursed softly, a Manhattan twang, and gripped the strap of
the thin, cabretta-grain attaché case more tightly. It did not swing idly
from his left hand. Shelly Morgenstern hurried after the older man. Almost
before they had passed the hurricane fence with its strict admonition of
GASOLINE FUMES NO SMOKING DANGER! the younger man had forked a cigarette
from his lapel pocket and had wedged it between his lips, firm in a corner of
his thin-lipped mouth. Even inside the terminal building of Standiford Field
the heat was monstrous. The big man stopped abruptly and leaned against the
wall. He mopped at the perspiration on his jowls. .Shelly,. he said
snappishly, .give me one of those cursed tablets.. The ferret jammed the
attaché case between his feet and fumbled a small plastic vial from a jacket
pocket. Unsnapping the lid he tumbled a pale blue tablet onto his palm, and
extended it to the older man. .Water fountain up the line, Colonel,. Shelly
said, jerking his head in the direction. Spider Kiss by Harlan Ellison 21
Laboring under his bulk.not fat, just girth.Colonel Jack Freeport (Savannah,
New York, Cannes and London) made it briskly to the fountain, popped the
tablet onto his tongue and washed it down with irregular gulps of water,
managing to avoid spilling on his jacket. .I’ll see to the bags,. Freeport
said, straightening. .You call George Wharton at the State Fair Headquarters,
and under no circumstances are we to be bothered by their sending some
incompetent down to drive us. I want to get cleaned up and rested from that
cursed plane ride, without having to meet anyone.. He waved an imperious hand
in the direction of the phone booths. Then he moved off toward the baggage
claiming area. Shelly stared after the imposing figure of Jack Freeport,
and the muscles along his lean jaw jumped. For an instant he felt like a
toady. He had felt that way before. He disliked the feeling intensely. Then
remembrances of debts, his unpaid balance on the Mercedes-Benz, what it cost
to maintain Carlene ... and the twenty thousand a year Freeport paid him ...
came back to him and he struck off for the phones. He dropped the attaché
inside the booth, against the wall, and slid onto the seat. From a list of
numbers in his wallet he dialed a downtown Louisville exchange, and waited.
Traffic moved past the booth in both directions. When the dial tone broke
and the husky feminine voice said, .Kentucky State Fair Headquarters,. he was
not quite prepared, and for an instant fumbled his silence. .George Wharton,
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please,. he said finally. .Whom shall I say is calling?. Spider Kiss by
Harlan Ellison 22 .Colonel Jack Freeport.. There was a soft, furry click
and silence at the end of the line. Shelly flicked ash from the dwindling
cigarette in his mouth, without removing the butt from between his lips.
Another click and a voice said, .Jack! When the hell’d you get in, boy?.
.This is Sheldon Morgenstern for Colonel Freeport, Mr. Wharton. We’re at
Standiford.. Wharton blustered forward with his interruption: .I’ll have a
car right out there for you, fella, just hold on a min.. He turned away from
the mouthpiece and shrieked at someone, .Teddy! Teddy, get your coat on and
take the Buick. Freeport’s at Stan.. Shelly cut him off with a loud, .Hold
it, Mr. Wharton.. George Wharton came back to the receiver from the Land of
Speedy Activity. .No trouble, no trouble at all, Mr. Morgenstern. Have a car