"Joe Haldeman - Guardian" - читать интересную книгу автора (Haldeman Joe)

quoted letters from the 20th Kansas: a captain said, "Caloocan was supposed to contain
70,000 inhabitants. The 20th Kansas swept through it, and now Caloocan contains not
one living native." A private under him repeated that he himself had torched over fifty
houses, killing women and children.
 Twenty-two Kansans died there, out of more than a thousand in the regiment.
Four deserted somehow. I wondered what Daniel could have done—what he could have
become—faced with that scene of hellish extermination. And then six more months of
slaughter.
Doc and I found a freighter willing to take us to Seattle for seven dollars apiece,
though with absolutely no amenities. We were to come aboard immediately and wait
until their holds were full and they could steam.
I stayed on the deck and guarded our things while the men went out for supplies.
They came back with more beer and whiskey than I would have, but they also brought
plenty of water and food and blankets, which would come in handy.
The men played whist while I wrote in my diary and read, and just before
sundown the steamer's whistle screamed twice and she cast off. Once we were under
weigh, it cooled off immediately, and clouds began to gather. We improvised a shelter in
the last light, using one of the blankets as a sort of tent roof and cargo crates as walls. It
began to rain, but we were dry and almost cozy, sitting around a candle, the men drinking
whiskey while I made sandwiches and drank a whole beer. I even had a cup of water
laced with whiskey, which tasted awful but warmed me inside.
After a while the first mate came down and bade us put out the candle. I pointed
out that it would be difficult to sustain a bonfire in this rain, and he admitted that was so,
but he had regulations to enforce. So we surrendered to darkness and wrapped ourselves
up in blankets, using bundles of clothing as pillows.
My diary makes no note of this, but I well remember that after the boys were
sound asleep, Doc came to me, and we gave each other some comfort, stopping short of
actual adultery.
The next morning he tried to talk me into coming along with them to the Yukon,
and a part of me was tempted, but I demurred. This was Daniel's adventure, and having
his mother along would spoil it for him.
("Adventure" is how I saw it; the physical challenge would be salutary, I thought,
and I reluctantly admitted that it was time for the apron strings to be cut. Far better this
than war.)
Seattle was even busier and more chaotic than San Francisco had been. None of
the hotels near the water had any rooms vacant. Stampeders usually had to wait a week or
more before finding passage north. After a long search, I found a room in a private home,
a half mile from the outfitting stores on First and Second Avenues. The woman who
rented it to me advised me to check with the Chamber of Commerce downtown, which
maintained a Woman's Department for female prospectors. I didn't bother telling her that
I was only going as far as Skagway.
I did have time to go by there before meeting the men at one thirty. It was
interesting. They were basically set up to talk you out of going, but if you have to go, be
prepared for this and that. They gave me a list similar to the one Doc and Chuck had,
with a conspicuous addition: "a small revolver, to be carried on your person, with a
quantity of appropriate ammunition."
The men were waiting for me in front of Nell's Chowder House, with the pushcart
piled high with sacks of flour and beans and tins of bacon, coffee, tea, sugar, and so forth.
We had good chowder, keeping an eye on our things while exchanging stories
about our morning's adventures. When I told them about the revolver, Doc got serious,