"L. Lee Lowe - Mortal Ghost" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lowe L Lee)

Jesse remembered what Sarah's mum had said to him -- had offered him. It had sounded so tempting. A
chance to rest. To read. To sleep. To figure out where to go, what to do. But it would never work. These
people were fools. They seemed to think you could change the world. And what did they want with him
anyway? The whole set-up stank worse than a backed-up public convenience. Maybe he was a new kind of
school project: get to know the disadvantaged in the summer holidays. Stuff that. He didn't need their
philanthropy. Which amounted to what? A few meals, some old clothes they'd have sent to Oxfam before the
month was out.

He didn't owe them anything. If Sarah insisted on acting heroic, on getting hurt, he'd find his way back up the
hill on his own, he supposed. Stupidly, he'd left his stuff at their house. But he could be there and gone in an
hour. Or less.

His headache was making it difficult for him to think.

He hesitated, waiting to see what Sarah would do. When she didn't move, he unwound the lead from their legs
and handed it to her. She took it without a word. He could feel her eyes on his back as he bent to stroke the
dog's head. The creature was trembling.

They heard a high thin scream from around the corner, which was suddenly cut off. A burst of loud laughter.

With a wordless oath Sarah flung the lead at Jesse and ran.

'Sarah!' he called after her.

Instead of stopping or looking back she began to run in earnest. Her thick plait swung along behind her, stray
tendrils already making their escape. She ran the way an animal runs -- fluid, graceful, all its essence distilled
in movement. The lasso of her flight dropped over Jesse's shoulders. Tethered, he scooped up Nubi's lead and
Chapter 3 22
ran after her.

To his surprise, Jesse found that he couldn't overtake her. She was fast. The sun was still high in the sky, and
it beat down upon his head and shoulders. He squinted in the glare from the pavement. Sarah wavered and
gradually dwindled before his eyes. He pushed himself harder, faster. Light flashed at him from the metal and
glass of the cars, sometimes blinding him. He began to pant. Finally he eased to a walk, then stopped and
wiped the sweat from his forehead. Sarah was no longer in sight. He'd lost her. His breathing slowly returned
to normal, though his head pounded. He licked his lips. He could use a cigarette; even better, a cold drink. He
fumbled in his pocket. Nothing but a few coins. Again he licked his lips, swallowed. What would happen if he
knocked at one of these classy doors and asked for a glass of water? He smiled to himself, imagining the
response. Then again, maybe he'd actually get his drink. His clothes were clean and respectable. He had a dog
on a very handsome leather lead.

Where was Sarah? The city grumbled and shifted around him. He thought of it as a great lumbering beast long
inured to the specks of dirt and itching fleas clinging to its hide, probably not even aware of their existence.
Jesse looked at the people walking by, seeing them for the first time. The streets weren't overcrowded on this
hot summer afternoon, but they weren't empty either. It was unlike him not to have noticed, even more unlike
him to outrun his common sense. The street had no tolerance for the weak. And now he had no idea where he
was.

Tongue hanging, Nubi -- damn it, now he had started using that name -- waited for Jesse to decide what to do.
If only his head would stop pounding...