"Howard Waldrop - The Sawing Boys" - читать интересную книгу автора (Waldrop Howard)

more problematical thing than first imagined. In fact, I am getting in one rotten
mood." He takes a drink of coffee. His beezer lights up. "Say, the flit in the
Knowledge Box got nothing on this." He drains the cup dry. He digs at his plate,
then wolfs it all down. "Suddenly my mood is changing. Sudden-like, I am in a
working mood."
I drops my fork.
"Nix?" I asks nice, looking at him like I am a tired halibut.
 "No, not no nix at all. It is of a sudden very clear why we have come to be in this
place through these unlikely circumstances. I had just not realized it till now."
Large Jake has finished his second plate. He pushes it away and looks at Chris the
Shoemaker.
"Later," says Chris. "Outside."
Jake nods.
Of a sudden-like, I am not enjoying Ma Gooser's groaning board as much as I
should wish.
For when Chris is in a working mood, things happen.


They had drawn spot # 24 down at the judging stand. Each contestant could sing
three songs, and the Black Draught people had a big gong they could ring if anyone
was too bad.
"I don't know 'bout the ones from 'round here," said Cave Canem, "but they
won't need that there gong for the people we know about. We came in third to some
of 'em last year in Sweet Tater City."
"Me neither," said Rooster Joe. "The folks I seen can sure play and sing. Why
even the Famous Eesup Twins, Bert and Mert, is here. You ever hear them do 'Land
Where No Cabins Fall'?"
"Nope," said Luke, "but I have heard of 'em. It seems we'll just have to outplay
them all."
They were under a tree pretty far away from the rest of the crowd, who were
waiting for the contest to begin.
"Let's rosin up, boys," said Luke, taking his crosscut saw out of his tow sack.
Felix unfolded the ladder and climbed up. Cave pulled out a big willow bow
strung with braided muletail hair.
Rooster Joe took out an eight-ounce ball peen hammer and sat back against a tree
root.
Luke rosined up his fiddle bow.
"Okay, let's give 'er about two pounds o' press and bend."
He nodded his head. They bowed, Felix pressing down on the big bucksaw
handle from above, Rooster Joe striking his ripsaw, Luke pulling at the back of his
crosscut.
The same note, three octaves apart, floated on the air.
"Well, that's enough rehearsin'," said Luke. "Now all we got to do is stay in this
shady spot and wait till our turn."
They put their instruments and ladder against the tree, and took naps.
 When Chris the Shoemaker starts to working, usually someone ends up with
cackle fruit on their mug.
When Little Willie and Chris first teamed up when they were oh so very young,
they did all the usual grifts. They worked the cherry-colored cat and the old
hydrophoby lay, and once or twice even pulled off the glim drop, which is a wonder