"Liz Williams - Ikiryoh" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Liz)

Out at the water-temple, the kappa often did not bother to keep track of the time, and so she had
forgotten that they had now passed into Rain Month and the festival to commemorate I-Nami's
Ascension into goddess-hood. Today would be the first day of the festival: it was due to last another
three.

"I have matters to attend to,― the woman said. “I suggest you do the same."

The screen of the antiscribe faded to black. The kappa went in search of the child and to her immense
relief, found her sitting up against the wall, hugging her knees to her chest.

"Are you feeling better?― the kappa asked.

"I'm bored!"

Like any young child. Bored was good, the kappa decided.

"Let's make noodles,― she said, and then, because the ikiryoh's face was still shadowed, “And
then maybe we will go to the festival. How would you like that?"

The kappa was supposed to be confined to the water-temple, but there were no guards or fences, and
she was aware of a sudden longing for a change of scene. There would be so many people in the city,
and a child and a kappa were so commonplace as to be invisible. They could hitch a ride on a farm cart.

The child's face lit up. “I would like that! When can we go?"

"First, we will have something to eat,― the kappa said.

They reached the city toward late afternoon, bouncing in on the back of a truck with great round wheels.
The child's eyes grew wide when she saw it.

"That is a strange thing!― she said.

"Surely you have seen such vehicles before?― the kappa asked, puzzled. After all, the child had
presumably grown up in the palace, and she had been brought to the water-temple in one of I-Nami's
skimmers. A vegetable truck seemed ordinary enough.

The child's face crumpled. “I can't remember."

"Well, don't worry about it,― the kappa said quickly, not wanting to disquiet her. She held tightly to
the child's hand and peered over the tops of the boxes, filled with melons and radishes and peppers, with
which they were surrounded. The road was a congested mass of hooting trucks, crammed with people,
and the occasional private vehicle. The hot air was thick with a gritty dust and the kappa was thankful for
the wide hat that she wore, which kept the worst of the heat from her sparsely-haired head. The child
sneezed.

"Is it much further?"

"I hope not.― But they were turning into Sui-Pla Street now, not too far from the center. The kappa
could hear the snap of firecrackers and the rhythmic beat of ceremonial drums, churning out prayers in