Happy New Year, Herbie and other stories
- Автор: Хантер Эван
- Год: 1963
- Язык: английский
- Год: Simon and Schuster
- Жанр: Современная русская и зарубежная проза
Электронная книга - «Happy New Year, Herbie and other stories». Краткое содержание книги:
They did a few stunts, and I watched the big shots, and it was plain they were not impressed at all by these routine aerial acrobatics. I signaled the band, according to schedule, and I shouted, “And now, ladies and gentlemen, the Fallen Angel in a death-defying, spine-tingling, bloodcurdling triple somersault at one hundred and fifty feet above the ground, without a net!”
Sue Ellen swung her trapeze out, and Angeli swung his, and then Sue Ellen dropped head downward and extended her hands, and Angeli swung back and forth, and the crowd held its breath, waiting for him to take his fall, and the big shots held their breaths, waiting for the same thing. Only I knew what would happen if he did take that fall. Only I knew about our agreement. Only I — and Sue Ellen, waiting up there for Angeli to jump.
Charlie started the roll on his snare, and then the roll stopped abruptly, and Angeli released his grip on the bar and he swung out into space, and over he went, once, twice, three times — and slap. Sue Ellen’s hands clamped around his wrists, and she held on for dear life. I couldn’t see Angeli’s face from so far below, but he seemed to be struggling to get away. Sue Ellen held him for just an instant, just long enough for Edward to swing his trapeze into position.
She flipped Angeli out then, and over he went — and wham. Edward grabbed his ankles. Angeli flapped his arms and kicked his legs, trying to get free, but Edward — Edward the Great! — wouldn’t drop him. Instead, he swung his trapeze back, and then gave Angeli a flip and
Farnings grabbed Angeli’s wrists.
Farnings flipped Angeli up, and Sue Ellen caught him, and then Sue Ellen swung her trapeze all the way back and tossed Angeli to Edward, and I began to get the idea of what was going on up there.
Edward tossed Angeli, and Farnings caught him, and then Farnings tossed him to Sue Ellen, and Sue Ellen tossed him right back again. Then Farnings climbed onto Sue Ellen’s trapeze, and they both swung back to the platform.
Edward took a long swing, and then he tossed Angeli head over heels, right back to the platform, where Sue Ellen and Farnings grabbed him with four eager arms.
I was grinning all over by this time, and the crowd was booing at the top of its lungs. Who cared? The big shots were stirring restlessly, but they’d probably heard that Angeli sometimes fell coming down the ladder, and so they didn’t leave their seats.
Only tonight, Angeli wasn’t doing any falling coming down any ladder. Because Sue Ellen had one of his wrists and Farnings had one of his ankles, and one was behind him, and the other was ahead of him; and even if he pitched himself off into space, he wouldn’t have gone far, not with the grips they had on both him and the ladder. I saw the big shots get up and throw away their cigars, and then everybody began booing as if they wanted to tear down the top with their voices. Angeli came over to me, and his face didn’t hold a pleasant smile this time. His face was in rage, and it turned red, as if he would explode.
“You tricked me!” he screamed. “You tricked me!”
“Oh, go to hell,” I told him, and all at once he wasn’t there any more.
Well, I’m not John Ringling North, and I don’t run the greatest show on earth. I’ve just got a small, unimportant circus, and it gives me a regular small income, but it’s also a lot of trouble sometimes.
I still have my soul, though; and, what’s more, I now have a soulmate, and she answers to the name of Sue Ellen Mullins, which is in a way most euphonic, you will agree.
Alive Again
She met him suddenly and quite without warning, and she was certain afterward that her face went pale in that first shocking moment of rediscovery.
She had crossed over from Saks, lured by the riotous display of tulips in the Rockefeller Center Promenade, walking with a lively step, feeling rather gay. There was a mild breeze and it caught at her pale blond hair, and she could feel its warm embrace at the nape of her neck. She grinned at the tulips, and then she turned her face toward the huge gold statue of Prometheus at the end of the promenade, her eyes reflecting for a moment the dazzling cascade of water, the colorful backdrop of flags fluttering on the early-afternoon breeze.
And then she saw him, and her eyes tightened into sharp, painful focus on his face, and she felt suddenly weak.
She would have turned and ducked into one of the shops. Her first impulse was to run blindly away from him. She did, indeed, start to turn, and then his voice reached for her and her feet went curiously leaden, and she felt with sick panic the reminiscent quickening of her heartbeat.
“Lois?” There was honest surprise in his voice, and then quick conviction. “Lois!”
She turned, feigning slow recognition. He was walking toward her rapidly, walking with the same angular lope she remembered, his head slightly tilted as it had always been, as if he were listening for some unexpected sound.
“Why, Bobby,” she said. “How are you?”
He seemed ready to gather her into his arms. His hands moved toward her unconsciously, and then drew back suddenly, as if remembering they had no place to go.
“Golly, this is a surprise,” he said. “What are you doing in town?”
“Shopping,” she said, smiling.
“Did you buy anything?” he asked. His mouth was smiling its old secretly amused smile, the smile of a privately shared joke.
“Yes,” she said. “A present for... for Tom. His birthday is next week.”
“And the package?” he asked, still smiling.
“I had it sent.”
“Oh,” he said, and she thought she detected disappointment in his voice, disappointment at discovering this was a real shopping trip and not one of the sham excursions he had helped plot in the past.
“Are you finished for the day?” he asked.
“I have to catch a train,” she said.
“Not even time for a quick drink?”
“I have to catch a train,” she said, weakening. “Meg isn’t feeling too well.”
“Meg?” he asked. His brown eyes showed puzzlement. “Oh, yes, yes. Meg is the oldest one, isn’t she?”
“Yes.”
“How is everything? The family?” He paused. “Tom?”
“Fine, thank you. Everything’s fine.”
“Lois, haven’t you time for a drink? It’s been ages since I’ve seen you.”
“I really have to catch a train,” she said.
“Oh.” He made a futile gesture with one hand, and then he smiled forlornly. She recognized the smile, and she thought: Why should I run from him? Aren’t there things I should know? Shouldn’t I ask for explanations?
“Perhaps just one,” she said. “But it really will have to be quick.”
“Good!” He took her elbow and wheeled her around, and as she turned she squeezed her eyes tightly shut, surprisingly awake again to the pressure of his fingers on her arm, his nearness.
“How... how’s everything at home?” she asked, unconsciously falling into step with him, quickening her pace.
“Fine,” he said.
“And...”
“Jeanine? She’s fine,” he answered. “In the pink. Gee! it’s good to see you, Lois.”
He saw the sudden frown on her face and quickly asked, “What’s the matter?”
“Nothing,” she said tightly.
“You were frowning.”
“Was I?”
“Yes. Your nose still wrinkles when you frown, did you know that?”
“I hadn’t looked lately,” she answered. Suddenly she wanted this to be done. Suddenly she felt as if she were in grave danger. She wanted to have the drink, and catch the train, and get back home where she belonged.