The Stone of Shadows. R. A. Finley
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Название: The Stone of Shadows
Автор: R. A. Finley
Издательство: Ingram
Жанр: Современная зарубежная литература
isbn: 9780989315715
isbn:
Her father answered after four rings and, unsurprisingly, sounded distracted. Her mother was over at the neighbors, he finally managed to communicate. That was unfortunate for Thia, since the cause of her father’s distraction turned out to be a Verdict: Guilty marathon on TV.
“Hold on, honey—Dr. Steve’s about to corner the mob boss in the warehouse. Ha! Fantastic tackle,” he exclaimed with a chuckle. “Way to go, Steve.”
Thia made an appreciative sound. Tried to, at least. It came out sounding like a cross between a sigh and a gargle.
No matter how often her dad was told that the people on his shows weren’t real, that on television anything was possible, that nothing would change in the never-ending stream of reruns, he watched every episode with complete emotional involvement. If he had seen it six times in the last two months, it didn’t matter.
“They’ve cut to an ad for some damn thing,” he said, speaking to her at last. “People sitting in bathtubs outside, staring at a field of poppies. Why are they doing that? Are they on drugs?”
“Sort of.” There was no way she was going to get into that with her father. “I don’t want to take up too much time, Dad. Have you heard anything from Lettie? I was hoping to ask her a few questions about something at the store, and she didn’t answer when I called.” By now, she had her story down pat.
“There’s a time difference, you know. It’s late there now.”
“I called hours ago, Dad.” She took a calming breath, reminded herself he meant well. “Have you heard from her?”
“I can’t tell what this one’s for,” he complained, his attention clearly back on the TV. “Where’s the product name? How do they expect to sell anything without saying what it is? Scotland, I think. Futons? Tell me how that can be an ad for futons.”
It took Thia a moment to pick out the valid phrase. “She went up to Scotland?”
That hadn’t been on Lettie’s original itinerary, but one sure thing about Lettie was how rarely she stuck to plan. And she often went to Scotland, Thia knew; its products were in great demand. If Lettie had gone up there, that would explain why she hadn’t answered her London phone, obviously…although her cell would still work, wouldn’t it? Maybe not. Thia had never been, but from what she’d seen of photos and travel shows, Scotland had a lot of rugged terrain and many isolated areas. There had to be lots of dead zones.
“Probably,” her dad was saying. “Your mom called her last week or so, trying to put together our golf trip over there next spring. Might’ve said something about it. Good courses up there. Birthplace of the sport, you know.”
Thia’s eyes squeezed shut as she shook an impotent fist. Breathed. “I know, Dad. Did she say which city? Or how long she’d be?” She relaxed her hand, opened her eyes.
Too soon, as it turned out.
“Why would anyone put a perfectly good truck up on a huge boulder? We all know it didn’t drive there. No, she didn’t. Just Scotland.” Her father snorted derisively. “Zero percent for the first year but what about the second? It’s all in the microscopic print right there—not that there’s time enough to read it. All right, there you go, Steve,” he cheered, the show’s music playing in the background once more.
Right. She bit back a sigh. This was all she was going to get. “Okay, Dad. Thanks—and say hi to Mom. Love you,” she added, because she did.
“Will do,” he said, a smile clear in his voice. “Love you too, sweets.”
She hung up and, leaning back in her desk chair, slowly rotated it side to side. As her vision went soft, distant, she tried to sort out what to do next. So many questions, all answerable only by Lettie.
Maybe.
Her vision snapped into focus and she sat up, reached over to wake the sleeping computer.
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