Front Lines. Майкл Грант

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      His nose healed but not perfectly, and the slight crook that twists it gives a touch of character to his movie star looks. Rainy doesn’t mean to idolize him, it’s not normally her way, but she can’t help it.

      “I’ve just spent thirteen weeks being shouted at by people with stripes on their shoulders,” she says. “I’ve had to learn to—”

      “Accept criticism?” Aryeh offers lightly.

      “Who’s criticizing me?” Rainy snaps before realizing he’s playing with her. “You think I’m crazy too, don’t you?”

      “A little bit,” he admits. “But not crazy enough to be a Marine.”

      Rainy laughs and affectionately messes his unmessably short hair. Then she’s serious. “I can’t sit this out, Ary. I have to be part of it.”

      “They’re scared is all, Mom and Dad.”

      “They want grandchildren.”

      “I think they want a daughter,” he says softly. “You know you’re their favorite. You got the brains in the family, and that’s what they care about.” He doesn’t mean to sound resentful.

      “And all you got is the looks? Poor baby.”

      They sip their tea and look out across the city they both love.

      “So how long does this intelligence school last?”

      “Eight weeks,” she says.

      “Spy stuff ?”

      “Cloak and dagger,” she jokes. “They picked me because I speak German.”

      “You speak everything.”

      “Not true. Just German. And some Italian. A little French. Yiddish, of course.”

      “Are there other languages?” He likes playing dumb with his brilliant little sister.

      “One or two. I don’t speak Japanese, though, so I guess we won’t be running into each other out there.” She waves a hand, meaning to encompass the world, not just New York.

      “Nope. Looks like we Marines’ll be killing Japs on our own, no army help needed.”

      This is too much for her. Far away the Japanese are having similar conversations, full of bold talk about slaughtering American Marines.

      “Stop,” he says, seeing the worry in her eyes. “I’ll be fine. You know me. Aren’t I always fine?”

      But tears are welling up now, and when she looks at him her eyes glisten. “If you get hurt, I’ll kill you.”

      “I’m supposed to meet up with some buddies. We’re going to go down to the USO club, see if there are any girls who want to dance with big, bad, bold Marines. Why don’t you come?”

      “Right, that’s what you need before you ship out: your little sister tagging along.”

      He doesn’t argue; he knows she’ll say no.

      “I wish you hadn’t joined the Marines,” she says after a long silence. “There are safer jobs in the army.”

      “I don’t think anyone wanted me for intelligence work,” he says, making a joke of it.

      “Do you know where they’re sending you?”

      “To California by train, then a nice little boat trip to Hawaii where I will lie on the beach and soak up the sun.”

      “And then?”

      “Come on, Rainy, don’t do that.”

      She puts her arms around him and squeezes him tightly. He strokes her head and says “come on” again. And then again.

      Then she pushes him away and wipes the tears from her cheeks. There are small wet marks on the chest of his uniform.

      “This tea is terrible.”

      “Hey, I made it myself,” Aryeh protests.

      “That, I could guess.”

      “Listen . . .” He sighs. “I lied a little. Not about making the tea. I’m not going to the club to meet girls. I mean, I am going to the club with some buddies. But I’m not meeting girls. Just a girl.”

      This is news, and Rainy’s eyebrows rise. “A girl? Singular? Just one girl? You?”

      “I kind of like her. Jane. But not plain Jane, very pretty Jane.” His tone is light and carefree and doesn’t fool Rainy for a minute.

      “Are you in love? I’m amazed. Have you actually fallen for someone?”

      He blows out a long breath. “I may have asked her to marry me.”

      That freezes Rainy solid for a full minute. “There’s a problem, isn’t there?”

      “See, that’s exactly why you’ll be good at the spying game. Right away you glom onto—”

      “Don’t try to distract me with flattery, Ary.” She searches his face intently, as if he’s written the answer there. And maybe he has, because she begins to sense the reason for his caution. “What’s her last name? Her family name.”

      “Jane? Oh, it’s Jane Meehan.”

      “Meehan?” She sees guilt in the averted gaze. “Meehan? That doesn’t sound like a Jewish name.” His silence is confirmation. “Good lord. Good lord, Ary. Are you serious? You want to marry a shiksa?”

      “Don’t you start in with that.”

      “Look at me, Ary. Do you think I’m the one you need to worry about? Have you told Mother and Father? No, of course not, I would have heard the explosion. The whole city would have heard the explosion! The building would be flattened!”

      “I thought maybe you could help me find a way to explain it to them.”

      Her eyebrows achieve their maximum height. “Explain it? Explain to our parents that their grandchildren will not be Jewish? I could more easily explain the general theory of relativity!”

      “General who?”

      She puts her hands against the side of her face and looks at him, amazed, and, she has to admit, with disapproval. “You can’t marry outside. What are you thinking?”

      He shrugs. “I guess I’m thinking I love her, and I don’t see where it’s so all-fired important whether she believes in a single God or a God with a Son.”

      “If you say that to Mother or Father, I won’t have to worry about a Jap killing you, they’ll do the job.”

      “Which is why I need your help. Because, see, I’m going to marry СКАЧАТЬ