The Gray House полностью

“And there I was in your room,” Ginger says, half smiling, fiddling with the cigarette in her fingers. “At first I was just glad that I made it. That I was standing on a solid, dependable surface. Then I studied the wall. It turned out to be completely different from what I had imagined, but it was still so amazing. Like it was boundless, stretching out into infinity on both sides.” Ginger spreads her arms wide, demonstrating the vast expanse. “It’s hard to explain. I didn’t have much time, I knew you were going to be back soon, and I still had to make myself climb out of that window, travel along that horrible ledge, and slide down the drainpipe . . . I found this thick marker in the nightstand and drew a bird on the wall. It came out so ugly, so . . . insignificant. Spoiled the entire wall. It got me so depressed that I almost didn’t notice how I crawled out. Cried myself to sleep that night.”

“And two days later you returned to paint it in,” Sphinx says. “To make it white. You signed it Jonathan. And then Jonathan started leaving us presents.”

“Oh god,” Humpback moans. “So Jonathan was you all along? And there we were, fiddling about with the traps and everything.”

“Now this, my friends,” I explain to my fingernails, “is what’s commonly known as a shock to the system. When you suddenly find out what’s behind an unsolved mystery. In the twilight of your years. The fastest way to a psychological trauma, I’ll have you know. You see, Black, we kept finding these . . .”

“I get it,” Black interrupts me. “You don’t need to spell it out.”

But he doesn’t. Neither he, nor Noble and Alexander, nor Lary. The only ones who would get it are Vulture, Shuffle, Beauty, and Elephant. If we told them. But no one else.

Soft rustling. Humpback searches his pockets. Blind rummages in some hidden recesses as well. I unhook the earring. Our hands meet over the blanket. Humpback’s palm cradles a small brass bell. Blind has a coin on a string. I’m holding the earring.

“To the foul-smelling pirate from Jo, the one flying across oceans,” I recite. “Except the note is long gone, of course.”

Ginger bites her lip.

“You’ve kept it! After all this time!”

“Those are gifts from Jonathan.” Sphinx laughs. “Treasure. If I’m not mistaken, Noble also inherited one. The seashell.”

Noble grasps at the shell, gripping it tightly. Looks almost obsessive doing it.

“Oh, and by the way,” I add. “Blind always ended up with the most gifts, for some reason. Some greedy people, such as myself, used to take offense.”

Ginger reddens. In her eyes I read a reproach, a plea to stop burrowing into the memories and a lot of other things that make my tongue freeze and my head receive belated insights concerning the real reasons certain people made an appearance in this room tonight.

“Interesting,” Black remarks, sipping his tepid tea and not looking at anyone in particular. “So Jonathan played favorites?”

Ginger blushes even deeper, but straightens up defiantly and shoots back, “He did. Still does. So?”

If I were Ginger I wouldn’t be saying things like that, not under the heavy gaze of Noble’s burning eyes. In fact, with him looking like that, which is inhumanly beautiful, I’d have probably lost the ability to speak altogether. But girls are mysterious creatures. If she thinks she likes Blind better, there’s nothing anybody can do about it. After all, it’s not for nothing Jonathan risked her life climbing the ledges and sneaking into other people’s windows.

“I know this one solitaire,” Fly says, breaking up the awkward silence. “Dream a Little Dream, it’s called. Almost never comes out, but if it does it means that your innermost desire will come true. Cool, huh?”

“Wicked,” I say. “Do it right now. I am full of innermost desires.”

Alexander passes the deck and pushes the cups out to the edge of the blanket. Fly begins dealing, stumbling through the rules. Ginger shivers and wraps the blanket tighter around herself, pulling in her bare feet.

“If you’re cold, you can take my socks,” I say. “You can return them whenever. Next time you come here.”

She agrees and Alexander goes to the wardrobe to fetch the socks.

“How about my sweater?” Noble says plaintively. “It’s really warm.”

“There,” Fly says, crestfallen, holding the last remaining card. “This always happens. Didn’t I say it never comes out right? I think it’s designed that way, to keep you from getting bored.”

She turns to Noble.

“Can I have your sweater instead? I feel kinda cold too. Freezing, actually.”

Noble nods impassively.

“Sure.”

“What’s your innermost desire?” I ask Fly. “The one that never comes out right?”

She waves the card at me.

“Get away! You can’t say it, or it’ll never come true.”

Humpback and Lary yawn furtively. Ginger pulls on my socks.

“Nice place you have, guys,” Fly says. “But it’s getting late. Anyone got the time?”

“Shhh!” everyone hisses, and Fly, startled, puts her hand over her mouth.

“What?” she mumbles into her palm. “What did I say?”