Tamsin Grey

She’s Not There


Скачать книгу

beyond the Bay of Gurtle,

       Lay a large and lively Turtle, –

       You’re the Cove,’ he said, ‘for me;

       On your back beyond the sea,

       Turtle, you shall carry me!’

       Said the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò,

       Said the Yonghy-Bonghy-Bò.’

      There were another two verses, but it had got too dark to read them. Jonah sat still, feeling himself to be very small. Were the gods all talking about him, deciding whether to help him? Or had they forgotten about him? Had something more interesting come up? He closed the book and ran his finger over the title on the front cover. The black letters had been stamped into the red cardboardy stuff, so you could feel them.

      THE JUMBLIES & OTHER

       NONSENSE VERSES

      The book had been Lucy’s mother’s book, and it was on its last legs. Lucy had Sellotaped its spine, to keep it going a bit longer. There had been a raggedy paper jacket, but it had fallen to bits. He opened it at the first page, where Lucy’s mother had written her name, very neatly. Rose Marjorie Arden. Arden, because she’d written it when she was a child, long before she’d married Lucy’s father and become Rose Marjorie Mwembe. Underneath, in much bigger, messier writing, was Lucy’s name: Lucy Nsansa Mwembe. She was still Lucy Mwembe, even though she was married to Roland. These days women who got married didn’t always change their names to their husband’s. Nsansa had a meaning; she’d told him, but he couldn’t remember what it was.

      He let the book slip from his lap, tipped to one side and curled into a little ball on the floor. They hadn’t sung the song, he realised, the song she sang to them every bedtime; a kind of prayer, thanking God for the day, and asking him to look after them through the night. Glory to thee, my God this night … He sang the words in his head, picturing that old, Christian God, with his big white beard, all fatherly and silent, waiting to be noticed. Then he stopped, thinking instead about Rose. She had died a long time ago, when Lucy was a child. Lucy couldn’t remember her that well, but she remembered the bedtime song, which was an English song; and that she’d called her Mayo, a Zambian word for Mummy. She had a tiny photograph of her face in the locket she wore on her throat, showing that she’d been white, with a very straight fringe of dark hair. Their other grandmother. Was she up there with the old, fatherly God, and the angels, with their white, seagull wings? Or had she been reborn? What would she have come back as? He tried to get a sense of her, of her smile, her motherliness, but all he could get was that tiny, faded face in the locket.

      Конец ознакомительного фрагмента.

      Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

      Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

      Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.

/9j/4AAQSkZJRgABAQAASABIAAD/4QB4RXhpZgAATU0AKgAAAAgAAgExAAIAAAAgAAAAJodpAAQA AAABAAAARgAAAABBZG9iZSBQaG90b3Nob3AgQ1M1LjEgTWFjaW50b3NoAAADoAEAAwAAAAEAAQAA oAIABAAAAAEAAALuoAMABAAAAAEAAARwAAAAAP/tADhQaG90b3Nob3AgMy4wADhCSU0EBAAAAAAA ADhCSU0EJQAAAAAAENQdjNmPALIE6YAJmOz4Qn7/wAARCARwAu4DASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAHwAAAQUB AQEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAAECAwQFBgcICQoL/8QAtRAAAgEDAwIEAwUFBAQAAAF9AQIDAAQRBRIhMUEG E1FhByJxFDKBkaEII0KxwRVS0fAkM2JyggkKFhcYGRolJicoKSo0NTY3ODk6Q0RFRkdISUpTVFVW V1hZWmNkZWZnaGlqc3R1dnd4eXqDhIWGh4iJipKTlJWWl5iZmqKjpKWmp6ipqrKztLW2t7i5usLD xMXGx8jJytLT1NXW19jZ2uHi4+Tl5ufo6erx8vP09fb3+Pn6/8QAHwEAAwEBAQEBAQEBAQAAAAAA AAECAwQFBgcICQoL/8QAtREAAgECBAQDBAcFBAQAAQJ3AAECAxEEBSExBhJBUQdhcRMiMoEIFEKR obHBCSMzUvAVYnLRChYkNOEl8RcYGRomJygpKjU2Nzg5OkNERUZHSElKU1RVVldYWVpjZGVmZ2hp anN0dXZ3eHl6goOEhYaHiImKkpOUlZaXmJmaoqOkpaanqKmqsrO0tba3uLm6wsPExcbHyMnK0tPU 1dbX2Nna4uPk5ebn6Onq8vP09fb3+Pn6/9sAQwACAgICAgIDAgIDBQMDAwUGBQUFBQYIBgYGBgYI CggICAgICAoKCgoKCgoKDAwMDAwMDg4ODg4PDw8PDw8PDw8P/9sAQwECAgIEBAQHBAQHEAsJCxAQ EBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQEBAQ/90ABAAv/9oA DAMBAAIRAxEAPwD1lUGCaUkAc801QSfl4A9KQg4GBxX6mfzSLkkjjg08kMcGgjOMcVGATk0DGSFV AweTx61MVX86aE3MAeKcRjJ9KYrDRnBOelLjLDI4pqqRzQQ2QBQA84z0pAAzE+lKc9DTQNxJ9KAF Py8igDAwe9NwHbjtSsAOc/SkMXAZyTTuBkMc1Eu/p0J/GnENyO/ehiQm7dwoqQsOF9aTqvp9aaQS 3FACkLnrnFJtDPz2pj8jpgVXjaTdtHI/WmlcUnqXcgZzURkyOBihs88c0bgVwOtItokLAAD1phCn Kg5zURyWwKCT6dKRRE0WPuDr1/Cp1UMu1+ajEgY57Cn+Z8wxzVSkzOMUKiKp3DinqGIznmoQzPk5 pd4C8etK5XyJHXII9faqEyhDwMgCrwkPH86ybqR9vQcn8q0o3uc2Kso6mddurRtwCT0rkr2Bbhdu c4/rW3Iznc46Gqnl5Rsj8fpXsUJOOp8zjKUavutHG3WhiVy4OB3/APrVzF/pXkZJGAPavUljZyee Mdqp3Olwznyz1b2r1KOYNO0mfKYzh2Mo81Fani1whjLDHH86z2iXjIyeteka1oLou+NOFFcLNbSL 8pFe1Srqauj5mdOVGXJPRmd5YHA7UgUk7hwRVgQN1NSiA4471upA6iCIZ5NJMq9RQ29PlFM+brVI zW9zFuRgn1FZu4jIropoQyknishoguc1rGR62HqpozvMYH5ugrVtpC0eKzniAPStCyRiwU1Utjor tctzQXjqOtThVbtURTb3yKFZgcjpWCPKeuqL8fyDgVoQEsRWfGcmrKOwIGMVErM4qsbmiw4/wquV 96cz8delVpJwpwOtYmEY9ENdBggHpVMtzgnj61PJPgHFZM0hOe1XFnZRpt7k8sxORniqYkHB681G 7sTikUY/irQ7o00kWhOg6jmlSQ7sj1qqGIbGOamRWJ45oukKUEjVj5GM1bjDA8niqMZwPmPzVN5p 6DiobPPqRu9C8X5wetK0jZxyKrxMwO481aV9w5ogc0lYjUEsD0Irf09iZMMOCOfesaM889BV0zgY 25BApVFdWJVS0kzduJEUbEXG4cH1xWfJKCd5JP8AKsz7Uw6ngVXNxuPt6ViqdjaVdyvoXJCWPPNV ZhhcU9ZR/F3pz7GHJzWuxyp2ZmEknkUxuBipnYKeKg3A8VsrnXEhYZHFIOflIp7soGarNKORTubx TZHcAEbaqgt0PSnu/JJqInnNNM7acbKxYUd+tXETIyaoxHLc1cDHtTMKqZL5ZBqzEhxyMmmRtjlq srIijmk2cdST2JkQgdKsRx5ORUSTIeBVqGXy9xA+9WMmccr31LaYUbSOasoqlB2xz71RMg+8KsRX KYAT73eokmKDRfTv8x4GRnnmqVzI8p29fSrMUybtjdOmaju5Yw2EULjnIHY1glqdcpJ09GU49qkH q3Wta2lyzbmxmsQsqkY5560rzcErxnitXC6OenW5XdGxc3BZsAbec/5NZ0jjk5OcYFUzdMfvc9qg 84s2aI0rGkqzkTkknBpjAdTSLIDgGlk2YyOv860ObqVZR3FVCKtMQBULvjIq0jpg3sV3AxUTIevY VYBDDNQyMAcDvWhvF9BoAIye1Z84ycirbSZGBVMnoMYpo66SdxuW7ip1XjmoOM+oq1EAR81U7mk3 of/Q9YQMBkUNngd6UgqMZ7U0AtwTiv1NH80jsN0oVyBjFALY+tNBIzn8qBkm4ryppuSwzjBpRjZk 0hY4AAoFcYrYGSKeSMenFNOOM8U8gY+U9aYIOq9eaTJ6etIAuODyKRQAcA/WkgHqBtpmQcsac4A4 Hel24FLzGxACcYPag5wcmgEAegppDMSP/wBdMBwDYzTMsGxjNOOexxTFZjwOtK7GkKzZB96aF2gY 6mkdjzx0pm8lfSgBzMwznrUXO3JNNduD6moSzKMc1Ny0iXzCpx1zTWkyD6mqzSEPwenWkMmevAob GkTFwVGeM1LuUAEdKo5DEHP4U9WyeKVxqJb8wfw05NpTmqhbGexxSpIDyKYmi4GQnA5FQOhkOT9O aFGFzT94UbcVSlbYiULrUrPYwy/KBwOahbTY+cCtAvwc8dqUDjOatVpLqZyw0H0OZfTZIjvUj5j6 fyp66eRyz49K6Jgp+92qhcOvPI4FbxxDbOSeDjFXRz1/axBCc+xrzLVNK2tuhXjrxXot5NI42ds4 rkdQvHjVwRwuST29q97LqklsfCcRUKc4+8jhZbRkHzKR+FVfKK9K1Huw2ec565rPklDHAxivpKcn fU/N5b+6VXTJNUpRt47VaeQiq8j7hzW6OincpSzZ4HFUHTLVoSKoXJqrJtzjtTuehSdtjPCKWwOt aEERQ5NQRhVbI5NaUYBGDUyn3Na9R2sNIJORzSKjD1q6V7gc1NHCznK1nKaOF1bFGPIOBVvzQvTm kmi2HA5NRIrZ+aouS7S1JtxPIqpIW3ZPNXFVnHFMlgfp6UrkwaTMqWU52darEM1a5tUzk0w269RQ 5nZCtFbFHywq4PeokhZmIArYSANjcPzqxHFz8q5qXVD27S0RmxWbMwzWxBaKF2rzmrKWUrMCF4rQ jVLfqMsBz+NZSrdjN05zeuiMSW0kVidvemx2cjAnFbUtzvG/dn8Ko+b82c1cZtown7rsmZxSRDhq soT0p7vx657VAXx+NaqRk3ck37e9PNz/AAms5mPvUe8jvV6NlKgmWXl52560GUZyOKoOxPIqATv1 qlFHRGhdGv5zA8Hil80881QE3y89aTz8GqcSfYeRbkkUfjUHmjnHaojIG69aidwORQaRpEjS7uDV d3xUJfLYJqFmOPrRc6oUR5fHOfrVfzssQecVFI7dKrbstnPWmmdsKWmprRytn2rSV1AGKxonCgZO aspLxntQ2ctalc20cdTVnKnIPINZEEmTirofPSk2ebVpWZZQhTuBqz5/GcVnqRmpwVPQ0jCcO5ei l3jninZA+YVTjI61ZRuM9aZzzhZltZS34fnTZWc8s2ajjHNJI38OetJoyS1sRhyD1pxnDDFUnYim biOTTtc6PZLckMmWA7Dml8znPb0qnJleRUKyE9utWoHQqN1oaQlYHHUUeYfWqnmcCkEp5HehxQvZ F0ydR6VVeQVHuzzSY7mixUadhTIQODUJctzSOccCq56fSmdEKYrP25qBm29aVs/Sq0jnvTOuECRZ QcHqTVyJyPvDIrMjAzwcVqRFcY9K0d7BWikf/9H1gHg7s08bSuR2pgIPNKgyv1r9TP5puKW+XIpc ZHNJwR64pBuxyc5oHcRVDZPel2ng9/egKoU+tNJIAUfW