[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
In a way, the question came out of the blue. In another way, Jeremy had
trouble thinking about anything else. How surprising was it that his sister
felt the same way? Not very. He shrugged. I have to think so.
Whatever's gone wrong, it can't stay messed up forever. Why not? he wondered.
It shouldn't have got messed up in the first place. Since it has, who knows
how long it can stay that way?
He wondered whether Amanda would point that out. She didn't, not in so many
words. Instead, she asked, Do you think you could stand it if we had to stay
here forever? I wouldn't like it, that's for sure, Jeremy answered. Stand it?
I don't know. What other choice would I have? It would be horrible, Amanda
said.
He couldn't very well argue with that. They still had enough merchandise from
the home timeline to make a lot of money, probably enough to keep them wealthy
for the rest of their lives. But even the richest people in Polisso did
without so many things anyone from the home timeline took for granted. It
would seem a bare, empty life. They might as well be shipwrecked among
savages. As a matter of fact, they were. We just have to go on, Jeremy said. I
don't know what else to tell you.
His sister nodded. It's what I keep telling myself, she said. Sometimes it
lets me get through the day
most of the time, in fact. But when they go and knock a hole in the house-two
holes in the house even going on doesn't seem very easy.
Yeah. I know. Jeremy cocked his head to one side. There was a new breeze in
the kitchen because of those two holes. I go down to the basement, and I try
to send a message back home from the
PowerBook, and it doesn't let me....
I go down there, too, Amanda said. Sometimes I don't even try to send a
message. But the door opens when you touch the palm lock. The electric lights
come on. The furniture looks like it comes from Home
Depot or WalMart and it does. There is a computer. I see all that stuff, and
I remember we did come from the home timeline. It's not just something I
dreamt or made up inside my head.
Jeremy made himself grin. If it is, we're both nuts the same way. He spoke in
a low voice and in
English. Making himself use his own language instead of neoLatin took a real
effort.
And hearing English made Amanda blink. That's right, she said in the same
Page 77
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
tongue. Will we ever be able to speak our own language to anybody but each
other? I don't know. For safety's sake, Jeremy fell back into neoLatin. I just
don't know.
Another cannonball screeched by overhead. It slammed into a house or shop not
too far away. Jeremy and Amanda looked at each other. If the Lietuvans broke
into Polisso or starved it into surrender, nothing they'd talked about would
matter very much. They wouldn't have to complain about how empty even the
richest person's life here was. They wouldn't be rich. They'd be slaves or
they'd be dead.
Amanda was sewing up a tunic seam when someone rapped on the door. She wanted
company just then about as much as she wanted another head. But Jeremy was at
the market square, and it might be business. With a mutter of regret, she put
down the tunic. She walked out of the courtyard and up the entry hall. The
door was barred. She took the bar out of its brackets,, set it aside, and
opened the door.
There stood Lucio Claudio, called Fusco. Good day/' Amanda said, meaning
anything but. What can I
do for you?
I am looking for Iererneo Soltero, answered Gaio Fulvio's man of affairs.
He's not here right now/' Amanda said. Can I help you?
I doubt it/' Lucio Claudio said. Amanda glanced over at the iron bar she'd
just put down. No, you can't hit him over the head with it, she told herself.
People would talk. It seemed a great pity. The local, who didn't know she was
contemplating his sudden departure from this world, went on, It has to do with
the official report he submitted.
Oh. Then I can help you. Amanda stepped aside and gestured politely. Won't you
come in? Would you care for some wine?
It is written in the classical language. How could you ? But Lucio Claudio
caught himself. He'd already done business with Amanda. No. Wait. You have
already proved that you are familiar with it.
That's right. I have. And I am. Amanda's smile was anything but sweet. She
repeated, Won't you come in?
Lucio Claudio's face said mere females had no business knowing classical
Latin. It also said mere merchants had no business knowing the old language.
And if the merchant happened to be a girl, or the girl happened to be a
merchant... Very well. He didn't sound any happier about being there than
Amanda was to have him there.
When she took him back to the courtyard, she pointed to the hole in the
kitchen roof. Jeremy had put boards over it, but the roofer hadn't replaced
the shattered tiles. As she pointed, a cannonball thudded home somewhere not
far away. She said, At a time like this, don't you have more important things
to worry about than official reports? We submitted it on time. It's accurate.
Isn't that enough to satisfy you?
The local's swarthy skin darkened further, probably with annoyance. He said,
What could be more important than keeping complete and thorough records? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl freetocraft.keep.pl
In a way, the question came out of the blue. In another way, Jeremy had
trouble thinking about anything else. How surprising was it that his sister
felt the same way? Not very. He shrugged. I have to think so.
Whatever's gone wrong, it can't stay messed up forever. Why not? he wondered.
It shouldn't have got messed up in the first place. Since it has, who knows
how long it can stay that way?
He wondered whether Amanda would point that out. She didn't, not in so many
words. Instead, she asked, Do you think you could stand it if we had to stay
here forever? I wouldn't like it, that's for sure, Jeremy answered. Stand it?
I don't know. What other choice would I have? It would be horrible, Amanda
said.
He couldn't very well argue with that. They still had enough merchandise from
the home timeline to make a lot of money, probably enough to keep them wealthy
for the rest of their lives. But even the richest people in Polisso did
without so many things anyone from the home timeline took for granted. It
would seem a bare, empty life. They might as well be shipwrecked among
savages. As a matter of fact, they were. We just have to go on, Jeremy said. I
don't know what else to tell you.
His sister nodded. It's what I keep telling myself, she said. Sometimes it
lets me get through the day
most of the time, in fact. But when they go and knock a hole in the house-two
holes in the house even going on doesn't seem very easy.
Yeah. I know. Jeremy cocked his head to one side. There was a new breeze in
the kitchen because of those two holes. I go down to the basement, and I try
to send a message back home from the
PowerBook, and it doesn't let me....
I go down there, too, Amanda said. Sometimes I don't even try to send a
message. But the door opens when you touch the palm lock. The electric lights
come on. The furniture looks like it comes from Home
Depot or WalMart and it does. There is a computer. I see all that stuff, and
I remember we did come from the home timeline. It's not just something I
dreamt or made up inside my head.
Jeremy made himself grin. If it is, we're both nuts the same way. He spoke in
a low voice and in
English. Making himself use his own language instead of neoLatin took a real
effort.
And hearing English made Amanda blink. That's right, she said in the same
Page 77
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
tongue. Will we ever be able to speak our own language to anybody but each
other? I don't know. For safety's sake, Jeremy fell back into neoLatin. I just
don't know.
Another cannonball screeched by overhead. It slammed into a house or shop not
too far away. Jeremy and Amanda looked at each other. If the Lietuvans broke
into Polisso or starved it into surrender, nothing they'd talked about would
matter very much. They wouldn't have to complain about how empty even the
richest person's life here was. They wouldn't be rich. They'd be slaves or
they'd be dead.
Amanda was sewing up a tunic seam when someone rapped on the door. She wanted
company just then about as much as she wanted another head. But Jeremy was at
the market square, and it might be business. With a mutter of regret, she put
down the tunic. She walked out of the courtyard and up the entry hall. The
door was barred. She took the bar out of its brackets,, set it aside, and
opened the door.
There stood Lucio Claudio, called Fusco. Good day/' Amanda said, meaning
anything but. What can I
do for you?
I am looking for Iererneo Soltero, answered Gaio Fulvio's man of affairs.
He's not here right now/' Amanda said. Can I help you?
I doubt it/' Lucio Claudio said. Amanda glanced over at the iron bar she'd
just put down. No, you can't hit him over the head with it, she told herself.
People would talk. It seemed a great pity. The local, who didn't know she was
contemplating his sudden departure from this world, went on, It has to do with
the official report he submitted.
Oh. Then I can help you. Amanda stepped aside and gestured politely. Won't you
come in? Would you care for some wine?
It is written in the classical language. How could you ? But Lucio Claudio
caught himself. He'd already done business with Amanda. No. Wait. You have
already proved that you are familiar with it.
That's right. I have. And I am. Amanda's smile was anything but sweet. She
repeated, Won't you come in?
Lucio Claudio's face said mere females had no business knowing classical
Latin. It also said mere merchants had no business knowing the old language.
And if the merchant happened to be a girl, or the girl happened to be a
merchant... Very well. He didn't sound any happier about being there than
Amanda was to have him there.
When she took him back to the courtyard, she pointed to the hole in the
kitchen roof. Jeremy had put boards over it, but the roofer hadn't replaced
the shattered tiles. As she pointed, a cannonball thudded home somewhere not
far away. She said, At a time like this, don't you have more important things
to worry about than official reports? We submitted it on time. It's accurate.
Isn't that enough to satisfy you?
The local's swarthy skin darkened further, probably with annoyance. He said,
What could be more important than keeping complete and thorough records? [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]