-
Главная
-
- Книги
-
- Авторы
-
- Колин Маккалоу
-
- Поющие в терновнике
-
- Стр. 246/535
Для того чтобы воспользоваться озвучкой предложений, необходимо
Войти или зарегистрироваться
Озвучка предложений доступна при наличии PRO-доступа
Купить PRO-доступ
Two
pipers
in
the
complex
,
light-blue-based
Anderson
tartan
were
standing
on
a
rickety
dais
at
one
end
of
the
hall
,
piping
a
cheerful
reel
in
perfect
synchrony
,
sandy
hair
on
end
,
sweat
running
down
ruddy
faces
.
A
few
couples
were
dancing
,
but
most
of
the
noisy
activity
seemed
to
be
centered
around
a
group
of
men
who
were
passing
out
glasses
of
what
was
surely
Scotch
whiskey
.
Meggie
found
herself
thrust
into
a
corner
with
several
other
women
,
and
was
content
to
stay
there
watching
,
fascinated
.
Not
one
woman
wore
a
clan
tartan
,
for
indeed
no
Scotswoman
wears
the
kilt
,
only
the
plaid
,
and
it
was
too
hot
to
drape
a
great
heavy
piece
of
material
around
the
shoulders
.
So
the
women
wore
their
dowdy
North
Queensland
cotton
dresses
;
which
stuttered
into
limp
silence
beside
the
men
's
kilts
.
There
was
the
blazing
red
and
white
of
Clan
Menzies
,
the
cheery
black
and
yellow
of
Clan
MacLeod
of
Lewis
,
the
windowpane
blue
and
red
checks
of
Clan
Skene
,
the
vivid
complexity
of
Clan
Ogilvy
,
the
lovely
red
,
grey
and
black
of
Clan
MacPherson
.
Luke
in
Clan
MacNeil
,
Arne
in
the
Sassenach
's
Jacobean
tartan
.
Beautiful
!
Luke
and
Arne
were
obviously
well
known
and
well
liked
.
How
often
did
they
come
without
her
,
then
?
And
what
had
possessed
them
to
bring
her
tonight
?
She
sighed
,
leaned
against
the
wall
.
The
other
women
were
eyeing
her
curiously
,
especially
the
rings
on
her
wedding
finger
;
Luke
and
Arne
were
the
objects
of
much
feminine
admiration
,
herself
the
object
of
much
feminine
envy
.
I
wonder
what
they
'd
say
if
I
told
them
the
big
dark
one
,
who
is
my
husband
,
has
seen
me
precisely
twice
in
the
last
eight
months
,
and
never
sees
me
with
the
idea
of
getting
into
a
bed
?
Look
at
the
pair
of
them
,
the
conceited
Highland
fops
!
And
neither
of
them
Scottish
at
all
,
just
playacting
because
they
know
they
look
sensational
in
kilts
and
they
like
to
be
the
center
of
attention
.
You
magnificent
pair
of
frauds
!
You
're
too
much
in
love
with
yourselves
to
want
or
need
love
from
anyone
else
.
At
midnight
the
women
were
relegated
to
standing
around
the
walls
;
the
pipers
skirled
into
"
Caber
Feidh
"
and
the
serious
dancing
began
.
For
the
rest
of
her
life
,
whenever
she
heard
the
sound
of
a
piper
Meggie
was
back
in
that
shed
.
Even
the
swirl
of
a
kilt
could
do
it
;
there
was
that
dreamlike
merging
of
sound
and
sight
,
of
life
and
brilliant
vitality
,
which
means
a
memory
so
piercing
,
so
spellbinding
,
that
it
will
never
be
lost
.
Down
went
the
crossed
swords
on
the
floor
;
two
men
in
Clan
MacDonald
of
Sleat
kilts
raised
their
arms
above
their
heads
,
hands
flicked
over
like
ballet
dancers
,
and
very
gravely
,
as
if
at
the
end
the
swords
would
be
plunged
into
their
breasts
,
began
to
pick
their
delicate
way
through
,
between
,
among
the
blades
.
A
high
shrill
scream
ripped
above
the
airy
wavering
of
the
pipes
,
the
tune
became
"
All
the
Blue
Bonnets
over
the
Border
,
"
the
sabers
were
scooped
up
,
and
every
man
in
the
room
swung
into
the
dance
,
arms
linking
and
dissolving
,
kilts
flaring
.
Reels
,
strathspeys
,
flings
;
they
danced
them
all
,
feet
on
the
board
floor
sending
echoes
among
the
rafters
,
buckles
on
shoes
flashing
,
and
every
time
the
pattern
changed
someone
would
throw
back
his
head
,
emit
that
shrill
,
ululating
whoop
,
set
off
trains
of
cries
from
other
exuberant
throats
.
While
the
women
watched
,
forgotten
.
It
was
close
to
four
in
the
morning
when
the
ceilidh
broke
up
;
outside
was
not
the
astringent
crispness
of
Blair
Atholl
or
Skye
but
the
torpor
of
a
tropical
night
,
a
great
heavy
moon
dragging
itself
along
the
spangled
wastes
of
the
heavens
,
and
over
it
all
the
stinking
miasma
of
mangroves
.
Yet
as
Arne
drove
them
off
in
the
wheezing
old
Ford
,
the
last
thing
Meggie
heard
was
the
drifting
dwindling
lament
"
Flowers
o
'
the
Forest
,
"
bidding
the
revelers
home
.
Home
.
Where
was
home
?
