Читать книгу Faerie Tale - Raymond E. Feist - Страница 23

The band struck up ‘The Stars and Stripes Forever’, and while there seemed scant agreement among the brass and woodwinds as to the key, the crowd applauded. The Pittsville High School Cougars Marching Band led the procession down Central Avenue, past the offices of the Pittsville Herald, where it would turn onto State Street and make its way towards the municipal park. The annual Pittsville Fourth of July parade was under way.

The boys sat on the kerb, below the press of adults, granted a clear view by virtue of their diminutive size. Each held a tiny American flag in his right hand and waved it vigorously. While the televised Rose Parade might hold little interest for them, this celebration of high school band, homemade floats and local celebrities in cars from the nearby Buick agency fascinated them. There was a raw exuberance, a joyous, genuine feeling of festival, neither had experienced before.

Patrick elbowed his brother. Nearly any excuse was good enough for a sibling brawl and Sean made ready for a scuffle. But he halted when Patrick said, ‘There’s Gabbie!’

Phil and Gloria stood behind their sons and waved as Gabbie and Jack rode into view. A group of local horse breeders and fanciers had organized a mounted company, all decked out in Revolutionary period costumes. Jack sat on John Adams, dressed in a woodsman’s outfit, complete with a coonskin hat and a flintlock rifle from someone’s attic. Gabbie wore a fine gown, which probably should have been in a museum, rescued from someone’s family trunk for the occasion. It was of rich silk brocade, tight at the waist and low-cut, showing her figure to good advantage and displaying an ample portion of bosom. Her appearance was greeted by several loud whistles from the older boys in the crowd. She blushed and Jack looked irritated. Spying her father and stepmother and the boys, she waved. As she passed, she mouthed the word ‘side-saddle’ and rolled her eyes heavenward, as if in despair. Gloria laughed and nodded, indicating she understood Gabbie’s discomfort.

As the riders passed, Gloria said, ‘Isn’t she lovely.’

Phil nodded, his expression revealing his deep love for and pride in his daughter. Gloria smiled to herself as she said, ‘Jack certainly looked handsome, too.’

Phil shrugged as a group of children from the William Pitt Middle School came by, marching with a determination worthy of a military guard of honour. ‘I guess,’ he said absently. Gloria laughed. ‘What?’ he asked.

‘Just your overprotective fatherly instincts coming out again, that’s all.’

‘Me?’

Gloria watched as Jack and Gabbie turned down State Street, out of sight. ‘I may be wrong, but it looks like things might be getting a bit serious between those two.’

Phil looked incredulous. ‘What? They’re just kids.’

‘Not according to the state of New York, lover. Both can vote and do most of the other things restricted to supposedly responsible adults.’

‘Well, they’re pretty young, any way you look at it.’ Gloria laughed again, and her husband looked irritated. ‘I’m being funny, huh?’ Gloria only nodded as she sought to stem her amusement. Finally Phil smiled at her. ‘You think it’s getting serious?’

From below, Sean said, ‘Well, they sure kiss a lot.’

Both parents looked down and Gloria said, ‘Have you been spying on your sister?’

Patrick sounded impatient as he looked up at his mother. ‘Cripes, they say good night under our window.’ He puckered up and pantomimed kissing Sean, who laughed and pushed him away. ‘Kissy, kissy.’

‘Hey!’ commanded Phil, trying to sound stern. ‘Lay off Gabbie.’ But he saw his wife’s amusement, a reflection of his own.

At last Gloria said, ‘Cut her some slack, guys. It’s not too many years down the road before you’ll be doing plenty of the same thing. And if God’s got a sense of humour, your girlfriends will have little brothers.’

Both boys made faces, as if the suggestion was worthy of a place alongside eating liver and visits to the dentist. ‘Ugh!’ was Sean’s comment, while Patrick shook his head.

The parade continued, and when the last of the homemade floats was past, Phil said, ‘Let’s get over to the park.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘We’ve got an hour before all the ceremonies are over, so we can set up the picnic and have the fire going when Gabbie and Jack find us. Then we can take it easy until the fireworks.’

A boy appeared as if by magic next to the Hastings family. He looked down at the twins, who returned his appraising look. ‘You guys play?’ he said, pounding his small fist into a beat-up outfielder’s mitt. Both boys, as one, raised mitts from where they had lain on the kerb. ‘There’s a game at the park. You want to play?’

The boys sprang up, their movement the only agreement necessary. They darted ahead of their parents, only slightly restrained by Gloria’s shout to stay close.