Читать книгу Five Quarters of the Orange / Пять четвертинок апельсина онлайн

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“Give me that!” she hissed. “That’s mine!”

She snatched the lipstick from my fingers and it fell to the floor, rolling under the bed. Quickly she scrabbled to retrieve it, her face flaring.

“Where did you get that?” I asked curiously. “Does Mother know you’ve got it?”

“None of your business,“ gasped Reinette, emerging from under the bed. ”You’ve no right to go snooping in my private things. And if you dare tell anyone-“

I grinned. “I might tell,” I told her. “And I might not. It just depends.”

She took a step forward, but I was almost as tall as she was, and though rage had made her reckless, she knew better than to try to fight me.

“Don’t tell,” she said in a wheedling voice. “I’ll go fishing with you this afternoon, if you like. We could go to the Lookout Post and read magazines.”

I shrugged. “Maybe. Where did you get it?”

Reinette looked at me.

“Promise you won’t tell.”

“I promise.”

I spat in my hand. After a moment’s hesitation she followed suit. We sealed the bargain with a spit-clammy handshake.