День триффидов
World Narrowing
"H’m—well,"Isaid."Anyway,oncethey’vebeatenthetriffids,andpulledthemselvesoutofthismess,they’llhaveplentyofscopeformakingbrand-newmistakesoftheirveryown."
"Poorlittlethings,"shesaid,asifsheweregazingdownincreasinglygreatrowsofgrandchildren,"it’snotmuchthatwe’reofferingthem,isit?"
Wesattherealittlelonger,lookingattheemptysea,andthendrovedowntothetown.
Afterasearchwhichproducedmostofthethingsonourwantslist,wewentdowntopicnicontheshoreinthesunshine—withagoodstretchofshinglebehindusoverwhichnotriffidcouldapproachunheard.
"Wemustdomoreofthiswhilewecan,"Josellasaid."NowthatSusan’sgrowingupIneedn’tbenearlysotied."
"Ifanybodyeverearnedtherighttoletupabit,youhave,"Iagreed.
IsaiditwithafeelingthatIwouldlikeustogotogetherandsayalastfarewelltoplacesandthingswehadknown,whileitwasstillpossible.Everyyearnowtheprospectofimprisonmentwouldgrowcloser.Already,togonorthwardfromShirning,itwasnecessarytomakeadetourofmanymilestoby-passthecountrythathadrevertedtomarshland.Alltheroadswererapidlygrowingworsewiththeerosionbyrainandstreams,andtherootsthatbrokeupthesurfaces.Thetimeinwhichonewouldstillbeabletogetanoiltankerbacktothehousewasalreadybecomingmeasurable.Onedayoneofthemwouldfailtomakeitswayalongthelane,andverylikelyblockitforgood.
