Переводчик Пенто Анастасия Максимовна

North Richmond street being blind, was a quiet street except at the hour when the Christian Brothers’ School set the boys free. An uninhabited house of two storeys stood at the blind end, detached from its neighbours in a square ground The other houses of the street, conscious of decent lives within them, gazed at one another with brown imperturbable faces.
The former tenant of our house, a priest, had died in the back drawing-room. Air, musty from having been long enclosed, hung in all the rooms, and the waste room behind the kitchen was littered with old useless papers. Among these I found a few paper-covered books, the pages of which were curled and damp: The Abbot, by Walter Scott, The Devout Communnicant and The Memoirs of Vidocq. I liked the last best because its leaves were yellow. The wild garden behind the house contained a central apple-tree and a few straggling bushes under one of which I found the late tenant’s rusty bicycle-pump. He had been a very charitable priest; in his will he had left all his money to institutions and the furniture of his house to his sister.
When the short days of winter came dusk fell before we had well eaten our dinners. When we met in the street the houses had grown sombre. The space of sky above us was the colour of ever-changing violet and towards it the lamps of the street lifted their feeble lanterns. The cold air stung us and we played till our bodies glowed. Our shouts echoed in the silent street. The career of our play brought us through the dark muddy lanes behind the houses where we ran the gauntlet of the rough tribes from the cottages, to the back doors of the dark dripping gardens where odours arose from the ashpits, to the dark odorous stables where a coachman smoothed and combed the horse or shook music from the buckled harness. When we returned to the street light from the kitchen windows had filled the areas. If my uncle was seen turning the corner we hid in the shadow until we had seen him safely housed.

“You need to be careful when you go fighting, ya? You don't need to be a hero Rainy, you just need to survive and come back to me, ya?” Mei Lin straightens my collar, fixing imperfections that aren't there, her big brown eyes dripping with tears, sending them down her lightly tanned skin in streams, as pangs of guilt move through my chest. “You remember to eat well, and keep safe, and write me often. Akanai will send messengers to the city, so you just give your letters to Mi-Mi, and she'll have them sent.”
Patting her on the cheek, I give her a smile, sad to see her so distressed. “Don't you worry. I promise I will write at least once a month.”
“Once a day.” She stamps her foot, pouting.
“Once every two weeks?” Hugging her tightly, I smile at how adorable she is. Her little hands clutch at my shirt, unwilling to let go so that I can join the rest of the Sentinels. On the journey here to Shen Huo, Taduk informed her that they would be remaining within the city, as Taduk would be helping with all the injured. Mei Lin has been begging and pleading him every night since, wanting to go to war with everyone else, the foolish little girl. She spent every other waking moment stuck at my side, trying to convince me to help her sneak away, but I was adamant not to. Poor sweet little angel, I'm relieved that Taduk had the ability to stick with his decision, because war is no place for Mei Lin. As much as I like having her around, I'll rest easier knowing she'll be safe in the city.
She continues to cry and offer advice, most of it amounting to 'don't die', which is fair considering how often I come close to death. It's a great feeling knowing someone loves you this much, but I think some separation is good. Maybe she'll meet a handsome young man in the city and fall in love. She's in the springtime of her youth and she's spending it in love with me, instead of with someone more age appropriate. Soon, her words are incomprehensible as she cries into my chest, tears staining my shirt, her tiny arms wrapped around me as I pat her back and try to comfort her.