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"What about this business of a 'skyhole'?" Red Laughter sighed. "I do not want to go into the whole Way. It's very complicated and uses many paintings. There used to be a fire dance involved, but " He shrugged. "Today young people go to different kinds of dances." "At least we found it." There was satisfaction in Ooljee's voice. "Let's go back to the kitchen." Bill Laughter switched off the zenat and mollybox, put the spinner back on the crowded desk. Ooljee wanted to talk sandpainting, while Moody was much more interested in finding out if there might be a way to trace the original sale. He found Page 52 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html himself talking to the younger Laughter while Ooljee engaged the elder at the kitchen table. "What about that old building we saw coming in?" he asked, by way of making casual conversation. "My grandfather's. We maintain it for tradition's sake. Also it's nice just to go inside sometimes and sit on the floor and do nothing. Some of Grandfather's things are still there and, well, it takes you back." Moody remembered the house he'd been raised in, back hi Mississippi. Tin roof, wooden screen door always in need filan Dean Foster of repair, a porch slowly subsiding toward the Gulf. He understood. * 'How come," he wondered, studying the fax and sipping coffee, "you and your father haven't reproduced this design? It's sure enough attractive." "And much too complex to be a cost-effective proposition." Laughter traced the intricate patterns with a finger. "Besides, it doesn't come with a convenient, easy to understand explanation. file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20Cyber%20Way.tx t (39 of 117) [1/16/03 6:39:58 PM] file:///F|/rah/Alan%20Dean%20Foster/Foster,%20Alan%20Dean%20-%20Cyber%20Way.tx t Tourists need that sort of thing. They like plenty of yeis, rainbows, the four sacred plants. Not complex interconnected abstracts. We're doing fine. No reason to make something too complicated to earn back the time and effort spent on it. Not when you can do corn, beans, squash, and tobacco over and over again and come out way ahead. "Oh, every once in a while Dad and I will do something different, but it's usually of our own invention, and to fill a prepaid order. Remember, sand is just the medium, not the art. In any case, we'd never do anything this big on spec." Moody glanced around the kitchen. "Seems to me you could afford the time." ' 'Sure we could. We just don't want to. Dad's got a forty-foot twin GE Craft catamaran docked down at Puerto Pen-asco. You have any idea what the upkeep is on a sucker like that? Come to think of it, you're from Florida, so you probably do. Doesn't leave him a lot of time to play at being an artist. We run a business here. "Not that we don't have respect for tradition; we do. You don't see us turning out any of the pornographic sand-paintings that show up in downtown Ganado or Gallup. Then there are the computer games based on the stories of the Holy People. We wouldn't have anything to do with stuff like that. So we feel pretty good about what we do.'' His attitude had turned almost belligerent. Moody hastened to calm him. CYBER UJflY 105 "1 understand. I was just asking. We're trying to find a motive in all this and we're not having a lot of luck so far. So sometimes you've got to ask some awkward questions. For example, if the Kettrick design was the only one of its kind, maybe one of your people felt the need to have it all to himself.'' Bill Laughter chuckled and waved the fax. "A Navaho collector would laugh at this because it makes no sense. A rich Brazilliana, now, or an Asian, they'd put a light on it and stick it up on their wall and be happy with it. But not a Navaho collector." "So he'd shy away from it because it isn't traditional? How do you know it isn't? Maybe your grandfather was wrong. Maybe the Way described in this painting is still known to someone." "So what? It's of no use to anybody." "What if it's an exact reproduction, laid down without any of the little changes necessary to render it harmless?" Ooljee should be asking these questions, he thought. Page 53 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html "Hey, my grandfather wouldn't have done that." Up to now Laughter had been brash and confident. Suddenly he looked uncomfortable. "You just said you don't believe in this stuff." "I know that." Laughter leaned forward, lowering his voice. "Look, if you asked me straight out do I believe in any of the old ways, I'd say no. But it never hurts to play it safe. There's a whole history of funny things that have happened on the Rez. "Maybe your guy is another artist. Maybe he's working for someone else who wants something really unique. Except that it's a lot simpler to create your own designs than to kill to acquire somebody else's. "There's also the possibility that this guy is a hatathli, or a would-be hatathli, or some nut who thinks he can be a hatathli and that he really can work miracles by muttering ancient baloney over a pile of colored sand and dirt." 106 Rlan Dean Foster "People who believe what they want to believe are capable of anything," Moody informed him coldly. "I know that from experience." "That's what I'm saying. Me, I believe in positive cash flow. My dad, he maybe believes in this stuff a little- My grandfather believed a lot, and he wasn't an isolated case in his day. If this guy you're after thinks using this [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
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