Полёт фантазии, фантазии в полёте - [64]

«It sounds reasonable» — thought Julia and continued her search till at last she found a very special advertisement which said: Human Soul Travellers Club offers you a wide choice of tours. You can visit any part of the world for 100».

«What a curious name for a travel agency and the price is incredibly low! I should try this» — said Julia to herself and the next morning went to the given address.

The weather was awful: the rain poured down and Julia almost gave up all hope of identifying the enigmatic travel agency in a row of bleak grey houses when suddenly she found herself in front of a massive wooden door with a bright inscription in gold letters: «Welcome to Human Soul Travellers Club!»

The bright golden letters emerged so unexpectedly out of the rain (for she could swear there had been no inscription on the door the moment before) that she was startled. Should she really open this door, which smelled positively Dickensian? Her impeccable intuition whispered in a thin frightened voice: «Run away! This place is dangerous!» But her insatiable curiosity murmured in a sweet persuasive tone: «Go in, why not?» Julia couldn’t resist the temptation and pushed the door open.

She was surprised to find behind that nineteenth century door an absolutely modern office, furnished in the latest fashion: the walls were plastered with glossy travelling ads, a dark-haired, black-eyed girl, unmistakably Chinese, was working at a personal computer. As she saw Julia, she greeted her with a smile on her porcelain face.

«What a special kind of a smile» — reflected Julia — «as if she is smiling not at me, but to herself».

— «Excuse me, can I book a tour round China here?»

— «Yes, madam. But you should speak to Mr. Toffiles, our manager. Will you wait a minute, please? I’ll tell him». And the Chinese — looking girl disappeared leaving her porcelain smile behind.

«What a special kind of a girl» — thought Julia — «just like a Cheshire cat». But that peculiarity didn’t especially worry her as she immediately started to study travelling ads: they were colourful, tempting, promising heaven on earth, they pleased and teased. Suddenly her attention was attracted by one leaflet which dirty and sullen did it look. And it wasn’t in English:

«What does it say», — wondered Julia and stared at unfamiliar letters as if trying to extract the message from them.

— «Tempting, isn’t it, madam?» — a sweat husky voice addressed her from behind. Julia started and turned round quickly as a soldier on hearing the command.

— «The director of Human Soul Travellers Club, Mr. Toffiles» — the man introduced himself.

— «Mephistopheles?» — Julia gasped in surprise, struck by the unmistakable resemblance of that olive-skinned black-bearded man to the well-known literary character.

— «Oh, no!» — laughed the owner of the black beard, «Mr. Toffiles. T, O, F, F, I, L, E, S», — the man spelled the name with a charming smile which however couldn’t conceal a sinister light burning in his black eyes.

— «What can I do for you, Mrs. Evans? Our agency offers the best tours at the lowest prices».

— «That’s why I’m here, Mr. Toffiles. I’d like to go to China. How much would I pay for, say, a two-week tour?»

— «It will cost you only one hundred pounds».

— «One hundred pounds — travel and hotel expenses included?» — Julia couldn’t believe her ears.

— «Yes», — Mr. Toffiles’ eyes beamed with pride. — «Our agency can boast the best services at the lowest prices». (When will he stop talking as if he is a living ad?» — thought Julia to herself). «Our clients are always satisfied with the tours we offer, because they themselves can choose the mode of travel, so to speak».

— «Impossible to offer anything decent just for one hundred pounds», — interrupted Julia in an icy tone.

— «You are right, but the fact of the matter is that our agency offers an absolutely new mode of travelling, i, e, human soul travelling» — Mr. Toffiles paused to enjoy the effect his words produced. Julia’s eyes opened wide and she whispered: «What do you mean?»

— «I mean that you travel spiritually, not bodily», — Mr. Toffiles stressed the word «bodily’ by lightly touching Julia’s shoulder. — «The mechanism of soul travelling is very simple: the client clicks his fingers and with a special signal from our control board, his soul parts from the body and joins the body of the so-called soul-bearer. Our agency offers a wide choice of soul-bearers, travelling all over the world. Human soul travelling is the tourism of the future».

— «I’m afraid it’s not exactly what I want», — said Julia and made for the door. It seemed to her that Mr. Toffiles wasn’t very disappointed at the loss of a potential client.

— «Good bye, Mrs. Evans, see you tomorrow», — he said cordially.

Julia turned back to say that she wouldn’t be coming either tomorrow or any other day but there was nobody behind her.

On the way home Julia was thinking over the details of her visit to that strange agency: «How did he learn my name? I had never mentioned it to him. Extremely curious». — «Hello, Julia», — a sweet voice, which she immediately recognised interrupted the flow of her thoughts. Oh, Helen, sweet Helen, that wretched lover-snatcher Helen — Julia could never forgive her that affairs with Jim Carrol. She looked at her old university friend. Helen was as charming as ever: exquisitely dressed, perfectly made up, dazzling beauty with self-reliant smile.