"Cooper, Susan - Dark is Rising 01 - Over Sea, Under Stone" - читать интересную книгу автора (Cooper Susan)

Below the writing it dwindled, as if it had been singed by some great heat long ago, into half-detached pieces carefully laid back together and stuck to the outer sheet. But there was enough of it left for them to see at the bottom a rough drawing that looked like the uncertain outline of a map.

For a moment they were all very quiet. Barney said nothing but he could feel a strange excitement bubbling up inside him. He leant forward in silence and carefully stretched the manuscript flat, pushing the piece of wood aside.

'Here,' Simon said, 'I'll get something to weight the edges down.'

They put an old paper-weight, a pewter mug and two carefully dusted chunks of wood on the corners, and sat back on their heels to look.

It's terribly old,' Jane said. 'Centuries, thousands of years.'

'Like those papers in glass cases in museums, with little curtains to keep the light out.'

'Where did it come from? How did it get up here? '

'Somebody must have hidden it.'

'But it's older than the house. I mean look at it, it must be, some of the writing's nearly faded away.'

'It wasn't hidden,' Barney said, with absolute conviction, though he had no clear idea why. 'Someone just threw it down where I found it.'

Simon whooped suddenly, making them jump. 'This is terrific! Do you realise, we've got a real live treasure map? It could lead us to anything, anywhere, secret passages, real hidden caves - the treasure of Trewissick' - he rolled the words lovingly round his tongue.

'There isn't much map, it's all writing.'

'Well then, that's instructions. Look in ye little room on ye second floor, I expect it says, ye second floorboard on the, I mean ye, left -'

'When this was written there weren't such things as floor- boards.'

'Oh come off it, it's not that old.'

'I bet it is,' Barney said, quietly. 'Anyway, you look at this writing, You can't read it, it's all in some funny language.'

'Course you can read it if you look properly,' Simon said impatiently. In his mind he was already half-way through a sliding panel, throwing back the lid of a chest to reveal hoards of untold wealth. He could almost hear the chink of doubloons.

'Let's have a look.' He leaned forward, the floorboards hard and rough under his knees, and peered at the manuscript. There was a long pause. 'Oh,' he said at last, reluctantly.

Barney said nothing, but looked at him very expressively indeed.

'Well all right,' said Simon. There's no need to look so cocky. It isn't in English. But that doesn't mean we shan't be able to find out what it says.'

'Why isn't it in English?'

'How on earth should I know ? '

'I mean,' Barney said patiently, 'that we're in England, so what other language could it possibly be in?'

'Latin,' Jane said unexpectedly. She had been looking quietly at the manuscript over Simon's shoulder.

'Latin?'