"Peter David - Sir Apropos 03 - Tong Lashing" - читать интересную книгу автора (David Peter)

anything. Perhaps it was because, since I was long departed from my native Isteria, Sharee represented
the last tie I had to my homeland.

Or maybe I just wanted to be loved. Maybe what I was experiencing was the beginnings of being
frustrated with the way I was, but having no clue how to change, or even if I wanted to.

She was still waiting for me to finish my earlier sentence. "You what--?" she prompted again.

Why waste the time. It would all end badly, and besides... she didn't love me. Didn't want to be with
me. Not really. Who would? What did I have to offer? Cynicism and lameness and a deep abiding
conviction that I was the only sane man in an insane world, a belief which brought me comfort but oddly
was seen as less than flattering by just about everyone else.

Tell her you love her or at least like her, tell her you enjoy her company, tell her you want time, tell her
that if she leaves you now you'll likely never see her again and that's unacceptable, tell her anything

"Go to hell" were the words that came out of my mouth.

Anything but that.

I looked right through her to the drabit on her arm. "Mordant? Coming with me or staying with
Sharee?"

Mordant cocked his head slightly, and then wrapped his tail around her arm.

That was my answer.

I shrugged.

"Fine," I said, and something that I hadn't even known was living within me until moments earlier was
crushed and died. I turned and walked away without another word to her. Feeling sorry for myself, in an
endeavor to look even more pathetic than I felt, I accentuated my limp as I headed back into the pub.

I made my way to Captain Stout. He looked up at me quizzically.

"Just me," I said.

"I see it's just you. Who else would you be?"

"I mean," I sighed, "that I won't have a lady with me on your boat. It'll just be me booking passage."

His face brightened. "Ah! Excellent," he said, and stuck out a hand, which was thick and greasy. I
shook it reluctantly and then quietly rubbed it clean on a napkin. "Don't get me wrong," he added
hurriedly. "I like the ladies. I do. They certainly have their uses, especially if you need somewhere to
dock your dinghy, if you get my drift," and he laughed a raucous laugh.

I forced a smile. "Yes, I get it," I said.

"But really, they've no place on a ship. Just cause trouble. Once you're at sea, mark my words, you're
better off without them. We'll have a much smoother crossing with just the blokes running the show."