"Gordon R. Dickson - Dragon Knight 07 - The Dragon and the G" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dickson Gordon R)
this time in an easterly direction, toward the Cliffside caves. Jim angled himself to the wind, to
head northwest by west, which was roughly how he had to go to overfly the forest trail that was
occasionally dignified byтАФbut didn't deserveтАФthe name of "road" between Malencontri and
Castle Smythe.
He soared along, looking down at the treetops, and waiting for the break in them that would show
him at least a portion of the trail. However, some little time went by, and he did not find it.
Puzzled, he turned at last and headed back in the opposite direction. It seemed impossible that he
could have missed itтАФor perhaps it wasn't all that impossible, after all.
It was full summer now. The trail was very narrow, and the leafed-out treetops hid most of it
from the air unless you were looking down at the right angle to the ground. Acka must have been
doing just that to spot what he did.
Jim's feeling of alarm began to subside. Probably, he thought, a couple of pack-pedlars with their
donkeys had caught Acka's eaglelike vision. He had just exaggerated.
In any case, whatever the young dragon had seen couldn't have been this far away.
Jim worked back along the line of where the trail should be visible, now headed toward
Malencontri. He knew the trail well, from traveling it on footтАФor, more accurately, on
horseback. Except for little twists and turns, to go around an unusually large tree or awkward
clump of bushes, it made a fairly straight line toward the Castle, this close to Malencontri.
Dickson, Gordon R. - Dragon Knight 07 - The Dragon and the Gnarly King (v1.0) (html)proofed
He located it at lastтАФjust a glimpse of a narrow, greenish-brown thread between the trees, unused
enough that grass was partially covering it. But no one was in itтАФhe must now be beyond
whoever was approaching Malencontri. He turned once more and began to soar outward again on
a breeze that carried him only about a hundred feet above the treetops. This close to the ground,
he could see the trail clearly; and eventually he did catch sight of some movement up ahead.
He checked his momentum and angled his wings to put himself into a tight circle above the
treetops, so that he could watch and wait for whoever was approaching. They should be putting in
an appearance within minutesтАФ within seconds, if they were on horseback.
Even as he told himself this, there they were. A long lineтАФclearly a knight, leading a very long
double line of men on horseback, all wearing identical red surcoats with a badge on them, over
their armorтАж Jim adjusted his dragon sight for distance, now seeing like a falconтАж this shade of
red was the royal color, and the badge on the breast of the surcoat was the head of a lionтАФ
leopard, it was termed.
These were the English King's men-at-arms, and their line stretched back out of sight among the
trees. Acka had not exaggerated after all.
These were indeed a remarkable sight to be seen coming along the track from Castle Smythe.
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