"Kerr,.Katharine.&.Martin.H.Greenberg.-.Enchanted.Forests.V2" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dragon Stories)

Humor and ingenuity are part
of me job requirements

Tne Forest's Not ror Burninj

by Katnerme Lawrence

The 1994 Pima Canyon fire in Arizona's Catalina Moun-tains
inspired this story by /Catherine Lawrence. She
spends much of her time exploring the boundaries of the
Enchanted Forest as an animation scriptwriter for such se-
ries as CONAN THE ADVENTURER.

Have you any idea what it's like to live at the edge of the En-
chanted Forest, and be the Woodcutter's eldest daughter? You
know, the one out supporting the family after our parents died?

You guessed it. I was at the local market when the Duke ar-
rived and found my younger sister hauling water from the well.
I hear they have two children now.

My youngest sister was pulling up carrots when the Prince ar-
rived. I was out trying to find a new stand of trees to harvest. At
least I got an invitation to the ball they threw last month.

Oh, I've met my share of royalty, but they never quite did any-
thing for me. I mean, they were handsome, but obsessed, every
one of them. They had to have the most beautiful woman, the
most magical sword, the strongest spell, whatever. Not one of
them was seeking a competent partner with whom to share their
life.

So when those high-efficiency ceramic stoves came into use,
and the need for stacks and stacks of wood declined, I figured I
needed a new career. Woodcutting wasn't cutting it anymore, if
you'll pardon the pun.

In the Enchanted Forest and surrounding area, we have all the
witches, wizards, sorcerers, kings, princes, dragons, princesses in
peril and whatnot that anyone could want. More than enough, for
my tastes. So obviously those careers were out.

What we didn't have was a plain, old (both of which descrip-
tions were applied to me, then all of 25 years old) private inves-
tigator. So I did my research and found a school for that sort of
thing, not too far around The Corner in the Real World.

What do I mean by around The Corner? It's difficult to ex-
plain, but you know how sometimes you see something wonder-