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

put in for several replacement pairs of boots before I was
through, but I finally found which tree was the one that had dis-
integrated.

Next day it was back to the Palace, and the records. After sev-
eral hours, I found the file for that particular tree.

I flipped through the pages and found not only confirmation of
the date the tree was first noticed and the date the tree was cut,
but what I really neededЧwhat the cut tree was used for. The
tree had been sold to Sorcerers Publishing, along with a couple
of other trees.

Next morning, I headed to the publishing company. The
Sorcerer-in-charge handed me off to his Apprentice, who threat-
ened to turn me into a toad if I didn't go away. I informed him
of the identity of my client. He went to check the files.

He came back with the dustiest book I'd ever seen, and
plopped it on the desk. Naturally, or more likely magically, all
the dust blew in my direction-

I decided to ignore him, for now, and opened the book. For
some reason best known to Sorcerers, each magic spellbook has
to be made from one and only one tree. So each book requires
a separate tree. No wonder there were so few spellbooks!

Anyway, this particular tree assuming the numbering was ac-
curate, was turned into a spellbook for the Wizard Mendip. I
looked up and caught the Apprentice making some rather spec-
tacular passes in the air, in my direction.

One nice thing about those wizard robesЧthere are lots of
places to grab. Once I bounced his head on the floor a couple of
times, emptying his pockets of not just various spell components
but some of my gold pieces, he agreed to look up an address for
Wizard Mendip.

Unfortunately, Wizard Mendip had disappeared fifteen years
ago. No body was ever found, so his record had a question mark
next to it. That was a great help.
I didn't know whether the tree and book had anything to do
with the fire, but it was the only lead I had. and now it hit a dead
end. I was not a happy Investigator.

I looked up, and slowly smiled at the Apprentice. He backed
away, his face pale. He backed up so quickly, he fell through the
doorway behind him, and down the stairs. I figured it was a good
time to find my own way out.