"Dave Duncan - A Man of His Word 3 - Perilous Seas" - читать интересную книгу автора (Duncan Dave)

days' work, and there's a very wide selection of girls. I know of lots who'd be
willing to help you fill it with babies."
Rap shuddered.
"You get used to the little pests," Ogi said complacently. Uala had two now and
another on the way already. Perhaps twins, the way she was bulging. "At times
they're quite lovable. Don't quote me."
Rap went back to staring at flames.
There was a mystery even about the way the kid had gotten to Faerie in the first
place, and it probably involved magic. Ogi was enough of a sailor to dislike
talking about that. Still, it was curious.
Ogi often wondered whether that was just another of his odd ideas about
propriety, or if he was touchy about his faun legs. There were a lot of things
about him that puzzled Ogi. Already the fire was crackling nicely. Ogi began
peeling onions. Rap settled on the next boulder, wiping his forehead again.
"Working too hard! Meant to go for a swim." He hefted the wine jar an tilted his
head for a long, hard swig-which was a pleasant surprise to the imp. Maybe
getting him drunk tonight wouldn't be the swine of a job they'd expected.
Rap lowered the flask with a gasp. "I'll go later."
"Hey, swimming in the dark . . . All right, smarty, you needn't smirk like that!
" Ogi did not usually cluck like a mother hen, but young Rap was a newcomer to
swimming. "So it's not dangerous for you-but don't go too soon after you've
eaten, okay?" In any case, certain parties had plans for this sailor's evening,
and swimming was not among them. He'd get to those later. "How's the builder
doing?"
"Come and see?" Rap asked shyly. He jumped up and led the way over to the little
hovel he now called home. It was a lot more homelike than it had been two months
before, and he proudly displayed his latest achievement, a shutter for the
window. It would keep rain out, if not wind. He had no furniture yet except a
hammock and a chair, although Ogi had often offered to lend him some money to
get settled in. At suitable interest rates, of course.
As always, Ogi wondered why a faun jotunn hybrid had chosen an impish shack. In
their homeland of Sysanasso, fauns lived in flimsy huts of wicker and thatch,
and yet Rap had selected an ancient log cabin, built by some long-lost imp in
this lonely dell. He had seemed surprised that his choice would surprise anyone,
muttering something about his hometown being impish even if he wasn't. To have
picked somewhere less isolated would have seemed more friendly.
He had fixed the roof and made the place quite astonishingly clean. Ogi viewed,
admired, and complimented. Then they headed back to the fire pit and the wine.
Ogi proposed a few toasts, and got some more of the wine into the kid that way.
Then he pulled out the day's catch and set to work cleaning them.
"Arrivals? " Rap muttered, peering over his head, apparently at the stringy
trees.
"A girl, was it?" he asked softly. "Or a dream?"
"A girl," Rap told the fire, "but not the way you mean."
"Son, I've tried every way there is," Ogi said nostalgically. Rap wrinkled his
wide faun nose. "A promise, then."
"What sort of promise?"
Rap shot him a brief, cryptic glance. "A crazy one." He took another swallow
from the wine jar and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "I don't really
want to be a sailor. There's the nub."