"Elrod, P N - I, Strahd 2 - War Against Azalin e-txt" - читать интересную книгу автора (Elrod P N)

even before that happened Mrs. Heywood felt a distinct chill closing over her.
Another dark book. She looked at it, her heart beating very fast, then took a
deep steadying breath to try to quell her nerves.
Its leather cover had once been red in color, but age had deepened it to a rusty
brown. You could only judge the original shade by bits of it trapped in the
cracks of its spine.
Like dried blood, she thought, and firmly suppressed the shudder that wanted to
take her.
"Well?" he asked. "Bet that's worth a lot. Bet you never seen nothin' like it."
"I can't say that I have." She put forth a cautious finger and lifted the cover
to read the title. She studied it for a very long time, biting her lower lip
before giving the man a sharp look. "Where did you really get this?"
"I said my grampЧI mean granЧdied andЧ"
"Save it for someone else, laddie," she said, her voice low and quick. "When it
comes down to it, I don't care how you got it, but I do want to know where. The
more you can tell me, the better."
"For the price you'll give me?"
"Maybe, but it has to be the truth."
He grimaced. "Well, I was up away in Barovia y'seeЧ"
"Barovia!" She caught her breath and her heart gave a leap. "That far?"
"Oh, aye, I was doin' a bit of guard work for one of the nobles there, had
himself a nice little castle until heЧwell, I'll just say he wasn't so good at
keeping up with his taxes and he fetched up on the wrong end of a spear when his
liege lord was settlin' their differences in the accountin'."
"Oh, my."
"Fair gave me a turn when one minute he's going all la-de-da an' puttin' on airs
with the other nobles, and the next thing y'know, his head's on a pike with a
real surprised expression fixed to his face. When that happened I says to
myself, 'Milos, it's time move on, an' the quicker the better.'"
"But where did the bookЧ"
"I'm gettin' to that. The truth is, I never got my last bit of pay. So instead
of waitin' for his survivorsЧnot sure if there were any, come to think of itЧto
set things to right, I thought it best to just take my pay in goods an' leave."
"I see."
"A lot of the other fellows did the same," he said in a defensive tone.
"Go on."
"The pickin's was slim, an' about all that was left was some trinkets and this
here book. I've sold the trinkets since, but this book has me flummoxed. I asked
around, an' someone said you'd give me a fair price."
"They told you correctly. I will give you a very fair price, but I'll have to
study it first."
"Study it?"
"My dear man, you don't buy a horse without checking its teeth, do you?"
"I suppose not," he reluctantly admitted. "ButЧ"
"And I assure you that the contents of this book are not like a tankard of ale
to be gone with the drinking. A good book generally becomes more valuable after
it's been read."
Milos gave a mighty frown as if having trouble digesting her information. "How
valuable?"
"I can tell you that after I'm done."