"Raymond E. Feist - Conclave of Shadows 3 - Exile's Return" - читать интересную книгу автора (Feist Raymond E)

and power.
The woman rose and pulled aside the small privacy-curtain while the boy rolled
up his bedding and stowed it under the table. Kaspar sat on one of the two stools. She
went to the banked fire in the hearth and stirred the embers, adding wood. 'You need
wood?' Kaspar asked.
She nodded. 'I will cut some more this morning, after milking one of my cows.
She lost her calf to a mountain cat last week.'
'Is the cat troubling you?'
She didn't understand his question so he rephrased it, 'Is the cat returning to take
more calves?'
'No,' she said.
'I'll cut the wood,' said Kaspar. 'Where is the axe?'
'In the . . .' he didn't recognize the word, and asked her to repeat it. Then he
realized it was an oddly pronounced variant of the Keshian word for 'shed'. He
repeated it, then said, 'I will work for my food.'
She paused, then nodded and started to prepare the daily meal. 'There is no
bread,' she said. 'I make it the night before.'
He inclined his head, but said nothing. They both knew why she had not baked
last night. She had sat fearfully, waiting for him to assault her, while he repeatedly
asked odd or pointless questions about the names of things.
Slowly, he said, 'I will not harm you or the boy. I am a stranger and need to learn
if I am to live. I will work for my food.'
She paused, then looked into his eyes for a moment. As if finally convinced, she
nodded. 'There are some clothes that belonged to my . . .' she spoke a word he didn't
understand.
He interrupted. 'Your what?'
She repeated the word, and said, 'My man. Jorgen's father.'
The local word for husband, he gathered. 'Where is he?'
 'I don't know,' she replied. 'Three . . .' Again a new word, but he didn't bother to
interrupt; he'd find out later if she meant days, weeks, or months. '. . . ago he went to
market. He never came back.' Her voice remained calm and her face emotionless, but
Kaspar could see a sheen in her eyes. 'I looked for three . . .'
Again a word he didn't understand. 'Then I came back to care for Jorgen.'
'What is his name?'
'Bandamin.'
'A good man?'
She nodded.
Kaspar said nothing more; he knew she must be wondering what would have
happened if Bandamin had been home when he had shown up. Kaspar said, 'I'll chop
wood.'
He went outside and found the axe in the shed next to a small pile of logs. He
saw Jorgen feeding some chickens and waved the boy over to him. He motioned to
the dwindling pile and said, 'Need more soon.'
The boy nodded and started speaking quickly, pointing to a stand of woods on
the other side of the meadow. Kaspar shook his head and said, 'I don't understand.
Speak slower.'
It was clear Jorgen didn't understand him either, so Kaspar mimicked the boy
talking rapidly, then spoke slower.
The boy's face brightened in understanding and he said, 'We will cut down a tree
over there.'