"Raymond E. Feist - Riftwar 1 - Magician2" - читать интересную книгу автора (Feist Raymond E)

the pig was upon him, and Pug had no time to stand. He
thrustt the staff before him in a vain attempt to turn the animal again.
The boar dodged the staff and Pug tried to roll away, but a weight fell
across his body. Pug covered his face with his hands, keeping his arms
to his chest, expecting to be gored.

", After a moment he realized the pig was still. Uncovering his face, he
discovered the pig lying across his lower legs, a black-feathered,
clothyard arrow protruding from its side. Pug looked toward the forest. A
man garbed in brown leather was standing near the edge of the trees,
carefully wrapping a yeoman's longbow with an oilcloth cover. Once the
valuable weapon was protected from further abuse by the weather, the
man crossed to stand over the boy and beast. He was cloaked and hooded, his
face hidden. He knelt next to Pug and shouted over the sound of the wind,
"Are you 'right, boy?" as he liffted the dead boar easily from Pug's legs.
"Bones broken?"
.'I don't think so," Pug yelled back, taking
account of himself. His right side smarted, and his legs felt equally bruised.
with his ankle still tender, he was feeling ill-used today, but nothing
seemed broken or permanently damaged. Large, meaty hands lifted him to his
feet. "Here," the man commanded, handing him his staff and the bow. Pug
took them while the stranger quickly gutted the boar with a large hunter's
knife. He completed his work and turned to Pug. "Come with me, boy. You had
best lodge with my master and me. It's not far, but we'd best hurry. This
storrn'll get worse afore it's over. Can you walk?" Taking an unsteady
step, Pug nodded. Without a word the man shouldered the pig and took his
bow. "Come," he said, as he turned toward the forest. He set off at a brisk
pace, which pug had to scramble to match. The forest cut the fury of the
storm so little that conversation was impossible. A lightning flash lit the
scene for a moment, and Pug caught a glimpse of the man's face. Pug tried
to remember if he had seen the stranger before. He had the look common to
the hunters and foresters that lived in the forest of Crydee:
large-shouldered, tall, and solidly built. He had dark hair and beard and
the raw, weather-beaten appearance of one who spends most of his time
outdoors. For a few fanciful moments the boy wondered if he might be some
member of an outlaw band, hiding in the heart of the forest. He gave up the
notion, for no outlaw would trouble himself with an obviously penniless
keep boy. Remembering the man had mentioned having a master, Pug suspected
he was a franklin, one who lived on the estate of a landholder.
He would be in the holder's service, but not bound to him as a bondsman.
The franklins were freeborn, giving a share of crop or herd in
exchange for the use of land. He must be freeborn. No bondsman would
be allowed to carry a longbow, for they were much too
Valuable-and dangerous. Still, Pug couldn't remember any landholdings in
the forest. It was a mystery to the boy, but the toll of the day's abuses
was quickly driving away any curiosity.

AFtER WHAT SEEMED to be hours, the man walked into a thicket of trees. Pug
nearly lost him in the darkness, for the sun had set some time before,
taking with it what faint light the storm had allowed. He followed the man