"Esther M. Friesner - A Beltaine And Suspenders" - читать интересную книгу автора (Friesner Esther M)

off, rather than admit it was due to some lacking of holy worth on his part and

queering the whole conversion assignment, he spread scurrilous stories about the

hamlet in question. Pretty good stories, if the folk here thought enough of 'era

to immortalize the incident on the church wall."



"But don't you see, Miss Drummond?" Father Herrick rapped his lathe so

vigorously against the wall that it snapped. PoorTelemachus yelped and scurried

down to check his precious painting for damage. "Saint Augustine did not
prevaricate! The connection is all here: the unnatural rites, the overwhelming

representation of a reptilian presence such as has been bag and baggage of all

self-respecting fertility cults since time began, the specific reference to

lizards. The linguistic clues could not be more blatant. And this mural is

documentary evidence that the arcane practices of Greater AmbroseSurlesard were

old even when Duke William the Bastard's reign over England was young! When we

speak of Saint Augustine's conversion of the Angles, we are speaking of the

sixth century!"



"So we are." Olivia thrust her hands into the pockets of her Norfolk jacket. "I

still don't see that we're speaking of survivals of antique fertility rites in

the Sussex mountains!"



Telemachuslooked up from where he had been frantically retouching the results

of the vicar's too-emphatic nature. "But -- but that's what we might discover if

we make the journey. I'm certain Mummy wouldn't mind us popping by for a visit.

If I wire her first. Short notice, but-- but I don't think she'd -- I'll do it

as soon as I may. She ought to be expecting me, it being so close to Christmas,