"David Gemmel - Sipstrassi Tales 03 - Bloodstone" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gemmel David)

in her throat.
'Old? By God, Beth, you're still the best-looking woman I ever saw!'
'Still the flatterer,' she grunted, trying to disguise the pleasure she felt.
'Would anyone dare lie to you, Beth?' His smile faded. 'I came as soon as I heard. Is there any news?'
She shook her head. 'See to your horse, Clem. I'll prepare some food for you.' Gathering her rifle, Beth
walked to the house, noticing for the first time in days how untidy it was; how the dust had been allowed
to settle on the timbered floor. Suddenly angry, she forgot the food and fetched the mop and bucket from
the kitchen. 'It's a mess,' she said, as Clem entered. He grinned at her.
'It looks lived-in,' he agreed, removing his gunbelt and pulling up a chair at the table.
Beth chuckled and laid aside the mop. 'A man shouldn't surprise a woman this way - especially after all
these years. Time has been good to you, Clem. You filled out some. Suits you.'
'I've lived the good life,' he told her, but he looked away as he spoke, glancing at the window set in the
grey stone of the wall.
Clem smiled. 'Strong-built place, Beth. I saw the rifle slits at the upper windows, and the reinforced
shutters on the ground floor. Like a goddamn fortress. Only the old houses now have rifle ports. Guess
people think the world's getting safer.'
'Only the fools, Clem.' She told him about the raid on the church, and the bloody aftermath when the
Preacher strapped on his guns. Clem listened in silence. When she had finished he stood and walked to
the kitchen, pouring himself a mug of water. Here also there was a heavy door, a strong bar beside it.
The window was narrow, the shutters reinforced by iron strips.
'It's been hard in Pernum,' he said. 'Most of us thought that with the War over we'd get back to farming
and ordinary life. Didn't work out that way. I guess it was stupid to think it would, after all the killing in
the north. And the war that wiped out the Hellborn. You had the Oathmen here yet?' She shook her
head. Crossing the room, he stood outlined in the open doorway. 'It's not good, Beth. You have to
swear your faith in front of three witnesses. And if you don't. . . well, at best, you lose your land.'
тАШI take it you swore the Oath?'
Returning to the table, he sat opposite her. 'Never been asked. But I guess I would. It's only words. So
tell me, any sign of him since the killings?'
She shook her head. 'He's not dead, Clem. I know that.'
'And he's wearing guns again.'
Beth nodded. 'Killed six of the raiders - then vanished.'
'It will be a hell of a shock to the Righteous if they find out who he is. You know there's a statue to him in
Pernum? Not a good likeness, especially with the brass halo around his head.'
'Don't joke about it, Clem. He tried to ignore it, and I think he was wrong. He never said or did one tenth
of the things they claim. And as for being the new John the Baptist . . . well, it seems like blasphemy to
me. You were there, Clem, when the Sword of God descended. You saw the machines from the sky.
You know the truth.'
'You're wrong, Beth. I don't know anything. If the Deacon claims he comes direct from God, who am I
to argue? Certainly seems that God's been with him, though. Won the Unifier War, didn't he? And when
Batik died and the Hellborn invaded again he saw them wiped out. Scores of thousands dead. And the
Crusaders have mostly cleaned out the brigands and the Carns. Took me six days to ride here, Beth, and
I didn't need the gun. They got schools, hospitals, and no one starves. Ain't all bad.'
There's lots here that would agree with you, Clem.'
'But you don't?'
'I've no argument with schools and the like,' she said, rising from the table and returning with bread,
cheese and a section of smoked ham. 'But this talk of pagans and disbelievers needing killing, and the
butchery of the Wolvers - it's wrong, Clem. Plain wrong.'
'What can I do?'
'Find him, Clem. Bring him home.'
'You don't want much, do you? That's a big country, Beth. There's deserts, and mountains that go on for