"Gilman, Carolyn Ives - The Wild Ships Of Fairny" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gilman Carolyn Ives)

"No." He held out a hand. "Come on over to Bobber. I brought something for you."

Larkin looked at him hopefully. "Paint?"

"What do you mean, paint?" lumber protested. "What kind of suitor do you think I
am?"

"Kittiwake needs it," Larkin said. "Just look at her. Gray as driftwood."

"Forget the damn boat," Jumber said with mock irritation; then, seeing how
Larkin frowned, he held up his hands and said, "All right, I'll bring paint next
time. lust let me give you something first. After all, I don't want to marry the
boat."

Larkin was about to step onto the dock when Jumber's crewmen emerged from
Bobber's hold hefting a huge, brass-bound trunk between them. The black-haired
stranger followed, berating them incoherently and waving his hands.

"Who is that?" Larkin whispered.

"Some crazy mainlander," ;umber answered, then laughed. "Would you believe all
this time I thought he was talking about sheep?"

Stranger, crewmen, and trunk set off in a wobbling procession down the dock.
Already half the village was standing at their doors or peering from windows at
the sight.

"Come on," Jumber said.

Bobber's hold was crammed full of casks, bales, and crates that smelled of
sawdust packing and cinnamon. He threaded his way through a tiny passage,
ducking where the beams swooped low, into a little cabin they all had shared on
the trip out. He pulled a black sea-chest from under his berth.

"Ready?" he said. Then, with a flourish, he brought them out: a pair of tall
leather boots, intricately tooled. Larkin took them to the porthole to examine.
They were polished on the outside to a rich cherry-wood color, and lined on the
inside with chamois soft as felt. She ran a finger over them in awe. She had
never owned anything so lovely; for a moment she hated her poverty.

"They're beautiful," she said. "Too beautiful to wear on the boat. I'd rain
them."

"You could wear them in Soris," Jumber said. "You could wear anything you wanted
there."

Larkin wanted to believe it, but couldn't. In Soris, she would have appearances
to keep up. Everyone would be watching to see if she was just a savage
outlander.