"Terry Goodkind - Sword of Truth 1 - Wizard's First Rule" - читать интересную книгу автора (Goodkind Terry)

the Hartland forests. Most were traveling dignitaries wanting the prestige of
a local guide more than they wanted direction.

His eyes locked on something. There was movement. Unsure what it had been, he
stared hard at the spot on the far side of the lake. When he saw it again, on
the path, where it passed behind a thin veil of trees, there was no doubt; it
was a person. Maybe it was his friend Chase. Who else but a boundary warden
would be wandering around up here?

He hopped down off the rock, tossing the twigs aside, and took a few steps
forward. The figure followed the path into the open, at the edge of the lake.
It wasn't Chase; it was a woman, a woman in a dress. What woman would be
walking around this far out in the Ven Forest, in a dress? Richard watched her
making her way along the lakeshore, disappearing and reappearing with the
path. She didn't seem to be in a hurry, but she wasn't strolling slowly
either. Rather, she moved at the measured pace of an experienced traveler.
That made sense; no one lived anywhere near Trunt Lake.

Other movement snatched his attention. Richard's eyes searched the shade and
shadows. Behind her, there were others. Three, no, four men, in hooded forest
cloaks, following her, but hanging back some distance. They moved with
stealth, from tree to rock to tree. Looking. Waiting. Moving. Richard
straightened, his eyes wide, his attention riveted.

They were stalking her.
He knew immediately: this was the third child of trouble

CHAPTER 2
AT FIRST, RICHARD STOOD frozen, not knowing what to do. He couldn't be sure
the four men really were stalking the woman, at least not until it was too
late. What business was it of his anyway? And besides, he didn't even have his
knife with him. What chance did one man with no weapon have against four? He
watched the woman making her way along the path. He watched the men follow.

What chance did the woman have?

He crouched, muscles tight and hard. His heart raced as he tried to think of
what he could do. The morning sun was hot on his face, his breathing was
shallow. Richard knew there was a small cutoff from Hawkers Trail somewhere
ahead of the woman. Hurriedly, he tried to remember exactly where. The main
fork to her left continued around the lake and up the hill to his left, to
where he stood and watched. If she stayed on the main trail he could wait for
her, then tell her about the men. Then what? Besides, that was too long. The
men would be on her before then. An idea began to take shape. He sprang up and
started running down the trail

If he could reach her before the men caught her, and before the cutoff, he
could take her up the right fork. That trail led up out of the trees onto open
ledges, away from the boundary, and toward the town of Hartland, toward help.
If they were quick, he could hide their tracks. The men wouldn't know that the