"Simon R. Green - Haven 06 - Bones of Haven" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Simon R)

They continued on their way through the Northside, doing their rounds and showing their faces. Hawk
seemed in a somewhat better mood but was still unusually quiet. Fisher decided to let him brood, and
not push it. He'd had these moods before, and always snapped out of it eventually. Together, they
checked out three burglaries, and lectured one shopkeeper on the need for bolts as well as locks on his
doors and window shutters. None of the burglaries were anything special, just routine break-ins. Not
much point in looking for clues. Sooner or later they'd catch someone in the act, and he'd confess to a
whole bunch of others crimes and that would be that. After the burglaries, they got involved in a series
of assaults, sorting out tavern brawls, muggings, and finally a domestic dispute. Hawk hated being
dragged into domestic quarrels. You couldn't win. Whatever you did was bound to be wrong.

They approached the location of the domestic dispute cautiously, but at least this time there was no
flying crockery to dodge. Or flying knives. The address was a poky little apartment in the middle of a
row of shabby tenements. Neighbors watched silently as the two Guards entered the building. Hawk
took the lead and kept a careful eye on the house's occupants as they made way before him. Guards
were the common enemy of all Northsiders; they represented and enforced all the laws and authority
that kept the poor in their place. As a result, Guards were targets for anyone with a grudge or a mad on,
and one of the nastier surprise attacks these days was the Haven mud pieтАФa mixture of lye and grease.
Thrown at close range, the effect could be devastating. The lye burned through clothing as though it
wasn't there, and if it hit bare skin it could eat its way right down to the bone. The grease made the lye
stick like glue. Even a small mud pie could put a Guard in hospital for weeks, if his partner didn't get
him to a doctor fast enough. And doctors tended to be few and far between in the Northside. The last
man to aim a mud pie at Hawk had got both his arms broken, but there were any number of borderline
crazies in the Northside, just waiting to be pushed over the edge by one frustration too many. So Hawk
and Fisher stayed close together and kept a wary eye on shadowed corners and doors left just a little
too far ajar.

They made their way through the hall and up the narrow stairs without incident. Mothers and small
children watched in stony silence, while from above came the sound of domestic unrest. A man and a
woman were shouting and screeching at the tops of their voices, but Hawk and Fisher didn't let
themselves be hurried. As long as the couple were still shouting they weren't searching for blunt
instruments or something with a sharp edge. It was when things went suddenly quiet that you had to
worry. Hawk and Fisher reached the landing and strode down the hall, stepping over small children
playing unconcernedly on the floor. They found the door with the right number, the sounds from
within made it pretty hard to miss. Hawk hammered on the door with his fist, and an angry male voice
broke off from its tirade just long enough to tell him to go to hell. Hawk tried again, and got a torrent
of abuse for his trouble. He shrugged, drew his axe, and kicked the door in.

A man and a woman looked round in surprise as Hawk and Fisher stood in the doorway taking in the
scene. The woman was less than average height, and more than a little undernourished, with a badly
bruised face and a bloody nose. She was trying to stop the flowing blood with a grubby handkerchief,
and not being very successful. The man was easily twice her size, with muscles on his muscles, and he
was brandishing a fist the size of a mallet. His face was dark with rage, and he glared sullenly at Hawk
and Fisher as he took in their Guards' cloaks.

"What are you doing here? You've no business in this house, so get out. And if you've damaged my
door I'll see you pay for the repairs!"

Hawk smiled coldly. "If you've damaged that woman, you'll pay for it. Now, stand back from her and
put down that fist, and we'll all have a nice little chat."