"Kay, Guy Gavriel - Fionavar Tapestry 1 - The Summer Tree" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kay Guy Gavriel)
УI know better than that.Ф
The tall man turned away. His sharp gaze went across the room to where the five people his companion had indicated were sitting. One by one he focused on them, then his eyes locked on Paul SchaferТs face.
Sitting between Jennifer and Dave, Paul was glancing around the hall, only half listening to the chairmanТs fulsome introduction of the eveningТs keynote speaker, when he was hit by the probe.
The light and sound in the room faded completely. He felt a great darkness. There was a forest, a corridor of whispering trees, shrouded in mist. Starlight in the space above the trees. Somehow he knew that the moon was about to rise, and when it rose. . . .
He was in it. The hall was gone. There was no wind in the darkness, but still the trees were whispering, and it was more than just a sound. The immersion was complete, and within some hidden recess Paul confronted the terrible, haunted eyes of a dog or a wolf. Then the vision fragmented, images whipping past, chaotic, myriad, too fast to hold, except for one: a tall man standing in darkness, and upon his head the great, curved antlers of a stag.
Then it broke: sharp, wildly disorienting. His eyes, scarcely able to focus, swept across the room until they found a tall, grey-bearded man on the side of the stage. A man who spoke briefly to someone next to him, and then walked smiling to the lectern amid thunderous applause.
УSet it up, Matt,Ф the grey-bearded man had said. УWe will take them if we can.Ф
УHe was good, Kim. You were right,Ф Jennifer Lowell said. They were standing by their seats, waiting for the exiting crowd to thin. Kim Ford was flushed with excitement.
УWasnТt he?Ф she asked them all, rhetorically. УWhat a \iterrific\i speaker!Ф
УYour brother was quite good, I thought,Ф Paul Schafer said to Dave quietly.
Surprised, Dave grunted noncommittally, then remembered something. УYou feeling okay?Ф
Paul looked blank a moment, then grimaced. УYou, too? IТm fine. I just needed a dayТs rest. IТm more or less over the mono.Ф Dave, looking at him, wasnТt so sure. None of his business, though, if Schafer wanted to kill himself playing basketball. HeТd played a football game with broken ribs once. You survived.
Kim was talking again. УIТd love to meet him, you know.Ф She looked wistfully at the knot of autograph-seekers surrounding Marcus.
УSo would I, actually,Ф said Paul softly. Kevin shot him a questioning look.
УDave,Ф Kim went on, Уyour brother couldnТt get us into that reception, could he?Ф
Dave was beginning the obvious reply when a deep voice rode in over him.
УExcuse me, please, for intruding.Ф A figure little more than four feet tall, with a patch over one eye, had come up beside them. УMy name,Ф he said, in an accent Dave couldnТt place, Уis Matt S\a246ren. I am Dr. MarcusТs secretary. I could not help but overhear the young ladyТs remark. May I tell you a secret?Ф He paused. УDr. Marcus has no desire at all to attend the planned reception. With all respect,Ф he said, turning to Dave, Уto your very learned brother.Ф
Jennifer saw Kevin Laine begin to turn himself on. Performance time, she thought, and smiled to herself. Laughing, Kevin took charge. УYou want us to spirit him away?Ф
The Dwarf blinked, then a basso chuckle reverberated in his chest. УYou are quick, my friend. Yes, indeed, I think he would enjoy that very much.Ф Kevin looked at Paul Schafer. УA plot,Ф Jennifer whispered. УHatch us a plot, gentlemen!Ф
УEasy enough,Ф Kevin said, after some quick reflection. УAs of this moment, KimТs his niece. He wants to see her. Family before functions.Ф He waited for PaulТs approval.
УGood,Ф Matt S\a246ren said. УAnd very simple. Will you come with me then to fetch your . . . ah . . . uncle?Ф
УOf course I will!Ф Kim laughed. УHavenТt seen him in \iages\i.Ф She walked off with the Dwarf towards the tangle of people around Lorenzo Marcus at the front of the hall.
УWell,Ф Dave said, УI think IТll be moving along.Ф
Dave froze. Kevin Laine, he knew all too well, had won the award in Evidence two years before, along with an armful of other prizes.
Jennifer, watching him hesitate, felt an impulse of sympathy. There was a lot eating this guy, she thought, and KevinТs manner didnТt help. It was so hard for some people to get past the flashiness to see what was underneath. And against her will, for Jennifer had her own defences, she found herself remembering what love-making used to do to him.
УHey, people! I want you to meet someone.Ф KimТs voice knifed into her thoughts. She had her arm looped possessively through that of the tall lecturer, who beamed benignly down upon her. УThis is my Uncle Lorenzo. Uncle, my room-mate Jennifer, Kevin and Paul, and this is Dave.Ф
MarcusТs dark eyes flashed. УI am,Ф he said, Уmore pleased to meet you than you could know. You have rescued me from an exceptionally dreary evening. Will you join us for a drink at our hotel? WeТre at the Park Plaza, Matt and I.Ф
УWith pleasure, sir,Ф Kevin said. He waited for a beat. УAnd weТll try hard not to be dreary.Ф Marcus lifted an eyebrow.
A cluster of academics watched with intense frustration in their eyes as the seven of them swept out of the hall together and into the cool, cloudless night.
And another pair of eyes watched as well, from the deep shadows under the porch pillars of Convocation Hall. Eyes that reflected the light, and did not blink.
It was a short walk, and a pleasant one. Across the wide central green of the campus, then along the dark winding path known as PhilosopherТs Walk that twisted, with gentle slopes on either side, behind the law school, the Faculty of Music, and the massive edifice of the Royal Ontario Museum, where the dinosaur bones preserved their long silence. It was a route that Paul Schafer had been carefully avoiding for the better part of the past year.
He slowed a little, to detach himself from the others. Up ahead, in the shadows, Kevin, Kim, and Lorenzo Marcus were weaving a baroque fantasy of improbable entanglements between the clans Ford and Marcus, with a few of KevinТs remoter Russian ancestors thrown into the mix by marriage. Jennifer, on MarcusТs left arm, was urging them on with her laughter, while Dave Martyniuk loped silently along on the grass beside the walkway, looking a little out of place. Matt S\a246ren, quietly companionable, had slowed his pace to fall into stride with Paul. Schafer, however, withdrawing, could feel the conversation and laughter sliding into background. The sensation was a familiar one of late, and after a while it was as if he were walking alone.
Which may have been why, partway along the path, he became aware of something to which the others were oblivious. It pulled him sharply out of reverie, and he walked a short distance in a different sort of silence before turning to the Dwarf beside him.
УIs there any reason,Ф he asked, very softly, Уwhy the two of you would be followed?Ф
Matt S\a246ren broke stride only momentarily. He took a deep breath. УWhere?Ф he asked, in a voice equally low.
УBehind us, to the left. Slope of the hill. Is there a reason?Ф
УThere may be. Would you keep walking, please? And say nothing for now\a151it may be nothing.Ф When Paul hesitated, the Dwarf gripped his arm. УPlease?Ф he repeated. Schafer, after a moment, nodded and quickened his pace to catch up to the group now several yards ahead. The mood by then was hilarious and very loud. Only Paul, listening for it, heard the sharp, abruptly truncated cry from the darkness behind them. He blinked, but no expression crossed his face.
Matt S\a246ren rejoined them just as they reached the end of the shadowed walkway and came out to the noise and bright lights of Bloor Street. Ahead lay the huge stone pile of the old Park Plaza hotel. Before they crossed the road he placed a hand again on SchaferТs arm. УThank you,Ф said the Dwarf.
УWell,Ф said Lorenzo Marcus, as they settled into chairs in his sixteenth-floor suite, Уwhy donТt you all tell me about yourselves? Yourselves,Ф he repeated, raising an admonitory finger at grinning Kevin.
УWhy donТt you start?Ф Marcus went on, turning to Kim. УWhat are you studying?Ф
Kim acquiesced with some grace. УWell, IТm just finishing my interning year at\a151Ф
УHold it, Kim.Ф
It was Paul. Ignoring a fierce look from the Dwarf, he levelled his eyes on their host. УSorry, Dr. Marcus. IТve got some questions of my own and I need answers now, or weТre all going home.Ф
УPaul, what the\a151Ф
УNo, Kev. Listen a minute.Ф They were all staring at SchaferТs pale, intense features. УSomething very strange is happening here. I want to know,Ф he said to Marcus, Уwhy you were so anxious to cut us out of that crowd. Why you sent your friend to set it up. I want to know what you did to me in the auditorium. And I really want to know why we were followed on the way over here.Ф
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