"Katherine Kerr - Deverry 06 - A Time Of Omens" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kerr Katherine)Maddyn was less than pleased with this vulnerable arrangement, the countryside around was certainly
peaceful enough. As they jingled their way along, they saw two farmsteads, one herd of cows, and naught else but field after field of cabbages and turnips sprouting under the watchful eyes of crow-chasing small girls. At last, just when the sun was so low in the sky that everyone in the troop was squinting and cursing, they came to a deep-running stream, bordered by willows and hazels. Standing beside his black horse, Wffyn the merchant was waiting for them, and through a clearing in the trees Maddyn could see what seemed to be a canal barge tethered to the bank. тАЬThere you are!тАЭ Wffyn sang out. тАЬGood! First shipment just pulled in.тАЭ As Budyc trotted forward to meet him, it dawned on Maddyn that these men were smugglers of some sort, a suspicion that was confirmed later that evening, after the silver daggers had made camp. Along with Owaen, Maddyn followed Caradoc upstream to confer with the merchants on the morrowтАЩs route and found a line of four barges being loaded from a parade of wagons. Stripped to the waist and sweating in the torchlight, Budyc and Wffyn were bounding from barge to shore and back again as they gave orders to the crew or even leant a hand themselves to haul the cargo on board. тАЬThose look like ale barrels,тАЭ Owaen remarked. тАЬBut I never heard of ale that heavy. Look at those poor bastards sweat!тАЭ тАЬJust so, and ale doesnтАЩt clank, eitherтАФit sloshes.тАЭ тАЬWhat in the three hells is going on?тАЭ Caradoc muttered, somewhat waspishly. тАЬAnd what?! Look at that lead barge!тАЭ poles and padded with wisps of straw. As the three silver daggers watched, openmouthed with amazement, a bargeman began wrapping the skulls with bits of leather, humming as he worked and stepping back now and again for a good look at his handicraft. тАЬAt night and from a distance they look a good bit like cows,тАЭ Budyc remarked as he joined them. тАЬEnough to convince the passersby that weтАЩre a perfectly ordinary line of barges.тАЭ тАЬAll right, good sir,тАЭ Caradoc snapped. тАЬJust what is all this?тАЭ Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html тАЬKnow how the smelter masters weigh out raw iron up north? They say they have so many bullsтАЩ worth of weightтАФthe measureтАЩs actually as much iron as you could trade a bull for back in the Dawntime, or so the guildmaster tells me. So thatтАЩs what weтАЩve gotтАФa load of bulls, and barrels of the darkest ale in the kingdom.тАЭ With a bark of laughter, Maddyn got the point of the joke and the journey both, but Owaen merely looked baffled. тАЬIron, lad,тАЭ Maddyn told him. тАЬTheyтАЩre carrying smuggled iron down to Dun Cerrmor, and IтАЩll wager theyтАЩre getting a good bit more for it than a bull in trade.тАЭ |
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