"Mercedes Lackey - A Better Mousetrap" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lackey Mercedes)

Dick couldn't keep track of how many pests each of the kittens had destroyed,
but from the size of the pile so far, the parents had reason to be proud of
their offspring.

The kittens certainly inherited their parents' telepathic skills as well as
their hunting skills, for just as it occurred to Dick that it was about time
for them to be fed, they scampered in from all available doorways. In a
moment, they were neatly lined up, eight identical pairs of yellow eyes
staring avidly from eight little black faces beneath sixteen enormous ears. At
this age, they seemed to consist mainly of eyes, ears, paws and tails.

The Lacu'un servant whose proud duty it was to feed the weanlings arrived with
a bowl heaping with their imported food. She was clothed in the simple, silky
draped tunic in the deep gold of the royal household. The frilled crest
running from the back of her neck to just above her eye-ridge stood totally
erect and was flushed to a deep salmon-color with pleasure and pride. She
started to put the bowl on the floor, and the kittens leapt to their feet and
ran for the foodтАФ

But suddenly SCat sprang from Dick's lap, every hair on end, spitting and
yowling. He landed at the startled servant's feet and did a complete flip
over, so that he faced his kittens. As they skidded on the slick stone, he
growled and batted at them, sending them flying.

"SCat!" Vena shouted, as she jumped to her feet, horrified and angry. "What
are you doing? Bad cat!"

"No he's not!" Dick replied, making a leap of his own for the food bowl and
jerking it from the frightened servant's hands. He had already heard SKitty's
frantic mental screech of :Bad food!: as she followed her mate off Dick's
shoulders to keep the kittens from the deadly bowl.

"The food's poisoned," Dick added, sniffing the puffy brown nodules
suspiciously, as the servant backed away, the slits in her golden-brown eyes
so wide he could scarcely see the iris. "SCat must have scented itтАФthat's
probably one of the things Patrol cats are trained in. I can't tell the
difference, butтАФ" as SKitty held the kittens at bay, he held the bowl down to
SCat, who took a delicate sniff and backed away, growling. "See?"

Vena's expression darkened, and she turned to the servant. "The food has been
poisoned," she said flatly. "Who had access to it?" They both knew that
Shivari, the servant, was trustworthy; she would sooner have thrown herself
between the kittens and a ravening monster than see any hurt come to them. She
proved that now by her behavior; her crest-frill flattened, she turned bright
yellowтАФthe Lacu'un equivalent of turning paleтАФand replied instantly.

"I do not knowтАФI got the bowl from the kitchenтАФ"

She grabbed Vena's hand and the two of them ran off, with Dick closely behind,
still carrying the bowl. When they arrived at the kitchen, Vena and Shivari