"Stephen R. Lawhead - Avalon, The Return Of King Arthur (v4.0)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lawhead Stephen)

power of the fiosachd тАФ Gaelic for тАЬthe knowing.тАЭ It covers a range of subtle
manifestations тАФ some physical, some mental тАФ which most people view as
extraordinary. As a child, however, James did not think himself unusual; he merely
considered his gift a sign intended to confirm his special existence. Children are
self-absorbed creatures, true enough, yet many was the time he had dreamed of
greatness. Many was the time he had awakened in the night to the knowledge that his
soul was destined for a higher purpose.
Of course, every child entertains similar thoughts of grandeur. Growing up, however,
dulls the secret insistence; lifeтАЩs harsher lessons teach us we are not so special after
all. Sooner or later, we arrive at the cold realization that we will never be the first
astronaut to set foot on Mars; we will not be the doctor whose miracle cure rids the
world of cancer; we will not win fame and fortune and the eternal adoration of the
masses through the wondrous artistry of our writing, singing, or acting.
Despite this тАФ despite all evidence to the contrary тАФ James never outgrew his
belief that something amazing would happen to him one day. Although he did come
to understand the natural limitations of circumstance, and the extreme randomness of
opportunity, deep in his inmost being the belief in his own particular destiny
doggedly persisted. Like the fiosachd, he was born with it, and it never deserted him.
He had always known his life would end in one of two ways: triumph or tragedy.
One or the other, but nothing less.
This produced a curious bravado. Once, when as a freshly commissioned officer
with the UN peacekeeping force in Afghanistan, Captain Stuart was leading his small
company of men down one of the many shattered streets of Kabul, the fiosachd
began jangling like crazy. He recognized this as its usual manifestation тАФ a sharp
tingling or squirming sensation on the back of his neck or down between his
shoulder blades тАФ and by it he knew, as the company approached a deserted
intersection, that they would be ambushed by snipers. The flesh between his
shoulder blades began twitching, and in his mindтАЩs eye he saw, as if in the very room
with them, six black-turbaned rebels crouching at the windows of a bombed-out
apartment block across the street.
He halted the company, chose two men to help him reconnoiter, and the three of
them circled around and came into the building from the back. They climbed three
floors up a mangled fire escape and crept down a blackened hallway to the room
where James knew he would find the rebels. Without the slightest hesitation, he put
his hand to the doorknob, pushed open the door, and strode into the room,
demanding their surrender.
The six snipers were so surprised, they threw down their rifles and gave themselves
up without protest. JamesтАЩ men were likewise amazed; afterwards they made out that
he was the fearless hero тАФ a latter-day John Wayne beating back a war party of
bloodthirsty Apaches with bare hands and a rifle butt. He won a commendation for
saving the lives of a dozen men that day and capturing a valuable rebel cell without
firing a shot.
He was also given a citation for valor тАФ a fine gesture but one James felt
superfluous. Although, as a career officer, he recognized the tremendous risk тАФ of
all the possible outcomes of such an action, the one actually resulting was the least
likely тАФ he knew in his bones it was not courage that had sustained him but simple
conviction: he knew what lay behind the door and, just as surely, he knew his life
would not end in that room.
Even James тАФ who understood better than anyone else the peculiarities of his
special gift тАФ accepted the extreme improbability of his childhood intimations of