"Jack Mann - Her Ways Are Death" - читать интересную книгу автора (Mann Jack)

тАЬI am descended from Oger Ogersson,тАЭ Naylor claimed yet again. тАЬNow, to complete that first half
of the story. Oger Ogersson was a BaresarkтАФand I think I need not tell you what that means.тАЭ
тАЬIt was a useful quality, in his time,тАЭ Gees commented.
тАЬButтАЭтАФNaylor made a long pauseтАФтАЬit would be far from useful to-day. WhichтАЭтАФanother long
pauseтАФтАЬis part of my reason for asking your advice, at the least. Your help, ifтАФif you are the man
Hunter of Denlandham said you were. If, that is, you have the qualities with which he credited you in
speaking of you to me.тАЭ
 AGAIN Gees heard the didactic precision of phrase that roused in him prejudice against this man. He
said, тАЬI claim to be a specialist in certain directions. We keep wandering from this story of yours, though.
What have OgerтАЩs baresark habits to do with it?тАЭ
тАЬTheтАФthe attribute, call itтАФis transmissible,тАЭ Naylor said.
тАЬRuns in the family, youтАЩd say,тАЭ Gees suggested.
тАЬIntermittently. Has persisted down to this present day, in our case, but will miss out two or threeтАФor
moreтАФgenerations, and then recur. NotтАФnot mere anger or unreasonableness, but a blind fury of which
one is totally unconscious after the fit has passed. One becomes a different being altogether, and wakens
at the end to know nothing of itтАФnothing of what one has done or said while it lasted.тАЭ
тАЬI believe that was the case,тАЭ Gees conceded thoughtfully. тАЬBy your way of putting it, it seems as if
youтАФтАЭ He did not end it.
тАЬYes,тАЭ Naylor said quietly, тАЬand that brings me to the second part of the story, which begins with
WulfrunaтАЩs daughter by SigurdтАФand both that childтАЩs parents were of the Volsung breed, remember.тАЭ
тАЬYou claim that you are, too,тАЭ Gees reminded him.
тАЬThat is soтАФbut Sigurd was not my ancestor,тАЭ Naylor rejoined. тАЬHe was that daughterтАЩs father, and
through himтАФthough he was dead before Wulfruna bore the childтАФthrough him she inherited and
developed the qualities that make the witch. There was pre-natal influence, and I believe there was, too,
the unholy communion that goes with possession of the powers that girl hadтАФyou get an outline of it in
the tale of the witch of En-Dor: Power to commune with the dead.тАЭ
For a moment GeesтАЩ thoughts went back to his drive to this place, and how, as he went over the
downlands, he had sensed unease among the very old dead, as if they stirred in their barrows. He asked,
тАЬWhat is the legend of herтАФwhat was she called?тАЭ
тАЬLagny. Dark Lagny, because of her hair,тАЭ Naylor answered slowly. тАЬBecause Oger had killed her
father, she devoted her life to vengeance on his sonтАФpart of her life, that is. Because she had many
lovers, and brought harm to them allтАФruin to some and death to some. That is a long story in itself, but it
is not part of mine that I am telling you now. She was evil and beautifulтАФthe two often go togetherтАФand
in the end she contrived a spell that drew Oger OgerssonтАЩs long viking ship to wreckage on the
Northumbrian coast, not far south from Iona. I have seen the place where the ship broke up on the
rocksтАФтАЭ
тАЬWhere legend says it broke up,тАЭ Gees interpolated, for again, in telling this story, Naylor was verging
on unnatural intensity.
тАЬAll that was written down,тАЭ Naylor insisted. тАЬI have a verbatim copyтАФit is bad Latin of the second
century. The general impression is that the vikings did not come to ravage this country till after the Roman
occupation ended, but that is wrong. Oger came, and was drawn toward the rocks by LagnyтАЩs witch
spells. It was in a night of storm, and only three of OgerтАЩs men came out aliveтАФhalf alive, say, to recover
enough to tell their tale.
тАЬI want you to believe, Mr. Green, that I have devoted enough time to search and research to unearth
all the facts of this story I am telling youтАФall the facts, that is, still ascertainable. Palimpsests, fragments of
old chronicles, bits of monkish gossip in bad Latin, written in black letters to make it worseтАФeverything I
could find, to piece it together andтАФas far as possibleтАФget this story in full, because ofтАФbut I am
coming to that.тАЭ
тАЬYouтАЩd got to the wreck of OgerтАЩs long ship,тАЭ GeesтАЩ reminded him. тАЬYes, and the three live men
washed ashore. They saidтАФand each of them confirmed the other twoтАФthat as the ship was driving on