"Martin, George R.R. - Song Of Ice and Fire 03 - A Storm Of Swords" - читать интересную книгу автора (Martin George R R)

But now he meant to take it back, and CrasterТs women too. That twisted old wildling has the right of it. If you want a woman to wife you take her, and none of this giving her flowers so that maybe she donТt notice your bloody boils. Chett didnТt mean to make that mistake again.
It would work, he promised himself for the hundredth time. So long as we get away clean. Ser Ottyn would strike south for the Shadow Tower, the shortest way to the Wall. He wonТt bother with us, not Wythers, all heТll want is to get back whole. Thoren Smallwood now, heТd want to press on with the attack, but Ser OttynТs caution ran too deep, and he was senior. It wonТt matter anyhow Once weТre gone, Smallwood can attack anyone he likes. What do we care? If none of them ever returns to the Wall, no one will ever come looking for us, theyТll think we died with the rest. That was a new thought, and for a moment it tempted him. But they would need to kill Ser Ottyn and Ser Mallador Locke as well to give Smallwood the command, and both of them were well-attended day and night . . . no, the risk was too great.
УChett,Ф said Small Paul as they trudged along a stony game trail through sentinels and soldier pines, Уwhat about the bird?Ф
УWhat bloody bird?Ф The last thing he needed now was some muttonhead going on about a bird.
УThe Old BearТs raven,Ф Small Paul said. Уif we kill him, whoТs going to feed his bird?Ф
УWho bloody well cares? Kill the bird too if you like.Ф
УI donТt want to hurt no bird,Ф the big man said. УBut thatТs a talking bird. What if it tells what we did?Ф
Lark the Sisterman laughed. УSmall Paul, thick as a castle wall,Ф he mocked.
УYou shut up with that,Ф said Small Paul dangerously.
УPaul,Ф said Chett, before the big man got too angry, Уwhen they find the old man lying in a pool of blood with his throat slit, they wonТt need no bird to tell them someone killed him.Ф
Small Paul chewed on that a moment. УThatТs true,Ф he allowed. УCan I keep the bird, then? I like that bird.Ф
УHeТs yours,Ф said Chett, just to shut him up.
УWe can always eat him if we get hungry,Ф offered Lark.
Small Paul clouded up again. УBest not try and eat my bird, Lark. Best not.Ф
Chett could hear voices drifting through the trees. УClose your bloody mouths, both of you. WeТre almost to the Fist.Ф
They emerged near the west face of the hill, and walked around south where the slope was gentler. Near the edge of the forest a dozen men were taking archery practice. They had carved outlines on the trunks of trees, and were loosing shafts at them. УLook,Ф said Lark. УA pig with a bow.Ф
Sure enough, the nearest bowman was Ser Piggy himself, the fat boy who had stolen his place with Maester Aemon. just the sight of Samwell Tarly filled him with anger. Stewarding for Maester Aemon had been as good a life as heТd ever known. The old blind man was undemanding, and Clydas had taken care of most of his wants anyway. ChettТs duties were easy: cleaning the rookery, a few fires to build, a few meals to fetch . . . and Aemon never once hit him. Thinks he can just walk in and shove me out, on account of being highborn and knowing how to read. Might be IT ask him to read my knife before I open his throat with it. УYou go on,Ф he told the others, УI want to watch this.Ф The dogs were pulling, anxious to go with them, to the food they thought would be waiting at the top. Chett kicked the bitch with the toe of his boot, and that settled them down some.
He watched from the trees as the fat boy wrestled with a longbow as tall as he was, his red moon face screwed up with concentration. Three arrows stood in the ground before him. Tarly nocked and drew, held the draw a long moment as he tried to aim, and let fly. The shaft vanished into the greenery. Chett laughed loudly, a snort of sweet disgust.
УWeТll never find that one, and IТll be blamed,Ф announced Edd Tollett, the dour grey-haired squire everyone called Dolorous Edd. УNothing ever goes missing that they donТt look at me, ever since that time I lost my horse. As if that could be helped. He was white and it was snowing, what did they expect?Ф
УThe wind took that one,Ф said Grenn, another friend of Lord SnowТs. УTry to hold the bow steady, Sam.Ф
УItТs heavy,Ф the fat boy complained, but he pulled the second arrow all the same. This one went high, sailing through the branches ten feet above the target.
УI believe you knocked a leaf off that tree,Ф said Dolorous Edd. УFall is falling fast enough, thereТs no need to help it.Ф He sighed. УAnd we all know what follows fall. Gods, but I am cold. Shoot the last arrow, Samwell, I believe my tongue is freezing to the roof of my mouth.Ф
Ser Piggy lowered the bow, and Chett thought he was going to start bawling. УItТs too hard.Ф
УNotch, draw, and loose,Ф said Grenn. УGo on.Ф
Dutifully, the fat boy plucked his final arrow from the earth, notched it to his longbow, drew, and released. He did it quickly, without squinting along the shaft painstakingly as he had the first two times. The arrow struck the charcoal outline low in the chest and hung quivering. УI hit him.Ф Ser Piggy sounded shocked. УGrenn, did you see? Edd, look, I hit him!Ф
УPut it between his ribs, IТd say,Ф said Grenn.
УDid I kill him?Ф the fat boy wanted to know.
Tollett shrugged. УMight have punctured a lung, if he had a lung. Most trees donТt, as a rule.Ф He took the bow from SamТs hand. УIТve seen worse shots, though. Aye, and made a few.Ф
Ser Piggy was beaming. To look at him youТd think heТd actually done something. But when he saw Chett and the dogs, his smile curled up and died squeaking.
УYou hit a tree,Ф Chett said. УLetТs see how you shoot when itТs Mance RayderТs lads. They wonТt stand there with their arms out and their leaves rustling, oh no. TheyТll come right at you, screaming in your face, and I bet youТll piss those breeches. one oТ them will plant his axe right between those little pig eyes. The last thing youТll hear will be the thunk it makes when it bites into your skull.Ф
The fat boy was shaking. Dolorous Edd put a hand on his shoulder. УBrother,Ф he said solemnly, Уjust because it happened that way for you doesnТt mean Samwell will suffer the same.Ф
УWhat are you talking about, Tollett?Ф
УThe axe that split your skull. Is it true that half your wits leaked out on the ground and your dogs ate them?Ф
The big lout Grenn laughed, and even Samwell Tarly managed a weak little smile. Chett kicked the nearest dog, yanked on their leashes, and started up the hill. Smile all you want, Ser Piggy. WeТll see who laughs tonight. He only wished he had time to kill Tollett as well. Gloomy horsefaced fool, thatТs what he is.
The climb was steep, even on this side of the Fist, which had the gentlest slope. Partway up the dogs started barking and pulling at him, figuring that theyТd get fed soon. He gave them a taste of his boot instead, and a crack of the whip for the big ugly one that snapped at him. Once they were tied up, he went to report. УThe prints were there like Giant said, but the dogs wouldnТt track,Ф he told Mormont in front of his big black tent. УDown by the river like that, could be old prints.Ф
УA pity.Ф Lord Commander Mormont had a bald head and a great shaggy grey beard, and sounded as tired as he looked. УWe might all have been better for a bit of fresh meat.Ф The raven on his shoulder bobbed its head and echoed, УMeat. Meat. Meat.Ф
We could cook the bloody dogs, Chett thought, but he kept his mouth shut until the Old Bear sent him on his way. And thatТs the last time IТll need to bow my head to that one, he thought to himself with satisfaction. it seemed to him that it was growing even colder, which he would have swom. wasnТt possible. The dogs huddled together miserably in the hard frozen mud, and Chett was half tempted to crawl in with them. instead he wrapped a black wool scarf round the lower part of his face, leaving a slit for his mouth between the winds. It was warmer if he kept moving, he found, so he made a slow circuit of the perimeter with a wad of sourleaf, sharing a chew or two with the black brothers on guard and hearing what they had to say. None of the men on the day watch were part of his scheme; even so, he figured it was good to have some sense of what they were thinking.
Mostly what they were thinking was that it was bloody cold.
The wind was rising as the shadows lengthened. it made a high thin sound as it shivered through the stones of the ringwall. УI hate that sound,Ф little Giant said. УIt sounds like a babe in the brush, wailing away for milk.Ф
When he finished the circuit and returned to the dogs, he found Lark waiting for him. УThe officers are in the Old BearТs tent again, talking something fierce.Ф
УThatТs what they do,Ф said Chett. УTheyТre highborn, all but Blane, they get drunk on words instead of wine.Ф
Lark sidled closer. УCheese-for-wits keeps going on about the bird,Ф he warned, glancing about to make certain no one was close. УNow heТs asking if we cached any seed for the damn thing.Ф
УItТs a raven,Ф said Chett. УIt eats corpses.Ф
Lark grinned. УHis, might be?Ф
Or yours. It seemed to Chett that they needed the big man more than they needed Lark. УStop fretting about Small Paul. You do your part, heТll do his.Ф
Twilight was creeping through the woods by the time he rid himself of the Sisterman and sat down to edge his sword. It was bloody hard work with his gloves on, but he wasnТt about to take them off. Cold as it was, any fool that touched steel with a bare hand was going to lose a patch of skin.
The dogs whimpered when the sun went down. He gave them water and curses. УHalf a night more, and you can find your own feast.Ф By then he could smell supper.
Dywen was holding forth at the cookfire as Chett got his heel of hardbread and a bowl of bean and bacon soup from Hake the cook. УThe woodТs too silent,Ф the old forester was saying. УNo frogs near that river, no owls in the dark. I never heard no deader wood than this.Ф
УThem teeth of yours sound pretty dead,Ф said Hake.
Dywen clacked his wooden teeth. УNo wolves neither. There was, before, but no more. WhereТd they go, you figure?Ф