"Walter M. Miller - The Lost Masters - Volume 01" - читать интересную книгу автора (Miller Walter M)

Francis glanced down at the box near his feet. тАЬI found some things that belonged to the Blessed
Leibowitz. I started to tell him, but he didnтАЩt believe me. He wouldnтАЩt let me explain. HeтАУтАЭ
тАЬYou found what?тАЭ Fingo smiled his disbelief, then dropped to his knees and opened the box
while the novice watched nervously. The monk stirred the whiskered cylinders in the trays with one finger
and whistled softly. тАЬHill-pagan charms, arenтАЩt they? This is old, Francisco, this is really old.тАЭ He glanced
at the note in the lid. тАЬWhatтАЩs this gibberish?тАЭ he asked, squinting up at the unhappy novice.
тАЬPre-Deluge English.тАЭ
тАЬI never studied it, except what we sing in choir.тАЭ
тАЬIt was written by the Beatus himself.тАЭ
тАЬThis?тАЭ Brother Fingo stared from the note to Brother Francis and back to the note. He shook his
head suddenly, clamped the lid back on the box, and stood up. His grin had become artificial. тАЬMaybe
FatherтАЩs right. You better hike back and have Brother Pharmacist brew you up one of his toad-stool
specials. ThatтАЩs the fever, Brother.тАЭ
Francis shrugged, тАЬPerhaps.тАЭ
тАЬWhere did you find this stuff?тАЭ
The novice pointed. тАЬOver that way a few mounds. I moved some rocks. There was a cave-in, and
I found a basement. Go see for yourself.тАЭ
Fingo shook his head. тАЬIтАЩve got a long ride ahead.тАЭ
Francis picked up the box and started toward the abbey while Fingo returned to his donkey, but
after a few paces the novice stopped and called back.
тАЬBrother SpotsтАУcould you take two minutes?тАЭ
тАЬMaybe,тАЭ answered Fingo; тАЬWhat for?тАЭ
тАЬJust walk over there and look in the hole.тАЭ
тАЬWhy?тАЭ
тАЬSo you can tell Father Cheroki if itтАЩs really there.тАЭ
Fingo paused with one leg half across his donkeyтАЩs back.
тАЬHa!тАЭ He withdrew the leg. тАЬAll right. If itтАЩs not there, IтАЩll tell you.тАЭ
Francis watched for a moment while the gangling Fingo strode out of sight among the mounds; then
he turned to shuffle down the long dusty trail toward the abbey, intermittently munching corn and sipping
from the waterskin. Occasionally he glanced back. Fingo was gone much longer than two minutes.
Brother Francis had ceased to watch for his reappearance by the time he heard a distant bellow from the
ruins far behind him. He turned. He could make out the distant figure of the woodcarver standing atop
one of the mounds. Fingo was waving his arms and vigorously nodding his head in affirmation. Francis
waved back, then hiked wearily on his way.
Two weeks of near-starvation had exacted their tribute. After two or three miles he began to
stagger. When still nearly a mile from the abbey, he fainted beside the road. It was late afternoon before
Cheroki, riding back from his rounds, noticed him lying there, hastily dismounted, and bathed the youthтАЩs
face until he gradually brought him around. Cheroki had encountered the supply donkeys on his way
back and had paused to hear FingoтАЩs account, confirming Brother FrancisтАЩ find. Although he was not
prepared to believe that Francis had discovered anything of real importance, the priest regretted his
earlier impatience with the boy. Having noticed the box lying nearby with its contents half-spilled in the
road, and having glanced briefly at the note in the lid, while Francis sat groggy and confused at the edge
of the trail, Cheroki found himself willing to regard the boyтАЩs earlier babblings as the result of romantic
imagination rather than of madness or delirium. He had neither visited the crypt nor closely examined the
contents of the box, but it was obvious, at least, that the boy had been misinterpreting real events rather
than confessing hallucinations.
тАЬYou can finish your confession as soon as we get back,тАЭ he told the novice softly, helping him to
climb up behind the saddle on the mare. тАЬI think I can absolve you if you donтАЩt insist on personal
messages from the saints. Eh?тАЭ
Brother Francis was too weak at the moment to insist on anything.