"Modesitt, L E - Recluce12 - Wellspring Of Chaos 1.5" - читать интересную книгу автора (Modesitt L E)

УGe-ha!Ф
At the teamsterТs call and the crack of a whip, Kharl set aside the plane. УArthal! The teamsterТs here. IТll need you to help load the hogshead.Ф
УYes, ser.Ф Arthal straightened.
The two walked back to the loading door. Kharl opened the door wide. From there Kharl watched as the teamster brought the wagon and team to a halt. Kharl knew many of the teamsters, but not the burly and bearded young man on the wagon seat. Not that heТd had a choice. A crafter put in a request at the teamstersТ hall and took what he got.
He stepped into the alley. УIТm Kharl, the cooper with the hogshead for the ocean pier.Ф
УMorat.Ф The teamster spat out onto the alley, the side of the wagon away from Kharl. УBe two coppers down to the pierЧand two back if it comes to that.Ф
Kharl showed four coppers. УBut not until weТre at the pier.Ф
УAnd you tie the hogshead in place, and I check it. We donТt move till I think itТs secure.Ф
УI expected that.Ф
The brawny teamster lowered the rear wagon gate, and Kharl and Arthal lifted the hogshead and eased it into the wagon. While Kharl lashed the caskЧequivalent to three barrelsЧin place in the wagon bed, Morat closed the rear gate.
Arthal watched both men.
Kharl tied the last knot and looked at his eldest. УClose the loading door and watch the shop until I get back. Keep working on those staves.Ф
УYes, ser,Ф replied Arthal.
With a nod to his son, the cooper looked to the teamster. УCaskТs in place.Ф Kharl climbed up into the wagon seat, waiting for Morat to finish checking the lashings.
After a moment, the teamster vaulted into his seat and released the wagon brake. УWeТll be going.Ф He flicked the leads to his team. The wagon rolled forward, slowly.
After Morat had the wagon and team clear of the alley behind the cooperage and onto Fifth Cross, he kept the team on the crossing street until they reached Cargo Road. There he turned westward toward the harbor. УFirst ocean pier, you said.Ф
УThe SeastagЧAustran deep water.Ф
Once the wagon passed the square at Third Cross, Kharl could see the piers, because Cargo Road sloped downward just enough so that the harbor of Brysta could be seen spread out to the west. All the piers were to the north of the River Westlich, except for the stubby ferry pier. The ferry served those who wanted to cross to the peninsula road that ran south-southeast along the western side of the river. There, the marshes farther north and west, bordered by rock escarpments, had prevented much settlement on the southern part of the harbor. To the north of the piers was the flatland for the lower market and the slateyard.
Kharl checked the fair weather banner on the pole on the outer breakwaterЧa green oval against a white background. There were no clouds in the western sky, but Lord WestТs wizards used their glasses to scree well beyond mere sight to determine which banner flew.
There were only eight vessels spread across the three oceangoing piers and the two coastal wharfs, illustrating that late summer was the slowest time in the fair weather months. Closer to harvest and all through the fall, almost every berth on every pier would be taken, and in good times, merchanters would even anchor out beyond the breakwaters.
Lord West had but a handful of warships, iron-hulled steamers with but two single-gun turrets. BrystaТs real defenses were the two forts facing each other at the entrance to the harborЧthe south fort at the end of one breakwater, and the north fort at the end of the other. Twin chains lay on the stones of the channel between them. Each chain was attached to a modified capstan so that the chains could be raised to deny access to the harbor.
Once every four eightdays, the chains were raised briefly and inspected, and one of Lord WestТs wizards renewed the order-spell on them. Kharl knew that well. For a year he had served as an assistant to the cooper at the south fort, and had been pressed into the work gang that turned the capstan.
The first ocean pier was emptyЧexcept for the Seastag, two-masted, like a brig, but with side paddle wheels. The Austran ensign drooped from the jackstaff in the heavy still air that blanketed the harbor. Several wagons were lined up and unloading barrels and crates, and the work gang was using a crane to swing lengths of timbers from a stack on the pier to the midships hold.
The teamster eased the wagon past the timber pallets and brought it to a stop a rod or so past the gangway. УThis is the best I can do.Ф
УThatТs fine.Ф Kharl handed three coppers to the teamster. УIt will only be a moment.Ф
Hagen was halfway down the gangway before Kharl finished unlashing the hogshead. The Austran captain had three sailors with him. УCooper, your timing could not have been better.Ф
УI said today,Ф Kharl replied.
УSo you did.Ф The master of the Seastag hopped up into the wagon bed and began to inspect the hogshead. Kharl waited.
Finally, Hagen jumped down and gestured to the three sailorsЧtwo men and a hard-faced woman as well muscled as the men. УTake the cask up and set it just aft of the mainmast for now.Ф
УYes, ser.Ф
Kharl watched as the three eased the cask out of the wagon and carried it across the pier, past the timber being loaded, and up the gangway. Hagen watched as well, until the cask was on board the Seastag, before turning to the cooper. УYou charge a bit more than the Austrans, but no one makes a better hogshead.Ф Hagen laughed and handed Kharl the three silvers, then added a pair of coppers. УThank you, ser.Ф Kharl inclined his head. Behind them the teamster finished turning the wagon on the wide pier and headed back toward the city proper. He gave the slightest of waves to Kharl.
In return, Kharl nodded to the teamster.
УIТll be thanking you, cooper,Ф said Hagen. УThat I will. Next trip, it might be sand barrels.Ф
УSand barrels?Ф
УBeen reports of raiders out of Lydiar, and the Black Brethren have those rockets. A chaos-wizardТs teamed up with pirates out of a place called Renklaar. Water doesnТt always stop those chaos-flames. WeТre fortunate only one pirateТs got a wizard.Ф
УHow long before you come back this way?Ф asked Kharl.
УIТm only making a short voyage this time. Maybe half the ports in Candar before we return to Valmurl. Then, after an eightday there, weТll be headed here on the long trip of the winter.Ф He laughed. УWeТll end up in Hamor, where itТs warm.Ф
The cooper nodded. УYou thinking of oak for the sand barrels?Ф
УThe only thing for a vessel. The only thing.Ф The graying Hagen tipped his battered cap to Kharl. УBe seeing you next trip, cooper.Ф
УI look forward to it, ser.Ф
Hagen nodded and turned.
Kharl walked past the timber, careful to avoid the empty sling coming down. Halfway back along the pier from the Seastag, he stopped as he notedЧand recognizedЧthe low vessel moored at the outboard end of the second pier, a ship entirely of shimmering black, without masts and with but one gun in a single forward turret. Two guards in the black of Recluce marines stood at the foot of the gangway.
The cooper studied the warship for a moment, then shook his head as he continued back along the pier for the kay-long walk back to the cooperage. He just hoped that no one had come by in his absence, but he wouldnТt have dared to send Arthal with the hogshead.
УYouthЕФ he muttered under his breath. УNot what they used to be. Paid attention to my da. TheyТd just as soon spit.Ф
He squared his shoulders and stretched out his stride. He could have paid the teamster for a return ride, but he had better uses for his coppers.


IV

From the angle of the light slanting through the front windows of the cooperage, Kharl could tell it was getting on to late afternoon. He checked the brass spigot heТd set into the first barrel. HeТd augured the hole almost perfectly, so that he only needed the slightest bit of cordage between the wood and the brass flange and pipe. The second one was almost as good. He could start sealing the inside of the barrels in the morning. He didnТt like doing barrels that required sealing, but Yualt had insisted on only the lightest of toasting and sealant afterward, saying that even the tightest grained oak would absorb some aspect of the contents and thus change them. Since Kharl was neither alchemist nor apothecary, and since the alchemist had refused to tell Kharl what he was putting in the fancy barrel, there wasnТt much the cooper could sayЧespecially since Yualt was paying a premium that Kharl needed.