"Elizabeth Moon - Paksenarrion 1 - The Sheepfarmer's Daughter" - читать интересную книгу автора (Moon Elizabeth)

Elizabeth Moon - The Deed of Paksenarrion [vol 1] Sheepfarmer's Daughter


They stared at their feet.
"Those of you out of position, stay there. The rest of you
are dismissed."
Paksenarrion gave silent thanks that she had not moved,
and went quickly out to the yard. There she found the
other recruit units drawn up in formation, and Stammel
waiting. She aligned herself on the others, wondering
what was happening to the unfortunates who had been
held back. Beside and behind her the ranks filled. At last
they were all in position. The corporals reported to
Stammel, and after a moment he glanced at the other
sergeants.
"Go ahead, Stammel," called someone from far down the
row. "Take yours in first."
They were marched across the courtyard to a building
with windows opening on the yard. Paks could smell
cooked meat and bread. There Stammel sent them in, one
file at a time. Once inside, she was urged along by a
private who directed her to the serving line. There she
found a stack of bowls, another of trays, and a bin of
blunted knives. She took a tray, bowl, spoon, and knife,
and moved toward the impatient cooks. A dipper of some
kind of stew went into the bowl, and a half-loaf of bread,
hunk of cheese, slab of salt beef, and an apple went on the
tray. As she came off the serving line, another private
directed her to a table in one corner. Soon her file was
seated along the bench, and the tables were filling in strict

file:///F|/rah/Elizabeth%20Moon/Moon,%20Elizab...arrion%2001%20-%20Sheepfarmer's%20Daughter.htm (26 of 653) [5/20/03 11:22:30 PM]
Elizabeth Moon - The Deed of Paksenarrion [vol 1] Sheepfarmer's Daughter


order. A cook brought over a large jug of water and a cup
to their table. Paks took a tentative bite of stew. To her
surprise, it was tasty, savory with onions and vegetables.
It had looked like a lot on her tray, but she found herself
polishing the bowl with the last of her bread before she
knew it.
"Well," said Stammel from behind her. "How do you like
army food?"
"Seems good enough to me, sir," said Saben, from the
next table. "You'll eat a lot of it." Stammel moved away.

That first night in barracks, after so many nights on the
road, was horrible. It was stuffy. It smelled. Paksenarrion
jerked awake several times in alarm, only to find that she
was safe in her bunk: someone had walked past the