"Steven Piziks - Smoke and Mirrors" - читать интересную книгу автора (Piziks Steven)

"Granny, who are you talking to?" the girl asked.
"A pair of statue wreckers."
"Uh, we came from Daralis," Dagmar explained uncertainly, eyeing the girl. "Someone is missing
from the village andтАФ"
"What Dagmar is trying to say," Ramdane put in, "is that there's supposed to be a gorgon living in
the forest and she's been turning people to stone." He peered intently at the old woman a moment longer,
then got to his feet, brushing bits of . . . flesh? . . . from his clothing. "But if you're the gorgon, why haven't
you turned us into stone? And did I or didn't I free her from your spell?"
"You didn't free anyone," the woman snapped. "I'm a sculptor, not a gorgon."
Dagmar blinked. "Say that again?"
"You deaf, girl? I said I'm a sculptor, notтАФ"
"I'm dead," Ramdane whispered. "Oh gods, I'm really going to die."
"What's wrong with him?" the girl asked. She had a low, sweet voice.
"May we go inside?" Dagmar asked levelly, though her heart was sinking. "This would be a lot
easier to explain sitting down."
***
"And so I retired from the guild," Granny Carver finished. "But I kept getting people who wanted
advice about this piece of work or that bit of chipping. So I moved out here. The house used to be the
summer home of a talismonger who liked his privacy and I figured I could finally get some peace and
quiet. The talismans he used to cloak this place must be wearing off, though, which is how Kate found it."
She nodded at the girl. "I offered to give her a place to live if she would help around the house and pose
for some pieces, one of which you destroyed, young man."
They were seated in a rough but comfortable parlor sipping tea from paper-thin stone cups. Several
small stone figurines had been arranged tastefully on wooden shelves and stands about the room while a
round, bas relief carving of some species of demon glared moodily from its perch over the mantle.
Dagmar was staring at the latter, fascinated, but she looked away when Granny addressed Ramdane.
"Sorry," Ramdane apologized. "The talisman was supposed to turn stone back into flesh. It worked.
Sort of. If the statue had been human in the first place, things would have worked differently. As it is . . ."
He trailed off with a shrug.
"You could always have barbecue for dinner," Dagmar couldn't help saying.
Granny Carver looked thoughtful, and for a dreadful moment Dagmar thought she had taken the
remark seriously. Ramdane blanched.
"Um, you're an awfully fast worker," he said quickly. "I mean, carving that statueтАФand making all
these in hereтАФshould have taken years, shouldn't it?"
The woman held up her wrinkled old hands and showed Ramdane the fingernails. They were
glowing faintly.
"I've got the talent for molding," she said, "but not for enchanting. For me it's like working clay."
"Look," Dagmar broke in, "why don't you two come down to Daralis and tell the people what's
going on? After that, you could come with us and explain to that greaseball of a talismonger that there's
no gorgon."
Kate vehemently shook her head. "I signed a serving contract," she said. "That woman could make
me work for her if I went back. And her husband tried to . . ." Her hands twisted uneasily in her lap as
her voice dropped to a whisper. "I'm not going back to Daralis, not ever."
"And if I went back to explain," Granny put in, "everyone would know where Kate went."
Dagmar puffed out her cheeks in vexation. "I don't think you realize what's going on here. Ramdane
needs to give that damned talismonger a gorgon's head or he'll break the mirror. If the mirror breaks
without the proper spell and a proper new housing, Crystamel will disperseтАФand Ramdane will die."
"What do you expect me to do?" Granny growled. "Conjure up a gorgon's head out of nothing?"
Ramdane screamed and fell across the coffee table. Cups and teapot crashed to the floor. Startled,
Granny and Kate shrank back in their chairs while Dagmar rushed to her brother's side.