"Russell,.Sean.-.River.Into.Darkness.01.-.Beneath.the.Vaunted.Hills_v1.5" - читать интересную книгу автора (Russo Richard Paul)

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Sean Russell




Beneath the Vaunted Hills




Prologue
HE sat before a window that stood slightly ajar and read by starlight. There had been a time when heТd preferred the warm light of day, but in the decades since the passing of his centenary, heТd become more inclined toward the cool illumination of the stars or even the moon. He studied the stars, of course, and one could hardly do that by daylight, but even so, he found the pale light so much more restful. Or perhaps he had just seen enough of the world.
Recently there had been a particular wandering star that heТd been observing nightly, using his improved telescopeЧan invention of SkyeТs, ironically. This star had a strange halo about it and a fiery tail. Things even the ancients did not know.
But more than anything he felt its passing. Felt it pull on all the heavenly bodies and, in turn, the effect this had elsewhere. Here, in the house of Eldrich, for instance.
The mage marked his place with a feather and closed the ancient book with care, placing it on a small table. He rose and walked out onto the terrace, looking up at the heavens. Eldrich had been reading LucklowТs treatise on auguryЧits practice and its perils. Especially its perils. The chapter on interpretation particularly fascinated him. Interpretation was the key, and it was the least certain aspect of the art.
The wandering star, for instance. It meant somethingЧhe was utterly sure of thatЧbut try as he might, he could not understand what. And there was no one else whom he might ask.
УDo I feel lonely, being the last?Ф he asked the stars. He waited a moment and then decided that they could not reply. Only he knew . . . and would not say.
From beyond the garden wall he heard a wolf raise up its voice, the howl reverberating in his own breast. His familiar, off in the hills and wood, hunting as it must.
A spring night . . . still, awaiting the voices of the frogs and insects. Only the choral stars singing their ancient melodies.
He looked up and found the wandering star. УPerhaps we have roamed long enough,Ф he whispered.
Augury tempted him. He could feel it. Perhaps this time he would have a vision that was absolutely clear, and his course of action would be obvious. Obvious beyond all doubt.
УA foolТs hope,Ф he said aloud. Certainly he was too old for those.
The world was in motion. There was no doubt of that. Everyone poised to play their part, to make their sacrifice, if that was what was required. After all these many years he could not have a mistake. Not the smallest error.
Eldrich tilted back his head and gazed at the stars, wondering again if he had calculated correctly. If he could make an end of it soon.

Chapter One

It is, perhaps, less than true to say it all began in a brothel, but I found Samual Hayes hiding in such an establishment and this marked the turning point if not an actual beginning. How Samual Hayes had become misfortuneТs whipping boy, I will never understand.
ЧThe journal of Erasmus Flattery

Hayes thought it particularly appropriate that the streets of the poor lacked public lighting of any kind. One passed out of the light of the better areas into near darkness, only dull candlelight filtering through dirty panes and casting faint shimmering rectangles on the cobbles. At night one often saw dark feet and legs passing through these rectangles of light, or if the passerby walked closer to the window, one would see a silhouetted head and shoulders floating oddly above the street. Hayes had sat in his window often enough to mark this strange anatomical parade passing byЧincomplete men and women flitting into existence before each dull little window, then ceasing to be, then coming to meager life again.
Paradise StreetЧhe wondered if the man who named it had foreseen its futureЧlay near the boundary between the light and darkness, an area of perpetual twilight, perhaps. Almost a border town where few seemed to make their homes permanently. Most were on their way into darknessЧa handful were moving toward the light. It was a place where a young man might end up if his family had sacrificed their fortune to foolishness and keeping up appearances, as was the case with Samual Hayes.
For him Paradise Street was also a place to hide from oneТs creditors, as astonishing as that seemed to himЧa young man who, for most of his life, had never given money a second thought.
He passed through a candlelit square of light and looked down at his hands. There he was, not gone yet. Still more or less substantial. Perhaps there was hope.
УHis High and Mightiness is still among us, I see,Ф came an old manТs voice out of the shadows. Hayes stiffened, but walked on, feeling his resolve harden as well.
He would have thought his fall from grace into this world would have made him one of them, perhaps even engendered some sympathy, but for some few it made him an object of enormous disdain. How could anyone born to privilege have fallen so far as to land in Paradise Street? That is what they thought. Only a fool or a weakling could take such a fall. And there were moments when Hayes feared they were right. It made him all the more grateful for the kind treatment he received from some of his other neighbors.
As he came up to his rooming house, he realized that there were perhaps a dozen people gathered in the shadows across the street, but they were uncommonly quiet.
УMr. Hayes!Ф said a woman who was one of the local busybodies. УThereТs men taking your rooms apart. Look, sir.Ф She pointed up at his windows.
Shadows were moving in his room, though Hayes knew heТd left no lamp burning.
УFlames!Ф he heard himself say. He realized that everyone stood looking up, but no one made a move to interfere.
Someone laid a hand on his arm as he went to run for his door. It was an old soldier who lived down the street. УThemТs navy men, Mr. Hayes,Ф he said with distaste. УMark my words. Navy men, whether they wear their fine uniforms or no. YouТd be best to give them a wide berth, sir. ThatТs my advice, for what itТs worth.Ф
УNavy men?Ф HayesТ rally to save his possessions was stopped short. УAgents of the Admiralty?Ф There was clearly some mistake.
УAnd they arenТt the only ones, Mr. Hayes,Ф the woman said. УWhen they arrived, they surprised others already in your rooms. ThoseТns jumped out the window. My Tom saw Сem, didnТt you, Tom?Ф she said to a boy who clutched her hand.
The boy nodded and took his fingers from his mouth. УThey floated down, landinТ soft as pigeons, if you please. Soft as birdies.Ф The woman looked back to Hayes, as though awaiting an explanation.