"Guy N. Smith - Sabat 4 - The Druid Connection" - читать интересную книгу автора (Smith Guy N)

also.

'And what for? Cannot you see what I be doin'?'

'You're making a foul, stinking bonfire,' the vicar did his utmost to protest
angrily, with an authority that seemed to be fast slipping away from him. 'The
smoke is filling the church.'

'And be that a bad thing, sur? Is anybody complaining?'

'Yes. Yes, they are. I am. I am about to conduct a service in there.'

'No, sur,' the other shook his head slowly, emphatically, 'you cannot hold a
service in the church.'

'And why not?'

'Because it is past Evensong time, sur. Also, you are not the vicar here.'

'I have been instructed by the bishop personally to carry out a service in
this church,' Cleehopes snapped, 'and I am ordering you to douse that fire
this minute. Otherwise . . . otherwise I'll have you sacked, my man!'

'You'll 'ave me sacked, sur, will you?' the other laughed, a mirthless sound
that sent a chill down Cleehopes' spine. 'Nobody can sack me, sur. Not even
the bishop.'

The vicar opened his mouth to reply but some instinct made him check the angry
retort, a sensation of awe mingling with fear, the feeling that he always had
on those infrequent occasions when he came face to face with Bishop Boyce.
Only this time the feeling escalated beyond the barriers of awe into a much
more frightening realm. Terror!

'And what is this service you were goin' to conduct in the church, sur?'

Cleehopes swallowed and found himself looking into those eyes again. They were
glowing redly with an anger that was fast being fanned into unbelievable
wrath, a fire about to blaze into a raging inferno like that bonfire a few
yards away. God, the stench was awful!

'I was going to . . . to . . . ' the vicar swallowed, 'conduct a service of...
of exorcism.' Guilt and embarrassment flooded over him as he got the words
out.

'A service of exorcism, sur!' Those eyes seemed to suffuse with red like
glowing coals, move closer together. There was no mistaking the anger, the
contempt. And behind the man the bonfire suddenly burst into flames and died
down again to a steady smoulder.

'Have you no respect for the dead, sur?'