"Christopher Stasheff - Rogue Wizard 07 - A Wizard In Midgard" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stasheff Christopher)

they had to egg each other on with jibes and insults, that meant they were
really reluctant to try to grapple her. . . .
"Do it like a whip! "Jorak called. "One ... two ... three...." The tree abruptly
lashed back, breaking Alea's hold and spilling her off the limb. She cried out
in panic, a cry that was choked off as her rope caught her with a painful pinch
on the stomach. Her makeshift staff fell clattering, and its tether jerked
painfully against her wrist. She dangled, kicking and flailing, trying
desperately to get back on her perch.
"She tied herself on! "Jorak called in disappointment. "But what a pretty fruit
she makes, doesn't she, Rokir?"
"She does that." Rokir was working hard to sound gloating, as he'd probably
heard older boys do. "Let's pluck that tasty plum!"
"How, if the branches won't hold us?"Jorak said, then brightened. "Come to think
of it, she's not all that high upl Give me a boost, Jorak, and I'll have her
down!"
Alea pulled her staff up quickly, before they could think to pull on it. She
held it in both hands, ready to strike and wishing she'd learned how to do it
right.
"So, she'll give us a drubbing!" Rokir hooted. "Not much good that'll do her!
Come on, Jorak, make a step."
"Wish I'd thought of it first." By his tone, Jorak was glad he hadn't. He cupped
his hands, and Rokir stepped into them, steadied himself on a limb, and climbed
up to Jorak's shoulders, where he reached up and snatched at Alea's ankle. She
jerked it out of reach and chopped at his knuckles with her staff. He yanked his
hand out of the way in the nick of time, grinning. "So our plum has a thorny
stem! But you can't hit me when you're swinging about like that, pretty
plumkin!"
The rope was biting into Alea's midriff so hard she could scarcely breathe, but
the thought of falling into the boys' hands galvanized her with fear. "I'll
learn," she promised Rokir.
"It talks!" Rokir crowed. "Did you hear that, Jorak?"
"I heard," Jorak grunted. "Hurry up and get her down! I can't take your weight
much longer!"
"Bear up," Rokir told him. "Life's gone sour, so I need something sweet."
Alea's thoughts raced. Their big talk showed that they feared sex as they
desired it, shying from the unknown as much as craving the ecstasy, promised by
the gossip of the older boys. If they hadn't been hiding such reluctance, she
probably would have been their victim already, even though she was high above
them and armed with her staff. If they were still virgins, and as filled with
misgivings as with eagerness, she should be able to talk them out of it.
"There's no fun in taking what's not given," she told the boys. "I've seen it,
and I know."
"Seen it?" The boys stared, and she could see in their eyes that they were
wondering if she had watched, or been part of it.
"Well, unless you enjoy hearing people scream," Alea told them. "If you're the
kind of boy who thinks it's fun to torture little furry animals, maybe you would
think it's fun." She shuddered as she said it, remembering.
Rokir jumped down, wide-eyed and taken aback. Jorak groaned with relief, rubbing
his shoulders, then grinned up at Alea. "Come on! You know you'd love it! All
women do!"