"Christopher Stasheff - Rogue Wizard 10 - A Wizard In a Feud" - читать интересную книгу автора (Stasheff Christopher)

to shadow her humans; she could follow their thoughts and find them whenever she
wanted. Not that she intended to let them get too far ahead, of course. She
wanted to stay close enough to get in on the fun.
Magnus and Alea kindled a fire and settled down for the night. Gar claimed first
watch, but Alea was too excited to sleep. After half an hour of trying, she gave
up and came to join him by the fire.
"What do you make of their clothing?" she asked Gar.
"I'd guess it's homemade versions of what was everyday wear on Terra, from back
when their ancestors left to colonize this planet," he answered. "Probably
looser to give more freedom of movement-after all, most of the city people did
their work at desks, and when they did want to work out, they wore special
exercise suits."
"Even the broad-brimmed hats?"
Magnus shrugged. "They're practical-keep the sun out of your eyes and the rain
out of your face. Their coats, though, those are what interest me."
"Why?" Alea asked. "Their being hip length shows it doesn't get terribly cold,
but that's about all-unless you mean the patterns."
"I do," Gar said. "It's as good as livery to show which side you're on."
"Yes, I suppose when you're fighting people your own size, you do need some way
to tell friends from enemies." Alea came from a normal-sized people whose
hereditary enemies were giants and dwarves. "Those sort of patterns look easy
for weavers to make. I'm surprised there are so many variations, though."
"A people called Scots wove such plaids on old Earth," Gar mused. "They called
them 'tartans.' When their history became fashionable, people pretended every
clan had invented its own tartan."
"They didn't really, though?"
"It wasn't cast in iron," Magnus said, "nothing to prevent one clan from using
cloth with a dozen different patterns-or none. Still, these people seem to have
heard of the idea."
"They might," Alea said, "or they might have invented it on their own. It would
be a natural thing for a weaver to hit upon, after all-bright, attractive, and
not terribly difficult."
"That's true," Gar said thoughtfully. "I suppose these people don't have to be
descended from Scots at all."
Alea frowned, looking closely at him. "There's another reason you think so,
isn't there?"
Magnus sighed. "The Scots had a reputation for feuding, and that would explain
all those skirmishes we saw on the screen as we orbited the planet."
"Feuding? What tribal society didn't?" Alea demanded. "I've been reading your
history books. All your peoples had feuds before they settled down to farming.
Some kept it going after that, too."
"Yes, and it's bad enough when people only have swords and axes," Magnus said.
"These people, though, all have rifles."
"Appalling." Alea shuddered. "Absolutely appalling number of casualties. Thank
Thor they take so long to reload!"
"Maybe we just came along when they happened to be at war," Gar said. "Maybe it
doesn't really go on all the time."
"We can hope," Alea said darkly. "After all, if it does go on all the time, what
can we do to stop it?"
"Oh, we'll think of something," Gar said softly.