"Tepper, Sheri S - A Plague Of Angels - plangel3" - читать интересную книгу автора (Tepper Sherri)

Sheri S. Tepper

"Anything else?" queried the woman, seeing Olly's hesitation.
"I--1 was given a pass only this far by the woman at the gate. She said you could decide... what to do with me, And I need to visit the library of Artemisia."
"Now, why would you want to do that?" the woman asked, with an interested expression.
Olly knotted her hands in her pockets. "I have--personal reasons."
"I see." The woman arranged several items on the counter, lining them up, disarranging them, and lining them up again. "I'11 have to inquire." She went swiftly out, and they heard her footsteps tapping away down a long, hard-surfaced corridor.
"Of course she wants to know why," Olly whispered to Abasio. "But 1 shouldn't tell her who I really am, should I? Not with those creatures hunting me."
Abasio started to speak, then fell silent as footsteps approached. A large gray-haired woman came into the room and sat down to face them.
"I'm the Wide Mountain Mother," she said, staring at them with lively interest. "What business do you have with our library?"
"Excuse me, ma'am," said Abasio, shuffling his feet like a scolded schoolboy. "But my wife here--her folks died just a year or so ago, and her old aunty told her the rest of the family came from somewhere near the thrones. And neither of us ever heard of that place, so we thought there'd be something about it in your library, it being so famous. That's why we brought your neck scarves ourselves, so we could ask about that."
Oily stared at him, wondering where this bumpkin had come from! "The thrones," said the woman, leaning back to give him a long, level look. "Now, that's interesting. The thrones are a part of our legends, but !
had thought them entirely mythical. What do you know about them?" "Just that they were set up at the Place of Power," said Oily.
"This is the second time today someone has been concerned about the Place of Power," the woman said. "At a meeting of the Group this morning, here came a border captain bursting in full of questions about passes issued by the Place of Power."
"Yes, ma'am, we heard about that at the gate, ma'am," said Abasio bashfully.
Oily kicked him on the ankle. He was overdoing it.
"The holders of the passes were looking for a dark-haired girl about your age," the woman said. "And though you claim to be married to this man, who pretends at being witless, showing more skill at it than he no doubt
intends, the medical officer says you are a virgin yet."Oily held her tongue. What could she say?
The woman went on: "We trade with the Place of Power, as we do with


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the Edges, in manland. I see no problem in your going there with whoever next makes the trip westward. However, I cannot guarantee you will find any thrones."
Oily rubbed her forehead. "Since you're not sure the thrones are at the Place of Power, I'd like to see if there's any mention of them in the library."
"Well, as to that--I think you should talk with a librarian. She would know what books there are, what books have been preserved or remembered."
"You're talking about the fifty-year rule?"
"The fifty-year rule, yes. Works of opinion are often destroyed while works of fact are left undisturbed. Now, l'm sure at one time many books might have told all about the thrones, but it may be that those books no longer exist."
"But the librarian will know."
"The librarian." The woman smiled. "Of course."
"How do I find---a librarian?"
The gray-haired woman smiled again. "One of them happens to be my daughter Arakny. She'll return from work shortly. If you'd like to drive down the little alleyway beside Wide Mountain House, you'll find a place to camp above the stream. I'll tell her where you are. As for your companion"--she smiled at Abasio---"I'11 send someone to show him about."
Oily started to leave, then turned back. "The pass," she said. "The woman at the gate said--"
"Leave it for now," the older woman replied. "Arakny will sort it out."
She rose to show them out, watching as they crossed the courtyard and mounted the wagon seat once more.
The younger clanswoman had returned to lean in the inner doorway, arms folded, brow furrowed, remarking, "Do you think she is the one?"
"Which one, my dear? The one the walkers are looking for? I should think so, yes. The one your contact in the Place of Power mentioned might be coming this way? Possibly. The one our Seers have said will come, the key for the lock, the pivot on which the world balances? I wouldn't presume to guess."
"! sneaked around front and looked in their wagon. There's a coyote with them."
"A coyote? Ah. How very Artemisian! You think it means something?"
"1 don't think anything. If ! think too much, those walkers might come back here to ask me what I thought."
Wide Mountain Mother sighed. "Is there anything further on the walkers?" "They went through town this morning, shortly after we got the first report. They stopped several women and asked questions. The women who were questioned were examined within minutes. Their blood pressure was

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