"Wilder, Cherry - Torin 01 - The Luck of Brin's Five UC - part 02" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilder Cherry)

died.
We stood in the shadow of a cook-stall awning and looked
back for a long time but saw nothing suspicious. Then we
threaded our way down a long alley full of cook-stalls, and
the scent was so delicious that Diver and Brin took pity on
me and we stopped to buy roast wild fowl stuffed with
berries. Then, feeling open-handed, we bought a carrying
hamper of food to take to the tent and spent so much that
the cook-shop owner gave us towels when we washed at the
fountain. We wandered on well fed, and then I saw two
twirlers, neither of them our watcher, lounging in their

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blue rags under the window of a fixed house, a common
sleeping house for fair travellers. They stared dully about
and accepted offerings but certainly paid us no heed.
I will feed these birds a little grain," said Brin. We
followed her and stood to one side as she approached the
pair.
"Greetings to the spirit warriors," she said, dropping a
credit into their gourd.
"Eenath's blessing!" was the soft response.
I stared at them, feeling the same mixture of fascination
and disgust that I had felt for the twirlers in Cullin. They
were both still young; their brown bodies were thin and
stringy, scarred from head to foot with the marks of the
sharp shells. I have heard townees complain that the
twirlers are dirty, but I hardly noticed. I saw their
expression, gentle, sad, dazed. Could Eenath bring this fate
upon her followers?
"Dear friends," said Brin, "share this food and answer me
a question."
"What pleases you, in Eenath's name." A gaunt hand
came up for the food, but Brin held it out of reach.
"Where is the twirler Petsalee?"
The twirlers were silent; their faces grew firmer, their
expressions almost sly. .
"Petsalee . . ." prompted Brin. The twirler who had
reached for the food held up two fingers and whistled
softly. Brin reached a second game bird from the basket.
"The spirit warriors dance at the Sun Carpet," said the
twirler.
"At what hour?"
"When the spirits call .