"Patricia C. Wrede - Enchanted Forest 1 - Talking to Dragons" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wrede Patricia C)

said. I could tell he was trying to sound menacing, but he
didn't do a very good job.

Mother finally turned around. I took one look at her face
and backed up a couple of steps. She looked at the wizard
for a minute and started to smile. "Nothing, Antorell? Are
you sure?"

The wizard laughed and raised his staff. I backed up
another couple of steps. I mean, I wanted to see what was
going on, but I'm not stupid. He paused a momentтАФfor
effect, I thinkтАФand Mother pointed at him.

He screamed and started to collapse in on himself. "No!
Not again!" He shrank pretty quickly, all but his head. He
was shouting nearly the whole time. "I'll get you, Cimorene!
I'll be back! You can't stop me! I'llтАФ" Then his head
collapsed and there was nothing left but a little puddle of
brown goo and his staff.

I stared at the puddle. All I could think was, I never
knew Mother could do that. Mother let me stand there for
a while before she told me to clean it up. "Be sure you don't
touch the staff," she reminded me. "And don't forget to
wash your hands before you come to dinner." I went to get
a bucket; when I came back, the staff was gone and Mother
was stirring the stew as if nothing had happened. She didn't
mention the wizard again until the next morning.

I was out by the remains of our door, trying to find some
way of fixing it. I didn't think my chances were very good.
I was trying to nail a couple of pieces together when I looked
up and saw Mother walking out of the Enchanted Forest. I


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was so surprised I dropped the hammer and nearly smashed
my foot. Mother never went into the Enchanted Forest.
Never. Then I saw the sword she was carrying, and if I'd
still been holding the hammer, I'd have dropped it again.

Even from a distance, I could tell it wasn't an ordinary
sword like the one I usually practiced with. This one was
about the same size and shape as mine, but it shone a little
too brightly and looked a little too sharp to be ordinary.
Mother carried it carefully; she wasn't wearing a sheath, so
there wasn't anything else she could do with it. She brought