"Patricia C. Wrede - Enchanted Forest 4 - Calling on Dragons" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wrede Patricia C)

3
In Which Morwen Makes a Discovery and Some Calls
There was an instant of silence, and then all of the animals tried to talk at once.
"One at a time, please," Morwen said. "Or I won't understand a thing any of you are trying to say.
Killer first."
"The rabbit?" Trouble curled his lip back, showing his fangs in an expression that wasn't quite a snarl.
"Why him?"
"Courtesy to a guest," Morwen replied. "Killer?"
"It's just a hole in the moss," said the rabbit. "It doesn't look like a wizard to me."
"Of course that's not a wizard," Aunt Ophelia said. "That is what a wizard's staff does when it touches a
part of the Enchanted Forest . I thought everyone knew that."
"He obviously hasn't been paying attention to the news for at least a year," Miss Eliza said. "Possibly
longer." She switched her tail.
"Are you even aware that the King of the Enchanted Forest has been married for nearly fourteen
months?"
"Stop badgering," Morwen said to the cats. "And remember that you are in something of a privileged
position when it comes to news from the castle." She turned to Killer. "Queen Cimorene has been a
friend of mine since before the wedding, and we still keep in touch."
"You knew about the wizards' staffs long before then," Miss Eliza objected.
"Knew what about wizards' staffs?" Killer's ears swiveled from the cats to Morwen. "That they make
holes in the forest?"
"Exactly," Morwen said. "Wizards' staffs absorb magic from anything that happens to be around.
Unfortunately, in the Enchanted Forest everything is magical, one way or another, and when a staff soaks
up enough magic it kills part of the forest."
"And this certainly looks like the kind of thing that happens when a wizard sets down the end of this
staff," Miss Eliza said. "Careless creatures."
"Well, if this bit is from a wizard's staff, what made all those tiny dots back by that clover patch?" Aunt
Ophelia said. "Miniature wizards?"
"Quite possibly," Morwen replied. "If a wizard worked a size-changing spell in this area and let a little
spill over into the clover patch, it would explain Killer's unusual growth very nicely."
Miss Eliza's nose twitched as if she smelled something unpleasant. "I said they were careless."
"Yes, but look, Morwen, this can't be wizards," Trouble said. "The King chased all of them out of the
forest before he got married."
"One of them seems to have come back," Morwen said, looking pointedly at the bare spot. "And I
think we had better notify the King immediately."
"Couldn't you just, uh, plant something new in the hole and forget about it?" asked Killer nervously. "I
mean, the King must have more important things to do than worry about my clover patch."
All three of the cats swiveled their heads and stared at him with disapproval.
The rabbit's ears wilted under their combined gaze. "It was just a thought."
"On the contrary," said Miss Eliza.
Aunt Ophelia shrugged. "What do you expect from a rabbit?"
"It's the wizards that are important, not your clover," said Trouble.
"If there are wizards."
"Nothing else I know of does that." Morwen pointed at the hole.
"Just because you don't know of it doesn't mean there isn't something," Trouble retorted.
"Mmhmph. I suppose you're right." Morwen considered for a moment.
She couldn't tell whether the holes had been made by a wizard's staff or not, but she knew at least
three people who could. The first two were the King of the Enchanted Forest and his Queen, Cimorene.
The thirdтАж
"I'd better give Telemain a call, then, as well as Mendanbar and Cimorene.