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

IV was sitting in front of the porch steps, watching her.
"Was that a good idea?" he said. "Invisible dusk-blooming chokevines aren't exactly easy to find, you
know. Much less to grow. And you haven't got any, unless you've added them to the garden since early
this morning."
"I'm well aware of that," Morwen said. "But I've been wanting some for a long time, to put along the
fence by the back gate. Now I've got a good excuse to hunt them up."
"As long as you know what you're getting into,"Jasper said. "Can I go back to sleep now, or is there
going to be more noisy excitement?"
"Go to sleep," said Morwen. As she climbed the porch steps, she gave Scorn a pointed glare. Dignity
dripping from every whisker, Scorn jumped down from the railing and walked into the house. Morwen
shook her head, picked up her broomstick and her paint can, and followed.

2
In Which Morwen Encounters a Rabbit
Miss Eliza, Scorn, and Chaos were sitting in the kitchen, trying to look as if they were waiting for
something interesting to happen and not as if they were doing as Morwen had told them. The only one
who managed it was Scorn, who had jumped up onto the bench below the side window and begun
washing her face. When Morwen entered, she looked up briefly and then returned to washing. In
contrast, Chaos jumped guiltily and Miss Eliza Tudor looked away. There was no sign of Fiddlesticks.
"Archaniz has left, and Grendel has gone with her," Morwen said, setting the paint on the table. "Now,
which of you three would like to begin?"
"Begin what?" Chaos asked warily.
Scorn stopped washing and snorted. "Don't be dense. She wants to know about our chasing Grendel."
"We have already explained that," Miss Eliza said.
 "Not to my satisfaction," Morwen said. "You know better than to pick a fight with another witch's cat.
At least, I thought you did."
"It's our job to keep things out of the garden," Chaos said, looking up with his green eyes wide. "That's
all we were doing."
Morwen sighed. "Well, at least I don't have to ask who started it.
What happened, exactly?"
The cats exchanged looks. "We were out by the back fence, the three of us and Aunt Ophelia and
Murgatroyd," Miss Eliza said. "Chaos was in the apple tree-"
"As usual," Scorn put in. "You'd think it belonged to him."
"-and he saw that witch swoop down over the hill behind the house.
He said he saw her cat jump off the broomstick-" "Probably looking for that blue catnip that grows on
the far side," Scorn said. "Grendel's a little too fond of his nibbles, if you ask me."
"Nobody did," said Chaos.
Miss Eliza glared at the other two and lashed her tail. "If I may continueтАж ?"
"Nobody's stopping you," Scorn said, and to show her complete indifference she bent sideways and
began washing her side.
"We were concerned," Miss Eliza went on. "It seemed unusual. A minute or two later, while we were
discussing whether to do anything about it, that black cat came tearing over the hill and down toward the
garden, shouting about some rabbit."
"Stupid excuse for a cat," Chaos muttered. "Running away from a rabbit! I ask you!"
Scorn merely snorted expressively.
Miss Eliza looked at them. "While I do not like all these interruptions, I must confess that I agree with
you. It is not the kind of behavior one hopes for in a cat."
"So you couldn't resist tearing off after him." Morwen shook her head.
"He was heading for the garden," Chaos said, avoiding her eyes. "We were just doing our job."
"Murgatroyd and Aunt Ophelia stayed in back, in case the rabbit showed up," Miss Eliza Tudor