"Patricia C. Wrede - Magician 1 - Mairelon the Magicia" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wrede Patricia C)

dangled from the nubbing cheat, and even if all she had to do
this time was a bit of snooping, it felt the same as nabbing a
haddock from Red Sal's stand when her back was turned- Kim
contemplated conveniently forgetting to return to the public
house where the toff had arranged to meet her, but the mem-
ory of the pound notes the stranger had offered held her like
an iron chain.

Five pounds was a fortune by Kirn's standards; she could
eat well and sleep dry for months and still have enough left to
replace the ragged jacket and boy's breeches she wore. If she
played her cards right, she might even get out of the streets
for good. It was time and past that she did so; she was, she
thought, nearing seventeen, and her long-delayed growth was
finally arriving- She wouldn't be able to play the boy much
longer. A chill ran down her spine, and she pushed the
thought, and the darker knowledge of the inevitable con-
sequences that would follow the end of her masquerade, reso-
lutely from her mind. Mairelon the Magician was, for the
moment at least, of far greater importance than her own un-
certain future.

Mairelon finished his show in a flurry of flashing knives and
whirling scarves, and bowed deeply. "Thank you for your at-
tentionтАФand for your gracious contributions." He waved at
the tambourine his dour assistant carried, and the crowd
chuckled. "That concludes this performance, but soon Mair-
elon the Magician will return to perform even more wondrous
feats for your delight and astonishment! Until then, my
friends!" In a second puff of smoke and flame, the magician
vanished-

Kim stopped midway through the eighth verse of "Darlin'
Jenny" and slipped away as the crowd began to disperse. She
did not want Sal or Jamie spotting her and remembering it
later Once she was safely away from Mairelon's wagon, she
breathed more easily. She couldn't do anything about the ma-
gician until the end of his next show. She had time, now, to
enjoy the market.

She stopped an ancient woman in a faded kerchief and ex-
changed one of her carefully hoarded pennies for a bag of
roasted chestnuts. She ate them slowly as she walked, savor-
ing the taste The unaccustomed warmth in her stomach
made her feel more cheerful, though she still wasn't too keen
on the idea of mucking about in Mairelon's wagon. For one
thing, she didn't like the look of the skinny toff who'd hired
her.