"Chelsea Quinn Yarbro - A Baroque Fable" - читать интересную книгу автора (Yarbro Chelsea Quinn)

little fun, haven't I? Still, a few magistrates are a small price to pay." He leans back on his cushions.
"You don't understand. They say they will hang us all. They say they will pull down the castle walls. They
say they will blow up the city. They say they will fill the rivers with bloodтАФ"
"Yes, yes," Humgudgeon interrupts this recitation. "It's
A BAROQUE FABLE
27
the same old thing. I've heard it hundreds of time. How far out of hand has it got?"
"They're in all the streets andтАФ"
This time Humgudgeon is not about to indulge the messenger. "How close are they to the castle, that's
what I want to know."
The messenger blanches. "Not far. Near the fish market, when I broke away from them."
"That's south," Humgudgeon muses.
"Hurry. If you don't do something, they'll all be hung!" die messenger exclaims rather wildly.
"That's hanged," Humgudgeon corrects him gently. "How fast would you guess they were moving,
considering there are so many shops to wreck there in the fish market?"
"I... I don't know. I... I didn't stop toтАФ" His voice is getting higher and higher.
"Would you say they had reached the taxing booth?" Humgudgeon inquires.
"Probably," the messenger allows. His eyes move uncertainly about the room, as if he expects it to be
invaded at any moment.
"Then I suppose I will have to do something." Humgudgeon yawns at the notion. "If they are so
rambunctious, I'll have to teach them a lesson, again." He pushes himself up on his elbow and begins to
mutter strange and clashing syllables under his breath while making disturbing passes in the air with his
hand. The room grows oddly dark and there are strange spots of brightness that hang in the air after his
hand has moved.
"Your MaleficenceтАФ" the messenger begins uncertainly.
"Hush!" Humgudgeon orders. "I'm concentrating."
A few more passes, a few more bits of light, and then something strange zips out the window.
"There," Humgudgeon declares with satisfaction as he leans back on the cushions.
Outside a sudden noise like an underground explosion or a collapsing, crowded sports arena fills the air.
Screams and howls and shrieks erupt, and then suddenly fall silent.
"There," Humgudgeon says, regarding the messenger with a bemused expression. "That's better."
The messenger stares back in horror. "But you killedтАФ"
"They breed like rabbits, dear fellow, like veritable minks.
28 Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
They won't miss a few." As he speaks, a single brick hurtles through the window. "How annoying,"
Humgudgeon snaps. "I thought I'd got them all. Tiiat's easily remedied." He makes a few more passes,
and once again something forms and leaves the room.
"Don'tтАФ" the messenger protests, trying to stop the thing Humgudgeon is sending out. As he tries to
grasp the thing, a shudder goes through him, and he drops, twitching, to the floor. Beyond the window
there is a yelp and the rumble of falling masonry.
Humgudgeon watches the messenger. "Mercy. I don't know my own strength." He reaches for a goblet.
"Well, perhaps it's better this way." He takes a deep drink, then calls out, "Chumley."
The concealed door creaks open and Chumley lurches into the room. "Hurm. Hurm. 'Nother play toy for
Chumley?" He looks down with schoolboy chagrin at his enormous, splayed feet. "Other play toy broke.
Chumley broke other. Hurra."
"You really must learn to be more careful, Chumley," Humgudgeon tells him, not too severely. "It is very
difficult for me to get you new play toys all the time. Truly, dear boy, you ought to try to be more gentle
with your toys." In spite of the reprimand, Humgudgeon cannot help smiling as he admonishes Chumley.
"Chumley sorry," he says contritely.
"You'd better be, or I won't give you this one." He indicates the quivering messenger.