"Mary Kirchoff, Douglas Niles. Flint, the King ("Dragonlance Preludes II" #2) (angl)" - читать интересную книгу автора

ace, some years ago.
"Hey, Amos, who is Jessab, anyway?" Tasslehoff had
blurted out of the blue, plucking at items of interest on the
candy counter. "Must be someone important, for you to
name your store after him. I mean, your name is Amos
Cartney, not Jessab."
Knowing the answer through local gossip, Flint had tried

desperately to clap a hand over the kender's big mouth. But
the quick-footed imp had danced away. "Watch out, Flint I
You nearly suffocated me," he had scolded the dwarf. "Your
father, maybe?" he pressed, turning back to the suddenly
pale shopkeeper. "Grandfather? Hmm?"
"The man who owned the store before me," had been
Amos's quiet reply.
"That's it?" Tas squealed.
"Mind your own business, kender!" Flint had growled
low in his throat.
But Amos waved away the dwarf's concern. "No, he stole
my wife and left behind this shop. I leave his name up to re-
mind me how fickle women can be, in case I'm ever tempted
to trust one of them again."
The tender-hearted kender's eyes had filled with tears,
and he came to Amos's side to pat the human's shoulder,
treasures newly "found" in the shop dropping from his
pockets in his haste. "I'm so sorry... I didn't know...."
A slight, stoic smile had creased Amos Cartney's face as
he gently slipped his hand from the anxious kender's. "And
you know what else? I haven't been tempted, all these ten
years."
Flint secretly agreed with Amos's evaluation of women -
he'd had some bad experiences of his own - and from that
time forward, the human and the dwarf were friends.
Seeing Flint in his doorway now, the greengrocer wiped
his hands on his apron and waved the dwarf inside, a hearty
grin on his face.
"Didn't bring that nosy kender with you, I see!" He snick-
ered, continuing to wave Flint forward. "Hurry on in. I've
been having some trouble with seekers hanging around the
doorway, pestering my good customers. Can't seem to get
rid of 'em." Amos shook his balding head wearily.
Flint patted his old friend on the back. "Tas has gone ex-
ploring for five years. And I don't think those seekers will be
bothering anyone for a while, either."
Catching the glint in the dwarf's eye, Amos's smile was
grateful, but it still held a hint of weariness. "My thanks, but
they always come back. Maybe not the same trouble-

makers, but every day there are more seekers to take their
places." Amos dug the heels of his palms into his eyes and