William Calhoun and the Black Feather. Book I. Aik Iskandaryan

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СКАЧАТЬ you sure you’re alright, sir?»

      «Oh, I am more than alright!» the waiter said with satisfaction. But his smile was gone in an instant.

      «Where do you live?»

      «Why do you need to know where I live?» William decided that he wasn’t going to take part in that stupid act any longer. Enough, it was time to go home!

      He got up and wanted to head to the exit, but the waiter said seriously:

      «Knowing where you live is the most important thing I must know in my life, Master Calhoun! Please, answer me. I am begging you! On my knees!» Like promised, he fell to his knees with a thud and folded his large hands as if he was going to say a prayer.

      «Blackfriars Lane» William took pity on this mad man.

      «And House? Which House?!» the waiter asked in a trembling voice.

      «Number 13.»

      Upon hearing this, the waiter jumped up, tore the apron off him, threw it on the floor and stumped on the emblem embroidered on it. «Since this moment on I am not working in the «Well-Fed Wizard’ any longer!»

      Giving William a loving look, he grabbed his shoulder with his large palm and said loudly:

      «Number 13, Blackfriars Lane!»

      William felt as if he was thrown into a kaleidoscope. Everything started spinning before his eyes, like vegetables in a blender in the kitchen of the kind Mrs. Hoggart. He felt a tight grip on his shoulder, but after a few moments, he was relieved to feel that the grip was lessening. The whirlwind was getting slower and after a moment, it stopped altogether.

      He felt as if he was smashed into the floor, so sudden was his arrival. But to his surprise, he didn’t feel any pain. As he looked around, he noticed familiar items, furniture, bookshelves… It was hard to believe that it was really happening, but William was standing in the middle of his room, back in the Blackfriars Lane. And the crazy waiter was looming over him.

      Chapter three

      From Kin to Kin, Kin for the Good of Kin!

      When William was able to speak again, he asked in a slightly trembling voice:

      «But how did we get here? And who… who are you?»

      «We will have time to speak about it, Master Calhoun! And now, please, show me the feather.»

      William felt that his patience was running out. The waiter noticed that and hurried to add:

      «It is the last thing I am asking you! After that, Master Calhoun will get answers to all his questions, I promise!»

      William thought that if he hadn’t yet gone mad after all that had happened to him today, then a few more seconds wouldn’t change much.

      «Well, alright!» he agreed and headed to the wardrobe where he kept his old things in a tattered suitcase.

      He took a wooden box from the bottom of the suitcase.

      «Is it in there?» the waiter asked impatiently, eagerly following William’s every move.

      «Yes, I’ve always kept it in here. I used to take it out and stare at it for hours, then stopped. A useless thing!»

      With that, he opened the box. To his amazement, the tiny feather that used to fit the box without any problems, was now large and fluffy, bent in half. It was really fluffy!

      «But,» William could barely believe what he’d just witnessed. «It was smaller…»

      The waiter stood silently, looking at the feather as if enchanted. William decided to take the feather out of the box, but the moment he touched it, the feather started moving as if it was alive. Taken by surprise, he threw the box up into the air, but at that moment, the waiter’s wide nimble hands caught it without letting it fall. Holding his breath, he returned the box to William. The feather was still moving and slowly, lazily, stretching out its hairs, just like a person who wakes up in the morning full of energy, yawning and stretching before getting up.

      «No, I’m definitely dreaming!» William had no more doubts. «Such things can’t be happening in real life.»

      The waiter came closer, bent over the feather and read the name inscribed on it very quietly:

      «Calhoun…» Then he added in a normal voice: «There could have been no mistake, I knew it from the moment I heard your voice…»

      He made a few steps back and said, giving William a serious look:

      «Young William should not be surprised with such things. It is quite…»

      «What?!» Everything that had been building up in William over the day suddenly burst out. «A rude person tells me to go to the bathroom where he says I belong; in the bathroom I meet a strange man in a uniform who sits me down on the toilet and flushes me; then I find myself in a very strange place with oddly dressed people; then a waitress nearly knocks me off my feet, and she can collect soup from the floor and glue broken dishes back with the wave of an ordinary feather; and in the end I meet you, and in a few seconds you move me to my own room, where I take out the feather and it is bigger than it was seven years ago and, what’s more, it moves! And you say that I shouldn’t be surprised?!»

      Despite William’s heated speech, the waiter remained calm.

      «My name is Nymus,» he said. «I am the mailmage of the Calhouns! YOUR mailmage, Master Clahoun!»

      «My who?!» William asked.

      «Mailmage! Each wizard kin must have one,» and after a pause, he added: «As far as I can see, Master Calhoun still does not know that he is a wizard?»

      William needed half a minute for the question to sink in. As he took a grip on himself and ran today’s events in his head again, he asked:

      «So, I’m not mad and all that happened to the waitress and the tray was for real?»

      «Yes. I saw that, Master Calhoun. I admit, I even laughed at your clumsiness. How stupid of me! Laugh at my own master!»

      «I’m not your master, what are you talking about? And why do you keep calling me Calhoun?»

      «Young William has so much to learn! You should better sit down.»

      After giving it a bit of thought, William realized that the mailmage was right. He sat down and then Nymus continued:

      «What do you know about your family?»

      This question made William shiver, as if someone had just thrown a shovel of snow right into his face. Suddenly, he looked at the mailmage as if this Nymus was the most important person in his life.

      «You know about my REAL family?»

      «I do! Tell me, how long have you been living here, young William?»

      «Since I was seven. Before that, I lived СКАЧАТЬ