Название: The Painted Man
Автор: Peter Brett V.
Издательство: HarperCollins
Жанр: Героическая фантастика
isbn: 9780007287758
isbn:
âPerhaps Gared should go as well?â Steave suggested, kicking his son.
âYouâll need a strong back to carry your herbs and potions back in the morning,â Elona agreed, pulling Gared up.
The ancient Herb Gatherer glared at her, then at Steave, but nodded finally.
The trip to Brunaâs was slow, the hag setting a shuffling crawl of a pace. They made it to the hut just before sunset.
âCheck the wards, boy,â Bruna told Gared. While he complied, Leesha took her inside, setting the old woman down in a cushioned chair, and laying a quilt blanket over her. Bruna was breathing hard, and Leesha feared she would start coughing again any minute. She filled the kettle and laid wood and tinder in the hearth, casting her eyes about for flint and steel.
âThe box on the mantel,â Bruna said, and Leesha noticed the small wooden box. She opened it, but there was no flint or steel within, only short wooden sticks with some kind of clay at the ends. She picked up two and tried rubbing them together.
âNot like that, girl!â Bruna snapped. âHave you never seen a flamestick?â
Leesha shook her head. âDa keeps some in the shop where he mixes chemics,â Leesha said, âbut Iâm not to go in there.â
The old Herb Gatherer sighed and beckoned the girl over. She took one of the sticks and braced it against her gnarled, dry thumbnail. She flicked her thumb, and the end of the stick burst into flame. Leeshaâs eyes bulged.
âThereâs more to Herb Gathering than plants, girl,â Bruna said, touching the flame to a taper before the flamestick burned out. She lit a lamp, and handed the taper to Leesha. She held the lamp out, illuminating a dusty shelf filled with books in its flickering light.
âSweet day!â Leesha exclaimed. âYou have more books than Tender Michel!â
âThese arenât witless stories censored by the Holy Men, girl. Herb Gatherers are keepers of a bit of the knowledge of the old world, from back before the Return, when the demons burned the great libraries.â
âScience?â Leesha asked. âWas that not the hubris that brought on the Plague?â
âThatâs Michel talking,â Bruna said. âIf Iâd known that boy would grow into such a pompous ass, Iâd have left him between his motherâs legs. It was science, as much as magic, that drove the corelings off the first time. The sagas tell of great Herb Gatherers healing mortal wounds, and mixing herbs and minerals that killed demons by the score with fire and poison.â
Leesha was about to ask another question when Gared returned. Bruna waved her towards the hearth, and Leesha lit the fire and set the kettle over it. Soon the water was boiling, and Bruna reached into the many pockets of her robe, putting her special mixture of herbs in her cup, and tea in Leeshaâs and Garedâs. Her hands were quick, but Leesha still noticed the old woman throw something extra in Garedâs cup.
She poured the water, and they all sipped in an awkward silence. Gared drank his quickly, and soon began rubbing his face. A moment later, he slumped over, fast asleep.
âYou put something in his tea,â Leesha accused.
The old woman cackled. âTampweed resin and skyflower pollen,â she said. âEach with many uses alone, but together, a pinch can put a bull to sleep.â
âBut why?â Leesha asked.
Bruna smiled, but it was a frightening thing. âCall it chaperoning,â she said. âPromised or no, you canât trust a boy of fifteen summers alone with a young girl at night.â
âThen why let him come along?â Leesha asked.
Bruna shook her head. âI told your father not to marry that shrew, but she dangled her udders at him and left him dizzy,â she sighed. âDrunk as they are, Steave and your mum are going to have at it no matter whoâs in the house,â she said. âBut that donât mean Gared ought to hear it. Boys are bad enough at his age, as is.â
Leeshaâs eyes bulged. âMy mother would never â¦!â
âCareful finishing that sentence, girl,â Bruna cut her off. âThe Creator abhors a liar.â
Leesha deflated. She knew what Elona was like. âGaredâs not like that, though,â she said.
Bruna snorted. âMidwife a village and tell me that,â she said.
âIt wouldnât even matter if I was flowered,â Leesha said. âThen Gared and I could marry, and I could do for him as a wife should.â
âEager for that, are you?â Bruna said with a wicked grin. âItâs no sad affair, Iâll admit. Men have more uses than swinging axes and carrying heavy things.â
âWhatâs taking so long?â Leesha asked. âSaira and Mairy reddened their sheets in their twelfth summers, and this will be my thirteenth! What could be wrong?â
âNothingâs wrong,â Bruna said. âEach girl bleeds in her own time. It may be you have a year yet, or more.â
âA year!â Leesha exclaimed.
âDonât be so quick to leave childhood behind, girl,â Bruna said. âYouâll find you miss it when itâs gone. Thereâs more to the world than lying under a man and making his babies.â
âBut what else could compare?â Leesha asked.
Bruna gestured to her shelf. âChoose a book,â she said. âAny book. Bring it here, and Iâll show you what else the world can offer.â
Leesha woke with a start as Brunaâs old rooster crowed to mark the dawn. She rubbed her face, feeling the imprint of the book on her cheek. Gared and Bruna were still fast asleep. The Herb Gatherer had passed out early, but despite her own fatigue, Leesha kept on reading late into the night. She had thought Herb Gathering was just setting bones and birthing babes, but there was so much more. Herb Gatherers studied the entire natural world, finding ways to combine the Creatorâs many gifts for the benefit of His children.
Leesha took the ribbon that СКАЧАТЬ