Chaos Descends. Shane Hegarty

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СКАЧАТЬ all right. Standard issue. Except they’re made in Scotland.” He caught Finn and Emmie’s reaction to his detective skills. “OK, so I already knew it was a Scotsman who took this room. These were the boots of a Half-Hunter called Douglas. And I have a very nasty feeling that he was standing in them when these marks were made.”

      Knives, a toothbrush and a comb were laid out neatly on the bed. Hugo stood again, and the three of them faced the marks branded in the air, glancing at what may or may not have been the remains of Douglas of the Isle of Teeth.

      Hugo blew hard through his cheeks. “We can tell no one either,” he said.

      “OK,” said Finn.

      “Yep,” agreed Emmie.

      Hugo fixed his attention on Emmie. “Understand?”

      She looked offended. “Just because I spied on Finn once doesn’t mean I’m always spying. It was ages ago and I didn’t even want to anyway. I’m not going to tell anyone about this.”

      “Would the Half-Hunters not be able to help, though?” Finn asked.

      Hugo moved slowly towards the grimy window, looked out on to the street. Finn and Emmie joined him. Together they watched a Half-Hunter strut down the street, wearing a long chain-mail skirt and samurai sword. He was being followed by a group of small, excitable children and occasionally he would delight them by turning and growling in pantomime fashion.

      “Gis a go of your sword, mister,” they heard a kid say to him.

      “I would like to,” replied the Half-Hunter, “but the last child I gave it to is still being glued back together.”

      The children squealed with delight at that, and kept tailing him as he moved on.

      Hugo nodded towards the man down on the street. “That is a fellow called Kenzo. He’s come all the way from Japan just for the ceremony. His Legend Hunter family goes back 1,500 years, and he’s the second generation that’s had nothing to do but use their swords to cut sandwiches. And it’s only a wooden sword anyway.”

      Kenzo was holding a scrap of paper, seemingly checking house numbers against it.

      “You know what Kenzo does now? He’s a children’s entertainer,” Hugo continued. “Birthday parties. That sort of thing. That fighting suit looks impressive, but it’s had more chocolate biscuit cake on it than blood.”

      “You don’t think they’d be up to it?” asked Finn.

      “Not only would they not be up to it, this isn’t their Blighted Village,” said Hugo. “It’s ours. Which means this is our problem. That’s the tradition. That’s the Legend Hunter law. That’s the way it’s going to be. So, we tell no one. Not even Steve, Emmie. And for now, Finn, we won’t mention this to your mam either. She’s unhappy enough with all this fuss as it is.”

      With queasy horror, Finn realised that a greasy blur on the window was a palm print, large and firm. Was this Douglas’s last desperate act as he tried to escape? Finn stood back, turned away from it as he had an idea. “You don’t think this has anything to do with … Well, you know who?”

      “Doubt it,” said Hugo. “Wouldn’t make sense.”

      “You know who who?” asked Emmie, baffled.

      “Finn, have you told Emmie about him yet?” asked Hugo.

      “No,” said Finn.

      “Told me what?” asked Emmie.

      “If we tell you, you’re not to speak to anyone about it,” Hugo insisted.

      “I keep saying I won’t,” she answered, irritated. “And I don’t even know what it is I’m not supposed to tell anyone about anyway.”

      “Do you know where to find him?” Hugo asked Finn.

      “Same place he always is, I’d say,” answered Finn.

      “Same place who is?” asked Emmie.

      “I didn’t really say much earlier, because I wasn’t sure I was allowed,” said Finn bashfully. “But there is at least one Legend loose in Darkmouth. Want to see him?”

      

      They found Broonie the Hogboon right where Finn expected to. In a small patch of soil and plants, divided into squares hardly bigger than a double bed, hemmed in by high walls on three sides, and a tall wire fence on the fourth. This was the local allotment, where people came to grow vegetables and fruit – and where the only living Hogboon in Darkmouth came to feast.

      “Why has he got his head stuck in that beehive thing?” whispered Emmie as they lurked behind the fence.

      “It’s a wormery,” explained Finn.

      “A whatery?”

      “A wormery. The gardeners use them to make compost. Although, to be honest, I overheard someone saying that the compost hasn’t been great of late. And smells a bit funny. Plus the wormery doesn’t have many worms in it. I didn’t want to tell them I could guess why.”

      Broonie’s slurping was quite pronounced, his green legs dangling where he had pulled his skinny frame up to stick his head in.

      “He eats the worms?” said Emmie.

      “Lots of them,” said Finn. “Even though he complains about the taste.”

      Broonie didn’t seem to notice them, just twitched a floppy ear as he continued to eat.

      “I thought the Council of Twelve ordered you to desiccate him until they could decide what to do with him,” said Emmie.

      “That was the order,” said Finn. “But it wasn’t his fault he ended up here. He just got shoved in through the gateway really. He didn’t want anything to do with any war.”

      “You let him out!” she exclaimed.

      “Shush,” said Finn. “We don’t allow him out all the time. Just once a week. For twenty-four hours only. The rest of the time he spends in the house. Complaining about everything.”

      Broonie paused in his banquet. Belched loudly. Resumed eating.

      “The Council of Twelve gave Broonie back to us, but only once he’d been desiccated,” said Finn. “They didn’t want him running loose, causing trouble. He’s still just a Legend as far as they’re concerned, not to be trusted. The Desiccation was horrible. There were shouts and screams and, well, a lot of cursing. Hogboons know a lot of curses. And, when it was all over, they gave him to us in a jar.”

      “But you brought him back,” said Emmie.

      “Reanimating him was even more horrible. And there was even more cursing. But СКАЧАТЬ