Dragon Haven. Робин Хобб

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СКАЧАТЬ When he said nothing, Carson looked back down at his big hands. He rubbed them together as if his knuckles pained him. ‘So, you take my drift?’ he asked Sedric.

      ‘You’re like a father to Davvie?’ Sedric hazarded.

      Carson barked another laugh at that. ‘As much as I’m ever likely to be a father to anyone!’ he declared, and again, he looked at Sedric as if expecting some sort of response. Sedric just looked back at him.

      ‘I see,’ the hunter said, and his voice went softer and more serious. ‘I understand. It goes no farther, I promise you that. I’ll speak my piece plain and then be gone. Davvie’s just a youngster. You’re probably the handsomest man he’s ever seen, and the boy is infatuated. I’ve tried to make him see that he’s much too young and that you’re way above his social class. But puppy love can blind a boy. I’ll be doing my best to keep him clear of you, and I’d appreciate it if you kept him at a distance. Once he realizes that there’s nothing here for him, he’ll get over it quick enough. Might even hate you a bit, but you know how that is. But if you mock him, or belittle him to the other men aboard, I’ll take issue with you.’

      Sedric stared at him, his face like stone. His mind raced, filling in the meaning behind his words.

      Carson met Sedric’s eyes flatly. ‘And if I’ve misjudged you, and you’re the kind who would take advantage of a boy, I’ll come after you. Do you understand me?’

      ‘Very well,’ Sedric replied. Carson’s meaning finally penetrated to his mind, and he was torn between shock and embarrassment. His cheeks burned: he was glad of the dimness of the room. The hunter’s eyes were still fixed on his. He looked aside. ‘What you said about belittling the boy to the crew. I would never do that. I ask the same of you. As for Davvie’s … infatuation, well.’ He swallowed. ‘I didn’t even see it. Even if I had, I wouldn’t take advantage of it. He’s so young. Almost a child still.’

      Carson was nodding. A sad smile edged his mouth. ‘I’m glad I didn’t read you wrong. You didn’t look the type to take advantage of a youngster, but you never know. Especially a boy like Davvie who seems to put himself in harm’s way. A few months ago, in Trehaug, he read a young man the wrong way, and said the wrong thing. And just for the offer, the fellow hit him twice in the face before the boy could even stand up. And that left me no choice but to get involved, and I’ve a temper. I’m afraid that we won’t be welcome back in that tavern for a long time. It’s one reason I signed us up for this expedition. I thought to get him away from town and temptation for a few months. Let him grow a bit of discretion and self-control. Thought it might keep him out of trouble, but as soon as he set eyes on you, he was gone. And who could blame him? Well.’ He stood up abruptly. ‘I’ll be going now. The boy won’t be bringing your meals any more. I thought that was a bad idea from the start, but it was hard to give a reason why he shouldn’t. Now I’ll tell Leftrin that I need him up earlier and at my side if we’re to keep the dragons fed. I’ll be taking him out of here earlier than usual. You may have to fetch your own grub. Or maybe Alise will bring it to you.’ He turned and put his hand on the door. ‘You work for her husband, right? That’s what she told us at dinner the first night I met her. That usually you go everywhere he does, and she can’t imagine why he sent you off with her, or how he’s managing without you. She feels real bad about that, you know? That you’re here and so unhappy about it.’

      ‘I know.’

      ‘But my guess is that there’s a lot she doesn’t know, and another reason that you’re unhappy. Am I right?’

      Sedric couldn’t quite get his breath. ‘I don’t think that’s any of your concern.’

      Carson risked a glance over his shoulder. ‘Maybe not. But I’ve known Leftrin a long, long time. Never seen him gone on a woman like he is on Alise. And she looks pretty gone to me, too. Seems to me that if her husband has been able to find a bit of joy in his life, maybe she deserves the same. And maybe Leftrin does, too. They might find that, if she felt free to look for it.’

      He lifted the catch and began to ease the door open. Sedric found his voice. ‘Are you going to tell her?’

      The big man didn’t reply at first. He remained with the door ajar, staring out. Evening was deepening towards night. Finally he shook his bushy head. ‘No,’ he said with a sigh. ‘It’s not my place. But I think you should.’ He moved like a large cat as he slipped out of the door and shut it firmly behind him, leaving Sedric alone with his thoughts.

      They had travelled longer than usual that day, through a misty, dirty rain that made her skin gritty and itchy. For the latter half of the day, the banks of the river had been unwelcoming, thick with a prickly vine. The upper reaches of the dangling lianas, held up to the sunlight by the stretching tree branches, had been thick with scarlet fruit. The incessant rain jewelled the leaves and fruit, and freckled the river’s face. Harrikin had pulled his boat in to shore to try to harvest some of the fruit, but had got only scratches and mud for his efforts. Thymara hadn’t even attempted it. She knew from experience that the only way to win that fruit was to come at it from above, climbing down to it. Even then, it was a scratchy, precarious business. She decided that the time it would take her to find a pathway to the tops of the trees would put her and Rapskal far behind the other boats. ‘Perhaps tonight, when we stop,’ she suggested to him in response to his longing glances at the dangling orbs.

      But as the light faded from the sky and the shores continued to be inhospitable, she resigned herself to a night aboard Tarman, with hard bread and a bit of salt fish as her only guaranteed meal. The dragons with their scaled skin could push close to the base of the trees and spend a drier but uncomfortable night if they must. She and the other keepers did not have that option. Her latest experience had proven that to her. The scaling on her skin might be increasing, but it was not the mail the dragons wore. Mercor’s teeth had left their marks despite his efforts to be gentle. It had been embarrassing to have Sylve see how scaled she had become as the girl helped her dress the scratches his fangs had left on her and the large scrape on her left arm. Most of her injuries had been superficial, but one score at the top of her back was still sore and hot to the touch. It ached and she longed to pull her boat into shore and rest for the night. But the dragons plainly hoped to find a better landing, for they continued their migration and the keepers had no choice but to follow.

      The dragons were darker silhouettes against the gleaming water when she and Rapskal caught up with them that night. They were scattered on a long broad wash of silty mud that curved out into the river. The sand bar was a relatively young one, bereft of trees. A few bushes and scrolls of grass banks grew down its spine. It offered a plentiful supply of firewood in the form of an immense beached log and a tangle of lesser driftwood banked against it. It would do.

      A hard push with her paddle drove the nose of her boat onto the muddy shore. Rapskal shipped his paddle and jumped out to seize the painter and drag the boat farther ashore. With a groan, Thymara stored her own paddle and unfolded herself stiffly. The constant paddling had strengthened her and built her endurance, but she was still weary and aching at the end of each day.

      Rapskal seemed almost unscathed by the extra long exertion. ‘Time to get a fire going,’ he announced cheerily. ‘And dry off. I hope the hunters got some meat. I’m awful sick of fish.’

      ‘Meat would be good,’ she agreed. ‘And a good fire.’ All around her, the other keepers were pulling their boats ashore and climbing wearily out.

      ‘Let’s hope,’ he replied and without a backward glance he scampered off into the darkness.

      She sighed as she watched him go. His unfailing optimism and energy wearied her almost as much as they cheered her. With a sigh of annoyance, she busied СКАЧАТЬ