"Gordon R. Dickson - Call him lord" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dickson Gordon R)

"Not fascinating. Necessary, Lord," said Kyle. But he did
not believe the younger man had heard him.
After dinner, they moved back to the bar. And the Prince,
after questioning Kyle a little longer, moved up to continue
his researches among the other people standing at the bar.
Kyle-watched for a little while. Then, feeling it was safe to do
so, slipped out to have another look at the horses and to ask
the innkeeper to arrange a saddle lunch put up for them the
next day.
When he returned, the Prince was not to be seen.
Kyle sat down at a table to wait; but the Prince did not
return. A cold, hard knot of uneasiness began to grow below
Kyle's breastbone. A sudden pang of alarm sent him swiftly
back out to check the horses. But they were cropping peace-
fully in their stalls. The stallion whickered, low-voiced, as
Kyle looked in on him, and turned his white head to look
back at Kyle.
"Easy, boy," said Kyle and returned to the inn to find the
innkeeper.
But the innkeeper had no idea where the Prince might have
gone.
". . . If the horses aren't taken, he's not far," the innkeeper
said. "There's no trouble he can get into around here. Maybe
he went for a walk in the woods. I'll leave word for the night
staff to keep an eye out for him when he comes in. Where'11
you be?"
"In the bar until it closesthen, my room," said Kyle.
He went back to the bar to wait, and took a booth near an
open window. Time went by and gradually the number of
other customers began to dwindle. Above the ranked bottles,
the bar clock showed nearly midnight. Suddenly, through the
window, Kyle heard a distant scream of equine fury from the
stables.
He got up and went out quickly. In the darkness outside, he
ran to the stables and burst in. There in the feeble illumina-
tion of the stable's night lighting, he saw the Prince, pale-
faced, clumsily saddling the gelding in the center aisle be-
tween the stalls. The door to the stallion's stall was open. The
Prince looked away as Kyle came in.
Kyle took three swift steps to the open door and looked in.
The stallion was still tied, but his ears were back, his eyes
rolling, and a saddle lay tumbled and dropped on the stable
floor beside him.
"Saddle up," said the Prince thickly from the aisle. "We're
leaving." Kyle turned to look at him.
"We've got rooms at the inn here," he said.
"Never mind. We're riding. I need to clear my head." The
young man got the gelding's cinch tight, dropped the stirrups
and swung heavily up into the saddle. Without waiting for
Kyle, he rode out of the stable into the night.