"P. N. Elrod - Jonathan Barrett 01 - Red Death" - читать интересную книгу автора (Elrod P N)

ruptions," he added significantly.
i glanced uneasily back at the library and indicated that he should lead th
e way upstairs. Somehow I was able to follow, leaning heavily on the rail a
nd gulping frequently. Hot in the face and dizzy, I staggered the last few
feet into my room and collapsed at the big study table. Jericho smoothly mo
ved some books around to make space for my meal. He had the enviable skill
of being able to balance the tray

with one hand while his other quickly and quite independently made order o
ut of chaos. Between the blink of one eye and the next he put down his bur
den and whipped off the cloth revealing a plump loaf of bread, some cheese
, and a squat jug. From the latter he poured out something to drink and ga
ve me the cup.
"More wine?" I asked dubiously. "Barley water. It will thin the wine in you
r blood." "Good idea." I drank deeply and felt better for it and looked at
the food with more interest than before, falling upon the cheese. "There's
too much here for me, have some." Jericho hesitated, looking uncomfortable.
"Is something wrong?"
"No, sir, but I do not think it would be quite—" "Of course it wouldn't, so .
.." I kicked out a chair for him. "Those fools in Philadelphia are rebelling
against the king without a second thought, so I shall rebel against our local
queen. It's been a hard day, Jericho, and I need your company. Eat or not as
you choose, but do sit with me."
He closed the door to the hall and only then allowed himself the ease of the
chair and the comfort of good food.
He was slightly older than I and his father was my father's valet. After I
was born, they decided that he should assume thai duty for me once I had ou
tgrown the nursery. Though a servant Jericho and I had been friends long be
fore the establishment of his place in the household and this new deference
 in him troubled me.
"Is it Mother?" I asked, reaching to tear off a piece of bread. I made a mess
of it, scattering crumbs everywhere.
"In an indirect way," he admitted. "We've all heard thai you're to go off to
England soon."
"I most certainly am not. She's got this idea lodged in ha head, but Father wi
ll shake it loose and that will be the end of
it."
"My bomba isn't too sure of that," he said. Jericho spoke perfect English,
but sometimes used a few words his father had brought with him from Africa,
the only baggage he'd bea allowed by the slavers.
Knowing that Archimedes might be privy to information I didn't, I said, "W
hy does he think so?"
"Because your father does what your mother says."
"Now you're sounding like Elizabeth," I complained. "But Father is the hea
d of this house. Mother will have to do what he says and she knows that. S
he waited and told me only after he was gone. She wanted me on her side so
he would say yes to please me. I've gone along with it, but only until he
comes home." I took a few more vicious bites from the cheese. Damnation.
The woman was treating me like a petulant child and now I was beginning to
sound like one.