"P. N. Elrod - Jonathan Barrett 04 - Dance of Death" - читать интересную книгу автора (Elrod P N)

weep down and through to become solid once more in the little room beyond.
I say little, for Ridley seemed to fill the whole of its space. I was a tall
man, but Ridley was just that much taller, possessing a large and fit body he
avy with muscles and all of them full charged with his anger. The remains of
some bandaging circled his head; he'd suffered injury last night and taken a
shallow but colorful wound. It had probably opened again because of his exert
ions; the blood had soaked through, and I instantly picked up the scent of it
. His right arm had been in a sling the last time I'd seen him. The sling
was gone now and his arm hung slack at his side. He still had much energy
in him, for he slammed at the door again using his good arm and called us
cowards and damned us thrice over. His back was to me when I caused myself
to reappear.
The candle I held yet burned, and its sudden radiance drew his instant atten
tion upon me. He whirled, one hand raised holding what had once been a table
leg and the other shading his eyes from the brightness of the flame. We'd l
eft him in the dark for the whole of the day lest he work some damage by hav
ing fire, and so my tiny light must have been utterly blinding to him. Despi
te this, he was very game for a fight, and without warning threw his improvi
sed club right at me with a guttural snarl. I wasted no time vanishing again
, an action that plunged his room into full darkness once more since I still
clutched the candle.
He must have been so lost to his emotions that it had made little or no imp
ression on him that I'd appeared from nowhere and departed in the same mann
er. I'd held some hope that the surprise alone might slow him enough for me
to soothe him to quiescence, but was forced to abandon it as he charged ov
er to the spot where I'd been standing and tried to grab hold of me. I felt
his arms passing this way and that through my invisible and incorporeal bo
dy. He, I knew, would feel nothing but an unnatural coldness.
Now he blundered about trying to find me, cursing like a dozen sailors.
"Jonathan?'' Oliver called out in a worried voice.
I could not answer him in this form, nor could I count on him to be especi
ally patient. We were as close as brothers, and his concern for me would s
oon cause him to fetch the footmen and come to my rescue. Even with the od
ds at seven to one Ridley would probably break some heads before being sub
dued.
I didn't care for that prospect one whit. When Ridley had crossed again to t
he door in his blind search, I allowed myself to assume a degree of visibili
ty, but not solidity. He saw the candlelight immediately as before, but this
time it was pale and watery, the brass holder in the hand of a ghost, not a
man. This was so startling that he finally paused long enough to take in a
good view of me. I was fairly transparent yet; doubtless he could see right
through me to the damp brick wall at my back, an alarming effect that more t
han served. In the space of a moment Ridley went from a man who looked just
short of bursting a blood vessel from his fury, to a man frozen with a profo
und astonishment beginning to edge into fear.
It was as close as I'd likely be able to come to a favorable condition for
what needed to be accomplished. Quick as thought, I assumed full solidity,
fastened my gaze unbreakably on to his, and told him to be still. Perhaps f
ed by my own heightened emotions, my order to him must have had more force
to it than was necessary for he seemed to turn to cold marble right then an