"Clayton Emery - Joseph Fisher - Inwardly Ravening Wolves" - читать интересную книгу автора (Emery Clayton)

daft bugger" to slice off the wolf's tail. Instead, the
student slit the wolf's belly, hauled out the stomach
and intestines, split them, dug through slime with
his bare hands. Men recoiled from the stench until
Joseph gave a shout.

"Here! See?" Deaf, Joseph yelled, his breath blowing
frost. He wiped something on his shirt, held it up.

A musket ball.

"Witness I used only buckshot to kill this wolf! I
even discharged Mister Macintosh's gun to assure
there were no musket balls! Now I've hunted inside
this wolf's guts and found a musket ball! I didn't fire
it into his carcass, so how did it get there?"

A ring of puzzled faces.

"This wolf swallowed this ball when it was lodged in
the heart and lungs of Elias Somers! So this ball
killed Somers, no?"

More puzzlement, but Paul nodded to go on.

Joseph picked up the grimy Indian gun, held the
musket ball to the bore: too big by an eighth of an
inch. "A French-model musket is a smaller caliber
than an English gun! Thus we demonstrate this ball,
that killed Somers, was not fired from Opechee's
musket!"

Men looked up at a growl.

Face aflame with fury, Rob Macintosh levelled his
long English gun at Joseph's belly and pulled the
trigger.

The hammer clacked on the frizzen, but struck no
spark.

Joseph stalked forward and grabbed the barrel.
Raging, Macintosh racked back the hammer and
snapped again, still lacked a spark. The student
twisted the musket away. Macintosh whirled to run,
but big Paul bowled him over.

Men slapped Joseph's back. Gradually voices filtered
through the buzz in his ears. Paul nattered, "...
brilliant! Fie, wait'll Anne gets a look at you! Like the