"Gray, Julia - Guardian 01 - The Dark Moon" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gray Julia)

The cow had produced several calves over the years, and she knew - from the pain and the length of time this one was taking - that something was seriously wrong. She was growing weak now, and if she went down there was a good chance they would lose her and the calf. Sarafia, who had been holding the cow's head while the men laboured, was in tears, distressed by the animal's protracted ordeal.
Terrel, watching from the barn door, wished there was something he could do to help, but he usually kept well out of the way on these occasions. This was not mere squeamishness on his part - although he did find the process vaguely repulsive - but because he still believed that his presence made animals nervous. That was the last thing they needed now.
With another agonized groan the cow ducked her head, then raised it sharply, catching Sarafia off guard and sending her sprawling on to the straw. Ty glanced at his daughter in alarm, saw that she was unharmed but in no state to help any more, then shouted over his shoulder.
'Terrel! Get in here! Hold her still, or we'll never have a chance.'
Terrel limped across as fast as he could, and took hold of the muzzle that had been fitted to the cow's head. Dark brown eyes regarded him dolefully, madness sparking in their depths. Instinctively he stroked her hard, wide nose and whispered in her ear.
'Be calm. It's going to be all right.'
To his amazement he felt the animal relax a little, and it was soon clear that Ty and Vizquel were aware of it too.
'I. don't know what you're doing,' the farmer's son gasped, 'but keep doing it. It's coming.'
'Come on, old girl,' Ty repeated, a little more hopefully this time. 'Nearly there.'
Terrel found himself in a waking dream, fighting pain that for once was not his own, and even though he didn't really know what he was doing, the process seemed natural enough.
When the calf was finally born, emerging into the world in a sudden ungainly rush, its mother moaned with exhaustion and relief. Terrel still held her head, murmuring soothing words, while Ty and Vizquel tried unsuccessfully to coax the unconscious new-born creature into life.
'It's no good,' Ty said eventually. 'It's dead.'
'At least the old girl's all right,' Vizquel said. He sounded sad, and utterly weary.
Ty went to his daughter and picked her up.
'Are you all right, little one?'
Sarafia nodded, snuffling, and he carried her out of the barn. Vizquel came to give what comfort he could to the cow, and Terrel left him to it. He too felt exhausted, even though he had only been directly involved for a very short time. Looking now at the bloody corpse on the ground, he thought it was too small, too pitiful, to have been the cause of such turmoil. He was about to turn away when he stopped, sure that he had seen the calf's eyelids flicker.
He quickly knelt at the creature's side. Ignoring the gore that matted its coat, he put a tentative hand on the small head. It was still warm, and Terrel knew - without knowing how - that there was still a spark of life somewhere. This time he fought not against pain but against a morbid apathy, willing the flickering spark into flame. The calf coughed weakly, then shivered. Breath bubbled around its nostrils. Finally its legs began to move, scrabbling against the floor until it rose unsteadily to its feet and stood trembling for a while before tottering over to its mother.
Terrel watched as the calf began to suckle, feeling an exhausted delight - until he glanced at Vizquel and saw that the farmer's son was staring at him with an incredulous mixture of awe and terror on his face.
That evening, when everyone had been told what had happened and had been to see the miraculous calf, Terrel was treated like a hero, but he knew that there was also an element of disquiet in the way they regarded him. He began to wonder if perhaps they thought he really was an enchanter after all. Only Sarafia seemed to be unreservedly delighted by what had happened; all the rest seemed to think he'd somehow brought the calf back from the dead. He tried to explain that it had been alive all the time, that it had simply needed someone to convince it to make the effort, but he was not sure they believed him. Everything Terrel had done had been instinctive, without the need of conscious thought, and in the end even he began to wonder what exactly had taken place. He went to bed that night later than usual, feeling a confused mixture of emotions, and expecting to relive the day in his dreams. In the event he slept soundly, and when he woke he couldn't remember any dreams at all.
Staggering out of the barn in which he slept, he went over to the well, intending to draw some water to wash and try to revive his sluggish brain. He saw Jehar standing by the gate at the end of the yard, staring at the distant horizon. There was something about his unnatural stillness that worried Terrel.
'Are you all right?' he asked as he came up behind the farmer's son.
Jehar did not turn round, but must have recognized the voice because he flinched, even as he continued to gaze into the distance.
'I've thought something was wrong for a few days,' he said quietly. 'Now I'm sure of it.'
'What's the matter?'
'It's moving much too fast,' Jehar replied, 'and too far. Look.'
Terrel looked, and saw the orange glow as the first curve of the sun rose into the sky. For a few moments he saw nothing untoward, then he got his bearings and finally realized what Jehar meant. Even the heavens were defying the laws of nature.
The sun was rising in the north.

Chapter Eighteen

'The islands must be spinning,' Terrel said. He knew enough about astronomy to be fairly sure that this was the only explanation that made sense.
'And they don't normally?' Jehar asked, obviously confused.
'No. As far as anyone can tell, the Floating Islands act like an enormous lodestone. Regardless of where we are in the ocean, or which way we're heading, we keep our orientation more or less the same - even when we change course.'
'So the sun always rises in the east and sets in the west?'
'Exactly.' Terrel recalled a passage from Muzeni's journal concerning the invisible metallic flux. According to the heretic this was connected to the lodestone theory, but Terrel had not been able to work out how.
'But the place it rises changes during the year,' Jehar objected.
'That's mostly because the entire planet is tilted on its axis,' Terrel explained. 'And our position in the ocean affects it too.'
'But not as much as this.'
'No,' Terrel agreed. Here was yet another sign that all was not well with the world.
'What does it mean?' Jehar said. 'What's happening?'
'I wish I knew.'
They were silent for a while as the sun's light grew brighter and they felt the first warmth of the day.
'How do you know all this stuff?' Jehar asked eventually.
'I read about it in books.' Terrel had told his hosts much the same story as he had told Efrin, portraying himself as a homeless orphan. It was as close to the truth as he had been able to come.
Jehar, who could not write more than his own name and was able to read only enough to decipher the necessary signs and dates in the farmer's almanac, accepted Terrel's answer without comment.
'First the Dark Moon, now this,' he said quietly. 'The seers will probably change the rules again now, won't they.'
Terrel, who had no way of knowing, said nothing. He had no doubt that similar comments were being made all over Vadanis, and he was thankful he was not a village underseer. Chenowith and his colleagues were going to have a lot of explaining to do - and were probably as much in the dark as everyone else.
'I thought the gossip we heard at market yesterday was crazy,' Jehar said. 'Now I'm not so sure.'
'What gossip?'
'Some madman was saying that the islands had gone off course. That it was a sign.'