"Simon R. Green - Drinking Midnight Wine" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Simon R)

its cage held it, as it had for centuries past and would do so for centuries yet to come.
There were those who said the Howling Thing founded Bradford-on-Avon, long, long ago.
Others said it tried to destroy the town. And some claimed it was the town's spirit, and that if
it ever escaped or was released, the town would come to an end. The truth was, no one knew
anything for sure any more. But absolutely no one was prepared to risk setting the Thing free,
even if they knew how.
Leo padded on after the dead man, all through the town and out the other side. As buildings
gave way more and more to open countryside, Leo began to get a really bad feeling about
where they were going. And soon enough, all too soon, the open fields butted up against the
silent, dead trees of Blackacre. Reed walked unhesitatingly into the dead thickets, but Leo
paused for a moment, wondering if he really was that determined to avenge his friend.
Nothing good ever came out of Blackacre.
Even Leo Morn had enough sense to be scared of Blackacre.
But in the end, he plunged on into the thicket of dark, lifeless trees, if only because he
didn't want to. Leo had his pride. As he entered the woods he dropped suddenly out of the
real and into Mysterie, with a sharp shock that for a moment took his breath away. He'd never
known a place so strongly magical as to rip him out of one world and into the next, against
his will. His senses became sharper, more focused, as using his father's legacy he adapted to
the magical world, and with a slow sense of horror he realised that Blackacre no longer
existed in the real world. Only its shell remained in Veritie, an empty vision of what had once
been as real as earth and rock. Something, or more likely someone, had torn the guts out of
Blackacre and pinned them firmly in Mysterie. Blackacre was a wholly magical place now,
where dark, bad, magical things could be done.
Leo's pace slowed, almost despite himself. As his father's son, he was a powerful presence
himself in Mysterie; but he'd never cared for that. Legacies and destinies were for other
people. He preferred the simpler, subtler, more real pleasures of being just a man.
'Are you still with me, Brother?'
Of course. His Brother's voice was clear and sharp, with a much stronger sense of presence,
now that they were both in Mysterie. This is bad, Leo, really bad. Whoever gutted Blackacre to
make it his own has to be one of the Powers and Dominations. In which case, we are both well out of
our depth and sinking fast. It disturbs me that I sensed nothing of such a presence operating recently.
Or that I knew nothing of Blackacre's destruction in the real world. I should have known. Proceed
cautiously, Leo. These are deep, dark waters we find ourselves in.
Leo didn't need telling. Just walking through the dead woods was enough to put all his hair
on end. Blackacre felt like long fingernails scraping down his soul. The blackened trees bore
no leaves or blossom, and never would again. Thick black boles and stark black branches
were held utterly still, undisturbed by any trace of a breeze. Nothing moved in Blackacre, not
even the air. Nothing but Leo Morn, and a dead man. The ground was inches deep in ashes,
and Leo's every footstep made loud crunching sounds, for all his stealth, announcing his
presence. He let himself fall farther back, still keeping Reed in sight, as he glanced warily
about him. There were no animals, no insects, no birds. This was a dead place, where perhaps
even time stood still.
It was like walking on the moon. Life had come and gone, and nothing would ever thrive in
Blackacre again. Once, there had been a great fire here, some awful heat that had scoured all
life away and left only dead things behind. Which rather raised the question of where the
dead man was going, and who or what was waiting to receive him. Like the rest of the town,
Leo had heard rumours of a new owner of Blackacre Farm and its surrounding land, but he'd
assumed that was only in Veritie. Reed seemed to be heading straight for the deserted
farmhouse, and whatever occupied it now - something so powerful it could even hide itself
from The Brother Under The Hill.