"Ed Howdershelt - Mindy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Howdershelt Ed)

wearing heavily-layered, Elizabethan-style costumes in the middle of a Texas summer, then,
yes, it is. If what you really meant was, 'did I steal a bunch of road signs', then the answer is
no, I didn't. They were all damaged, replaced, and sent to be scrapped."
She smiled slightly, tightened and patted her new bow knot into place between her breasts,
and then, as if slightly shocked by her own suspicions, said, "Well, far be it from me to
question the honor of a knight, Sir. How might I make it up to you?"
I pretended to have to think about that a moment, then said, "Well, MiLady, if you truly wish
to atone, you could accompany me to the feast tonight. I could then focus on your loveliness
and ignore the banality and bravado so common to such events. Even the king would have to
forgive my inattention if a woman as lovely as you were to be my companion at the feast
table."
She assimilated my answer for a moment, then grinned and said, "Oooo, that came out very
well indeed. And with a straight face, too."
"Aha, you think it's a line. Well, consider this: The king has a new girlfriend, so I'm not
worried about incurring his attention, anyway. Since you are very lovely and they can be very
banal at feasts, I can't think that even one word was misspoken."
"It was still a line of fluff, MiLord, but I liked it. Certainly, sir, I'd be happy to accompany you
to the feast if I may bring a lady friend." She made a small curtsey.
I took her hand as it was offered for a kiss and felt the familiar mental nudge as her name
came to me during our touching. "You're Mindy," I said, "A lovely name. I'm Ed."
Some people don't react well to being identified by touch, but Mindy handled it well enough.
She didn't try to break contact, but she tensed and her eyes narrowed a bit. "Cute trick," she
said, "But you could have overheard it or asked someone about me."
"Absolutely possible," I said, "I'd imagine that many have asked about you. Green eyes,
blonde hair, beautiful... Yup. I'm pretty sure they have."
Her skepticism was unabated. After a moment's hard gaze, she said, "That approach
probably scares some people away, you know."
I smiled and said, "I didn't approach you, you approached me, and it only scares the
uninteresting people. Those who can think have to question unusual things. Fearful people and
those who don't think or question are generally rather dull company."
Mindy digested this bit of opinion for a moment. "I'm not afraid of you and I'm questioning.
Are you going to tell me how you got my name?"
"You saw it happen. Test me on someone you know I've never met."
Mindy regarded me carefully for a moment or two as she sipped her beer. "You can bet I'll do
that. Got any other tricks in store?"
"Tricks? Well, no... But would you settle for a treat, instead?"
I saw an 'Oh, no, here comes the REAL bullshit' look cross her face. She sighed and asked,
"A treat? Dare I ask what that might be?"
"No need. I'll tell. You also sort of told me you like gin and bitter lemon or lime. I know who
has some gin I can trade for and we can liberate a lime from the feast table." I shouldered my
armor. "Let's dump this stuff at my tent and wander around a bit."
Mindy didn't bat an eye, she just picked up my sword and said, "We can get some clean ice
and cups at my tent." She gave me an 'I'll see your bet and raise you' look. I smiled at her and
started walking toward my tent.
Did I mention it was hot? It had to be a hundred degrees in the shade, but there were a
couple of "knights" battling with swords and shields as we passed the field. Mindy didn't seem
interested, which made me wonder what about me had caught her attention. I'm not one of
those overly-muscled hunks at 6'2" and 178 pounds, and since my day had largely been spent
on the battlefield, she couldn't have spotted either my sparkling personality or incisive
intellect. Or even my modesty... We didn't talk much as we wound our way to my tent, but as