"Eric Van Lustbader - Sunset Warrior 3 - Dai-San" - читать интересную книгу автора (Lustbader Eric van)

6 Uric lE Lustbader

pair of copper-handled dirks were thrust into his
sash. He turned his head into the rising sun, and
the light fired the tiny diamond set in the flesh of
his right nostril.

"This gimpy knows what he is talking about,
Captain. The chart is no fake, that I can tell you,
for many a forgery has been sold to me in my
youth. It is my great good fortune to take this
beauty to a land long forgotten by man."

"Then it is your opinion that Ama-no-mori still
exists."

"Yes, Captain, in my opinion it does." The
deep-set eyes raked Ronin's face. "But do you not
feel this already" he slapped his chest "here?"

Ronin's colorless eyes at last left the roiling sea
before them, swung to study the angular face with
its long hooked nose and hooded eyes. A depth of
strength was alive within that visage as solid as a
harsh rock promontory in a fierce gale, bartered
but victorious.

Ronin nodded and said slowly: "You are right,
my friend, of course. But you must also
understand that for me the search for this isle has
been long, has forged my life into a shape totally
unknown to me. Now it is almost too much to
think that at last it will be over."

Moichi's cinnamon face softened and he
gripped Ronin's shoulder momentarily.

"It is the truth, Captain. You live with an idea
for so long a time that, after a while, it is just that
which begins to have the reality. Be careful of
that."

Ronin smiled, then cocked his head. There was
a small silence.

"What was it that you said to me when you came
up?"

The navigator turned his head, spat over the