"Norton, Andre - No night without stars" - читать интересную книгу автора (Andre Norton)

many--we do not know for what they stand--things, actions--" She shook her head
slightly. "So much lost. Even more will go with, those ravening Sea Sharks." Now
her rounded jawline set, and she looked bleakly into the fire.


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"Life was good in Padford." She spoke as if assuring herself of the past, as if
she were no longer aware he existed. "Our planted land grew wider each year. We
did not have to depend alone on the bounty of the sea--which can fail at times--as
first we did when we settled here. The Traders came in the mid-summer. Twice my
mother bargained for books--real books--those records which the Before Men kept.
She read them--a little--and what she knew she taught me. We might have learned so
much more, given the time." Her hand cupped the pendant on her breast.
"This was given her by him who fathered me. He came with the Traders, yet was
not of their breed--rather a seeker for lost knowledge, journeying from a far
place. He was making a book himself, recording all that he learned, for his clan
was a clan of men wiser than any I have heard of. And he left this necklace so
that, if my mother bore a child, that child might seek out the greater source of
learning. He taught her its secret--" When she fell silent, Sander could not help
asking:
"What became of him?"
"He died," she returned flatly. "There was a sickness and dire pain that came
upon him. He knew the secret of it--there was a part within his body that was
diseased, that should be cut out. But my mother had no skill to cut to save. So
he died. Then she swore by the Great Moon that bore she a child, that child must
learn and learn so that the old knowledge would be once more ready to serve her
people. But she and I, we were bound to the kin, we could not go a-seeking such
learning at our own will. We must be there to talk to the waters at the setting
out of the fishing boats, to bless the sowing of the fields so that more grain
would grow. It was of our blood line that this was set upon us. Now--I go to seek
what this key will open." She still fingered the pendant. "But by the Great
Moon, I would that my seeking had not come through such a means!"
[06]
The night had gathered in. Only their fire made a barrier against crowding
shadows. Sander stood up and whistled sharply, suddenly conscious that Rhin had
not yet returned. When the koyot did not bark in answer, he was once more
uneasy. Perhaps Rhin had to range far in the hunt. It was not unknown for him
sometimes to spend half the night on his own. But in this unknown land Sander
wished him closer.
"He is not near." The girl spoke calmly. "They have their own lives, do the
furred ones. We cannot demand more of them than they willingly give."
"I do not like it," muttered Sander, though he must agree with her. His
association with the koyot was a voluntary one on both their parts. To compel
Rhin was to lose him. But he was unhappy now as he settled himself to a doze
beside the fire, nodding awake now and then to feed a handful of wood to the
flames.
The girl did not settle as quickly in the bed made of her day cloak. Instead,
she took from one of those belt bags four small white cubes, each of their sides