"Alastair Reynolds - The Sledge-maker's Daughter" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reynolds Alastair)

the side. He rummaged in the bag and drew out the pig'''s head. Kathrin hesitated at the entrance to the
narrow alley, watching as Garret held the head out over the roiling water.

'''You can have your pig back. Just come a wee bit closer.'''

'''So you can do what you did last time?'''

'''I don'''t remember any complaints.''' He let the head fall, then caught it again, Kathrin'''s heart in her
throat.

'''You know I couldn'''t complain.'''

'''Not much to ask for a pig'''s head, is it?''' With his free hand, he fumbled open his trousers, tugging out
the pale worm of his cock. '''You did it before, and it didn'''t kill you. Why not now? I won'''t trouble you
again.'''

She watched his cock stiffen. '''You said that last time.'''

'''Aye, but this time I mean it. Come over here, Kathrin. Be a good girl now and you'''ll have your pig
back.'''

Kathrin looked back over her shoulder. No one was going to disturb them. The dray had blocked all the
traffic behind it, and nothing was coming over the bridge from the south.

'''Please,''' she said.

'''Just this once,''' Garret said. '''And make your mind up fast, girl. This pig'''s getting awfully heavy in my
hand.'''

###

Kathrin stood in the widow'''s candlelit kitchen ''' it only had one tiny, dusty window - while the old
woman turned her bent back to attend to the coals burning in her black metal stove. She poked and
prodded the fire until it hissed back like a cat. '''You came all the way from Jarrow Ferry?''' she asked.

'''Aye,''' Kathrin said. The room smelled smoky.

'''That'''s too far for anyone, let alone a sixteen year old lass. I should have a word with your father. I
heard he was working on Twenty Arch Bridge.'''

Kathrin shifted uncomfortably. '''I don'''t mind walking. The weather'''s all right.'''

'''So they say. All the same, the evenings are still cold, and there are types about you wouldn'''t care to
meet on your own, miles from Jarrow.'''

'''I'''ll be back before it gets dark,''' Kathrin said, with more optimism than she felt. Not if she went out of
her way to avoid Garret Kinnear she wouldn'''t. He knew the route she'''d normally take back home, and
the alternatives would mean a much longer journey.

'''You sure about that?'''