"Dan Parkinson. The Gates of Thorbardin ("DragonLance Saga Heroes II" #2) (angl)" - читать интересную книгу автора

weighting it with stones. Chess came to watch him work,
peering over his shoulder. "Do you think it will work?"
he asked.
"Of course not," Chane snapped. "I'm just doing this

for practice."
"What's wrong with it?"
"To start with, in order for a skid to move gravel,
somebody has to get out in front of it and pull it. And
whoever does that is going to be eight feet past the edge
of the path before the gravel load gets there."
"That could be a little chancy," Chess admitted, look-
ing around at the patrolling cats. "But if you don't pull
too fast, I can come along behind you and..."
"Me pull?"
"It's your skid," the kender pointed out. "Besides,
you're bigger than me. Anyway, I can follow along and
throw gravel out ahead of you, enough to keep the cats
back while you reroute the road."
"I don't see anything wrong with just leaving the
blasted road where it is!"
"We've already been over that," the kender said.
Considering the circumstances of its construction, the
skid worked fairly well. The black gravel on the path
was only a few inches deep, with ordinary clay below,
and when Chane put his shoulders to the tow-vines and
dragged the sled, it plowed up a growing mound of black
pebbles in front, and left bare clay behind.
'That's perfect," Chess grinned. "Just head for the
curve, and keep going straight ahead when you get there.
I'm right behind you."
"That's comforting to know," the dwarf growled.
When he came to the curve, Chane was barely mov-
ing. The load of gravel ahead of the skid had grown so
that it took all his strength to move it. He hesitated at the
edge of the path, confronted by cats. Then showers of
black gravel began to fly over his shoulders, some of it
pelting him from behind as the kender flung enthusiastic
handfuls as fast as he could. The cats snarled and
snapped, but backed away. "Take the weights off the
skid," the dwarf called.
"Why?" Another handful of gravel flew, one fair-sized
pebble catching Chane on the cheek as he turned.
"So it will spread the gravel instead of scooping it!
Don't argue, just do it!"

Chess removed the weights, then resumed showering
gravel as Chane took up his harness again.
By the time the skid was exhausted, the pathway south
of the curve had a bare clay stripe angling from its center