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Wizards First Rule :: Goodkind Terry
Страница: 33 из 638Richard had strung a leather thong to it so he could wear it around his neck, but like his knife and backpack he had stupidly left the house without it. He was impatient to have it back around his neck; without it, he couldn't prove his father wasn't a thief.
Higher up, after an open area of bare rock, the maples, oaks, and birches began to give way to spruce. The forest floor lost its green for a quiet, brown mat of needles. As they walked along, an uneasy feeling began to itch at him. He gently took Kahlan's sleeve between his thumb and forefinger, pulling her back.
"Let me go first," he said quietly. She looked at him and obeyed without question. For the next half hour he slowed the pace, studying the ground and inspecting every branch close to the trail. Richard stopped at the base of the last ridge before his house and squatted them down beside a patch of ferns.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Maybe nothing," he whispered, "but someone has been up the trail this afternoon." He picked up a flattened pinecone, looking at it for a short time before tossing it away.
"How do you know?"
"Spiderwebs." He looked up the hill. "There aren't any spiderwebs across the trail. Someone has been up the trail and broken them. The spiders haven't had time to string more, so there aren't any."
"Does anyone else live up this trail?"
"No. It could be just a traveler, passing through. But this trail isn't used much."
Kahlan frowned, perplexed. "When I was walking in front, there were spiderwebs all over. I was picking them off my face every ten steps."
"That's what I'm talking about," he whispered. "No one had been up that part of the trail all day, but since the open place we came through, there haven't been any more."
"How could that be?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. Either someone came out of the woods back by the clearing, and then went up the trail, a very hard way to travel"-he looked her in the eyes-"or they dropped in out of the sky. My house is over this hill. Let's keep our eyes sharp."
Richard carefully led the two of them up the rise, both scanning the woods as they went. He wanted to run in the other direction, take them away from there, but he couldn't. He wasn't running away without the tooth his father had given him for safekeeping.
At the top of the rise they crouched behind a big pine and looked down on his house. Windows were broken, and the door, which he always locked, stood open. His possessions were scattered about on the ground.
Richard stood. "It's been ransacked, just like my father's house."
She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and hauled him back down.
Higher up, after an open area of bare rock, the maples, oaks, and birches began to give way to spruce. The forest floor lost its green for a quiet, brown mat of needles. As they walked along, an uneasy feeling began to itch at him. He gently took Kahlan's sleeve between his thumb and forefinger, pulling her back.
"Let me go first," he said quietly. She looked at him and obeyed without question. For the next half hour he slowed the pace, studying the ground and inspecting every branch close to the trail. Richard stopped at the base of the last ridge before his house and squatted them down beside a patch of ferns.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
He shook his head. "Maybe nothing," he whispered, "but someone has been up the trail this afternoon." He picked up a flattened pinecone, looking at it for a short time before tossing it away.
"How do you know?"
"Spiderwebs." He looked up the hill. "There aren't any spiderwebs across the trail. Someone has been up the trail and broken them. The spiders haven't had time to string more, so there aren't any."
"Does anyone else live up this trail?"
"No. It could be just a traveler, passing through. But this trail isn't used much."
Kahlan frowned, perplexed. "When I was walking in front, there were spiderwebs all over. I was picking them off my face every ten steps."
"That's what I'm talking about," he whispered. "No one had been up that part of the trail all day, but since the open place we came through, there haven't been any more."
"How could that be?"
He shook his head. "I don't know. Either someone came out of the woods back by the clearing, and then went up the trail, a very hard way to travel"-he looked her in the eyes-"or they dropped in out of the sky. My house is over this hill. Let's keep our eyes sharp."
Richard carefully led the two of them up the rise, both scanning the woods as they went. He wanted to run in the other direction, take them away from there, but he couldn't. He wasn't running away without the tooth his father had given him for safekeeping.
At the top of the rise they crouched behind a big pine and looked down on his house. Windows were broken, and the door, which he always locked, stood open. His possessions were scattered about on the ground.
Richard stood. "It's been ransacked, just like my father's house."
She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and hauled him back down.