strijst: переводы

→Adriana stared at me, her face very serious. ‘Did Horn sniff you out?’

→Alice shook her head. ‘I come from a clan of Pendle witches and I was taught the dark craft for two years. But no, I’m not a witch. Ain’t right that we’ve been brought here, especially Tom. He’s a spook’s apprentice and fights for the light. They say he’s a warlock, but that ain’t true.’

→The girl tossed her hair and frowned. ‘I don’t have a familiar. Don’t give my blood to anything. Not dark stuff like that. I’m a bird witch. Birds are my friends. We help each other. What about you, Alice? Are you a witch?’

→‘Are you a witch?’ I asked.

→She glanced at Alice then gave me a warm smile. ‘My name’s Adriana Lonan,’ she said. ‘I was born and bred on Mona and they’ve left me alone until now. But everything’s gone crazy and they’re testing even their own folk to see if they’re witches.’

→‘Don’t like this place much,’ said Alice, her voice hardly more than a whisper.

→I looked about me. A single candle stood in a recess in the wall, flickering in the draught from a narrow window far above. The cell was circular, with no furniture and only dirty straw covering the damp flags of the floor.

→We were dragged up some steps to a door about halfway up the tower, and after our hands had been untied we were thrust inside. The door clanged behind us, a key turned in the lock and the guards went back down the stairs, their footsteps echoing off the stones.

→After a while we came to a broad, busy thoroughfare in which every fifth house seemed to be an inn. I glanced through the window of the first tavern. It looked full, but I didn’t realize how full until I opened the door. Warm air and a strong odour of ale wafted over me; the loud, boisterous crowd of drinkers inside were standing shoulder to shoulder. I saw that I would have to push my way in forcefully, so I turned, shook my head at Alice and led the way further down the street.

→‘I don’t think Mona’s that small, Alice. There’ll be plenty of places to hide,’ I told her. I hoped I was right.

→‘We’d have been better off taking our chances in the County,’ Alice remarked. ‘Don’t care how many streams we cross, they’ll hunt us down now for sure. Soon find us on an island this size.’

→‘Think they’ll make a serious effort to find us?’ I asked him, catching up at last.

→The Spook had reached the summit of a hill and was staring off into the distance.

→We climbed up through the trees, the Spook some distance ahead.