Kattushka: переводы

→‘You mean you have a bird for a familiar,’ Alice corrected her.

→Adriana nodded. ‘I’m a bird witch,’ she said.

→I nodded. ‘My name’s Tom Ward and this is my friend, Alice.’

→‘Came across the water from the County, did you?’ she asked.

→Someone stepped out of the shadows to confront us. It was a tall girl of about eighteen or nineteen with dark glossy hair which reached down to her shoulders. She wore a pretty blue dress and her skin was clean and shining with health. She didn’t look much like a prisoner.

→We both tucked into our hot steak and ale pies while the captain told us what he knew. It seemed that almost all the refugees were being returned to the County. The leaders of the island’s Ruling Council were afraid that if they weren’t, Mona would be the next place to come under attack.

→What if Bony Lizzie was at large on the island?

→At that Alice gave a little gasp. I knew what she was thinking. The Pendle witches would no doubt stay put and wait to see what happened. But this could well be the work of another witch – some would have fled the County – and what if it was Alice’s mother?

→‘You’ve little chance of that, young Tom. My own ship, the Celeste, is impounded and has armed guards on board. As for the people I brought here, they’re all in custody. Same with the refugees from the other ships. You can’t really blame the islanders though. The last thing they want is for the invaders to come here. They’re scared of witches fleeing the County too – and with good reason. A small fishing boat came ashore to the north. Both crew members were dead – they’d been drained of blood and their thumb-bones cut away.’

→‘He’s up on the hillside south of the town. He sent me down to see if I could hire a boat to take us further west to Ireland.’

→‘Where’s your master now?’

→‘We came in a small fishing boat. We were dropped south of Douglas but ran into trouble right away. We were lucky to escape. A man with a club tried to arrest us but Mr Gregory knocked him out.’

→‘Landlord, bring us two steak and ale pies and make them piping hot!’ he called out towards the bar, then turned back to face us. ‘Who brought you across the water?’ he asked, lowering his voice.

→I nodded. I was starving. Apart from a few mouthfuls of cheese, the last thing we’d eaten had been the rabbits that Alice had cooked the previous night.

→‘Are you hungry?’ he asked.

→The captain wore a long, dark, waterproof coat with a thick grey woollen jumper underneath: sailors certainly knew how to dress for cold weather. He led the way back to a bare wooden table in the corner, and we sat down on stools facing him.

→‘It’s good to see you, lad. The girl too!’ he said, looking at Alice, who was standing in the open doorway. ‘Come across and warm yourselves by the fire.’

→It was Captain Baines of the Celeste, the ship that Mam had chartered for our voyage to Greece the previous summer. He operated out of Sunderland Point. No doubt he’d sailed here with a hold full of those fleeing the invaders.

→‘Well, if it isn’t Tom Ward!’ And a large red-faced man with side whiskers strode towards me.

→She was soon proved right. It was right at the end of the narrow street, on the corner, the main door facing towards the harbour. Like the last tavern, it was almost empty, with just a few people standing at the bar clutching tankards of ale. The proprietor looked across at me with interest rather than hostility, and that curiosity quickly decided me – it was better to get out. But just as I turned to go, a voice called my name.