Axler, James - Deathlands 20 by Axler James

Author:Axler, James
Language: eng
Format: epub

Chapter Twenty

Generated by ABC Amber LIT Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html

"You're all thinking that I look like a Currer and Ives portrait of Father Christmas. Don't deny it, my friends. Everyone says it."

Ryan had never heard of Currer and Ives, but he had certainly seen pictures of Santa Claus, knew that he had been a mystical figure from way before sky-dark who was a sort of patron saint for children and who gave presents to them.

Nobody could argue with Baron Nathan Mandeville about the way he looked. He even dressed in a loose red shirt and red trousers to augment the impression.

He looked to be in his late fifties, burly running toward fat. His red cheeks spoke of a liking for alcohol, or high blood pressure. Perhaps both. A shock of thick white hair ran down past his ears and turned into a startling full beard and mustache. He had soft lips, like a young woman's.

Mandeville sat at the head of a long table, with his daughter at his right hand. Marie was wearing a floor-length dress of black leather, perforated with hundreds of tiny holes, so that it shimmered like a fishing net. It wasn't quite possible to tell whether she was naked underneath the gown.

There were seats for twenty or thirty at the refectory table, but only Mandeville and Marie were seated there. Ryan noticed another table, close to the entrance to the kitchen, where half a dozen young men were crowded together. Among them were Anthony and the others from the hunting party.

"Come, join me, ladies and gentlemen. I keep a poor table, with only the most humble of food and drink, but you are most welcome to it. As is any traveler." He gestured to Krysty, pointing to the seat on his left.

"Here, my dear, and make an old man happy with your beauty. Rest of you, take what places you find best."

Ryan sat next to Krysty, with Dean on his left. After some shuffling and hesitation, Doc found himself seated alongside Mistress Marie Mandeville, who pointedly ignored him, with Michael on his right. J.B.

placed himself next to Michael with Mildred opposite.

The "humble" food and drink was as good as any of them had ever eaten.

They began with a mousseline of salmon and juniper berries, served on a bed of diced fresh salad vegetables. Enormous trouble had been taken, with tiny carrots carved in crocus shapes, and tomatoes that looked like flowering roses.

With it, the maroon-clad sommelier offered a light white wine, with a hint of quince and nettle in its palate.

Following was a choice of carved meats a side of beef or a loin of pork, with rosemary and clove sauce, and a monstrous turkey, deliberately under-cooked a little, so that a fine pink juice trickled from the carver. There were also succulent ribs of lamb, served with a red currant jelly or a plate of plump pigeons, stuffed with foie gras.

Everyone's plate came with a delicate piped ring of creamy duchess potatoes and a brown earthenware dish of seven tiny portions of different vegetables, including broccoli and a puree of cauliflower.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.