"David,.Peter.-.Howling.Mad" - читать интересную книгу автора (David Peter)played across his path as he picked up the pace, determined to leave the humans
far behind self. And slowly the sounds of the dogs barking and the men shouting vanished in the distance. For good measure the wolf kept going a few more minutes before discovering a rocky embankment with natural caves in them. The wolf trotted up the embankment and stood at the mouth of one of the caves, sniffing carefully, not wishing to arouse any larger animals that might have already taken up residence. Self had had enough problems for one day. But there was no trace, and the wolf slowly entered the cave, barking once in challenge. No response. The wolf curled up deep in the darkness of the cave, listening carefully for any sounds of intruders. None, however, came. He had escaped, apparently. And the wolf could not help but wonder what the humans had done when they found the remains of their fellow. "Good Christ." Abe was the self-appointed leader of the half-dozen hunters. It was his dogs, after all, who had been leading them in their pursuit of (presumably) the wolf and (hopefully) the specific wolf that had ripped that American guy to shreds. But now his hunting dogs were huddled together, whimpering slightly and glancing at the human remains on the ground. Abe whistled softly, and one of the other members of the party crossed himself silently. "Is that who I think it is?" asked the man to Abe's right. Abe nodded silently. "Uh-huh. Disappeared about a month ago." Abe scratched his head. "His wife thought he'd lit out for Toronto, like he did a few years ago. You rememberЕ when he found out she was having a fling with Pierre Lacroix down at the butcher.'' "Oh, yeah. She always got the best cuts." "How in hell can we be standing around discussing this?" said another man in the group. "This guy's lying here dead as a doornail and we're talking about who his wife was sacking around with!" "Got a point there. Okay," said Abe. "Three of you kind of scrape him up and get him back to town. Me andЧ" He glanced around quickly. "Me and Winston and Reuben will keep looking for the wolf.'' But Winston and Reuben looked at each other, each thinking the same thing, and Winston cleared his throat. "Look, AbeЕ I don't wanna sound gutless or anything, but if you're thinking that whatever ripped up Dick is the same thing that trashed that American guy, what's his name, Burton or somethingЕ is that what you're thinking?" Abe nodded. "Okay. And if that's what we're tracking, and it's running around in the woods, then no offenseЕ but I think I wanna wait until we're in full force again. Dick here, he was a hunterЧone of the bestЧand I don't wanna face what killed him with anything less than a half-dozen guys behind me. Maybe even a whole platoon." Abe snorted disdainfully. "Good Christ, you men are lame. Tell you what. You go back to town if you want. I got my dogs, I got my gunЕ I'm set. I'll stay out |
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