"Jerry Davis - Down In The Canyon (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Davis Jerry)

way leisurely down toward him. The feelers were slapping up
against him so hard they were nearly knocking him off. He saw the
gaping mouth opening and the long, sharp-looking teeth a meter
away, and he couldn't climb up. Instead, he began climbing down.
The creature leaned forward to bite, but its nose hit the
sandstone a half-meter above Jason's head. It snorted and pulled
back. Jason climbed down another few meters. The creature moved
its head back and forth in frustration, unable to bend its neck



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down far enough to reach him.
Jason heard more yelling from above, but couldn't make sense
of the frantic words. He kept looking at the huge mass of the
beast's grey-green belly an arm-length away. There was a horrible
scraping sound as the beast's claws slid over the sandstone --- it
was lowering its body so that it could reach him. Jason climbed
down further.
"Kid!" a voice yelled. "Kid, keep as close to the cliff as
you can!" After a moment, there was a series of hard, loud
concussions. Claws raked past Jason, digging deep furrows into the
cliff wall. When the beast's head passed it snorted a spray of
cold, sticky blood. It fell away into the mist. There was a loud
crash below, then angry thrashing. Looking up, Jason could see a
pair of boots descending toward him. In a moment he saw the man's
face, and recognized him as one of his neighbors. Hanging from his
shoulder by a strap was a smoking rifle.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
It took a moment for Jason to answer. "I can't climb
anymore," he finally said, his voice full of shame. "She's too
heavy."
The man eyed Jason and then his burden. His face creased in
pain, but he forced a smile. "You made it this far. That's pretty
damn good if you ask me."
With the man's help, and the help of others who came down
from above, Jason made it out of the canyon and into his mother's
arms. She hugged him eagerly, but he only felt numb. He kept
glancing over at Stephanie's family, feeling pains of guilt and
remorse. They were very silent and when they left, Stephanie's
father was carrying her, tears streaking his face.
"Thank God," his mother was whispering. She was hugging him
and rocking him back and forth like he was a baby. "Thank God it
was her and not you. Thank God." She was crying.
During the months that followed, Jason's parents hardly let
him out of their sight, let alone out of the yard. Bradley and
Frederick occasionally came by to see him, but they were distant
and very subdued. Jason thought it was because of what happened to