"Cory Doctorow - A Place So Foreign" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dodd Christina)

quick as I could.

I paddled around a little, half-heartedly, and then I found myself being pulled
under! My sinuses filled with water and I yelled a stream of bubbles, and closed
my mouth on a swallow of water. Strong hands pulled at my ankles. I kicked out
as hard as I could, and connected with someone's head. The hands loosened and I
shot up like a cork, sputtering and coughing. I ran for the shore, and saw one
of the Allen brothers surfacing, rubbing at his head and laughing. The four
Allen boys lived on a ranch with their parents out by the salt flats, and we
only saw them when they came into town with their folks for supplies. I'd never


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liked them, but now, I saw red.

"You pig!" I shouted at him. "You stupid, rotten, pig! What the heck do you
think you were doing?"

The Allens kept on laughing -- I used to know some of their names, but in the
time I'd been in 75, they'd grown as indistinguishable as twins: big, hard boys
with their heads shaved for lice. They pointed at me and laughed. I scooped up a
flat stone from the shore and threw it at the head of the one who'd pulled me
under, as hard as I could.

Lucky for him -- and me! -- I was too angry to aim properly, and the stone hit
him in the shoulder, knocking him backwards. He shouted at me -- it was like a
roar of a wild animal -- and the four brothers charged.

Oly appeared at my side. "Run!" he shouted.

I was too angry. I balled my fists and stood my ground. The first one shot out
of the water towards me, and punched me so hard in the guts, I saw stars. I fell
to the ground, gasping. I looked up at a forest of strong, bare legs, and knew
they'd surrounded me.

"It's the Sheriff!" Oly shouted. The legs disappeared. I struggled to my knees.

Oly collapsed to the ground beside me, laughing. "Did you see the way they ran?
The Sheriff never comes down to the river!"

"Thanks," I said, around gasps, and started to get dressed.

"Any time," he said. "Now, let's do some swimming."

"No, I gotta go home and help Mama," I lied. I didn't feel like going skinny
dipping anymore -- maybe never again.

Oly gave me a queer look. "OK. See you."