"Carol Emshwiller - Boys" - читать интересную книгу автора (Emshwiller Carol)

can get a fair shot at them.

It goes on and on. We get tired of watching and retreat to the square. We reconnoiter food from the
kitchens. We eat better than we usually do. The food is so good we wish the women would let up a bit
so we can enjoy it without that racket. Where did they get all these weapons? They must have found our
ammunition caves and those of our enemy, too.



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The women do a pretty good job. By nightfall our enemy has fled back into their mountains and the
women are still on top of their wall. It looks as if they're going to spend the night up there. It's a wide
wall. Not as badly built as I told the boys it was.

We find beds for ourselves, all of them better than our usual sleeping pads. I go to Una's hut and lie
where I had hoped to have a copulation.

Cats prowl and yowl. All sorts of things live with the women. Goats wander the streets and come in
any house they want to. All the animals expect food everywhere. Like the women, our boys are soft
hearted. They feed every creature that comes by. I don't let on that I do too.

This whole thing makes me sad. Worried. If I could just have Una in my arms, I might be able to
sleep. I have a "day dream" of her creeping in to me in the middle of the night. I wouldn't even care if we
had a copulation or not.



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In the morning boys climb to the roofs again to see what's up. They describe women lying under shields
all along the walls and they can see some of the enemy lying dead away from the walls. I need to climb
up and see for myself. Besides it's good for the boys to see me taking the same chances they do.

I send the boys off and I take their place. I look down on the women along the wall. I see several
rifles pointed at me. I stand like a hero. I dare them to shoot. I take all the time I want. I see wall sections
less crowded with women. I take out my notebook (no leader is ever without one) and draw a diagram. I
take my time until I have the whole wall mapped out.

I could take out my pistol and threaten them. I could shoot one but it wouldn't be very manly to take
advantage of my high point. Were they men I'd do it. But then they do the unmanly thing. They shoot me.
My leg. My good leg. I go down, flat on the roof. At first I feel nothing but the shock тАж as if I'd been hit
with a hammer. All I know is I can't stand up. Then I see blood.

Though they're on the wall, they're lower. They can't see me as long as I keep down. I crawl to the
edge where boys help me. They carry me back to Una's bed. I feel I'm about to pass out or throw up