"Evans,.Linda.-.Sleipnir" - читать интересную книгу автора (Evans Linda)

Then, noticing for the first time the wonderful, Christmasy smell of
the pine tree, I squeezed Gary's arm in silent thanks. I nodded
when he made a motion with his thumb. We crawled cautiously out
from under the pine tree. The hedgehog still hadn't moved. Poor
little guy . . .

Then, like a swimmer coming up from a long dive, I took a deep
breath and let it out again silently.

Looked like I owed Odin a knife.

And Gary my life.

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Framed
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Chapter Three

I finally managed to get the sparker going. The carbide lit with a
hissing pop. The cave was so quiet I could hear the silence
listening to me, waiting for me to make a move. So I just sat still for
a moment and let my eyes adjust to the grey light pouring from my
helmet. There should've been a warm yellow glow; but the walls
swallowed the color, leaving only an eerie, dead grey to light the
low-ceilinged cavern. Even my skin looked grey. The only
exception was that deep black hole beside me.

When I got a good look at it . . .

There was literally no way I could have avoided stepping into that
hole.

It was a good four feet across, nearly round, and smack in the
middle of the passage Bjornssen and I'd been following. If it had
been there, I would either have seen it or fallen into it. No question.
But a hole that size couldn't have opened up between us without
either of us noticingЧa cave-in is not a quiet phenomenon. If it was
an illusion, it was a damned good one.

I leaned cautiously forward. The walls were absolutely
perpendicular. No ledges, no bumps, no projectionsЧit plunged
straight down like an enormous sewer pipe farther than my light
could penetrate into the blackness. I hadn't heard Bjornssen hit
bottom. I sat back again, knowing that I had to stand up, move, do
something; and wished intensely for a cigarette. I hadn't smoked
anything in three years.

My lamp flickered; then flared bright again, and sent shadows