"EB - Edward L. Ferman - The Best From Fantasy & Science Fiction 23rd EditionUC - SS" - читать интересную книгу автора (Fantasy & Science Fiction Magazine)

In their room, Darlene lay shivering on the bed, eyes closed. Her head moved ceaselessly on the pillows even when Nolan pressed his palm against her brow.
"Fever." Nolan gestured to Mama Dolores, and the old woman held Darlene still while he forced the thermometer between her lips.
The red column inched upwards. "One hundred and four." Nolan straightened quickly. "Go fetch Moises. Tell him I want the launch ready, pronto. We'll have to get her to the doctor at Manaos."
Darlene's eyes fluttered open; she'd heard.
"No, you can't! The babyЧ"
"Do not trouble yourself. I will look after the little one." Mama's voice was soothing. "Now you must rest"
"No, please-"
Darlene's voice trailed off into an incoherent babbling, and she sank back. Nolan kept his hand on her forehead; the heat was like an oven. "Now just relax, darling. It's all right. I'm going with you."
And he did.
If the first trip had been an ordeal, this one was an agony: a frantic thrust through the sultry night on the steaming river, Moises sweating over the throttle as Nolan held Darlene's shuddering shoulders against the straw mattress in the stern of the vibrating launch. They made Manaos by dawn and roused Dr. Robales from slumber at his house near the plaza.
Then came the examination, the removal to the hospital, the tests
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and the verdict A simple matter, Dr. Rebates said, and no need for alarm. With proper treatment and rest she would recover. A week here in the hospitalЧ
"A week?" Nolan's voice rose. "I've got to get back for the loading. I can't stay here that long!"
"There is no need for you to stay, senor. She shall have my personal attention, I assure you."
It was small comfort, but Nolan had no choice. And he was too tired to protest, too tired to worry. Once aboard the launch and heading back, he stretched out on the straw mattress in a sleep that was like death itself.
Nolan awakened to the sound of drums. He jerked upright with a startled cry, then realized that night had come and they were once again at anchor beside the dock. Moises grinned at him in weary triumph.
"Almost we do not make it," he said. "The motor is bad. No matter, it is good to be home again."
Nolan nodded, flexing his cramped limbs. He stepped out onto the dock, then hurried up the path across the clearing. The darkness boomed.
Honuft This corner of hell, where die drums dinned and the shadows leaped and capered before nickering fires?
All but one, that is. For as Nolan moved forward, another shadow glided out from the deeper darkness beside the bungalow.
It was Nina.
Nolan blinked as he recognized her standing there and staring up at him. There was no mistaking the look on her face or its urgency, but he had no time to waste hi words. Brushing past her, he hastened to the doorway and she melted back into the night.
Mama Dolores was waiting for nun inside, nodding her greeting,.
"Robbie-is he all right?"
"Si, senor. I take good care. Par favor, I sleep in his room."
"Good." Nolan turned and started for the hall, then hesitated as Mama Dolores frowned. "What is it?" he said.
The old woman hesitated. "You will not be offended if I speak?**
"Of course not"
Mama's voice sank to a murmur. "It concerns the one outside."
"Nina?"
"That is not her name, but no matter." Mama shook her head.
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Tor two days she has waited there. I see yon with her now when jou return. And I see you with her beforeЧ"
"That's none of your business!" Nolan reddened1. "Besides, it's all over now."
"Does she believe that?" Mama's gaze was grave. "You must teO her to go."
Tve tried. But the girl comes from the mountains; she doesn't
Хpeak English-"
"I know." Mama nodded. "She is one of the snake-people."
Nolan stared at her. "They worship snakes up there?"
"No, not worship."
Then what do you mean?"
These peopleЧthey are snakes."
Nolan scowled. "What is this?"
The truth, senor. This one you call NinaЧthis girlЧis not a ghi. She is of the ancient race from the high peaks, where the great serpents dwell. Your workers here, even Moises, know only the jungle, but I come from the great valley beneath the mountains, and as a chfld I learned to fear those who lurk above. We do not go there, but sometimes the snake-people come to us. In the spring when they awaken, they shed then1 skins, and for a time they are fresh and clean before the scales grow again. It is then that they come, to mate with men."
She went on like that, whispering about creatures half-serpent and half-human, with bodies cold to the touch, limbs that could writhe in boneless contortion to squeeze the breath from a man and crush him fike the coils of a giant constrictor. She spoke of forked tongues, of voices hissing forth from mouths yawning incredibly wide on movable jawbones. And she might have gone on, but Nolan stopped her now; his head was throbbing with weariness.
"That's enough," he said. "I thank you for your concern."
"But you do not believe me."
"I didn't say that" Tired as he was, Nolan still remembered the basic ruleЧnever contradict these people or make fun of their super-