"Feehan, Christine - Leopard 02 - Wild Rain" - читать интересную книгу автора (Feehan Christine)

herself up a steep slope to hold her course. Rachael Lospostos was gone forever,
tragically drowned when she tried to take medical supplies to a remote village.
In her place, a new, independent woman was born. Her hands ached from the many
times she dragged herself up the steep rocks to push deeper into the forest.

Night began to fall. The interior was already dim and without the occasional ray
of sunlight pushing through the clouds, the world around her changed radically.
Tiny hairs on the back of her neck rose. She stopped walking and took time to
look up into the network of branches running over her head. It was the first
time she really looked at her surroundings.

The world was a lush riot of colors, every shade of green vying with vivid
brilliant colors erupting up and down the trunks of trees. High overhead and on
the forest floor, flowers, fauna and fungi vied for space in the secret, hidden
world. Even in the rain, she could see evidence of wildlife, shadows flitting
from branch to branch, lizards scrambling into foliage. Once she spotted an
elusive orangutan high up in the trees, tucked in a nest of leaves. She stopped
and stared at the creature, amazed at the wonder she felt.

WILD RAIN II
Rachael found a very dim path, barely discernable in the wealth of thick
vegetation covering the forest floor. She dropped down on one knee, peering
intently at the trail. Humans had used the path, not just animals. It led away
from the river, deeper into the interior. Exactly what she was looking for.
Following the faint route slowed her down, but she stayed on it, her step
lighter as she moved toward the heart of the forest.
Something in her was coming alive. She felt it moving inside of her. Awareness.
Heat. Joy. A mixture of every emotion. Maybe it was the first time she felt she
had a chance at life. Rachael didn't know the reason. She was exhausted. Every
muscle ached. She was tired and sore and soaked to the skin, but she felt happy.
She should have been afraid, or at the very least, nervous, but she wanted to
sing.
As darkness blanketed the forest, she should have been blind, but her eyes
seemed to adjust quickly to a different kind of vision. She could make out
things, not just the tall tree trunks with the multitude of fauna climbing up
them, but tiny details. Frogs, lizards, even small cocoons. Her muscles hummed
and vibrated in tune with nature around her. A fallen log was no obstacle but a
chance to leap, feeling the steel in her muscles, an awareness of how smoothly
they worked beneath her skin. She almost felt as if she could hear the very sap
running in the trees.
The forest was alive with insects, great spiders and fireflies. Beetles busily
moved along the earth and over trees and leaves. A world within a world, and all
of it surprising, yet familiar. The rush of wings overhead was audible as night
birds flitted from tree to tree and owls went on the hunt. A noisy chorus of
frogs began, loud calls as males searched for females. She caught sight of a
gliding snake, zigzagging from one branch to another.
Smiling, Rachael continued, knowing she was on the right path. Knowing she was
finally home. Far off, she heard the sound of gunfire, muffled and faint, dimmed
by the steady rhythm of the rain and the distance she was from
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