"Charles L. Grant - The Pet" - читать интересную книгу автора (Grant Charles L)

The boy was a little afraid. Am I a monster, he asked after a while, and
the crow didn't answer. Are you one of my friends, the little boy asked.
Of course I am, said the crow. In fact, I'm your best friend in the
whole wide world."

The children stirred as the applause faded, and they could hear the
first of the grown-ups drifting down the central path. The young man
frowned briefly. He thought he had planned the story better, to end just
as the band did, but he had gotten too carried away, elaborating and
posturing to get the kids laughing so they wouldn't be bored. Now he had
lost them. He could see it in their eyes, in the shifting on the
benches, in the way their heads turned slightly, too polite to ignore
him outright though their gazes were drawn to the blacktopped walk that
came out of the dark on its way to the south exit.

"Crows don't talk," one ski-capped boy suddenly declared with a
know-it-all smile as he slipped off his seat.

"Sure they do," a girl in a puffy jacket argued.

"Oh, yeah? You ever hear one, smarty?"

"Bet you never even saw one, Cheryl," another boy said. "I'll bet you
don't even know what they look like."

The girl turned, hands outstretched. "Donald, I do so know what one
looks like."

The others were lost now, noisily lining up as if choosing sides for a
game. The crow's supporters were outnumbered, but they made up for it
with indignant gestures and shrill protests, while the mocking
opposition-mostly boys, mostly the older ones-sneered knowingly and
laughed and punched each other's arms.

5

"Everyone knows what a crow looks like," Don said, in such a harshly
quiet way that they all turned to look. "And everyone knows what the
biggest crow in the world looks like, right?"

A few heads instantly nodded. The rest were unconvinced.

Don smiled as evilly as he could, and stood, and pointed to the nearest
tree, directly behind them. Most of them looked with him; the others,
sensing a trick and not wanting to give him the satisfaction, resisted.

Until the little girl put a hand to her mouth, and gasped.

"That's right." He kept pointing. "See? Right there, just out of the
light? Look real hard now. Real hard and you won't miss it. You can see