"Julia Gray - Guardian 02 - The Jasper Forest" - читать интересную книгу автора (Gray Julia)

the dream held him back no matter how hard he fought.
He woke up when one of the smaller meteors hit him painfully on the side of
his head.
'Did it catch?' Aylen asked.
'I think I hit his head,' Olandis replied anxiously.
'That's the least of his worries. Have any of the hooks caught?'
Olandis tested the line.
'I think so.'
The brothers' fishing lines were designed for trailing behind their canoes
rather than for casting, but by tying a metal weight to one end they had been
able to fashion something usable. Their hope was that, even if the castaway
was unable to grasp the twine, one or more of the several hooks attached along
its length would dig into some part of his raft or clothing. Olandis's throw
had been more accurate than he'd dare hope for, and now, as he pulled
carefully on the line, he felt it snag firmly. However, as he tried to pull it
in, all that happened was that he moved forward, coming too close to the
forbidden lagoon.
'We'll have to row backwards, pull him out that way,' Aylen decided. 'Tie the
line to your canoe.' As Olandis did as he was told, Aylen attached his own
craft to his brother's with a piece of rope. 'Ready?'
'Yes.'
Both men began to paddle steadily, feeling the line grow taut. To their relief
it held as they edged backwards.
'Moons! It's heavy,' Olandis complained. 'Why did he put to sea on a piece of
junk like that?' They were fighting against an increasing current, and the
shape of the raft meant that it pulled awkwardly against the flow.
'It's coming,' Aylen breathed. 'Keep going.'
Something was dragging at Terrel's sleeve and pricking his arm. Still
struggling to free his mind from the disintegrating shards of his dream, and
wondering why his head hurt so much, he could not work out what might be
causing this strange sensation. His every movement took a colossal effort now,
but when he could at last touch his arm, he found that a piece of twine had
been drawn across both him and the raft.
Opening his eyes, Terrel saw a shining beam of light dipping in and out of the
water between him and the strangers' canoes. After a few moments, he realized
that this was in fact a solid cord, and that he was being towed along.
However, even as a glimmer of hope returned, he realized that his would-be
rescuers were still keeping their distance, and he wondered if they suspected
him of carrying some sort of contagious disease. Then, too exhausted to try
and make sense of any of this, Terrel closed his eyes again and let fate take
him where it would.
Every time Olandis tried to shorten the line, they lost ground and began to
drift back towards the lagoon. Having hooked their catch, they seemed unable
to reel him in. And time was growing short.
Eventually, the brothers decided to keep rowing until the raft was well
outside the lagoon, then тАФ while Olandis tried to hold their position - Aylen
would go back to the stranger and transfer him to his own boat. Although the
canoe had been designed for one person, and would ride perilously low in the
water with an extra passenger, they knew that this was the only chance for
them to help the stranger and for them all to escape.