"Simon R. Green - Haven 06 - Bones of Haven" - читать интересную книгу автора (Green Simon R)

in his hand, glanced at the madman, and then snapped his arm forward. The steel ball sped through the
air and struck the madman right between the eyes. He fell backwards and lay still, without making a
sound. Barber walked over to him, checked his pulse, and then bent down beside him to retrieve his
steel ball. Johnny Nobody twitched and shuddered, leaking blood and other fluids, and Barber's lips
thinned back from his teeth as he saw the raw wounds slowly knitting themselves together. He moved
quickly back to the others, dragging the unconscious madman with him.

"About time we had a little luck," said Winter. "Johnny Nobody's in no shape to give us any trouble,
and we've got ourselves a nice little bonus in the form of our unconscious friend here. At least now
we'll have something to show for our trouble."

"Winter," said Fisher slowly, "I think we've got another problem."

There was something in the way she said it that made everyone's head snap round to see what she was
talking about. Thick tendrils of the dirty grey cobwebs had dropped from the ceiling and were
wriggling towards Johnny Nobody. The bloody shape struggled feebly, but the grey strands whipped
around it and dragged the body slowly away along the floor into the darkness, leaving a trail of blood
and other things on the stone floor. Hawk looked at the thick mass of cobwebs covering the walls and
ceiling, and made a connection he should have made some time back. He looked at Winter.

"It's Crawling Jenny, isn't it? All of it."

"Took you long enough to work it out," said Winter. "The rioters must have opened its cell and let it
out. Which is probably why we haven't seen any of them since. According to the reports I saw,
Crawling Jenny is carnivorous, and always ravenously hungry."

"Are you saying this stuff ate all the rioters?" said Fisher, glaring distrustfully at the nearest wall.

"It seems likely. Where else could it have got enough mass to grow like this? I hate to think how big
the creature must be in total."

"Why didn't you tell us what this stuff was before?" said Hawk. "We've been walking through it all
unknowing, totally at its mercy. It could have attacked us at any time."
"No it couldn't," said Storm. "I've been shielding us. It doesn't even know we're here."

"There wasn't any point in attacking its outer reaches," said Winter. "It'd just grow some more. No, I've
been waiting for something like this to happen. Since Johnny Nobody is undoubtedly heading for the
creature's stomach, all we have to do is follow it. I'm not sure if Crawling Jenny has any vulnerable
organs, but if it has, that's where they'll be."

She set off down the corridor without looking back, hurrying to catch up with the dragging sounds
ahead. The others exchanged glances and moved quickly after her. Barber carried the unconscious
madman over his shoulder in a fireman's lift. It didn't seem to slow him down any. Hawk glared
suspiciously at the thick mass of cobwebs lining the corridor, but it seemed quiet enough at the
moment. Which was just as well, because Hawk had a strong feeling his axe wasn't going to be much
use against a bunch of cobwebs.

They soon caught up with the tendrils dragging the body, and followed at a respectful distance. Storm's
magic kept them unseen and unheard as far as Crawling Jenny was concerned, but no one felt like
pushing their luck. Hawk in particular was careful to keep to the center of the corridor, well away from