"Nicola Griffith - Yaguara" - читать интересную книгу автора (Griffith Nicola)

Ten yards farther down, she felt it again. This time she put
down her camera, dropped her tripod into her other hand to hold it
like a club, and turned.
Six feet away, inside her own bootprint, was a jaguar track so
fresh that a piece of dirt tottering on the edge of the heel
depression fell inward as she watched.


тАЬJaguar? YouтАЩre sure?тАЭ Cleis sat cross-legged on her bunk,
surrounded by notes.
тАЬIt looked like cat to me.тАЭ Jane leaned her tripod in the
corner, began to sort automatically through her film stock. тАЬAnd
the print must have been four or five inches across.тАЭ
тАЬOcelot, margay?тАЭ
тАЬI didnтАЩt think they got that big.тАЭ
тАЬYou heard nothing?тАЭ
тАЬNot a thing.тАЭ Fear made her sound angry. If she had not
remembered so clearly touching the spoor with her fingertip, then
retrieving her camera, taking a picture, she might be tempted to
assume she had imagined the incident. But it was real. A jaguar, a
predator, had been a few feet behind her and she had not known it.
Cleis set aside her notes, rubbed her eyes. тАЬThe lights terrible
in here.тАЭ Jane remembered the hot gold of IxbalumтАЩs eyes and
shivered. Cleis studied her. тАЬDid you know that jaguar comes from
a South American word, yaguara, that means тАШwild beast that kills its
prey in one boundтАЩ? They have very short, powerful limbs and the
strength of their jaws is incredible. Pound for pound, they have the
most efficient bite of any land-based predator. When I was in the
Xingu basin two or three years ago, I saw a tapir that had been
killed by a jaguar: the back of its skull was sheared clean off.тАЭ
 All Jane could think of was IxbalumтАЩs short, squat legs, the
muscles along her jaw.
тАЬAs far as I know, there has only ever been one reported case
of a jaguar attacking people, and that was thirty years ago in
Guatemala.тАЭ Cleis, Jane realized, knew she was scared, and was
giving her information to deal with because it would help. She was
being humored. тАЬApparently, four men were killed at a convent.тАЭ
Despite herself, Jane was intrigued. тАЬA convent?тАЭ
Cleis grinned. тАЬThey probably did something very unchristian
to one of the novices and the other nuns banded together and
hacked the men to death with machetes, scythes, garden shears. No
local doctor is going to argue cause of death with the good sisters,
especially when the church probably controls the medical supplies
and the hospital.тАЭ She glanced at her notes, then back to Jane.
тАЬAnyway, my point is that jaguars simply donтАЩt attack people. Why
should they? ThereтАЩs too much to eat around here as it is. Maybe it
was following you because you smelled interesting. Maybe it was
an adolescent practicing.тАЭ
Maybe it was trying to intimidate me. But that was ridiculous.