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

had some sleep.тАЭ
Cleis plucked for a moment at the blanket. тАЬOh, give me the
goddamn things then.тАЭ She swallowed them. тАЬNow will you listen
to me?тАЭ
Jane sighed. тАЬGo ahead.тАЭ
тАЬI was looking at the glyph wall, wondering what was under
all those vines, thinking maybe I should start clearing them away
the next day, when it suddenly struck me how, I donтАЩt know, how
orderly the vines seemed. So I squatted down and had a closer
look: they were growing from the dirt an even eight inches apart.
TheyтАЩd been cultivated. To hide the glyphs. I stood up, thinking
maybe IтАЩd tug on them a bit, see howтАФтАЭ
тАЬNo wonder the wall came down!тАЭ JaneтАЩs voice was loud with
relief, and it was then that she realized how scared she was.
тАЬBut I didnтАЩt actually pull on them. I was just thinking about
it.тАЭ
тАЬYouтАЩd been drinking. We both had. All that beerтАжтАЭ Go to
sleep, she was thinking. I donтАЩt want to hear this.
тАЬI didnтАЩt touch that damn wall. The jaguar did it.тАЭ
Jane closed her eyes. Those dreams of danger and golden
eyes.
тАЬDid my face look like that when you were telling me about
the jaguar that followed you home from the ruins?тАЭ Cleis reached
out, grasped JaneтАЩs wrist. Her hands felt thinner, dry. тАЬListen to me,
Jane. Just listen. DonтАЩt think, not yet. A jaguar knocked down that
wall, wounding my shoulder, my left shoulder, like those young
women in the glyphs. Ixbalum knew we were coming, and that I
was hurt. She had to know, thereтАЩs no other explanation for the
salve and her appearance on the trail. How much do you bet that
some of those herbs hanging upside down from her roof are the
same as the plants pictured on the glyph wall?тАЭ
No, Jane thought, and felt the same fear as that day when she
had turned around and seen a jaguar print crumbling inside her
own tracks. тАЬYouтАЩre feverish,тАЭ she said firmly. тАЬMaybe there was a
jaguar, yes. Maybe the ruins have become the stamping grounds of
some solitary cat. But that doesnтАЩt alter the fact that you need to get
to sleep. Now. You need to get some rest and get well.тАЭ
Cleis was pale now, her lids drooping. тАЬYou believe me, I
know you do. Because youтАЩre scared. IтАЩm scared.тАЭ Her chin was
sinking onto her chest now, eyes barely open. тАЬRitual woundingтАж
How did she know?тАЭ Her eyes closed. тАЬFucking thing. YouтАЩll
seeтАжтАЭ
Jane sat where she was for more than half an hour, watching
Cleis sleep, telling herself that Cleis was wrong.


Jane half woke in the middle of the night. Her muscles were
relaxed, soft; she felt content. Across the room moonlight showed
a tangle of blankets pushed back from an empty bed. There was
some reason why she should be disturbed by that, but she was