"James Herbert - Rats 02 - Lair" - читать интересную книгу автора (Herbert James)

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British
Library.

Typeset by Set Systems Ltd, Saffron Walden, Essex

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Mackays of Chatham plc, Chatham,
Kent

If you go down in the woods today You're sure of a big surprise...




Prologue

The rat had been trapped in the basement for five days. It had crawled
into a dark corner behind a row of shelves to give birth to its litter
and, when it had tried to follow the sound, the sound that buzzed
through its head, it had found the way blocked by a heavy iron door.
The sound had continued for five long days, almost driving the
mother-rat and its tiny offspring mad with its incessant, monotonous
pitch. But they had found food in abundance in the basement. The
owners had ignored the government warning to leave all doors open so
that every building could be cleared, for they knew that when the
city's population returned from its short exile, food would be scarce
for the first few days, and their shop would be ready to cash in on the
shortage. The rat and its litter gorged themselves on the food, for
the young ones seemed only to need their mother's milk for the first
three days, finding greater replenishment in the food around them. They
grew larger and sturdier day by day, dark brown, almost black hairs
were already beginning to grow on their bodies. Except for one. Only a
few white hairs sprouted on its pinkish white body. It seemed to
dominate the others, who brought it food and kept its body warm with
their own. A curious lump seemed to be growing on its broad, lop-sided
shoulder, next to its head. Patiently, they waited for the people to
return.




Signs

One


"Bloody vermin," Ken Woollard cursed aloud, raising his head to examine
the 'loop' smears around the rafters of his low-ceilinged barn. The
grease marks against the whitewashed walls had been caused by small
furry bodies sliding under the beams into the recesses of the rough
ceiling. And the only creatures he knew who did that were rodents.