"Tanya Huff - Victory Nelson - The Vengeful Spirit of Lake Nepeakea" - читать интересную книгу автора (Huff Tanya)

braids and a hawk-like profile staring enigmatically out over
the water. First impressions suggested a First Nations
elder. In actually reading the text, however, Celluci
discovered that Mary Joseph had moved out to Dulvie
from Toronto in 1995 and had become, in the years since,
the self-proclaimed keeper of local myth. According to Ms
Joseph, although there had been many sightings over the
years, there had been only two other occasions when the
spirit of the lake had felt threatened enough to kill. "It
protects the lake" she was quoted as saying, "from those
who would disturb its peace."
"Two weeks ago," Celluci noted, checking the date.
"Tragic but hardly a reason for Stuart Gordon to go to the
effort of convincing Vicki to leave the city."
The final photocopy included a close-up of a car door
that looked like it had been splashed with acid, spirit
attacks developer's vehicle. During the night of 13 May the
protector of Lake Nepeakea had crawled up into the
parking lot of the lodge and secreted something corrosive
and distinctly fishy against Stuart Gordon's brand-new
Isuzu trooper. A trail of dead bracken, a little over a foot
wide and smelling strongly of rotting fish, led back to the
lake. Mary Joseph seemed convinced it was a
manifestation of the spirit, the local police were looking for
anyone who might have information about the vandalism,
and Stuart Gordon announced he was bringing in a special
investigator from Toronto to settle it once and for all.
It was entirely probable that the surveyor had stepped
into a mud hole and that local vandals were using the
legends of the spirit against an unpopular developer.
Entirely probable. But living with Vicki had forced Mike
Celluci to deal with half a dozen improbable things every
morning before breakfast so, mug in hand, he headed
outside to investigate the crime scene.
Because of the screen of evergreens тАФ although, given
their size, barricade was probably the more descriptive
word тАФ the parking lot couldn't be seen from the lodge.
Considering the impenetrable appearance of the
overlapping branches, Celluci was willing to bet that not
even light would get through. The spirit could have done
anything it wanted to, up to and including changing the oil,
in perfect secrecy.
Brushing one or two small insects away from his face,
Celluci found the path they'd used the night before and
followed it. By the time he reached the van, the one or two
insects had become twenty-nine or thirty and he felt the
first bite on the back of his neck. When he slapped the
spot, his fingers came away dotted with blood.
"Vicki's not going to be happy about that," he grinned,
wiping it off on his jeans. By the second and third bites,