"Janet Kagan - Mirabile" - читать интересную книгу автора (Kagan Janet)

my age, I need my beauty sleep.тАЭ
Leo snorted.
There was a quiet crackle behind him, and Susan crawled out from the
undergrowth looking sheepish. тАЬI only wanted it to be a surprise,тАЭ she said. She
looked all around her and brightened. тАЬIt still isтАФyouтАЩve scared them off!тАЭ
тАЬWhen youтАЩre as old and cranky as I am, thereтАЩs nothing you like less than a
surprise,тАЭ I said.
тАЬOh.тАЭ She raked twigs out of her hair. тАЬThen if I can get them to come out again,
would you take your birthday present a month early?тАЭ
Leo and I glanced at each other. I knew we were both thinking about Jen, sitting in
the hallway, worrying. тАЬTwo hours and not a minute more,тАЭ Leo said.
тАЬOkay, Susan. See if you can get тАЩem out. IтАЩll want a cell sample too.тАЭ I
rummaged through my gear for the snagger. Nice little gadget, that. Like an arrow on
a string. Fire it off without a sound, it snaps at the critter with less than a fly sting (I
know, I had Mike try it on me when he jury-rigged the first one), and you pull back
the string with a sample on the end of it.
тАЬSit down then and be quiet.тАЭ
We did. Susan ducked into the undergrowth a second time and came out with half
a loaf of ChrisтАЩs bread. She made the same chucking noise IтАЩd heard her use to call
her otters. She was expecting something low to the ground, I realized. Not the
enormous thing IтАЩd seen swimming in the loch.
I heard no more sounds from that direction, to my relief. I wish I could have
thought IтАЩd dreamed the entire thing but I knew I hadnтАЩt. WhatтАЩs worse, I picked
that time to remember that one of the Nessie theories had made her out a displaced
plesiosaur.
I was about to call a halt and get us all the hell out of there till daylight and a full
team, when something stirred in the bushes. Susan chucked at it and held out a bit of
bread.
It poked its nose into the circle of light from our flashes and blinked at us. It was
the saddest-looking excuse for a creature IтАЩd ever seenтАФthe head was the shape of
an old boot with jackass ears stuck on it.
тАЬCтАЩmon, Monster,тАЭ Susan coaxed. тАЬYou know how much you love ChrisтАЩs
bread. DonтАЩt worry about them. TheyтАЩre noisy but they wonтАЩt hurt you.тАЭ
Sure enough, it humped its way out. It looked even worse when you saw the
whole of it. What IтАЩd thought was an otter wasnтАЩt. Oh, the body was otter, all eight
feet of it, but the head didnтАЩt go with the rest. After a momentтАЩs hesitation, it made
an uncertain lowing noise, then snuffled at Susan, and took the piece of bread in its
otter paws and crammed it down its mouth.
Then it bellowed, startling all three of us.
тАЬHe just learned how to do that this year,тАЭ Susan said, a pleased sort of
admiration in her voice. The undergrowth around us stirred.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Leo level his rifle. Susan looked at him,
worried. тАЬHe wonтАЩt shoot unless something goes wrong, kiddo,тАЭ I said as softly as I
could and still be heard. тАЬHe promised me.тАЭ
Susan nodded. тАЬOkay, Monster. You can call them out then.тАЭ
She neednтАЩt have said it. That bellow already had. There were maybe a dozen of
them, all alike, all of them painfully ugly. No, thatтАЩs the wrong way to put itтАФthey
were all laughably ugly.
The one sheтАЩd dubbed тАЬMonsterтАЭ edged closer to me. Nosy like the otters, too.
It whuffled at my hand. Damn if that head wasnтАЩt purely herbivore. The teeth could