"Patricia Matthews - Goatman" - читать интересную книгу автора (Matthews Patricia)

sitting
upright, grasping the arms of the rocker. Tray was still at her feet, but the
hair around his heavy neck was raised, and the low growl continued to rise in
his throat.

"What is it, boy? What is it?" she whispered.

Then she noticed the knob on the front door. Slowly, it was moving; turning
back
and forth. The simple movement was singularly frightening. She felt the hair
on
her own neck rise, and Tray, thrusting forward with powerful legs, threw
himself
at the door, barking furiously.

Moira, in her chair, found herself powerless to move. In a few moments, Tray's
barks faded to whines, as he paced back and forth before the door, and Moira
could see that the knob was no longer moving.

She let out the breath she had not realized that she had been holding, and
called to Tray. He came to her side, whining and twisting his body. He wanted
her to open the door, to let him go after whoever or whatever had been
standing
on the other side. She quieted him with words and pats, and in a little while,
he seemed to have forgotten their visitor. She wished that it was as easy to
quiet her own mind.

The morning sun shone on a world of wind-cleared beauty. The sky was dazzling,
and the air bore the crisp bite of the approaching winter.

The meadow was dotted with little piles of debris, scattered by the wind, but
Moira could not see that there had been any real damage done.

With Tray at her side, she walked around the cabin, looking in the soft,
turned
earth of the flower beds for some sign of last night's visitor.
Near the side window, she found tracks, but she was unable to identify them.
They were vaguely oval in shape, blurred by the wind-blown dust. There were
only
two of them, but then she supposed, if it had been an animal, the creature
could
have stood with his hind feet on the hard ground beyond the narrow border of
soft earth.

The placement of the tracks made it look as if the creature had stood just
outside the window, looking in.

Moira repressed a shudder, and tried to put the thought of the turning door
knob
out of her mind.