"Dreamsnake" - читать интересную книгу автора (McIntyre Vonda N)

УLet me come with you.Ф

She wanted to; she hesitated, and cursed herself for that weakness. УThey may take Mist and Sand and cast me out, and you would be cast out too. Stay here, Arevin.Ф

УIt wouldnТt matter.Ф

УIt would. After a while, we would hate each other. I donТt know you, and you donТt know me. We need calmness, and quiet, and time to understand each other well.Ф

He came toward her, and put his arms around her, and they stood embracing for a moment. When he raised his head, there were tears on his cheeks. УPlease come back,Ф he said. УWhatever happens, please come back.Ф

УI will try,Ф Snake said. УNext spring, when the winds stop, look for me. The spring after that, if I havenТt returned, forget me. Wherever I am, if I live, I will forget you.У

УI will look for you,Ф Arevin said, and he would promise no more.

Snake picked up her ponyТs lead, and started across the desert.



Chapter 2
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Mist rose in a white streak against darkness. The cobra hissed, swaying, and Sand echoed her with his warning rattle. Then Snake heard the hoofbeats, muffled by the desert, and felt them through her palms. Slapping the ground, she winced and sucked in her breath. Around the double puncture where the sand viper had bitten her, her hand was black-and-blue from knuckles to wrist. Only the bruiseТs edges had faded. She cradled her aching right hand in her lap and twice slapped the ground with her left. SandТs rattling lost its frantic sound and the diamondback slid toward her from a warm shelf of black volcanic stone. Snake slapped the ground twice again. Mist, sensing the vibrations, soothed by the familiarity of the signal, lowered her body slowly and relaxed her hood.

The hoofbeats stopped. Snake heard voices from the camp farther along the edge of the oasis, a cluster of black-on-black tents obscured by an outcropping of rock. Sand wrapped himself around her forearm and Mist crawled up and across her shoulders. Grass should be coiled around her wrist or around her throat like an emerald necklace, but Grass was gone. Grass was dead.

The rider urged the horse toward her. Meager light from bioluminescent lanterns and the cloud-covered moon glistened on droplets as the bay horse splashed through the shallows of the oasis. It breathed in heavy snorts through distended nostrils. The reins had worked sweat to foam on its neck. Firelight flickered scarlet against the gold bridle and highlighted the riderТs face.

УHealer?Ф

She rose. УMy name is Snake.Ф Perhaps she had no right to call herself that any longer, but she would not go back to her child-name.

УI am Merideth.Ф The rider swung down and approached, but stopped when Mist raised her head.

УShe wonТt strike,Ф Snake said.

Merideth came closer. УOne of my partners is injured. Will you come?Ф

Snake had to put effort into answering without hesitation. УYes, of course.Ф Her fear of being asked to aid someone who was dying and of being unable to do anything to help at all was very strong. She knelt to put Mist and Sand into the leather case. They slid against her hands, their cool scales forming intricate patterns on her fingertips.

УMy ponyТs lame, IТll have to borrow a horseЧФ Squirrel, her tiger-pony, was corralled at the camp where Merideth had stopped a moment before. Snake did not need to worry about her pony, for Grum the caravannaire took good care of him; her grandchildren fed and brushed him royally. Grum would see to SquirrelТs reshoeing if a blacksmith came while Snake was gone, and Snake thought Grum would lend her a horse.

УThereТs no time,Ф Merideth said. УThose desert nags are no good for speed. My mare will carry us both.Ф

MeridethТs mare was breathing normally, despite the sweat drying on her shoulders. She stood with her head up, ears pricked, neck arched. She was, indeed, an impressive animal, of higher breeding than the caravan ponies, much taller than Squirrel. While the riderТs clothes were plain, the horseТs equipment was heavily ornamented.

Snake closed the leather case and put on the new robes and headcloth ArevinТs people had given her. She was grateful to them for the clothes, at least, for the strong delicate material was excellent protection against the heat and sand and dust.

Merideth mounted, freed the stirrup, reached for SnakeТs hand. But when Snake approached, the horse flared her nostrils and shied at the musky smell of serpents. Beneath MeridethТs gentle hands she stood still but did not calm. Snake swung up behind the saddle. The horseТs muscles bunched and the mare sprang into a gallop, splashing through the water. Spray touched SnakeТs face and she tightened her legs against the mareТs damp flanks. The horse leaped across the shore and passed between delicate summertrees, shadows and delicate fronds flicking past, until suddenly the desert opened out to the horizon.

Snake held the case in her left hand; the right could not yet grasp tightly enough. Away from the fires and the waterТs reflections, Snake could barely see. The black sand sucked up light and released it as heat. The mare galloped on. The intricate decorations on her bridle jingled faintly above the crunch of hooves in sand. Her sweat soaked into SnakeТs pants, hot and sticky against her knees and thighs. Beyond the oasis and its protection of trees, Snake felt the sting of windblown sand. She let go of MeridethТs waist long enough to pull the end of her headcloth across her nose and mouth.