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

Soon the sand gave way to a slope of stones. The mare clambered up it, onto solid rock. Merideth held her to a walk. УItТs too dangerous to run. WeТd be in a crevasse before we saw it.Ф MeridethТs voice was tense with urgency.

They moved perpendicular to great cracks and fissures where molten rock had flowed and separated and cooled to basalt. Grains of sand sighed across the barren, undulating surface. The mareТs iron shoes rang against it as if it were hollow. When she had to leap a chasm, the stone reverberated.

More then once Snake started to ask what had happened to MeridethТs friend, but she remained silent. The plain of stone forbade conversation, forbade concentration on anything but traversing it.

And Snake was afraid to ask, afraid to know.

The case lay heavy against her leg, rocking in rhythm to the mareТs long stride. Snake could feel Sand shifting inside his compartment; she hoped he would not rattle and frighten the horse again.

The lava flow did not appear on SnakeТs map, which ended, to the south, at the oasis. The trade routes avoided the lava flows, for they were hard on people and animals alike. Snake wondered if they would reach their destination before morning. Here on the black rock the heat would build rapidly.

Finally the mareТs gait began to slow, despite MeridethТs constant urging.



The smoothly rocking pace across the wide stone river had lulled Snake almost to sleep. She jerked awake when the mare slid, pulling her haunches under her, scrabbling with her hooves, throwing the riders back, then forward, as they came down the long slope of lava. Snake clutched her bag and Merideth and clamped the horse between her knees.

The broken stone at the foot of the cliff thinned out, no longer holding them to a walk. Snake felt MeridethТs legs tighten against the mare, forcing the exhausted horse into a heavy canter. They were in a deep, narrow canyon, its high walls formed by two separate tongues of lava.

Spots of light hovered against ebony and for a moment Snake thought sleepily of fireflies. Then a horse neighed from a long distance and the lights leaped into perspective: the campТs lanterns. Merideth leaned forward, speaking words of encouragement to the mare. The horse labored, struggling through the deep sand, stumbling once and throwing Snake hard against MeridethТs back. Jolted, Sand rattled. The hollow space around him amplified the sound. The mare bolted in terror. Merideth let her run, and when she finally slowed, foam dripping down her neck and blood spattering from her nostrils, Merideth forced her on.

The camp seemed to recede, miragelike. Every breath Snake took hurt her as if she were the mare. The horse floundered through deep sand like an exhausted swimmer, gasping at the height of every plunge.

They reached the tent. The mare staggered and stopped, spraddle-legged, head down. Snake slipped from her back, soaked with sweat, her own knees shaky. Merideth dismounted and led the way into the tent. The flaps were propped open, and the lanterns within suffused it with a pale blue glow.

The light inside seemed very bright. MeridethТs injured friend lay near the tent wall, her face flushed and sweat-shiny, her long curly brick-red hair loose and tangled. The thin cloth covering her was stained in dark patches, but with sweat, not blood. Her companion, sitting on the floor beside her, raised his head groggily. His pleasant, ugly face was set in lines of strain, heavy eyebrows drawn together over his small dark eyes. His shaggy brown hair was tousled and matted.

Merideth knelt beside him. УHow is she?Ф

УShe finally went to sleep. SheТs been just the same. At least she doesnТt hurtЕФ

Merideth took the young manТs hand and bent to kiss the sleeping woman lightly. She did not stir. Snake put down the leather case and moved closer; Merideth and the young man looked at each other with blank expressions as they became aware of the exhaustion overtaking them. The young man suddenly leaned toward Merideth and they embraced, silently, close and long.

Merideth straightened, drawing back with reluctance. УHealer, these are my partners, Alex,Ф a nod toward the young man, Уand Jesse.Ф

Snake took the sleeping womanТs wrist. Her pulse was light, slightly irregular. She had a deep bruise on her forehead, but neither pupil was dilated, so perhaps she was lucky and had only a mild concussion. Snake pulled aside the sheet. The bruises were those of a bad fall: point of shoulder, palm of hand, hip, knee.

УYou said she went to sleepЧhas she been fully conscious since she fell?Ф

УShe was unconscious when we found her but she came to.Ф

Snake nodded. There was a deep scrape down JesseТs side and a bandage on her thigh. Snake pulled the cloth away as gently as possible, but the dressing stuck with dry blood.

Jesse did not move when Snake touched the long gash in her leg, not even as one shifts in sleep to avoid annoyance. She did not wake from pain. Snake stroked the bottom of her foot, with no result. The reflexes were gone.

УShe fell off her horse,Ф Alex said.

УShe never falls,Ф Merideth snapped. УThe colt fell on her.Ф