"Pat Murphy - Rachel In Love" - читать интересную книгу автора (Murphy Pat)

she is breathing hard and making small lonely whimpering noises. In the dimly lit corridor, she hesitates
for a moment, staring into Johnson's cage. The male chimp is asleep. She remembers the touch of his
hands when he groomed her.

From the corridor, she lifts the gate that leads into Johnson's cage and enters. He wakes at the sound of
the door and sniffs the air. When he sees Rachel, he stalks toward her, sniffing eagerly. She let him finger
her genitals, sniff deeply of her scent. His penis is erect and he grunts in excitement. She turns and
presents herself to him and he mounts her, thrusting deep inside. As he penetrates, she thinks, for a
moment, of Jake and of the thin blonde teenage girl named Rachel, but then the moment passes. Almost
against her will she cries out, a shrill exclamation of welcoming and loss.

After he withdraws his penis, Johnson grooms her gently, sniffing her genitals and softly stroking her fur.
She is sleepy and content, but she knows she cannot delay.

Johnson is reluctant to leave his cage, but Rachel takes him by the hand and leads him to the janitor's
lounge. His presence gives her courage. She listens at the door and hears Jake's soft breathing. Leaving
Johnson in the hall, she slips into the room. Jake is lying on the couch, the magazine draped over his legs.
Rachel takes the equipment that she has gathered and stands for a moment, staring at the sleeping man.
His baseball cap hangs on the arm of a broken chair, and she takes that to remember him by.

Rachel leads Johnson through the empty halls. A kangaroo rat, collecting seeds in the dried grass near the
glass doors, looks up curiously as Rachel leads Johnson down the steps. Rachel carries the plastic
shopping bag slung over her shoulder. Somewhere in the distance, a coyote howls, a long yapping wail.
His cry is joined by others, a chorus in the moonlight.

Rachel takes Johnson by the hand and leads him into the desert.

A cocktail waitress, driving from her job in Flagstaff to her home in Winslow, sees two apes dart across
the road, hurrying away from the bright beams of her headlights. After wrestling with her conscience (she
does not want to be accused of drinking on the job), she notifies the county sheriff.

A local newspaper reporter, an eager young man fresh out of journalism school, picks up the story from
the police report and interviews the waitress. Flattered by his enthusiasm for her story and delighted to
find a receptive ear, she tells him the details that she failed to mention to the police: one of the apes was
wearing a baseball cap and carrying what looked like a shopping bag.

The reporter writes up a quick humorous story for the morning edition, and begins researching a feature
article to be run later in the week. He knows that the newspaper, eager for news in a slow season, will
play a humaninterest story up big--kind of Lassie, Come Home with chimps.

Just before dawn, a light rain begins to fall, the first rain of spring. Rachel searches for shelter and finds a
small cave formed by three tumbled boulders. It will keep off the rain and hide them from casual
observers. She shares her food and water with Johnson. He has followed her closely all night, seemingly
intimidated by the darkness and the howling of distant coyotes. She feels protective toward him. At the
same time, having him with her gives her courage. He knows only a few gestures in ASL, but he does not
need to speak. His presence is comfort enough.

Johnson curls up in the back of the cave and falls asleep quickly. Rachel sits in the opening and watches
dawnlight wash the stars from the sky. The rain rattles against the sand, a comforting sound. She thinks
about Jake. The baseball cap on her head still smells of his cigarettes, but she does not miss him. Not