"Andre Norton - Darkness and Dawn" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

too, was now putting some miles between himself and the Plains camp.
At least he had that broiled fish to take with him. Fors munched a handful of parched
corn from his emergency rations as he trotted along and some shreds of dried meat,
giving the rest to Lura who downed it in a single gulp. Half-ripe berries snatched from
bushes as he passed were sauce of a sort. But there still remained a feeling of emptiness
in his middle which grew with the lengthening shadows of the afternoon.
They had used the feeder stream of the lake as a guide, but the thinning of the trees
around them now and the appearance of open patches suggested that the end of the wood
was close. Fors paused and tried to plan. He was at home in the forest country and knew
how to conceal his trail there. On the other hand, in the open, out in the once cultivated
fields, one would make better time and be able to cover a good many miles before the
daylight failed entirely. The hunters of the plainsтАФif humanтАФwere mounted men and
any pursuit would be easily seen. And there were plenty of scattered clumps of trees and
running tongues of brush to give him shelter in a pinch. He decided to venture out.
A brown animal with a black mask about its eyes surveyed him critically from a pile
of rocks but was gone in a flash when Lura's head came out of a tall stand of grass. That
was the only living thing they saw until they skirted the rotting timbers of a farmhouse,
missing a tumble into its half-exposed cellar only by chance.
A sound answered Fors' yelp and his hand swept to the hilt of his sword. He skidded
around, bare steel out. An ugly naked pink snout, still smeared with earth and slime,
protruded from a tangle of brush, and the wicked tusks below it caught and held the light.
Fors hurled pouch and bow from him and half crouched, waiting for that most dangerous
of all rushes, the attack of a wild boar.
It came with all the deadly ferocity he had expected, the tusks slashing for his legs.
He struck, but the creature dodged so that, though a red and dripping line leaped out
along its head and shoulder, it was not sent kicking. It grunted loudly, and there came
answers. Fors' mouth driedтАФhe was facing a whole pack of swine!
Behind him was a pile of the collapsed timbers which had once been the wall of a
small building, but they were pulpy with rot and they dipped dangerously toward the
cellar. If he jumped for them he might well crash through.
From the bushes came a squall of rage and pain. The boar tossed its tusked head and
blew foam. Its eyes in the black-and-white spotted face were red and evil. Another squeal
came from the herd, this time followed by an answering snarl. Fors loosed a thankful
breath.
Lura was keeping the herd occupied. Under her ripping claws the younger and weaker
ones would certainly break and scatter. But not this old leader. It was wily and there were
scars and bare patches enough on the hide to mark it victor in other battles. It had always
won before so it was confident now. AndтАФthe charge came again!
Fors leaped to the left, slashing down as he moved out of danger. That stroke cut
across the grinning devil's mask of the boar, chopping off an ear and shearing the sight
out of one red eye. It shook its head, sending a spray of blood flying, and squealed in rage
and pain. Under the prod of pain it lost its cunning, wishing now only to tusk and trample
the dancing figure before itтАФto root the life of the enemy awayтАФ
As Fors saw the heavy shoulders tense he took a step backward, groping for firm
footing on which to maneuver. And in so doing he nearly lost the fight. His heel caught
and was held as if a trap had snapped on it. He was still trying to pull loose as the boar
charged for the third time.
And that pull unbalanced him so that he fell forward almost on top of the mad
creature. There was a red dagger of pain across his leg and a foul stench filled his
nostrils. He stabbed wildly. Then his steel struck bone and slip deep beneath the mangy