"Andre Norton - Here Abide Monsters" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

ne in a nightmare!
Hastily he repacked the food, put the bag back on the bike. He wished they
dared ride, but it would be folly to try. And they had better be careful ab
out getting around those deer. The animals looked harmless enough but that
was not saying they would remain so if alarmed.
They wanted to run, but the grass tangled and pulled at their feet and the b
ike wheels, so that they floundered along at little better than a walking pa
ce. Also, at Nick's insistence, they made a detour around the edge of the op
en space where the deer were, putting a screen of brush - between them and t
he animals. And they froze once as the stag that was the leader flung up its
head and stared straight at the bush behind which they happened to be.
Nick felt very naked and exposed then. He had heard that if you were absolu
tely still animals would lose interest in you and he scowled a warning at L
inda. She nodded, holding her hand about Lung's muzzle. But the Peke appear
ed to understand and did not fight for his freedom and a chance to bark.
The stag watched them, or at least Nick thought they were its quarry. But a
fter a time when the two dared hardly draw a full breath, the stag grunted
and trotted toward the lake. When it was what seemed to Nick a safe distanc
e away they hurried on.
But this closer sight of the deer presented another puzzle. Surely these gra
y animals were larger than those of Nick's own world, differing in size as t
hey did in color. He wished he knew more, could get enough hints to answer s
ome of his questions, if those might be answered at all.
They moved on, around the curve in the lake. Yes, there was the opening to
Deep Run. So this place did follow the general pattern of their own world
. And the smoke rose near the mouth of the Run. Nick felt some return of s
atisfaction at being proved right on one point of geography. But his trium
ph was speedily dashed. "Stand where you are, chums!"

3
Lung broke into a wild barking, facing the bush screen from behind which t
hat order had come. Nick halted, though Linda took a step or two as if the
plunging of the now aroused Peke pulled her ahead.
Nick touched her arm with one hand, with the other he steadied the bike.
"Who are you?" he demanded of the bush and was inwardly glad his voice w
as so even and controlled. Ted- Ben? Some other who had preceded them in
to this alien world?
There was a moment of silence, so prolonged that Nick wondered if the chal
lenger had faded into deeper cover, tricking them into a halt while he wit
hdrew. But why would anyone be so elusive? The stranger in hiding could ce
rtainly see they were harmless.
Then the bushes parted and a man came into the open. He was very ordinary l
ooking, a little shorter than Nick, but broader of shoulder, his bulk of bo
dy enhanced by the garment he wore, a coverall. Perched on his head was a h
elmet rather like an inverted basin, and he had on thick boots.
His face was round and there was a thick brush of moustache, grayish red, h
alf hiding his mouth. In one hand he carried-
A slingshot I
Viewing that, Nick could have laughed, except there was something in the s
tranger's attitude that did not permit such a reaction to his childish wea