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

out the sun. Probably it was very quiet, too, if the noise of the bike and t
he jeep had not advertised their coming. Advertised it to what? Nick hoped on
ly to those in the Wilson place.
Right ahead was the turn, a blind one. And this was a narrow road. No pla
ce to meet anyone coming the other way. But surely they were making enoug
h noise-
Noise! The Peke had begun to yap, almost as when he had challenged Rufus.
Nick heard the girl call out:
"Down, Lung! Down!"
He half-turned his head, the bike hit something and wobbled. Nick had to fi
ght to keep it away from a mass of dying brush. But there was something els
e, a cloud- like a fog trapped under the trees. It was thickening, coming d
own like a blanket-fast!
Nick thought he cried out. Behind him he heard an answering scream and a c
rash. Then he hit something, was thrown, and skidded painfully into total
darkness.
2
Nick lay with his feet higher than his head, the whole left side of his fac
e smarting. Groggily he levered himself up on his hands and blinked, then s
hook his head to banish the queer not-here feeling. He could hear a whimper
ing sound from behind, but at first he was so much occupied with his own ac
hes and pains that it had no meaning.
He looked around.
The bike lay entangled in broken brush into which it must have slammed wi
th force. Nick sat up farther. Bike-the jeep! Where was the jeep? Now the
whimpering alerted him to what might be a serious accident. He had no id
ea what had happened-memory seemed at fault. They had just come around th
e turn in the Cut-Off and then...
Nick got shakily to his feet.
There was no road.
He staggered toward the jeep. That was there, yes, slammed against a tree. A
tree that had no business being there at all, for seemingly it had sprung u
p right in the middle of what had been a newly cleared road.
There was no road!
He reached the jeep, supported himself against it. His aching head still se
emed foggy. Fog-mist-cloud-there was something about that he could faintly
remember. But that did not matter now. What did was the girl behind the whe
el of the jeep.
She was supported partly by her seat belt, partly by the wheel itself. Her e
yes were still covered with those sunglasses. With an effort Nick reached ov
er and jerked them off. She was unconscious, he decided.
The whimpering came from the Peke huddled against her, licking at her arm.
Lung growled at Nick but only halfheartedly, as he slid in beside Linda.
As far as Nick could see she had no open wounds, but-broken bones? His hands
were shaking with a tremor he found it hard to control, as he eased her bac
k in the seat so he could get at the fastening of the seat belt.
"What-what-" She opened her eyes but, though they were turned in his direct
ion, they did not seem to focus on him.
"Hold still!" Nick ordered. "Let me get this open-"
A few minutes later he sighed with relief. She had no broken bones. The sid