"Chad Oliver - Blood's a Rover" - читать интересную книгу автора (Oliver Chad)

odorless injection that kept the swarming insects away from them. Late in the afternoon, when the long
blue shadows of evening were already touching the green plants and the clean, flowing water, the natives
came.
There were five of them and they appeared to be unarmed. One man walked slightly in advance of
the others, a circular branch of green leaves in his hand. Conan Lang waited for them, with Andy standing
by at his side. It was moments like this, he thought, that made you suddenly realize that you were all alone
and a long, long way from friends. The natives came on steadily. Conan felt a surge of admiration for the
young man who led them. From his point of view, he was walking into a situation filled with the terror of
the supernatural, which was a very real part of his life. His steps did not falter. He would, Conan
supposed, be the eldest son of the most powerful chief.
The natives stopped when they were three paces away. Their leader extended the circular green
branch. тАЬWe would serve you, fathers from the mountains,тАЭ the native said in his own tongue.
Conan Lang stepped forward and received the branch. тАЬWe are brothers,тАЭ he replied in the same
language, тАЬand we would be your friends.тАЭ
The native smiled, his teeth very white. тАЬI am Ren,тАЭ he said. тАЬI am your brother.тАЭ
Conan Lang kept his face expressionless, but deep within him a dark regret and sadness coursed like
ice through his veins.
It had begun again.



III.

For many days, Conan Lang listened to the Oripesh natives preparing for the feast. Their small village,
only a quarter of a mile from the field, was alive with excitement. The women prepared great piles of the
staple rice-fruit and broiled river fish in great green leaves on hot coals. The men chanted and danced
interminably, cleansing the village by ritual for the coming visitation, while the children, forgotten for once,
played on the banks of the river. On the appointed day, Conan Lang walked into the village with Andy
Irvin at his side.
It was a crude village, necessarily so because of its transient nature. But it was not dirty. The natives
watched the two men with awe, but they did not seem unfriendly. The supernatural was for them always
just on the other side of the hill, hidden in the night, and now it was among them, in the open. That was
all. And what, after all, thought Conan Lang, could have seemed more supernatural to them than a silver
ship that dropped out of the stars? What was supernatural depended on oneтАЩs point of viewтАФand on
how much one happened to know about what was natural.
 The box he carried was heavy, and it took both arms to handle it. He watched Andy puffing at his
side and smiled.
тАЬStick with it, kid,тАЭ he said, walking steadily through the watching natives. тАЬYou may earn your pay
yet.тАЭ
Andy muttered something under his breath and blinked to get the sweat out of his eyes.
When they reached the clearing in the center of the village, they stopped and put their boxes down.
Ren, the eldest son of the chief Ra Renne, approached them at once and offered them a drink from a
large wooden bowl. Conan drank and passed the container on to Andy, who grinned broadly and took a
long swallow of the warm fluid. It was sweet, although not too sweet, and it burned pleasantly on the way
down. It was, Conan decided instantly, a great improvement over some native fermented horrors he had
been subjected to in times past.
The natives gathered around them in a great circle. There must have been nearly five hundred of
themтАФfar more than the small village could accommodate for any length of time.
тАЬWeтАЩre celebrities,тАЭ Conan Lang whispered out of the side of his mouth as he waited to be presented
ceremonially to the chiefs.