"Robert Reed - X-Country" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reed Robert)

the opposite direction from where the pack had gone.

тАЬHave a spare map?тАЭ

тАЬOn the table,тАЭ he said.

A row of shoeboxes was on top of a small folding table, each box empty
except for two or three unused race packets. I fished out my own packet and
glanced at my bib numberтАФ8тАФthen opened the accompanying map. The
racecourse was shown as a thin red line lain over the photocopy of a topographic
map. Four times, the runner would move out to a distant station, pick up his
Popsicle stick and then come back again. The race headed upriver and then came
back again, the second leg following a snaking tributary. Then it returned again,
taking an entirely different path upriver; and down it came again, the final station
waiting on the outskirts of Enderville. The entire course created a long, flattened X.
And what impressed me was how exceptionally complicated every leg looked: I was
sitting there, calm and rested. Yet I was having trouble following all the loops and
side loops and the dozen or so places where trails crossed one another.

Very quietly, I asked Kip, тАЬWhat is all this?тАЭ

тАЬMy course map,тАЭ he replied.

The smile hadnтАЩt left his face.

тАЬYouтАЩre serious,тАЭ I said. And when he didnтАЩt rise to defend himself, I asked,
тАЬWhat did people say about this map?тАЭ

тАЬMany words. Not many of them complimentary.тАЭ

I could imagine the scene.

тАЬBut as I explained it to the runners, thereтАЩs plenty of help along the way. I
marked the course. Where the trails cross, I put down arrows. Easy to see, very
easy to follow.тАЭ

тАЬWhile racing?тАЭ I asked.

The smile brightened even more.

тАЬIf I was running at full speed,тАЭ I said, тАЬcharging through the woods, in the
shadows, up and down hills ... and then I came to this intersection.... тАЬI pointed at a
tangle of lines. тАЬWhich way would I go?тАЭ

тАЬIt depends,тАЭ he said.

тАЬOn what?тАЭ

тАЬWell, you would have to follow the first arrow that I painted.тАЭ