"Colin Wilson - Spider World 01 - The Desert" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wilson Colin)

had always used to praise some childish piece of obedience, sounded absurdly inappropriate; but Niall
understood the gratitude behind it, and felt a surge of pride.
Ten minutes later, with the suddenness of tropical nightfall, they were immersed in darkness as if
in black water. Ulf and Veig blocked the entrance with rocks and stones. Then Veig lit a rush light that
burned insect oil and they ate a meal of dried meat and cactus fruit. Niall sat propped in his corner,
watching their shadows on the wall and filled with the contentment of fatigue. He knew that his action had
saved their lives, and that the others were aware of it too. But he also knew that he was probably
responsible for what had happened today. Niall had also killed a death spider.



It had been almost ten years since Niall's family moved into the burrow. Before that, they had
lived in a cave at the foot of the great inland plateau, some twenty miles to the south. Even with the cave
entrance blocked with stones and rock fragments, the temperature had often reached a hundred during
the day. Food was scarce, and the men had spent much time on foraging expeditions. The spider balloon
on which Jomar had escaped provided silk for makeshift parasols, which enabled them to survive the
midday heat. In a nearby dried-up watercourse there were barrel cacti, whose juice was drinkable. (That
of the organ cactus was poisonous.) Yet for the small band of human beings -- in those days, Thorg and
his wife Ingeld, and their son Hrolf lived with them -- life was a continuous misery of thirst, starvation and
burning heat.
Early one day, farther from home than usual, the hunters had seen a big tiger beetle disappear
into its underground burrow. By comparison with their home at the foot of the plateau, this area seemed a
paradise. The waru plant gave promise of fresh water, while the distinctly green colour of the alfa grass
revealed that the night brought moisture in the form of fine mist. Alfa grass meant rope for traps; it could
also be woven into baskets and mats. Moreover, the shell of a blister beetle promised a source of oil.
The men were weary, exhausted by the heat and it may have been this that decided them on the
rash enterprise of attacking a tiger beetle. The mandibles of the tiger beetle could sever a man's arm or
leg; they were feared for their swiftness and for their incredible voracity -- Niall had once seen one
capture and eat twelve enormous flies in less than half an hour. But if the beetle could be driven out of its
burrow and attacked while it was struggling in the narrow entrance, they stood a chance of killing it
before it could make use of its speed.
The first step was to collect a pile of creosote bushes, hacking them out of the ground with their
flint knives. With its brittle wood and rank, tarry-smelling leaves, the creosote bush would blaze like a
torch after a few hours drying in the sun. They also collected piles of alfa grass, and prevented it from
blowing away by weighting it down with stones. Then they collected the largest rocks they could find and
piled them in heaps near the beetle's lair. Aware of all this activity, the creature watched them from its
burrow, but made no attempt to emerge; there were too many of them. When Hrolf went too close, a
pair of claw-like mandibles were thrust out menacingly from under the stone over the entrance.
As the sun rose higher, it became impossible to work for more than a few minutes at a time; even
in the shade of the organ-pipe cacti their sweat dried and evaporated before they were aware of it. With
the sun directly overhead, they crouched in the shade of their parasols and sipped sparingly of the water
to prevent dehydration.
They had retreated into the cactus grove to give the beetle a sense of security. Then, in the early
afternoon, Jomar decided it was time to attack; no desert creature expected danger at this time of day.
He made fire, using chips of dried bark, then ignited a pile of the alfa grass. The sun was so blinding that
the flames were invisible; but when the creosote bushes caught fire, the black smoke billowed into the air.
This, they knew, was the most dangerous moment; some distant patrol of spiders might see the smoke.
Swiftly, they seized the burning bushes by their roots and dragged them across the sand. With a single
powerful movement of his spear, Ulf levered aside the stone that covered the entrance; all prepared for
the beetle's swift rush. Then, when nothing happened, Jomar thrust his creosote bush into the hole; the