"Aaron Wolfe - Invasion" - читать интересную книгу автора (Wolfe Aaron)

other "manly" subjects in addition to its studded leather furniture.

"Whatever it isтАФcould it be dangerous?"

"No, no."
 "I don't mean dangerous for usтАФbut maybe for a little guy like Toby."

"I don't think so," I said. "It didn't seem to have clawsтАФthough it must
be fairly large. Toby mentioned a bird. I can't imagine what kind of bird,
but I guess it might be that."

"The largest birds around here are pheasants," she said. "And those
tracks sound too big for pheasants."

"Much too big," I said.

"Maybe we shouldn't let Toby go outside by himself until we know what
we've got on our hands."

I finished my drink and put the glass on the coffee table. "Well, if the
books don't give me a clue, I'll call Sam Caldwell and see if he can put me
on the right track. If Sam's never seen anything like them, then they're just
figments of our imaginations."

Sam was seventy years old, but he still operated his sporting goods
store on the square in Barley. He hunted and fished through every legal
season, for every breed of creature natural to New England. The way his
face was weatheredтАФcut across with a hundred lines and deeply tanned by
sun and windтАФ he even looked like a piece of the forest.

As happened often lately, our admiration for the crackling fire swiftly
metamorphosed into admiration for each other, and we began some
playful necking. The playfulness gave way to real interest: the kisses grew
longer, the embraces firmer. Certain that Toby would be asleep for
another hour or so, I had just begun to get really serious with her when
she drew back a bit and cocked her head, listening.

I said, "What is it?"

"Ssshhr

When my heartbeat subsided and my breathing was somewhat less
stentorian than it had been, I could hear it too: the whinnying cries of the
horses "Just the nags."

"I wonder what's wrong with them?"
 "They know that we're sitting in here getting lovey, and they're jealous.
That's all it is. They think we ought to be out there grooming them."

"I'm serious."