[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
But we re not the only ones looking for her, Canney said, pushing John s
hands away. If she answers you, Snake might be closer. Think about it.
John realized Canney was right. But what ?
Just then, one of the Mulliners came out of the house carrying a shotgun. He
started yelling.
Poppy! It s your Uncle Luke! Stay where you are. We re coming to find you.
Let us know when one of us gets near you. We ll protect you. He turned to
Canney and began pointing to different spots in the bushy undergrowth that
rimmed the rear of the clearing.
Everybody fan out and move into the brush. Keep calling her name. The two
Mulliners moved off. John saw the three feds look at each other; then Decker
shrugged.
Unless someone can come up with a better idea, he said, I suggest we
follow their lead.
He turned to John. Maybe you d better stay here and
Like hell, John said. Without giving anyone a chance to stop him, he began
moving off in one of the directions Luke had indicated.
The branches of the underbrush clawed at his clothes and his skin, raked at
his eyes, but he kept pushing through, calling out, praying for a reply.
Poppy, it s me! Katie s father! I m here with your uncles. Over and over.
Poppy, it s me& As he came to the base of a small rise, lightning flashed.
He looked up and gasped. Someone was standing on its crest, someone huge, and
he was holding something in his arms.
Something child sized& and limp.
Oh, God! he thought. Is this Snake? I should have a gun!
Then he heard a voice shouting to him: Are you Katie s daddy? That wasn t
Snake s voice.
Yes& y-yes, I am. The figure started crashing down the rise toward John.
God, he was big. I think she s hurt.
Page 266
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Oh, no! John staggered forward, arms outstretched. Please, God, not now,
not when she s so close to going home! Give her to me! As the big man laid
her gently in his arms, John crushed her to him.
Katie? And then he knew it was Katie oh yes it was Katie his Katie Oh, Katie,
it s been so long! and she was soaked and she was cold but he could feel her
heart beating and he wanted to drop to his knees and bury his face against the
dripping rat tails of her sodden hair and sob out his uncounted joy and relief
at having her back again, but he had to get her out of here, get her inside
where it was dry and he could see her in the light and
I found her in a gully, the giant said. I think she fell and hit her
head. Aw, no, not her head! Not again!
John turned and began carrying her toward the lights of the house.
Where s Poppy? the giant asked from behind him.
She s hiding out here, John said, still moving away. A man with one eye is
trying to hurt her. Her uncles and some other men are here to help her.
I ll help her too, the giant said. I can find her. I ll save her from the
one-eyed man.
John glanced back. As lightning flashed he saw the giant s face and a
diagnosis popped immediately into his mind: Fragile-X syndrome.
You do that, he told him. And& thanks for finding Katie. But the giant
was already crashing away through the brush in the opposite direction.
Hang on, Katie, John said as he edged closer and closer to the house.
Daddy s got you now and he s never letting you go. Finally he was clear of
the brush. He broke into a run and carried Katie toward the light of an open
doorway.
So you found her, Lester said as John ducked through the opening and
dropped gasping to his knees.
John could only nod as he gently laid Katie on the dry floor and checked her
head. He found a bloody, one-inch gash in her scalp on the side opposite her
old fracture, thank God with a goose-egg hematoma swelling beneath it. Quickly
he lifted her eyelids and watched her pupils constrict. Good! Her breathing
was shallow but regular. She could have been asleep. Except for the blood. Had
she fallen and hit her head? Or had she suffered a seizure out there? Either
way she d suffered a significant concussion. He needed to get her to a
hospital.
He glanced over at Lester. The old man was propped against an inside wall
holding a dirty cloth against his bloody left flank. He looked pale but alert.
Are you all right?
About as well as a man can be with a hole in his side, I guess. But I don t
think the slug did much more n puncture my love handle and one of my ass
cheeks. Lester winced and took a swig from a big ceramic jug. Hurts like
hell, but this eases the pain. You want some? Take the chill off. John shook
his head. He knew he should check out the old man too, but he couldn t bring
himself to leave Katie s side. Not yet.
At a noise behind him he turned toward the door, hoping to see either Decker
Page 267
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
or Canney, or even one of the Mulliners. But it was someone else. John didn t
get a good look at him didn t give himself a chance. He saw the black eye
patch and the next thing he knew he was charging across the room, arms
outstretched, fingers curved into claws, an animal-like growl building in his
throat. Six days of pent-up rage, fear, terror, frustration had finally found
a target.
Snake!
He rammed his shoulder into the man s midsection and knocked him down. Then
he was on him, pummeling him with his fists, battering at his face, wanting to
rip the skin off him, pound him into the dirt, and keep pounding at him until
Snake was flattened, until he was little more than a thin smear of bloody
jelly.
But his attack lasted only seconds, and his red fantasy was shattered by the
deafening explosion of a pistol only inches away and a tearing, concussive
blow to his right shoulder that spun him completely around and left him lying
on his back, writhing with the pain from his shattered shoulder, and Snake
standing over him, his one eye blazing, his teeth bared, his dark hair
plastered over the sutured lacerations that crisscrossed his shaven scalp, and
his pistol pointed between John s eyes.
You lied to me, Vanduyne, was all he said before he pulled the trigger.
But nothing happened. Through a haze of agony John saw Snake s index finger
pulling the trigger over and over, heard the hammer falling, but no shots. He
kicked at Snake s legs and knocked him off balance, but only for an instant.
Snake leaped forward and smashed the useless pistol against John s head. As
John fought to remain conscious, Snake straddled him and wrapped his fingers
around John s throat.
I ve wanted to do this since I first saw you, Snake whispered as his thumbs
pressed on John s trachea. You and Poppy. Because of you two&
John flailed at him with his left hand but the room was spinning and his
vision was blurred and he had no strength and he needed air, oh God he needed
air.
And just as his vision was fading he saw a shadow behind Snake, saw something
moving, and then an amber liquid halo suddenly bloomed around Snake s head.
The fingers around John s throat loosened as Snake stiffened and his one eye
went wide, so wide, and his jaw dropped open and he sagged to his left and
dropped from John s view.
Taking his place was a young woman with very short, very black hair, a
chalk-white face, blood-caked cyanotic lips, and the remains of Lester s
ceramic jug dangling from her fingers. The rest of the jug lay in pieces on
Snake s inert form. She teetered left and right like a drunk, then dropped to
her knees and stared at him. Her mouth moved but no words came.
Dimly, John heard Lester s voice in the background. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl freetocraft.keep.pl
But we re not the only ones looking for her, Canney said, pushing John s
hands away. If she answers you, Snake might be closer. Think about it.
John realized Canney was right. But what ?
Just then, one of the Mulliners came out of the house carrying a shotgun. He
started yelling.
Poppy! It s your Uncle Luke! Stay where you are. We re coming to find you.
Let us know when one of us gets near you. We ll protect you. He turned to
Canney and began pointing to different spots in the bushy undergrowth that
rimmed the rear of the clearing.
Everybody fan out and move into the brush. Keep calling her name. The two
Mulliners moved off. John saw the three feds look at each other; then Decker
shrugged.
Unless someone can come up with a better idea, he said, I suggest we
follow their lead.
He turned to John. Maybe you d better stay here and
Like hell, John said. Without giving anyone a chance to stop him, he began
moving off in one of the directions Luke had indicated.
The branches of the underbrush clawed at his clothes and his skin, raked at
his eyes, but he kept pushing through, calling out, praying for a reply.
Poppy, it s me! Katie s father! I m here with your uncles. Over and over.
Poppy, it s me& As he came to the base of a small rise, lightning flashed.
He looked up and gasped. Someone was standing on its crest, someone huge, and
he was holding something in his arms.
Something child sized& and limp.
Oh, God! he thought. Is this Snake? I should have a gun!
Then he heard a voice shouting to him: Are you Katie s daddy? That wasn t
Snake s voice.
Yes& y-yes, I am. The figure started crashing down the rise toward John.
God, he was big. I think she s hurt.
Page 266
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Oh, no! John staggered forward, arms outstretched. Please, God, not now,
not when she s so close to going home! Give her to me! As the big man laid
her gently in his arms, John crushed her to him.
Katie? And then he knew it was Katie oh yes it was Katie his Katie Oh, Katie,
it s been so long! and she was soaked and she was cold but he could feel her
heart beating and he wanted to drop to his knees and bury his face against the
dripping rat tails of her sodden hair and sob out his uncounted joy and relief
at having her back again, but he had to get her out of here, get her inside
where it was dry and he could see her in the light and
I found her in a gully, the giant said. I think she fell and hit her
head. Aw, no, not her head! Not again!
John turned and began carrying her toward the lights of the house.
Where s Poppy? the giant asked from behind him.
She s hiding out here, John said, still moving away. A man with one eye is
trying to hurt her. Her uncles and some other men are here to help her.
I ll help her too, the giant said. I can find her. I ll save her from the
one-eyed man.
John glanced back. As lightning flashed he saw the giant s face and a
diagnosis popped immediately into his mind: Fragile-X syndrome.
You do that, he told him. And& thanks for finding Katie. But the giant
was already crashing away through the brush in the opposite direction.
Hang on, Katie, John said as he edged closer and closer to the house.
Daddy s got you now and he s never letting you go. Finally he was clear of
the brush. He broke into a run and carried Katie toward the light of an open
doorway.
So you found her, Lester said as John ducked through the opening and
dropped gasping to his knees.
John could only nod as he gently laid Katie on the dry floor and checked her
head. He found a bloody, one-inch gash in her scalp on the side opposite her
old fracture, thank God with a goose-egg hematoma swelling beneath it. Quickly
he lifted her eyelids and watched her pupils constrict. Good! Her breathing
was shallow but regular. She could have been asleep. Except for the blood. Had
she fallen and hit her head? Or had she suffered a seizure out there? Either
way she d suffered a significant concussion. He needed to get her to a
hospital.
He glanced over at Lester. The old man was propped against an inside wall
holding a dirty cloth against his bloody left flank. He looked pale but alert.
Are you all right?
About as well as a man can be with a hole in his side, I guess. But I don t
think the slug did much more n puncture my love handle and one of my ass
cheeks. Lester winced and took a swig from a big ceramic jug. Hurts like
hell, but this eases the pain. You want some? Take the chill off. John shook
his head. He knew he should check out the old man too, but he couldn t bring
himself to leave Katie s side. Not yet.
At a noise behind him he turned toward the door, hoping to see either Decker
Page 267
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
or Canney, or even one of the Mulliners. But it was someone else. John didn t
get a good look at him didn t give himself a chance. He saw the black eye
patch and the next thing he knew he was charging across the room, arms
outstretched, fingers curved into claws, an animal-like growl building in his
throat. Six days of pent-up rage, fear, terror, frustration had finally found
a target.
Snake!
He rammed his shoulder into the man s midsection and knocked him down. Then
he was on him, pummeling him with his fists, battering at his face, wanting to
rip the skin off him, pound him into the dirt, and keep pounding at him until
Snake was flattened, until he was little more than a thin smear of bloody
jelly.
But his attack lasted only seconds, and his red fantasy was shattered by the
deafening explosion of a pistol only inches away and a tearing, concussive
blow to his right shoulder that spun him completely around and left him lying
on his back, writhing with the pain from his shattered shoulder, and Snake
standing over him, his one eye blazing, his teeth bared, his dark hair
plastered over the sutured lacerations that crisscrossed his shaven scalp, and
his pistol pointed between John s eyes.
You lied to me, Vanduyne, was all he said before he pulled the trigger.
But nothing happened. Through a haze of agony John saw Snake s index finger
pulling the trigger over and over, heard the hammer falling, but no shots. He
kicked at Snake s legs and knocked him off balance, but only for an instant.
Snake leaped forward and smashed the useless pistol against John s head. As
John fought to remain conscious, Snake straddled him and wrapped his fingers
around John s throat.
I ve wanted to do this since I first saw you, Snake whispered as his thumbs
pressed on John s trachea. You and Poppy. Because of you two&
John flailed at him with his left hand but the room was spinning and his
vision was blurred and he had no strength and he needed air, oh God he needed
air.
And just as his vision was fading he saw a shadow behind Snake, saw something
moving, and then an amber liquid halo suddenly bloomed around Snake s head.
The fingers around John s throat loosened as Snake stiffened and his one eye
went wide, so wide, and his jaw dropped open and he sagged to his left and
dropped from John s view.
Taking his place was a young woman with very short, very black hair, a
chalk-white face, blood-caked cyanotic lips, and the remains of Lester s
ceramic jug dangling from her fingers. The rest of the jug lay in pieces on
Snake s inert form. She teetered left and right like a drunk, then dropped to
her knees and stared at him. Her mouth moved but no words came.
Dimly, John heard Lester s voice in the background. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]