[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

The combination of rain, driven from over the water on the teeth of a rising
wind, and drifting slabs of bitter fog, made it a thoroughly miserable night
for all of them. The temperature fell sharply after midnight, and Ryan
insisted that they huddle together for warmth and protection.
"If those mad Vikings want to come up in this weather and try and take me,"
Mildred said through chattering teeth, "then they're goddamned welcome to me."
THE DAWN'S EARLY LIGHT brought virtually no improvement to conditions.
The wind was close to gale force and carried the stinging bite of acid rain.
Not the most acidic Ryan had ever experienced, but bad enough to irritate the
eyes and taste sour on the skin, The fog had cleared, but the sun wasn't able
to cut through the swaths of dark cloud.
Parts of the path were sheeted in orange mud, and it took the companions
another three hours to get close to the top of the hill.
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The tight mass of conifers had gradually thinned, and mud was replaced by
loose stones. Out on the exposed flank of the mountain, the wind had risen to
a ferocious howling that plucked at the clothes and made breathing difficult.
"Once we get over the ridge," Ryan said, "it should ease a whole lot."
Doc was doubled over, hands on knees, hawking up strings of pale spittle. He
coughed, rackingly, his shoulders shaking. "I confess that I did not care
overmuch for that fetid heat we encountered when we first came to Minnesota.
Yet it would be thrice welcome after this damnable piercing wind." He turned
to squint up the path. "How much farther, Ryan?"
"Not far, Doc. Mebbe another quarter hour, and then it'll all be downhill."
He was a touch optimistic. The last hundred yards had to be covered on hands
and knees, the gale tearing at them, driving them toward the spine of the
hill.
One by one they crawled over the top, grateful to see the lush jungle ahead.
Ryan was last over, gasping for breath. Even twenty feet down the other side,
the lee of the slope protected them and life was hugely easier. "Yeah," Ryan
said. "All downhill now."
Chapter Thirty-Six
"THIS CLIMATE'S like being in a Holiday Inn sauna," Mildred said. "But in a
Holiday Inn it's a lot of fun."
"I've stayed places like that," Doc told her, wiping sweat from his forehead
with his swallow's-eye kerchief. "I recall that the best surprise was no
surprise. Was that not their slogan? Or was it that they tried harder? I fear
that all of this
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excitement has somewhat addled my brain."
Ryan held up his hand to call a halt to the group. "Not far from the real
serious jungle. This scrub's okay for safety. No chance of an ambush here.
Coupla hundred feet lower down the path, things could get nasty."
"And there's all kinds of wildlife in the forest down there," Krysty added.
"Not home and safe yet. Double-care."
"Make it triple," J.B. said.
After the chill air near the lake and the banks of icy fog, the tropical heat
farther down the trail was overwhelming. The sickly scent of exotic flowers
swamped everyone's breathing, and the sweltering humidity reduced the friends
to sweating misery.
As soon as they reached the point where the path grew less steep and the lush
foliage met in a dark green ceiling, it became an effort to continue walking.
The butterflies were everywhere. Turquoise and gold. Maroon and dazzling
green.
Some of them as large as dinner plates, fluttering between the flowering
shrubs that covered so much of the ground in the clearings.
"No sign of the Vikings," Krysty said to Ryan.
"If they came over the top on a different path, they'll likely not come at us
until we reach that river near the freezie center."
"Can we try and find a sidetrack?"
"Yeah, but I guess we could be lost within fifty strides, jungle like this
seems to grow while you watch it."
Mildred called out to Ryan. "Can we take a break? Doc's kind of frayed around
the edges." [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]