"Chalker, Jack L. - Dancing Gods 01 - The River of the Dancing Gods" - читать интересную книгу автора (Chalker Jack L)

A small interstate highway marker, the usual red, white,
and blue was between mile markers 3 and 2, but it told him
nothing. It didn't even make sense. He was probably just a
little crazy tonight, or his eyes were going, but it looked for
all the world as if it said:
°o? What the hell was that? Somebody in the highway department
must have goofed good there, stenciling an 8 on its
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Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods
side.
At the 2, another green sign announced Ruddygore, and
there was also a brown sign, like the kind used for parks and
monuments. It said, "Ferry—Turn Left at Stop Sign."
Now he knew he had gone suddenly mad. Not just that he
knew that 1-8 went from Tucson to San Diego and nowhere
12 THE RIVER OF DANCING GODS
near Texas, but—a ferry? In the middle of the west Texas
desert?
He backed down to slow—very slow—and turned to his
passenger. "Hey, little lady. Wake up!"
She didn't stir, and finally he reached over and shook her,
repeating his words.
She moved and squirmed and managed to open her eyes.
"Urn. Sorry. So tired.. .What's the matter? We in El Paso?"
He shook his head. "No. I think I've gone absolutely nuts.
Somehow in the storm we took an exit that wasn't supposed
to be there and we're headed for a town called Ruddygore.
Ever heard of it?"
She shook her head sleepily from side to side. "Nope. But
that doesn't mean anything. Why? We lost?"
"Lost ain't the word," he mumbled. "Look, I don't want to
scare you or anything, but I think I'm going nuts. You ever
hear of a ferryboat around here?"
She looked at him as if he had suddenly sprouted feathers.
"A what? Over what?'
He nodded nervously and gestured toward the windshield.
"Well, then, you read me that big sign."
She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked. "Ruddygore
—exit one mile," she mumbled.
"And the little brown sign?"
"Ferry," she read, suddenly awake and looking very confused.
"And an arrow." She turned and faced him. "How long
was I asleep?"
"Five, maybe ten minutes," he answered truthfully. "You
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Chalker, Jack L - The River of the Dancing Gods
can still see the rain on the windshield where the wipers don't
reach."
She shook her head in wonder. "It must be across the Pecos.
But the Pecos isn't much around here."