"Ardath Mayhar - Hunters of the Plains" - читать интересную книгу автора (Mayhar Ardath)

desire to plunge straight into the curling horns of one of the big bison.

The arroyo was only one of an erratic maze of dry washes, ravines, and other old game trails that gullied
the grassy plain. The animals that had helped to form it had avoided big rocks and difficult passages, on
their way toward the water, and winter rains had followed the courses of the trails, digging them even
deeper.

As he sprang around such a kink, Do-na-ti leapt spasmodically to avoid a snake, which had begun
coiling at the sound of his pounding steps. A rattler as long as his body filled the air with its dry rustle of
warning.

The boy paused at the end of his long jump, well out of range of the creature, and looked back. The
rattler struck after his flying shape, lying flat on the rock for an instant. Without hesitation, Do-na-ti
whirled and bent in the same motion.

Before the reptile could gather itself to coil again, the boy grabbed it behind the head, holding the tense
and resistant body stretched between his hands as it tried to squirm into a coil against his grip.

He waited behind the blind corner for his pursuer to arrive. He knew he would hear no footsteps, for the
bear rolled over the ground almost as silently as a cloud, but at last he heard the faint click of pebble
striking pebble as the beast's great weight moved over them.

At that moment, he stretched the rattlesnake even tighter, resisting with considerable strength its attempts
to coil again. As the bear's blunt face came into view, he flung the snake over its neck, the gaping fangs
hanging on one side and the wriggling tail on the other side of the startled beast's head. The enraged
snake began striking at anything it could reach, and the bear lost interest in his former prey and focused
on the swaying head and perilous fangs threatening his face.

Do-na-ti backed away as the bear rose onto its hind legs, pawing at the snake. Before he could deal with
the serpent, the rattler struck again at the side of his snout; the bear roared and flung the long body onto
the ground.

The boy did not wait to see what happened afterward. Instead, he went around another bend and
climbed the wall of the arroyo. Once clear of the cleft, he took off across the grassland at top speed, the
badger bouncing and bobbing behind his shoulder, on the spear.

The snakebites would probably not kill that huge beast, he understood, for he had seen the bears survive
far worse things than that. He had no desire to be within sight when the animal finished his business with
the snake and remembered, if he did remember, that he had been chasing two-legged prey.

Once clear of the area, the boy slowed to a jog. This time he kept his mind strictly on watching and
listening to his surroundings, for the plain was alive with very large animals. Most of those would attack a
man if he surprised them. One such encounter in a single day was more than any of his people wanted.



It was a long way to the village, and he climbed up and down swells, hummocks, and ravines, his
instinctive sense of direction keeping his course as straight as possible, even as he avoided obstructions
and perils. One such problem came into view when he stopped on the top of a hillock and gazed along
his proposed route.