"Andre Norton - Breed to come" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

11

BREED TO COME

He planned to approach the caves from the north,
but at first his course was west. That would take him
by a small lake, a favorite feeding place of plump
ducks. To return with an addition to the cave food
supplies was always the duty of a warrior.

Suddenly a whiff of rank scent brought Furtig to a
halt, crouching in the bushes. His hand whipped to
his belt, reached for the claws, and he worked his
hands into them with practiced speed.

Barkers! And more than one by the smell. They
were not lone hunters like his own people, but moved
in packs, centering in upon the kill. And one of the
People would be a kill they would enjoy.

Courage was one thing, stupidity another. And
Furtig's people were never stupid. He could remain
where he was and do battle, for he did not doubt that
the Barkers would speedily scent him (in fact he won-
dered fleetingly why they had not already done so).
Or he could seek safety in the only flight left—aloft.

The hunting claws gave him a firm grip as they bit
into tree bark, and he pulled himself up with haste.
He found a branch from which he could view the
ground below. Deep in his throat rumbled a growl he
would not give full voice to, and with flattened ears
and fur lifted on his spine, he watched, eyes aslit in a
fighting face.


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There were five of them, and they trotted four-
footed. They had no one such as Gammage to supply
them with any additions to the natural weapons of
fangs. But those were danger enough. The Barkers
were a third again as large as Furtig in size, their
strong muscles moving smoothly under hides which

12

BREED TO COME