"Andre Norton - Star Ka'at 01 - Star Ka'at" - читать интересную книгу автора (Norton Andre)

could not see any of his neck. When he gave that up as impossible and
raised his eyes again, he was no longer alone.

Jim blinked. They had lived in a town house before—before Dad and
Mom had taken the plane—the plane that had crashed. And there had
been no pets allowed there. Dad had always promised that when his job
here was finished he would ask for a transfer and they could have a regular
house and maybe a dog—

Jim chewed his lower lip. The animal facing him suddenly yawned,
showing needle pointed teeth and a curling, rough-coated tongue. It was
the largest and blackest cat Jim had ever seen. In the sun its fur gleamed
as if each shining hair had a tiny rainbow tip. Between its green eyes there
sprouted an odd, thin V-shape of white hairs, and the very tips of its four
paws were also white.

The cat stared compellingly at Jim. Jim did not know very much about
cats, but he did know this was no scrawny stray like the ones that usually
slunk around the alley behind the Dales' house. Mrs. Dale put out bowls of
water and food at times, but the animals would never come near enough
to drink or eat until people left. Mr. Dale said it was wrong to encourage
them, that the Animal Control should be called.

This cat was not afraid of Jim in the least, and it had eaten a lot better
food than garbage scraps. Did all cats just sit and watch"you this way? As
if they could see into your head and know what you were thinking?

"Hello—cat—," Jim found himself talking as if to a person. He even held
out his hand a little way, not quite daring to pat the head that now
advanced to sniff delicately at Jim's fingers. The big cat answered with a
small, polite sounding rumble.
 Though he knew that the cat could not possibly understand, Jim asked
questions as he would of another boy.

"You live in that apartment?" He waved towards the building on the
other side of the lot. To his vast surprise, the cat moved his head from side
to side as if he were saying "no!"

"Are you lost?" Jim ventured, after his shock wore off a little.

For the second time the cat shook his head. His unblinking green eyes,
the pupils now only black slits in the sun, held Jim, seeming to force the
boy to return his stare.

Jim squirmed. He did not understand what was happening and he was
becoming a little afraid. But he did not know how cats acted. Maybe this
was the way they always met people. There were a lot of smart cats in
shows on TV, like the ones that advertised cat food, and some others Jim
had seen. Perhaps the alley cats were smart, too, but nobody gave them a
chance to show it.