"Marta Randall - The Dark Boy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Randall Marta)

“Bitch,” the boy muttered back.

They glared at each other and Nancy turned away, distressed. Was she
supposed to do something?

“Bastard,” the girl whispered.

“Gutter slut.”

“That’s enough, both of you,” Scott shouted across the water. The kids
looked at each other, startled, and back at him. He laughed.

The dark boy stood abruptly and waved his arms to signal Scott’s boat, then
pointed south. The boats moved, but Scott’s boat drew farther ahead.

“Why aren’t we keeping up?” the new boy demanded “They’ll see all the
whales.”

“Enough ballenas for ever’body,” the guide said. The outboard dropped
another octave; they were stopping. She risked a glance back. The dark boy gazed
west and they all gazed with him. Small waves slapped against the Zodiac’s hull.
Scott’s boat was almost out of sight.
 “Mira,” the boy said, and not more than thirty feet away a plume of spray
broke the surface, followed by a whale’s broad, mottled back. The kids gasped.
Within two heartbeats another appeared. They curved back under the sea, like the
humps of a descending sea serpent.

“Did you see that, did you see?” a kid whispered.

“Can we get closer?” another said, but neither the guide nor the dark boy
answered. Nancy looked toward them. The guide scanned the sea, his hand tight on
the rudder. The outboard muttered and died.

The dark boy met her eyes as though he had been waiting for her. His right
hand stretched out over the water, palm up, fingers taut and spread. The kids,
oblivious, disagreed over the whales, the colors of their backs, their spouts.

“La seora quiere mas?” the boy said, moving his hand a little as though
presenting the sea to her.

She narrowed her eyes at him, outraged that he would take credit for the
whales. He turned his hand. Water shifted and murmured and the great mammals
surfaced, so close that the raft bobbed. The kids shrieked and went silent,
awestruck. The whales blew and the stench of it filled the air. Waves slapped against
the boat.

Nancy clutched the ropes along the Zodiac’s side.”You didn’t do that,” she
whispered.