"Mike Resnick - Malish (2)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Resnick Mike)

to the barn with him every morning. Old Malicious, he just loved
those sugar cubes, and because he was just a horse, he decided
that he loved Chancey McGregor too.
Then one hot July day that summer -- Malicious had now lost
14 in a row since he upset a cheap field back in October the
previous year -- Chancey was rubbing him down at Hollywood Park,
adjusting the bandages on his forelegs, and suddenly the gnarly
little man appeared inside the stall.
"It's time," he whispered to Chancey.
Chancey dropped his sponge onto the straw that covered the
floor of the stall, and just kind of backed away, his eyes so wide
they looked like they were going to pop out of his head.
"But it's only July," he said in a real shakey voice.
"A deal's a deal," said the gnarly man.
"But I was supposed to have two years!" whimpered Chancey.
"You've been betting at five tracks with your bookie," said
the gnarly man with a grin. "You've had two years worth of
winning, and now I've come to claim what's mine."
Chancey backed away from the gnarly man, putting Malicious
between them. The little man advanced toward him, and Malicious,
who sensed that his source of sugar cubes was in trouble, lashed
out with a forefoot and caught the gnarly little man right in the
middle of the forehead. It was a blow that would have killed most
normal men, but as you've probably guessed by now, this wasn't any
normal man in the stall with Malicious and Chancey, and he just
sat down hard.
"You can't keep away from me forever, Chancey McGregor," he
hissed, pointing a skinny finger at the groom. "I'll get you for
this." He turned to Malicious. "I'll get you _both_ for this,
horse, and you can count on it!"
And with that, there was a puff of smoke, and suddenly the
gnarly little man was gone.
Well, the gnarly little man, being who he was, didn't have to
wait long to catch up with Chancey. He found him cavorting with
fast gamblers and loose women two nights later, and off he took
him, and that was the end of Chancey McGregor.
But Malicious was another story. Three times the gnarly
little man tried to approach Malicious in his stall, and three
times Malicious kicked him clear out into the aisle, and finally

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the gnarly little man decided to change his tactics, and what he
did was to wait for Malicious on the far turn with a great big
stick in his hand. Being who he was, he made sure that nobody in
the grandstand or the clubhouse could see him, but it wouldn't
have been a proper vengeance if Malicious couldn't see him, so he
made a little adjustment, and just as Malicious hit the far turn,
trailing by his usual 20 lengths, up popped the gnarly little man,