[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
if someone or something is up there? That s what you said last night, Jupe pointed out, and we didn t find anyone there besides the herder. Quit worrying. We won t go until it starts getting light. The boys waited impatiently until a faint, flat light began to replace the blackness in the valley. Then they got up and started swiftly towards the meadow. When they had passed the cultivated fields and reached the edge of the pasture, they saw fog. It rose from the reservoir and flowed down over the dam in a fluffy stream. They hiked towards it, taking care to avoid the sheep on the lower meadow, but at the foot of the dam they paused. Each of them felt a thrill of dread. Into the mind of each came the picture of Simon de Luca lying on the ground, his hair singed as if by rocket fire. The boys groped around the rocks and bushes at the edge of the dam. When they had climbed to the top of the dam, they started to skirt the reservoir. Pete was in the lead, wading through fog. Suddenly he cried out. Someone stood in the path a tall, thin person who seemed to have a head too large for his body. It took a moment for the boys to realize that this person was wearing a suit of glossy white material a suit that shone even in the dim light and that the head was covered with a huge helmet. It was a helmet that might have been used by a diver or an astronaut, or perhaps by an alien who could not breathe Earth s air. Pete shouted again. Jupe saw the creature lift an arm and strike out. At that same instant, something behind Jupe clutched him around the throat. He was lifted up so that he saw the grey sky above and the pale morning stars. Then came an explosion of pain in the back of his neck. He felt himself falling into darkness and then he saw no more. 41 9 An Invitation to Snoop JUPE OPENED HIS EYES and saw that the sky overhead was blue. The fog was gone and Konrad was kneeling beside him. Jupe, are you all right? Konrad asked anxiously. Jupe groaned. A pain ran from his right shoulder to his ear. Shaking, he managed to sit up. Nearby, Rafael Banales was helping Pete get to his feet, and John Aleman talked softly to Bob, who sat on the ground with his knees drawn up to his chin. Konrad, said Jupe, how did you find us? Konrad grinned. It is not hard. I wake up and you are gone. I think if I am Jupiter Jones, I go where there has been excitement. So I wake Mr Aleman and Mr Banales and we get Mr Detweiler and come here. Jupe looked around. Hank Detweiler was standing behind him, scowling. What happened? said Detweiler. Someone was waiting here, said Jupe. I saw a person in a spacesuit. He hit Pete. You re kidding! said Detweiler. No, he s not kidding. Pete touched his head and winced. That guy walloped me a good one. Jupe touched his neck, remembering how it was. A second person came up behind me, he said. He used a sort of choke hold on me and I blacked out. There must have been three of them, said Bob. The one who got me smelled like horses. What? Charles Barron had appeared suddenly on the meadow. Who smelled like horses? Hank, what s going on here? The boys left the ranch house sometime during the night, Detweiler explained. They came up here and they were attacked. Pete says it was a guy in a spacesuit. Bob says it was somebody who smelled of horses. An Invitation to Snoop Nonsense! said Barron. Spacemen do not smell like horses. Hank, I came up in one of the trucks. Let s get these boys down to the lower meadow. I ll take them back to the ranch house and Mrs Barron can see to them there. Ten minutes later, Jupiter, Pete and Bob were climbing into their beds in the bunkroom, under orders from Mary Sedlack and Elsie. We re having a run of good luck, said Mary dryly. Simon de Luca could have been killed on that meadow last night, and you might have bought it this morning, but you didn t. Don t push it. Stay away from the meadow. It s not a healthy place right now. She and Elsie went out and down the stairs. She didn t smell of horses just now, said Jupiter, but she did yesterday afternoon. You think she might have been the one who attacked us? said Bob. Jupiter shrugged. Who knows? She s probably strong enough. I think that at least one of our attackers was an earthling. I refuse to believe that an alien from another planet was riding horseback. Bob stared at the ceiling. A person who rides horseback? That wouldn t narrow it down much. There s Hank Detweiler. I bet he rides. Barron does, I suppose. Mary spends a lot of time with the horses. Probably Banales and Aleman ride. Then there are the ranch hands who live in the cottages. We know almost nothing about them. You know almost nothing about whom? said Mrs Barron. She had come quietly up the stairs, and now she stood in the doorway smiling at the boys. My husband is very upset about you, she said. He told me you were attacked by . . . well, by the rescuers. We were attacked by three people, Mrs Barron, said Jupe. At least one of them was wearing a spacesuit. Mrs Barron sat down on the edge of Jupiter s bed. She had a tiny flash- light and she used it to look into Jupe s eyes. You re all right, she said softly. You ve been fortunate. She went on to examine Pete. What were you doing up on the meadow anyway? she wanted to know. We were trying to get off the ranch and get to the nearest town, said Jupe. Mrs Barron, you seem so sure that we re being visited by people from another planet. Is your interest in the deliverance well known to the people here at Rancho Valverde? I suppose so. Her face was troubled. I imagine everyone on the ranch knows about it. But . . . but I m not absolutely sure, you know, that the rescuers were here last night. 43 An Invitation to Snoop You re not? said Jupiter. She shook her head and went to Bob s side. That craft on the meadow last night looked exactly like spaceships that have been reported in other parts of the country. Earthlings have spoken to the rescuers. But Simon was hurt and you boys were hurt. The visitors have never hurt anyone before. They re so highly developed intellectually that they re telepathic. I can t believe that they d resort to striking people. That isn t why they come. They come to help us! Yes, of course, said Jupiter. Mrs Barron, the planet Omega is reported [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |