– At least there’s something left, «he muttered under
his breath as he passed the veranda, and then said to Reana,
«I’ll put the arrow away, don’t touch it.»
He picked up a cloth napkin from the table, wrapped it around his arm
,and snapped off the back of the arrow. Then
he lifted the wounded man off the pillow, yanked the arrow
out of his body, and threw it far into the corner of the room. The wreckage
they hissed and melted away. Blood spurted from the hole in his chest
,and Reana ran to him, putting her hand on his arm.
above the wound and closed her eyes.
A queasy, unpleasant feeling
came over her, as if she had been seasick on a train. It seemed that she herself
was being dragged down by an unknown force, pulled
inside this man, and that there was no air to breathe
,but after a couple of minutes it was all over. She let out an exhausted sigh
and lowered her head. The man on the couch took a deep breath.
He was asleep. Not a trace
of the terrible wound remained on his chest.
– Are you all right?» The dark – haired stranger
nudged Reana’s shoulder.
«Yes, yes, I’m fine,» she said, looking up
. – Or rather, what is in order there! her voice grew louder
. – What’s going on?» Who are you? What am I doing?
This is some kind of nonsense, I don’t understand!
The man took a few steps back
and forth across the room.
26
«You know,» he said pointedly,»I
don’t understand it myself yet. But all that’s clear is that
the three of us» – and he pointed to Reana, the sleeping man, and himself-
«are in some terrible and dangerous scrape, and we
’d better stick together and keep a low profile.
We’ll wait until this one wakes up – " the stranger pointed with some
hostility at the man lying on the sofa. —
Maybe he knows what’s going on…
The guest tore the remnants of his torn tie from his neck and
tossed them on the floor, then continued to pace
thoughtfully.
Reana stared at him, batting her
lashes. «I got into trouble. It’s scary, it’s very scary
.I’m stupid, I can’t get into trouble. It’s not going to end
well.»
The stranger suddenly saw the bottle
through the transparent door of the sideboard. «May I?» —
What is it? «he asked, pointing to it.
«Yes, of course,» Reana said. «Please don’t
get too drunk, because I don’t know what to do,»
and I thought,«What nonsense I’m talking.»