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Had he been walking he not only would not have seen it until he tripped over
it, it would never have occurred to him to look for any such thing in the
first place. As it was, en-countering it slowly, he had a chance to think
about what it might mean; and the friendly old cluttered attic of his memory
helped him out with bits and pieces of information read in the past. The wire
could only be there to stop intruders likehimself ; and it might connect with
anything from a warning system to a nearby cache of explosives.
He lay there, thinking about it. If nothing else, the wire was evidence that
there was someone already holed up in the buildings ahead; and if that was so,
then Eileen, if she was there at all, was almost undoubtedly 1 prisoner.
Charity would not be likely among sick and dying people in this decayed,
inhospitable land. But if there were unfriendly people in the
buildings possibly even now keeping a watch Chazwould have his work cut out
for him to get to the buildings without being seen.
He lifted his head among the weeds to squint at the sky overhead. As always,
the sun was invisible be-hind the sullen haze and cloudbank; but from the
light he judged that the early winter afternoon was not more than an hour or
two from darkness. When the dark came, it would come quickly. There were no
lingering sunsets, nowadays nor any moon or stars visible as guides, once the
night had come.
Just at this moment he stiffened where he lay, like a hunted animal hearing
the sounds of its hunters. A voice cried from somewhere far be-hind him, in
the opposite direction from the house. The words it called were recognizable,
half-chanted, on a high, jeering note: "Rover! Rea Rover! Red Rover, come over
. . ."
The voice died away and there was silence again. He waited; but it did not
call again. He looked at the wire once more, and estimated that he could
wriggle under it. It had evidently been set high so as to clear all the humps
and rises of the ground along its route. He rolled over on his back and began
to wriggle forward again.
Once past the wire, he turned belly-down again and continued on at as good a
speed as he could make without thrashing around in the weeds and perhaps
drawing atten-tion. He thought that he should not be too far from the
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relatively open area that had once been a yard sur-rounding the buildings; and
in fact, shortly, he came up against the rot-ting stumps of what had once been
a wooden fence. He passed this and the ground underneath was more even and
less littered with stones. Also, here the weeds were not as thickly clustered.
He was racing now, however, against the end of the daylight, which could not
be much more than half an hour off. So far he had en-countered no more wires;
but the thought that someone might possibly be watching him from the buildings
sent a crawling feeling down his spine. He paused and peered ahead through the
now-thin screen of grass and weeds.
He saw the side of the house, wooden shakes weathered and stained to a
near-earth shade. What looked like three grave mounds, two with crosses half
fallen down, were in the yard to hisright. Above him a couple of broken
windows, one above the other, faced in his direc-tion; but there was no sign
of anyone peering out of them. To his right was a door, above some broken
steps. The door sagged on its hinges and stood slightly ajar inward in spite
of a cleaner, newer piece of board that had been nailed diagonally across its
vertical cracks to hold them together. That new board shouted of danger; but
the door ajar was an invitation, with night coming on.
Chazwormed his way to the wall of the house, and then crawled along the foot
of the wall until he came to the door. Slowly, carefully, he lifted his head
until he could see around the frame and into the gap where the door hung open.
It took a long moment for his eyes to adjust to the inner shadow; but when
they did, he saw nothing but a small, empty room, and a doorway beyond leading
into a further room that seemed to have a window, or some other source of
light; for it was quite bright by comparison with the first room.
Chazdumped caution and hesita-tion together, and squirmed his way over the
threshold into the building. Once inside, he scrambled to his feet quickly,
and stood listening. But he heard nothing. A faint unpleasant smell he could
not identify troubled him.
Looking around, he saw a heavy bar leaning against the wall beside the door;
and iron spikes driven into the frame and bent up as supports. He reached out
for the door and pushed it slightly closed; but it did not creak surprisingly, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]