Читать книгу The Soul Stealer - Alex Archer - Страница 13

Bob was tending the fire when they returned, an anxious look plastered across his face. He jumped up when he saw Annja and Gregor come out of the darkness.

“Thank God! I was worried sick when I woke up and found you both gone.” He tossed another stick into the fire. “I thought perhaps my snoring had driven you away, Annja.”

She smiled. “No harm done. Although it’s great to see your volume has increased since we last met.”

Bob shrugged. “Can’t figure it out. It’s not like I’m carrying extra pounds or anything. And no matter how I sleep, I always carry on like that.”

Gregor knelt in front of the fire. “I need to sleep,” he said.

Bob looked at him. “You should have woken me sooner. I would have gladly taken your place.”

Gregor looked up. “We might be dead if you had.”

Bob’s face grew pale. “What?”

Annja shrugged. “Gregor says there was something lurking in the darkness tonight. Something…that was hunting.”

Bob looked at Gregor. “You’re kidding?”

“No.”

Bob glanced at Annja. “You saw it, too?”

Annja shrugged. “I’m not sure what I saw. At least not yet. It was too far to see and too dark to get any detail.”

“But you saw something,” Bob said.

“Yes.”

He leaned back on his haunches. “I think we should get out of here as soon as possible.”

Gregor cleared his throat. “At dawn. We will ride on. I think Annja is suitably mended enough to ride with us to Yakutsk.” He crawled into the lean-to and within seconds, no more sound came from it.

Bob sat down on the log. Annja sat next to him. “Sorry we gave you a scare there,” she said.

Bob grinned. “I thought maybe you and Gregor…you know—”

“What?” Annja said, shocked.

“You and him…” Bob shrugged. “It’s not out of the realm of possibility. You’re a beautiful woman. He’s a good-looking guy.”

Annja almost laughed. “You thought we hooked up?”

“Well, sure. I mean, the thought did pass through my mind.”

“I woke up and saw he’d vanished. I went looking for him. He snuck up behind me and took me down, trying to keep me from alerting whatever it was to our presence. That’s all.”

Bob nodded. “He seems concerned.”

“I think so, yes.”

“He’s never steered me wrong as long as I’ve known him. If he says we should be concerned, I suppose we should be, then.”

“What if it puts your exploration in jeopardy?” Annja asked.

He grinned. “There was a time I might have thought there was nothing more important than achieving the glory of a new find over everything else. Those days are long behind me. I value my life and the lives of those I’m close to. If it looks like we’re in danger, we’ll head for Magadan and get the hell home.”

Annja nodded. “I think I should get some more sleep, too. You okay here?”

“Yeah,” Bob said.

Annja crawled back into the lean-to and burrowed under the bed of boughs and her blanket. She glanced once at Gregor, but he was already seemingly asleep. He breathed deeply, but made absolutely no noise.

Me and Gregor? Annja grinned. He was okay-looking, but she wasn’t sure she could ever picture herself with a guy who could so easily sneak up behind her and catch her completely by surprise.

As she settled down and closed her eyes, she smiled once more.

Then again, who knew how things would turn out?

G REGOR NUDGED Annja awake just as the first tendrils of dawn crept over the horizon. Annja blinked her eyes a few times and then crawled out of the lean-to.

“Good morning.” Bob handed her a cup of coffee and Annja drank it down, feeling the hot liquid warm her insides. Gregor accepted a cup, as well, and seemed to gulp it down.

Annja looked around the campsite. “You’ve been busy.”

Most of the lean-to had been dismantled except for the portion covering the sleeping area. The fire had also been doused and the ashes scattered across the blanket of snow.

“Well, Gregor was kind enough to make it. I figured the least I could do was break it down.”

“We can go now,” Gregor said. “That is good.”

Bob tore down the remaining bit of structure of the lean-to and threw the branches into the woods. Gregor got his bike and started pushing it up the hill, back toward the road.

Annja felt stronger and her head was clear. She got her bike and pushed it up the hill, feeling the strain in her legs as she did so. But it felt good to be exerting herself again.

They crested the mountain and got back onto the pockmarked road. Bob turned to Annja with a grin. “How about I bring up the rear this time? That way, if any more trucks come looking for someone to smoosh, they can have me.”

“Wise guy,” Annja remarked.

He smiled. “Just thought I’d offer.”

Gregor slid onto his bike. “I will go ahead. Make sure the road is clear.”

He pedaled off and Annja got on her own bike. “He’s very serious this morning.”

Bob nodded. “He was awake before you.”

“Big surprise.”

“We talked about last night. Gregor is of the belief that we will find trouble in Yakutsk. He is worried about you.”

“I can watch after myself, thanks,” Annja said with a smile. “Any head wounds notwithstanding.”

“Oh, sure,” Bob said. “We should get going. If Gregor’s concerned, he’ll pedal like the devil himself was after him.”

Annja pushed off and found the going much easier. For several hours the road wound its way farther up the mountain, but then started to descend at a gradual pace.

About a half mile ahead, she could see Gregor working his way down the road. Nothing seemed to faze him. His legs worked easily and he kept glancing around the sides of the road.

Annja looked behind her and saw Bob just about to start the descent. He waved once and then leaned forward, anticipating that rush of downhill speed that all cyclists enjoy once they’ve finished a hard climb.

The descent took the better part of an hour, but at the end, the road evened out. They were in a heavily forested area, with tall pines and scraggly birch trunks dotting the landscape. Giant boulders thrown up from the depths of the earth bordered the road as they pedaled on. But Annja saw little to denote civilization.

Bob rode up next to her. “This part of the country is remote. Even though we’re still reasonably close to Magadan, it’s like another planet out here. Weird, huh?”

“It doesn’t feel cozy—that’s for sure,” Annja said.

“And those woods seem anything but friendly. Even the trees seem to be leaning in on us.”

“It is kind of claustrophobic, isn’t it?” Bob asked.

“Just a bit.”

“Gregor’s stopped his bike.”

Annja looked ahead. Sure enough, a quarter of a mile away, Gregor had stopped. They rode up and he spoke. “We are close.”

Bob looked and smiled. “There.”

Annja followed his gaze and saw the first indications of civilization she’d seen since they left Magadan. “Not exactly a bustling city, is it?”

Gregor shook his head. “Yakutsk is small. Just a few hundred people live there. But they are good souls.” He handed out some energy bars.

“You’ve been there before?” Annja asked while eating.

Gregor shrugged. “I was attached to a military unit that operated in this area once. A long time ago.”

“Any friends still left in these parts?” she asked.

“Everyone is friendly, once they get to know you. This part of my country is remote. Strangers are not a usual thing to see, so the people living here are somewhat suspicious. But having me with you is okay. They will be glad to meet you when they see me.”

Bob nudged Annja. “Gregor’s like a VIP ticket to any club back in the Big Apple.”

“Handy guy to have around,” Annja said.

Gregor grinned. “We ride now.”

They got back on the bikes and pedaled on. The dirt road gave way to a cracked type of pavement that looked as if it might be all of fifty years old. Gregor pointed at it as they rode.

“Once this road was much sturdier. The Soviet army drove tanks all over the country.”

“Guess it’s been a while since they had any road-repair crews out here,” Annja said.

“Money,” Gregor said. “All comes back to money.”

The woods fell behind them and muddy open fields dotted the countryside. Simple houses lined the roads, most with smoking chimneys. The air felt colder, and Annja could see there was a layer of fog moving in from the west.

The single road grew wider as they entered the town itself. Annja could pick out what looked to be a main all-purpose store and a small café. Aside from that, there was a loose cluster of homes and a church standing alone at the end of the road.

Gregor pointed at the church. “Father Jakob runs the church. He has been here since the dinosaurs.”

Annja grinned. “Think he remembers you?”

Gregor looked at her. “Perhaps I made an indelible impression on him when I was much younger.”

“How so?”

“He heard my confession. First time for me since I was only a boy. I think I may have scarred him,” Gregor said with a laugh.

Bob pedaled past them. “Where is everyone?”

Annja glanced around. There seemed to be no one around the store or café. The streets looked deserted. There weren’t even any dogs lounging around, which Annja found very peculiar. She’d been around the world enough to know that even in the poorest places, you could always find a mutt or two mooching about.

She heard voices, though. “What’s that?” she asked.

Gregor pointed to their right. “Over here.”

They dismounted and walked between two houses, passing rusted drain pipes leaking water to the muddy ground. Annja caught a whiff of something that smelled quite disgusting and hoped they had some type of plumbing here at least.

They passed the houses and in front of them stood an open field. Annja shivered as they walked. Annja was sure the temperature must have dipped well below freezing.

As they approached the crowd of people milling around, Annja could see they were extremely agitated. Several women clutched at the few children present. The men all wore grim expressions.

Gregor strode up to them, but his gruff demeanor vanished as he approached. Annja heard him speaking with them. Next to her, Bob listened intently. As he did, he also frowned.

“What is it?” Annja asked.

Gregor looked back at her. “What we saw last night in the woods.”

“That thing?”

Gregor shook his head. “It is not a thing. It is called Khosadam.”

“Khosadam?” Annja glanced at Bob.

Gregor gestured for them to come closer. “It hunts. It stalks this village,” he said.

Annja shook her head. “How do they know?”

Gregor pointed at the ground, and several of the villagers stepped back. Annja looked and there in the mud she saw the tracks of what looked to be human feet.

“So? Someone was out here walking around barefoot.”

Gregor shook his head. “Look closer.”

Annja knelt and studied the tracks. The footsteps showed six toes.

Gregor’s voice was subdued. “You know many people that have six toes, Annja Creed?”