Читать книгу The Swarm Descends - Jacob Grey, Jacob Grey - Страница 9

aw stumbled backwards as they came for him. He kicked out at one of the piled crates, sending it sliding and shattering in the path of the rats. But they just streamed over the top, unrelenting, their furry bodies rustling.

Caw reached out and snatched a wooden pole with a metal hook at the end. He swept it across the deck, scattering as many rats as he could. But soon they were on the pole as well, scurrying along its length. Caw hurled it away. He hopped up on a barrel and on to the top of the cabin, landing in a crouch. He saw that the woman’s eyes had rolled back in her head, revealing bloodshot whites that flickered as she controlled the rodents. They attacked the sides of the cabin in waves, piling on top of each other as they scrambled up and fell back, unable to gain purchase with their clicking claws.

“Do you have any comprehension,” said the man in the white suit, “of how quickly these creatures could devour you? A rat will eat until it is incapable even of moving. They aren’t picky either – muscle, bone, cartilage – it’s all the same to them.”

Caw looked around for an escape route, but the rats were everywhere. There was only the water, and he couldn’t swim. And what about Selina? Had she managed to get away through the other door yet? “Just tell me what you want,” he said.

Mr Silk spread his arms. There was something strange about the material of his suit, Caw thought, but he couldn’t work out what it was.

“Don’t play games with me, boy,” said the suited man. “It’s the stone we want.”

Caw swallowed.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

Mr Silk smiled. “Come, come,” he said. “Let’s not waste each other’s time. Pinkerton?”

The woman twitched a hand and the rats went into a frenzy, piling on top of one another, forming a ramp at the side of the cabin. One managed to scramble up and on to Caw’s foot. He kicked it away.

Then, with a thought, he summoned his crows. Their black shapes gathered in his consciousness and he sent them swooping towards Pinkerton.

Screech, Glum and Shimmer dived through the air. At the same moment, Mr Silk’s jacket seemed to burst outwards. Hundreds of fluttering creatures peeled off the material and flew up to intercept the crows. Moths …

I can’t see! Glum cried out as the winged creatures enveloped him. Screech and Shimmer veered off wildly as they too were cloaked with insects.

“Let’s try again, shall we,” said Mr Silk. “Give me the Midnight Stone.”

‘D-d-do it!” cackled Pinkerton. “She wants it. She wants it.”

She? thought Caw. Who is she?

He felt a stinging pain in his ankle, and cried out. A rat hung by its teeth. Another clambered over his foot and on to his trousers, chattering horribly. The rest followed, swarming up his legs. Caw felt them sink their jaws into his flesh as one and he screamed, thrashing. More rats scrambled over his back. An endless stream. There was only one way out now. He raised himself up – fighting the weight of the squirming bodies clinging all over him – and he leapt off the boat’s edge into the freezing water below.

It swallowed him, and for a moment all he could see were bubbles in the blackness. His clothes dragged at his limbs, but then his head broke the surface and he sucked in a breath.

Panic gripped his heart. His head went under again and water choked him. He splashed back to the surface, coughing. There were rats in the river too, their bodies bobbing all around. The bank was only a few feet away, but he couldn’t reach it. He sank once more.

This time his feet touched the gravelly bottom of the Blackwater. He pushed off with his toes, lunging, just managing to grab a rope holding the boat against the bank. Sucking in rapid breaths, he heaved his sodden body out of the water.

Mr Silk was already standing on the riverside path. His moths fluttered all around him, then settled as one, forming a seamless camouflage over his jacket. Caw shot a glance at the boat and saw that the cabin’s back door was open. At least Selina had got out.

“You cannot escape us,” said Mr Silk calmly. “She wants the stone and she will have it.”

Caw hesitated. He didn’t even know what the stone was, but it had been entrusted to him by his mother. The one thing she’d left him. No way would he hand it over without a fight.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said. His crows were nowhere to be seen. He looked around for Selina, but he couldn’t see her anywhere. Then he felt something digging into his back. Of course! He had another weapon.

Caw threw off his sodden jacket and drew the Crow’s Beak from its harness.

Mr Silk looked at the sword calmly as he held out one arm, chivalrously, to help Pinkerton disembark. The tide of rats followed her.

“Please,” he said. “There’s no need to be uncivil.”

“Get away from him,” said another voice.

Caw spun around and saw a small shape coming along the path. His heart plummeted as he realised it was Pip, with a huge swarm of mice at his heels.

“Get out of here!” said Caw. Pip shook his head. With a thrust of his arm, he sent his mice charging past Caw towards the new ferals.

The rats met the mice in a seething battle, bodies tipping over each other with horrible sounds and squeals as the rodents bit one another. Seeing that Mr Silk had disappeared, Caw took his chance and jumped over the scrapping mice and rats, launching himself at Pinkerton. She backed away, flapping her arms, until she tripped and landed on the ground. Caw brought the tip of the Crow’s Beak to her neck.

“P-p-please …” she said. “Don’t kill me!”

“Call off your rats!” he said.

The nattering teeth and the screeching died down, leaving silence. “Pip?” Caw called out, looking behind him.