Читать книгу A Richard Rohmer Omnibus - Richard Rohmer - Страница 23

Near Aklavik / 10:55 a.m., MDT

The two ravens flew soundlessly overhead in the brilliant sunlight of the early afternoon as Sam and Bessie trekked along the pipeline cutting. The two enormous black birds had joined them early on the first day, and Sam had recognized their presence as a good omen. They were his favourite birds, and among the most intelligent. They live and fly usually in pairs, talking to each other much like crows but in a more guttural fashion. They make a good team. In the settlements of the treed parts of the Arctic they are the scavengers which scour the communities and keep them much cleaner than they would otherwise be.

They particularly delight in driving the husky dogs mad. A pair of ravens can strip a dog of his food in the twinkling of an eye, one landing in front of the dog just beyond the length of his chain, flapping his wings and muttering obscenities at the animal. With great howling, barking, and mighty pulls against the restraining chain, the dog uses all his efforts to get at the bird to destroy it, forgetting all about his food. The more frantic he becomes, the louder the raven shouts at him, and goads him on.

Meanwhile, just behind the frustrated dog, the second raven is quietly but quickly gulping down his dinner, pausing once in a while only long enough to smile quickly up at the wild, well-plotted scene. When it is finished, the two birds fly swiftly off, leaving the dog hungry, frustrated and angry.

“Yes,” Sam thought, “two ravens make a pretty good team, and if Bessie and I can get these last two bombs set up, we’ll have done a good job too. At least we’ll wake up those northerners in Ottawa who keep forgetting there are people up here.”