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- Колин Маккалоу
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- Стр. 181/535
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Stooping
,
he
groped
for
the
rifle
,
remembering
it
was
n't
loaded
.
The
boar
stood
perfectly
still
,
its
little
reddened
eyes
mad
with
pain
,
the
great
yellow
tusks
sharp
and
curving
upward
in
a
half
circle
.
Stuart
's
horse
neighed
,
smelling
the
beast
;
the
pig
's
massive
head
swung
to
watch
it
,
then
lowered
for
the
charge
.
While
its
attention
was
on
the
horse
Stuart
saw
his
only
chance
,
bent
quickly
for
the
rifle
and
snapped
the
breech
open
,
his
other
hand
in
his
jacket
pocket
for
a
shell
.
All
around
the
rain
was
dropping
down
,
muffling
other
sounds
in
its
own
unchanging
patter
.
But
the
pig
heard
the
bolt
slide
back
,
and
at
the
last
moment
changed
the
direction
of
its
charge
from
the
horse
to
Stuart
.
It
was
almost
upon
him
when
he
got
one
shot
off
straight
into
the
beast
's
chest
,
without
slowing
it
down
.
The
tusks
slewed
up
and
sideways
,
and
caught
him
in
the
groin
.
He
fell
,
blood
appearing
like
a
faucet
turned
all
the
way
on
and
saturating
his
clothes
,
spurting
over
the
ground
.
Turning
awkwardly
as
it
began
to
feel
the
bullet
,
the
pig
came
back
to
gore
him
again
,
faltered
,
swayed
,
and
tottered
.
The
whole
of
that
fifteen-hundred-pound
bulk
came
down
across
him
,
and
crushed
his
face
into
the
tarry
mud
.
For
a
moment
his
hands
clawed
at
the
ground
on
either
side
in
a
frantic
,
futile
struggle
to
be
free
;
this
then
was
what
he
had
always
known
,
why
he
had
never
hoped
or
dreamed
or
planned
,
only
sat
and
drunk
of
the
living
world
so
deeply
there
had
not
been
time
to
grieve
for
his
waiting
fate
.
He
thought
:
Mum
,
Mum
!
I
ca
n't
stay
with
you
,
Mum
!
,
even
as
his
heart
burst
within
him
.
*
*
*
"
I
wonder
why
Stu
has
n't
fired
again
?
"
Meggie
asked
her
mother
as
they
trotted
toward
the
sound
of
those
two
first
triple
volleys
,
not
able
to
go
any
faster
in
the
mud
,
and
desperately
anxious
.
"
I
suppose
he
decided
we
'd
heard
,
"
Fee
said
.
But
in
the
back
of
her
mind
she
was
remembering
Stuart
's
face
as
they
parted
in
different
directions
on
the
search
,
the
way
his
hand
had
gone
out
to
clasp
hers
,
the
way
he
had
smiled
at
her
.
"
We
ca
n't
be
far
away
now
,
"
she
said
,
and
pushed
her
mount
into
a
clumsy
,
sliding
canter
.
But
Jack
had
got
there
first
,
so
had
Bob
,
and
they
headed
the
women
off
as
they
came
across
the
last
of
the
living
land
toward
the
place
where
the
bushfire
had
begun
.
"
Do
n't
go
in
,
Mum
,
"
said
Bob
as
she
dismounted
.
Jack
had
gone
to
Meggie
,
and
held
her
arms
.
The
two
pairs
of
grey
eyes
turned
,
not
so
much
in
bewilderment
or
dread
as
in
knowledge
,
as
if
they
did
not
need
to
be
told
anything
.
