The Scar by China Mieville

Author:China Mieville [Mieville, China]
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: sf
Published: 2010-10-20T10:07:55.781000+00:00

Chapter Twenty-six

That night Bellis roused herself many hours after everyone had gone to sleep.

She removed the sweat-damp sheet that covered her and stood. The air was still warm, even in these

dark hours. She picked up Silas' package from below her pillow, pulled aside the curtain, and walked

slow and quiet through the room where Tanner lay wrapped in shadows on his pallet. When she reached

the wooden door she leaned her head against it and felt its grain on her skin.

Bellis was afraid.

She peered very carefully through the window and saw a cactus-man guard wandering through the

deserted square, from doorway to doorway, checking them idly, moving on. He was some way from her,

and she thought she could open the door and run without him seeing or hearing her.

And then?

Bellis could see nothing in the sky. There was no threatening whine, no voracious insectile woman with

claw-hands and jutting mouth, hungry for her blood. She put her hand on the bolt and waited—waited to

hear or see one of the she-anophelii, for confirmation, so that she could avoid her (easier to hide if you

know where it is), and she thought about that leather-and-bone sack she had seen that morning, which

had once been a man. She froze, her hand like wire on the door.

"What you doing?"

The words came in a hard whisper from behind her. Bellis spun, her hands gripping her shift. Tanner had

sat up and was staring at her from within his dark alcove.

She moved a little, and he stood. She saw the odd encumbrances of tentacles spill from his midriff. He

faced her, his stance tense and suspicious. He looked as if he was about to attack her. And yet he

whispered, and something in that reassured her.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly. He stood in the entranceway to hear her, and his face was as hard and

untrusting as she had ever seen it. "I didn't mean to wake you," she whispered.

"I just . . . I had to . . ."

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.