Coyote Horizon by STEELE ALLEN

Author:STEELE, ALLEN
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PENGUIN group

I remained in my cabin for only a few minutes after Susan left, just long enough to unpack my knapsack. While I put away my belongings, I did my best to strike up a conversation with Jorge. The boy remained as laconic as only a child could be, with mumbled replies—yes, no, or the occasional I dunno—to most of my questions, but after a while I managed to get a few things out of him. As I’d guessed, he was two years old, with his birthday only a week earlier. He was going with us because his folks didn’t want to leave him behind for so long; because he’d be out of school for the rest of summer, his mother would be his tutor, with classes in the mornings and afternoons when nothing else was going on. And he had a job aboard the LeMare as well: cabin boy, running errands for his parents and any other adult who might need an extra set of hands at any particular time.

Other than that, Jorge didn’t have much to say. He’d won the argument about who would get the precious top bunk and the porthole view, but it was obvious that he didn’t like having to share quarters with someone who didn’t belong to his family. I wondered why he hadn’t been assigned to his grandfather’s cabin. Perhaps I’d ask Jon or Susan about that later. Besides, I figured that, if things didn’t work out between us, I could always talk another crew member into swapping berths with me.

The kid was a mixture of shyness and curiosity. Whenever I looked at Jorge, he was staring fixedly at the pages of his book, a children’s version of The Chronicles of Prince Rupurt. But as soon as I’d turn away, I could feel his eyes on my back, carefully observing everything that I did . . . and when I placed my rifle in my locker, I heard a sharp intake of breath, as if he’d seen something that fascinated him. Just as I hadn’t let him see the liquor flask I’d brought with me, I took a moment to make sure that the gun was unloaded; as an added precaution, I also removed the ammo magazines from my knapsack and put them in my trouser pockets. Unfortunately, there was no way to lock my cabinet. When he wasn’t around, I’d have to find a place to hide my bullets; if I couldn’t, then I’d need to get someone else aboard to keep them for me. No sense in tempting small hands.

Once I was done, I told him that I was heading topside to see what was going on. A muttered “g’bye” was his only response; that would have to do. So I exited the cabin and went back down the corridor to the forward companionway. The last few crates were being carried aboard when I returned to the top deck; there didn’t seem to be anything for me to do, though, so I

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.