[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
continued its pursuit, and Jack hurriedly climbed beyond the red light only to
discover a new and dramatically unforeseen problem to contend with: The
creature was no less angry, and Jack had just run out of beanstalk.
He hooked a leg around one of the leaves and took the eggs from his pocket.
But his hands were shaking, and he fumbled; the three remaining size-B
free-range eggs fell from his grasp and dropped away into the darkness. And
with them his last possible bargaining chip.
Bollocks! he muttered to himself. What a day.
The creature slavered, hissed and snapped and made another swipe. Jack tried
to avoid the lunge and succeeded, but it was a short-lived escape. The
beanstalk was smaller and weaker at this height, and the leaf Jack was holding
came away from the main stalk. He made a wild grab for another, but this, too,
came away in his hands. He overbalanced, lost his footing, and fell backwards
into space.
He saw a glimpse of the Humpty-beast bathed in a red glow as he fell past,
then a blur of beanstalk leaves and pods accompanied by a loud rushing noise.
He just had time to experience a curious mixture of relief and renewed peril
when he landed on the potting shed in an explosion of rotting wood, earwigs
and perished roofing felt. He was momentarily stunned, and all he could see
when he opened his eyes was a gaping hole in the collapsed shed and the
beanstalk stretching away into the night sky. He picked himself up from where
the remains of the roof had collapsed onto the three bags of wool, groaned and
stumbled outside. He had a bad cut above his eye, and his foot and ankle were
starting to throb badly. He had to think for a moment as his dazed mind tried
to focus on what had just happened. It didn t take long. He looked up and
Page 238
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
realized that it wasn t a bad dream: The creature was beginning its descent.
Jack shook his head and staggered backwards, his hand falling onto the shaft
of an ax that was resting in a block of wood. He knew what had to be done. He
hobbled into the shed, rummaged under the broken wood and found his father s
old chain saw. He flicked the switch and pulled on the cord. It didn t even
fire. He pulled again and again as he walked around to the side of the
beanstalk facing the road. If he felled it onto his mother s house, he d never
hear the end of it. On the fourth pull, the chain saw burst into life, and the
harsh staccato roar filled the quiet night. The chain saw bit easily into the
hard stalk, and he had soon cut out a wedge and then swapped sides to make the
final cut. He was halfway through and had already felt a few promising cracks
and groans when there was a loud concussion, some sparks, and the chain saw
stopped dead. Jack didn t realize what had happened until a voice made him
turn.
I underestimated you, snarled Dr. Quatt.
She stood facing Jack with a smoking automatic and looked as though she would
be only too happy to use it again.
I get underestimated a lot, replied Jack with a wince, as the pain from the
thousand and one cuts and bruises he had sustained began to kick in, and by
better people than you.
Interfering fool! she spat. The bastard Jellyman has escaped. Ten long
years of planning for nothing. Do you know how long it took me to engineer my
little friend up there?
You just said. Ten years
Don t patronize me! she screeched, her eyes flashing dangerously. My
research was only to save lives!
And Humpty? Who savedhis life?
Humpty was an egg, she retorted. What is an egg for if not to create
life?
How about an omelette? suggested Jack with a grimace as a muscle twinged
uncomfortably in his back.
Come here, my child, called Dr. Quatt to the Humpty-beast, still halfway
down the beanstalk, which creaked and groaned under its weight. One more for
you.
But Humpty was your patient!
And the worthy recipient of my greatest research project, said Quatt with
pride. I was initially worried that night when the gunman shot him, but he
was fine. I just had to help the little darling to hatch.
Jack shivered. She was nastier and more inhuman than he had thought.
He survived the fall, didn t he?
Oh, yes. He recognized me, you know, and asked for help, so I picked up a
chair leg
There was a loud, dull metallicclunk, and Dr. Quatt abruptly stopped talking
Page 239
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
and pitched heavily forwards onto her face. Mary had struck her a glancing
blow on the back of the head with a shovel.
Jack s legs collapsed from under him, and he sat on the ground against the
garden swing. The stalk creaked ominously. Mary kicked away Quatt s pistol
before running up to him.
Sorry, sir, but I thought we d heard quite enough. Are you all right?
No, Mary, I feel like shit. I ve just fallen a hundred feet and gone through
a potting shed and you need to get out of here.
Not without you.
She tried to lift him, but he was surprisingly heavy, and weakened. He
couldn t stand.
Go, Mary, before the
It was too late. The creature jumped the remaining fifteen feet and landed on
Stevie s tortoise-shaped sandbox with a crunch. It lashed its tail angrily and
hissed menacingly at them both before looking down at the unconscious body of
Quatt. It nudged her gently with its nose, made a quiet whining noise and then
very tenderly picked her up. The beanstalk creaked and trembled as the
stresses of the huge weight bore down on the badly weakened structure.
Mary grabbed the ax to use as a weapon, but Jack stopped her.
Leave it, he said shakily. I think I know how this will all turn out. It s
an NCD thing.
The beast hissed at them once more and then bounded clear over the garden
fence with Quatt in its arms, snapping angrily at the officers who had just
arrived. They weren t armed, but it wouldn t have mattered if they were. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl karpacz24.htw.pl
continued its pursuit, and Jack hurriedly climbed beyond the red light only to
discover a new and dramatically unforeseen problem to contend with: The
creature was no less angry, and Jack had just run out of beanstalk.
He hooked a leg around one of the leaves and took the eggs from his pocket.
But his hands were shaking, and he fumbled; the three remaining size-B
free-range eggs fell from his grasp and dropped away into the darkness. And
with them his last possible bargaining chip.
Bollocks! he muttered to himself. What a day.
The creature slavered, hissed and snapped and made another swipe. Jack tried
to avoid the lunge and succeeded, but it was a short-lived escape. The
beanstalk was smaller and weaker at this height, and the leaf Jack was holding
came away from the main stalk. He made a wild grab for another, but this, too,
came away in his hands. He overbalanced, lost his footing, and fell backwards
into space.
He saw a glimpse of the Humpty-beast bathed in a red glow as he fell past,
then a blur of beanstalk leaves and pods accompanied by a loud rushing noise.
He just had time to experience a curious mixture of relief and renewed peril
when he landed on the potting shed in an explosion of rotting wood, earwigs
and perished roofing felt. He was momentarily stunned, and all he could see
when he opened his eyes was a gaping hole in the collapsed shed and the
beanstalk stretching away into the night sky. He picked himself up from where
the remains of the roof had collapsed onto the three bags of wool, groaned and
stumbled outside. He had a bad cut above his eye, and his foot and ankle were
starting to throb badly. He had to think for a moment as his dazed mind tried
to focus on what had just happened. It didn t take long. He looked up and
Page 238
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
realized that it wasn t a bad dream: The creature was beginning its descent.
Jack shook his head and staggered backwards, his hand falling onto the shaft
of an ax that was resting in a block of wood. He knew what had to be done. He
hobbled into the shed, rummaged under the broken wood and found his father s
old chain saw. He flicked the switch and pulled on the cord. It didn t even
fire. He pulled again and again as he walked around to the side of the
beanstalk facing the road. If he felled it onto his mother s house, he d never
hear the end of it. On the fourth pull, the chain saw burst into life, and the
harsh staccato roar filled the quiet night. The chain saw bit easily into the
hard stalk, and he had soon cut out a wedge and then swapped sides to make the
final cut. He was halfway through and had already felt a few promising cracks
and groans when there was a loud concussion, some sparks, and the chain saw
stopped dead. Jack didn t realize what had happened until a voice made him
turn.
I underestimated you, snarled Dr. Quatt.
She stood facing Jack with a smoking automatic and looked as though she would
be only too happy to use it again.
I get underestimated a lot, replied Jack with a wince, as the pain from the
thousand and one cuts and bruises he had sustained began to kick in, and by
better people than you.
Interfering fool! she spat. The bastard Jellyman has escaped. Ten long
years of planning for nothing. Do you know how long it took me to engineer my
little friend up there?
You just said. Ten years
Don t patronize me! she screeched, her eyes flashing dangerously. My
research was only to save lives!
And Humpty? Who savedhis life?
Humpty was an egg, she retorted. What is an egg for if not to create
life?
How about an omelette? suggested Jack with a grimace as a muscle twinged
uncomfortably in his back.
Come here, my child, called Dr. Quatt to the Humpty-beast, still halfway
down the beanstalk, which creaked and groaned under its weight. One more for
you.
But Humpty was your patient!
And the worthy recipient of my greatest research project, said Quatt with
pride. I was initially worried that night when the gunman shot him, but he
was fine. I just had to help the little darling to hatch.
Jack shivered. She was nastier and more inhuman than he had thought.
He survived the fall, didn t he?
Oh, yes. He recognized me, you know, and asked for help, so I picked up a
chair leg
There was a loud, dull metallicclunk, and Dr. Quatt abruptly stopped talking
Page 239
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
and pitched heavily forwards onto her face. Mary had struck her a glancing
blow on the back of the head with a shovel.
Jack s legs collapsed from under him, and he sat on the ground against the
garden swing. The stalk creaked ominously. Mary kicked away Quatt s pistol
before running up to him.
Sorry, sir, but I thought we d heard quite enough. Are you all right?
No, Mary, I feel like shit. I ve just fallen a hundred feet and gone through
a potting shed and you need to get out of here.
Not without you.
She tried to lift him, but he was surprisingly heavy, and weakened. He
couldn t stand.
Go, Mary, before the
It was too late. The creature jumped the remaining fifteen feet and landed on
Stevie s tortoise-shaped sandbox with a crunch. It lashed its tail angrily and
hissed menacingly at them both before looking down at the unconscious body of
Quatt. It nudged her gently with its nose, made a quiet whining noise and then
very tenderly picked her up. The beanstalk creaked and trembled as the
stresses of the huge weight bore down on the badly weakened structure.
Mary grabbed the ax to use as a weapon, but Jack stopped her.
Leave it, he said shakily. I think I know how this will all turn out. It s
an NCD thing.
The beast hissed at them once more and then bounded clear over the garden
fence with Quatt in its arms, snapping angrily at the officers who had just
arrived. They weren t armed, but it wouldn t have mattered if they were. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]