脫離險境

By Richard Laymon

A sound like footsteps outside the tent shocked me out of half-sleep. Another camper？ Not likely. We were far from the main trails and hadnt seen a backpacker in three days.

Maybe it was no one at all. Maybe a twig or pine cone had dropped from a nearby tree. Or maybe the smell of food had drawn an animal to our camp. A big animal.

I heard it again—a dry crushing sound. I was afraid to move， but forced myself to roll over and see if Sadie was awake.

She was gone.

I looked down the length of my mummy bag2. The unzipped screen was swaying inward. A cool dampsmelling breeze touched my face， and I remembered Sadie leaving the tent. How long ago？ No way to tell. Maybe I had dozed for an hour， maybe for a minute. At any rate， it was high time for her to come in so we could close the flaps.

“Hey， Sadie， why dont you get in here？”

I heard only the stream several yards from our campsite. It made a racket like a gale blowing through a forest.3

“Sadie？” I called.

Nothing.

“Saay-deee！”

She must have wandered out of earshot. Okay. It was a fine night， cold but clear， with a moon so round and white you could sit up for hours enjoying it. Thats what wed done， in fact， before turning in. I couldnt blame her for taking her time out there.

“Enjoy yourself，” I muttered， and shut my eyes. My feet were a bit cold. I rubbed them together through my sweat socks， curled up， and adjusted the roll of jeans beneath my head. I was just beginning to get comfortable when somebody close to the tent coughed.

It wasnt Sadie.

My heart froze.

“Whos out there？” I called.

“Only me，” said a mans low voice， and the tent began to shake violently. “Come outa there！”

“What do you want？”

“Make it quick.”

“Stop jerking4 the tent.” I took my knife from its sheath5 on the belt of my jeans.

The tent went motionless. “Ive got a shotgun，” the man said. “Come out there before I count five or Ill blast apart the tent with you in it. One.”

I scurried6 out of my sleeping bag.

“Two.”

“Hey， cant you wait till I get dressed？”

“Three. Come out with your hands empty， four.”

I stuck the knife down the side of my sweat sock， handle first to keep it from falling out， and crawled through the flaps.

“Five， you just made it.”

I stood up， feeling twigs and pine cones under my feet， and looked into the grinning， bearded face of a man. He had no shotgun. Only my hand-ax. I scanned the near bank of the stream behind him. No sign of Sadie.

“Wheres the shotgun？” I asked. Then I clamped7 my mouth shut to keep my teeth quiet.

The man gave a dry， vicious laugh. “Take that knife outa your sock.”

I looked down. I was wearing only shorts and socks， and the moonlight made the knife blade shine silvery against my calf.

“Take it out slowly，” he warned.

“No.”

“Want to see your wife again？ If I give the signal， my buddy will kill her. Slit her open like a wet sack.”

“Youve got Sadie？”

“Back in the trees. Now， the knife.”

“Not a chance.” I pressed my knees together to keep them from banging against each other. “Youll kill us both anyway.”

“Naw. All we wants your food and gear. See， we gotta do some camping. You understand， pal.” He grinned as if a glimpse of his big crooked8 teeth would help me understand better. It did.

“What did you do？” I asked， trying to stall9 for time. “Rob a bank？”

“That， too. Now are you gonna get rid of that knife or do I signal Jake to start cutting？”

“Better signal Jake，” I said， and grabbed my knife.

“You sure？”

“Im sure. Just one favor， though. Do you mind if I tell my wife goodbye？”

He grinned again. “Go on.”

“Thanks，” I said. Then I yelled， “Goodbye， Sadie！ Sadie！ Goodbye， Sadie！”

“Enough.” He came forward， holding the ax high， shaking it gently as if testing the weight of its head. All the time， he grinned.

My knife flew end over end， glinting moonlight， and struck him square in the chest. Hilt10 first.

He kept coming. Finally I backed into a tree. Its bark felt damp and cold and rough against my skin.

“Theres no Jake，” I said to distract him.

“So what？” he answered.

I raised my hands to block the ax and wondered if it would hurt for long.

Then a chilling， deep-throated howl shook the night. A mastiff splashed through the stream.11 The man had no time to turn. He only had time to scream before Sadie， snarling12， took him down and began to rip his throat.

帳篷外像腳步一樣的聲音將我從似睡非睡中驚醒。又一個野營者？不太可能。我們離那些主道很遠，而且已經三天沒看到一個背包客了。

也許那里根本沒人。也許是小樹枝或松果從附近的一棵樹上掉了下來。也許是食物的氣味將一只動物吸引到了我們的帳篷邊。一只大動物。

我又一次聽到了那聲音──東西被壓碎的干巴巴的聲音。

我嚇得不敢動，但還是強迫自己翻過身看薩迪是不是醒了。

她已經不見了。

我低頭順著木乃伊式睡袋向前看去。那扇拉開的簾門向里晃動著。一陣涼爽的聞起來潮濕的輕風撫摸著我的臉，我才想起薩迪離開了帳篷。多長時間了？說不清楚。也許我已經打了一小時的盹，也許是一分鐘。不管怎么說，該到她進來、我們關門的時間了。

“嘿，薩迪，你為什么不進來呢？”

我聽到的只有離我們營地幾碼遠的那條小溪的聲音。小溪發出了喧囂聲，就像是一陣大風穿過了一片森林。

“薩迪？”我喊道。

沒有回音。

“薩──迪──！”

她一定是走得太遠，聽不見我的喊聲了。還好。這是一個美麗的夜晚，雖寒冷但清亮，月亮又圓又白，你可以在那里連坐幾個小時欣賞月光。事實上，睡覺前，我們就是那樣做的。我不會責備她在外面溜達的。

“那你好好玩吧，”我咕噥著，閉上了眼睛。兩只腳有點兒冷，我隔著短襪搓著它們，身體蜷縮起來，然后調整了一下頭下面的那個牛仔褲卷。我剛想舒坦一下，突然有人靠近帳篷，咳嗽了一聲。

那不是薩迪。

我的心縮成了一團。……