to rain.

25

«We should probably take him inside,»

she said.

«No, we can’t go to the hospital,» the stranger told her,»

at least not until we have a chance

to sort this out.»

He picked up

the man lying on the ground with no effort at all, carried him across the verandah into the house

,and laid him on the sofa.

– At least there’s something left, «he muttered under

his breath as he passed the veranda, and then said to Reana,

«I’ll put the arrow away, don’t touch it.»

He picked up a cloth napkin from the table, wrapped it around his arm

,and snapped off the back of the arrow. Then

he lifted the wounded man off the pillow, yanked the arrow

out of his body, and threw it far into the corner of the room. The wreckage

they hissed and melted away. Blood spurted from the hole in his chest

,and Reana ran to him, putting her hand on his arm.

above the wound and closed her eyes.

A queasy, unpleasant feeling

came over her, as if she had been seasick on a train. It seemed that she herself

was being dragged down by an unknown force, pulled

inside this man, and that there was no air to breathe

,but after a couple of minutes it was all over. She let out an exhausted sigh

and lowered her head. The man on the couch took a deep breath.

He was asleep. Not a trace

of the terrible wound remained on his chest.

– Are you all right?» The dark – haired stranger

nudged Reana’s shoulder.

«Yes, yes, I’m fine,» she said, looking up

. – Or rather, what is in order there! her voice grew louder

. – What’s going on?» Who are you? What am I doing?

This is some kind of nonsense, I don’t understand!

The man took a few steps back

and forth across the room.

26

«You know,» he said pointedly,»I

don’t understand it myself yet. But all that’s clear is that

the three of us» – and he pointed to Reana, the sleeping man, and himself-

«are in some terrible and dangerous scrape, and we

’d better stick together and keep a low profile.

We’ll wait until this one wakes up – " the stranger pointed with some

hostility at the man lying on the sofa. —

Maybe he knows what’s going on…

The guest tore the remnants of his torn tie from his neck and

tossed them on the floor, then continued to pace

thoughtfully.

Reana stared at him, batting her

lashes. «I got into trouble. It’s scary, it’s very scary

.I’m stupid, I can’t get into trouble. It’s not going to end

well.»

The stranger suddenly saw the bottle

through the transparent door of the sideboard. «May I?» —

What is it? «he asked, pointing to it.

«Yes, of course,» Reana said. «Please don’t

get too drunk, because I don’t know what to do,»

and I thought,«What nonsense I’m talking.»

Mentally berating herself for being naive, she went to kuh-

nu for a drink.

– I don’t get drunk at all!» A voice answered

as Reana entered the kitchen. «Alcohol just

calms me down. A little bit.

When she returned with a shot glass, she saw that the guest had already

settled into a chair, his feet propped up on the coffee table,

right on the white lace napkins, sipping cognac

from his throat. He took the proffered glass and set

it on the table beside him. Then he patted his chest.

«Holy shit, I lost my phone,» he said, and smiled.

She forced a smile in return:

27

– Can I give you mine? If you need

to make a phone call somewhere…

– Not yet, thank you. I need to think about it,»

the visitor said, and took another swig from the bottle.

28

Birds were singing in the garden. Dawn began to break.

Reana made herself a cheese sandwich and

sat down in the chair opposite. She offered a boo-

terbrod to her guest, who declined and sat lost

in thought.