CHAPTER 1

“ALAN? ”

Wake heard Alice calling to him through his nightmare. He slowly floated up toward the sound of her voice, still drowsy.

“Alan, wake up. Come see where we are. It’s so beautiful. ”

Wake opened his eyes, squinting in the sunlight. Through the car’s open window, he saw Alice beckoning from the nearby railing of the ferry. She wore tight jeans and black boots, her light-brown hair billowing over the upturned collar of her black leather jacket. Whatever she was looking at, it wasn’t nearly as beautiful as what he was seeing. She waved again and he got out of the car and walked across the deck toward her, feeling the low engine vibration through the soles of his feet.

“I didn’t want you to miss this, ” said Alice, pointing.

It took an effort to tear his eyes from her, but he followed her direction, saw an immense forest stretching out on each side of the water, the biggest trees that he had ever seen, so tall and thick he couldn’t see the forest floor.

“Old-growth timber, ” said Alice. “Hundreds of years old, never been cut. Not much of that left anymore. ”

“Forest primeval, I get it, ” said Wake. “Welcome to sasquatch country. ” He looked down at the dark-green water churning around the ferry. He buttoned up his gray tweed coat. Even with the hoodie underneath, he was shivering. The sun seemed to seek Alice out, but he was always cold. Wake’s face was long and angular, with a cleft in his chin and a three-day stubble like a rock star on a bender. His eyes were blue, very alert, volatile even. He told Alice once that if he had a tattoo it would read: Born Pissed Off. She told him he needn’t bother. One look at him and people figured that out fast enough.

A fallen tree drifted up ahead, a gnarly elm bobbing gently along on the currents. Its thick trunk and broad leaves made it seem out of place among all the tall timber, and Wake, ever curious, wondered how it ended up here, what had torn it out by the roots. A huge raven perched atop one limb, fluttering its glossy black wings as it pecked at something, peck, peck, peck. Wake leaned forward, straining to see what the raven was so interested in. The raven cocked its head, as though aware of Wake’s gaze, then bent down, pulling up something white and stringy in its beak.

“We should be arriving in Bright Falls in about twenty minutes, ” said Alice, basking in the light.

The raven’s greedy cawing echoed across the water as the elm drifted closer, and Wake finally saw what the raven was working at, a child’s tennis shoe caught in the branches, the bird tugging at the laces. Alice turned as the raven flapped off. “Wow, that’s one gigantic crow. ”

“Yeah, ” Wake said softly.

“Honey, are you okay? You look so… pale. ”

“Just my imagination messing with me. As usual. ” Wake ran a hand through his dark hair. She worried about him, worried about his moods, and especially about his temper. He gave her reason to. In the distance he could make out the outlines of a small town nestled in the bay. Had to be Bright Falls.

Alice took her camera from her purse. “Why don’t you stand next to that old guy beside the pickup? I’ll take a picture of you with the woods in the background. ”

“You know I hate having my picture taken, ” said Wake.

“Suffering is good for the soul, ” Alice said playfully. “Don’t you want to get to heaven? ”

“Not unless you’re there with me, ” teased Wake.

“Well, I’m staying here, ” said Alice. “You’re the one who’s going over there so I can snap a picture. ”

Wake walked over to the older man. The bed of the blue pickup had a fresh deer carcass in it. Cute. He looked at the older man. “Hi. ”

“You picked a good time to come to Bright Falls, ” confided the older man, a short, balding fellow, his watery blue eyes crinkling behind round glasses.

“Really? ” said Wake. Alice waved at him to move closer to the man.

“Yup, a very good time. ”

“Uh-huh, ” said Wake.

The man pushed back his glasses with a forefinger. “I mean, lucky you. ”

Wake took a deep breath. The persistence of geezers was a universal constant as certain as gravity or the speed of light. “Okay, why am I lucky? ”

The older man showed his dentures in triumph. “Deerfest is just two weeks away. ”

“Deerfest, huh, ” said Wake, having no idea what the man was talking about. “Did you hear that, honey? Deerfest! ”

“Forgive my bad manners, I’m Pat Maine. ” The man stuck out his hand.

“I’m Alan—”

“Oh, I know who you are, Mr. Wake, ” said Maine, pumping away with his damp, pillowy hand. “We read books around here, too. ” He smiled at his little joke. “When’s that next novel of yours coming out? Seems like we’ve been waiting—”

“Working on it, ” snapped Wake.

“Of course, can’t rush the creative process, can you? ” said Maine. “I hope this isn’t too presumptuous of me, but I’m the night host at the local radio station. Any chance I could get an interview? A best-selling author doesn’t come through these parts very often, and—”

“I’m on vacation with my wife, ” said Wake. “Trying to keep a low profile. ”

“I understand completely, ” said Maine, winking. “Still, you change your mind, I’m an easy man to find. ”

Wake walked back to Alice.

“I got some good shots, ” said Alice, pushing her hair back. “Nice to see you making friends. ”

“Yeah, we swapped bundt-cake recipes, ” said Wake.

Alice lightly punched him in the arm. “Wouldn’t be the worst thing that could happen. You might actually enjoy yourself. ”

Wake didn’t respond. He stood shoulder to shoulder beside her at the railing, eyes half closed, enjoying the sensation of her wind-blown hair tickling his face.

He had lied to Pat Maine about his next book. He hadn’t written a word in two years, and had no idea if he would ever write again, but standing beside Alice, Wake put aside all thoughts of the books he had written, and the books he might never write, put aside the frustration that tore at him night and day. There was just him and Alice. That was enough. For this one perfect moment, that was all he needed.

“Oh yuck, ” Alice said softly.

“What? ” said Wake, not wanting to look, wanting to stay where he was, smelling her perfume and forgetting everything else.

“There’s the creepiest guy watching us, ” said Alice.

Wake opened his eyes, the perfect moment gone now, popped like a soap bubble on a summer afternoon. He saw a grubby man in his forties staring at them from the far end of the ferry, an insolent grin on his face. The man wore camouflage pants and a hunting vest, a stained ball cap and scuffed work boots. A cigarette dangled from his lower lip.

He started walking slowly toward the man. “Do you have a problem? ” Wake challenged, raising his voice to be heard over the rumbling engines.

The man didn’t react, just took a long, slow drag on his cigarette, and kept staring.

“Alan, don’t, ” said Alice. “Stay here. This is no way to start a vacation. ”

Wake allowed Alice to steer him back to their car, neither of them saying a word until they were both inside.

“You… you scare me sometimes, ” said Alice.

Wake watched the vein at the base of her throat pulse, angry at himself for upsetting her. “I’m sorry. ”

“Men like that… they’re not worth worrying about, ” said Alice. She squeezed his hand. “You just have to learn to back away. ”

“I can’t do that, ” said Wake. “The world will eat you alive if you let it. ”

“That’s not true, ” said Alice. “Most people are good. ”

Wake snorted.

“Alan Wake, they most certainly are. ”

“What about the ones who aren’t good? ” said Wake, looking past her as the town came clearly into view, a collection of bright storefronts and a few small houses scattered across the surrounding hills. People and cars waited at the ferry dock. He turned back to her. “What about the ones who want to hurt us? ”

“Why would anyone want to hurt us? ”

Wake reached over and kissed her. “Envy. Who wouldn’t want what we have? ”

Alice kissed him back, her lips warm and pouting. “Well, they can’t have it. ”

Alice drove the car off the ferry and onto the dock, past the fishermen lining the railing and people waiting to board. There was a chill in the air now, clouds building up on the horizon. Locals in quilted jackets clomped down the sidewalk, eating ice cream cones, enjoying the sunshine. No seagulls, which was odd, since they usually hovered around the waterfront, looking for scraps and leftovers. No seagulls. Just ravens watching from the roofs and power lines. Wake shivered.

“It’s nice, isn’t it? ” said Alice. “Quaint. No one seems to be in a hurry. ”

“Wait until Deerfest, ” said Wake, “the place will be throbbing with activity. ”

“See, I knew you were going to like it here, ” said Alice.

“Don’t get carried away, ” said Wake. “I was just kidding. ”

“That’s what I mean, ” said Alice. “Your sense of humor… it’s coming back. I’m so happy. These last couple of years you got so serious. ”

“Well, these last couple years, things were serious, ” said Wake. “Not today, though. Today, we’re going to pick up the key to our cabin and officially start the vacation, and if you’re good, very, very good, I’ll take you to Deerfest and let you pet Bambi. ”

“You need to take a look around and see where you are, city boy, ” teased Alice. “Around here, they don’t pet Bambi, they eat him. ”

⇐ Предыдущая 1 2 3 456 7 8 9 10 Следующая ⇒