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(fā)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。

“誰在外面？”我大聲問道。

“就我一個人，”一個男人低聲說，隨后帳篷開始劇烈搖晃起來，“從那里出來！”

“你要干什么？”

“快點兒?！?/p>

“別拽帳篷?！蔽覐呐Ｗ醒澠У牡肚世锍槌龅?。

帳篷不動了?！拔矣蝎C槍，”那人說，“我數到五，從那里出來，否則我就把帳篷和你打得稀巴爛。一?！?/p>

我匆匆鉆出了睡袋。

“二?！?/p>

“嘿，你能等到我穿好衣服嗎？”

“三。空手出來，四?！?/p>

我將刀順著短襪邊插進去，把柄朝下，以防它掉出來，隨后爬出了帳篷。

“五，你剛好做到?！?/p>

我站起來，踩到了腳下的小樹枝和松果，然后看到了一個齜牙咧嘴、胡子拉碴的男人。他沒帶獵槍，只有一把我的手斧。我掃視了一下他身后那條小溪附近的岸邊。沒見薩迪的影子。

“獵槍在哪里？”我問，隨后閉上嘴默然無聲。那個人發(fā)出了干巴巴、惡狠狠的笑聲：“把你短襪里那把刀拿出來。”

我低下頭，見自己只穿著短褲和短襪，月光下刀刃在我的小腿肚上發(fā)著銀光。

“慢慢地抽出來?！彼嬲f。

“不?！?/p>

“還想再見到你妻子嗎？只要我發(fā)出信號，我的搭檔就會殺了你妻子。將她像一個濕麻袋一樣劃開?！?/p>

“你們逮住了薩迪？”

“在后面的樹林里?？欤怀瞿前训?。”

“不可能，”我將膝蓋并在一起，以免它們相互碰撞，“不管怎樣，你都會殺了我們的?！?/p>

“不。我們想要的就是你們的食物和衣服。看到了吧，我們必須得搞一些東西野營。你明白的，伙計?！彼肿煨α艘幌?，好像亮一下他的大齙牙就能讓我更好地明白似的。的確如此。

“你剛才做了什么？”我問，盡力拖延時間，“搶銀行？”

“也算是吧。現在你要么丟開那把刀，要么我給杰克一個信號讓他動手？”

“那你還是給杰克一個信號吧?！蔽艺f著，抓緊了那把刀?！澳愦_定嗎？”

“我確定。不過，我有一個請求。我跟妻子告?zhèn)€別，你介意嗎？”

他又咧嘴笑了笑：“你說吧。”

“謝謝，”我說，然后大聲喊道：“再見，薩迪！薩迪！再見，薩迪！”

“夠了?！彼呱锨埃瑢⒛前迅^高高舉起，輕輕抖動了一下，好像是掂一下斧頭的重量。他一直都在咧嘴笑著。

我手里那把刀飛了出去，翻滾著，閃動著銀色的月光，然后正打在他的胸口。刀柄在前。

他繼續(xù)朝我逼近。最后，我退到了一棵樹前。樹皮貼著我的皮膚，感覺濕濕的、冷冷的，非常粗糙。

“并沒有什么杰克。”我說，想分散他的注意力。

“那又怎么樣？”他反問道。

我抬起兩只手想擋住那把斧子，心里想著如果被砍了，會不會疼很久。

隨后，一聲駭人的、從喉嚨深處發(fā)出的嗥叫震撼了夜晚。一只獒犬穿過那條小溪，弄得水花四濺。那人都來不及轉身。他只尖叫了一聲，薩迪就狂吠著將他撲倒，開始撕咬他的喉嚨了。

1. 本文為美國懸疑驚悚小說作家理查德·萊蒙（Richard Carl Laymon， 1947—2001）的短篇小說。

2. mummy bag： 輕便睡袋，木乃伊型睡袋。

3. racket： 吵鬧聲，喧嚷聲；gale：狂風。

4. jerk： 猛拉。

5. sheath： （刀或劍的）鞘。

6. scurry： 趕忙，急走。

7. clamp： 夾緊，控制住。

8. crooked： 參差不齊的。

9. stall：（故意停頓以）拖延時間。

10. hilt：（刀劍或匕首的）柄，把。

11. mastiff： 獒，大馴犬；splash： 啪啦啪啦地趟水。

12. snarl：（動物齜牙咧嘴地）怒吠，咆哮。