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CEMETERY RATS
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(C) author: Henry Kuttner
(C) translation by I. Feoktistova
CBL> We bring to your attention a story by a science fiction writer
Henry Kuttner. I reprinted it by hand from a horror collection.
Recommended reading before bed... 8-)
. . .
Caretaker of the oldest andabandoned cemetery Salema,
Old Man Mason was not so much involved in cemetery affairs,
how much he was at enmity with rats. They lived here for a long time, migrating from
shipyards. It was a whole colony of surprisingly large rats. Having taken
caretaker's place after the inexplicable disappearance of his
predecessor, Macson first decided to deal with rats,
or rather, their expulsion. First he set traps, and then he began
throw poisoned bait at their holes, but all his efforts
were in vain. The rats lived, and not just lived, but continued
multiply. It seemed that every day there were more and more of them
more, and hordes of these disgusting rodents rushed around
cemetery, as if mocking Maccon.
The rats that lived in the cemetery were very large -
some specimens reached a length of thirty-five
centimeters, not counting the tail. Mason sometimes met rats
the size of a large cat. When the gravediggers were digging another
grave, they came across such holes that could be called
more like smelly tunnels. It seemed that they
dug not by rats, but by people, to travel through them on
on all fours.
Sometimes, surprised by the size of the holes, Macson recalled the frightening
legends that emy toldold-timers of ancient Salem -
cities of witches. What struck him most were the legends about the secret life
some creatures - non-humans, supposedly existing in abandoned
underground burrows. True, Macson reassured himself that times
Kottoha Matepa, who eradicated the satanic sects that worshiped
Hekate and the dark Marha Mother have passed, but little has changed in
ancient Salem: everyone was also leaning towards each other, smoky
houses with tiled roofs over cobblestone streets, and
in the evenings in the houses there were whispered conversations about the gloomy underground
caves and cemetery basements that kept their secrets.
Secrets are secrets, but the old men, shaking their gray heads,
They assured that in the caves under the ancient Selema cemetery they live
creatures more terrible than worms and rats.
Fierce rodents, of course, did not inspire sympathy
Masson, and he was wary of them, aware of the danger of such
neighborhood, hiding in needle-sharp teeth, but he doesn’t
was the fear that the old-timers experienced in front of the abandoned
houses infested with rats.
The caretaker more than once heard about some ghouls,
living deep underground and controlling rats. Wise elders
whispered that rats were messengers scurrying between this world and
gloomy ancientsdungeons deep under Selemom. They told
also that bodies from rats' graves are stolen for the night underground
feast
Mason did not believe the fables, but, most importantly, he, to the best of his ability,
tried to hide from those around him the existence of rats on
cemetery It was difficult, since the rats were not locked up.
However, Macson understood that if the clarification of the circumstances began
what and how rats do can be revealed by many
graves. And if several gnawed coffins can be attributed to
rats, then how to explain the injuries that will be discovered for more
preserved, recently buried bodies?..
High purity gold used for dentures
very often it remains with the dead. Well, there are also clothes.
But these are small things, because the undertaker supplies for the funeral
inexpensive and easily recognizable costumes. Gold is not clothing, and
In these cases, Mason was not particularly squeamish. Gold is gold
and how it was obtained is unimportant. After all, in principle, the caretaker is not anyone
killed and did not rob, but simply used rotozeyct or
lack of examination of the relatives of the deceased.
There was another source of income: medical students or not so
famous doctors who also needed corpses. At the same time they
it didn't matter where they weremanaged to get it.
So far, Masson has managed to avoid investigations, and he,
certainly vehemently denied the existence of rats on his trust
territory, although sometimes they deprived him of prey. The caretaker is not enough
cared what happened to the bodies of the deceased after its processing,
but he knew very well that rats happened to drag away
the dead through the holes that were gnawed in the coffins. Sometimes
Mason wondered why the coffins were gnawed
at the end and never from the side or from above. It seemed that the rats were in charge
some intelligent being...
And now the caretaker stood in the grave he had dug,
throwing out shovel after shovel of crumbly wet earth.
Rain was falling, or rather, not even rain, but a fine cold
drizzle. For almost a month now, swollen black clouds had been hanging over Salem.
The cemetery was a continuous mess of squelching mud,
which wet, gloomy trees peeked out in irregular rows
tombstones. Even the rats were sitting in their holes, and Macson had already
I haven't seen them for several days. Finally a wooden coffin appeared.
The caretaker stood at him and frowned.
The funeral took place the other day, but Macson did not dare go for it.
prey immediately, since a relative of the deceased came to
grave even in heavy rain."However, how would this relative
did not experience the loss, it was so late, and even in this weather he was unlikely to
whether to appear here. " - thought Macson with a grin. Having cleared
the lid of the coffin from the ground, he straightened up, put the shovel aside,
and then he pulled a lantern out of his pocket and lit it. Then he leaned over
and with a flashlight examined the latches of the coffin.
Suddenly he became numb: someone was moving under his feet and
scratched as if something was moving inside the coffin. Fear
paralyzed him, but only for an instant. To replace
cyebephomy horror came to me: the rats were ahead once again
him!
In anger, Macson grabbed a shovel, slipped it under the lid of the coffin,
I loosened it and then threw the lid to the ground with my hands. Then he took
the flashlight and pointed it at the open box.
A cold ray of light illuminated the white satin upholstery of the empty
coffin Noticing some movement at the head of the head, Masson illuminated
this place. There was almost no end wall of the coffin: it was
gnawed, and the coffin was, as it were, connected to an underground corridor.
Macson even noticed the black shoes... Already having trouble understanding that
does, he hastily plopped down on all fours and tried
grab the floating dead man by the legs, but at the same time let him go
the lantern from his hands, and everything was immersed indarkness.
For some time he held the dead man by the shoes, but he heard
a piercing rat squeak - and the shoes remained in his hands.
The prey escaped. He raised the lantern and again illuminated the corridor.
It was so wide that he could easily fit into it.
man. Mason was very surprised: what kind of rats should they be?
to snatch the dead man right out of his hands and drag him away. But
greed took over. He remembered the elegant cufflinks and the real
a pearl in a dead man's tie pin. Without hesitation for a second,
Mason fastened the flashlight to his belt and climbed into the hole. Its very
I was invigorated by the thought of the revolver in my pocket.
The tunnel was cramped, but Maccon was still moving forward little by little.
forward. Directly in front of him, in the light of the lantern, he saw dragging
the deceased's leg tunnel. Macson decided that if in a minute he didn’t
If it catches up with the body, it will turn back. There was a strong smell in the tunnel
carrion. Once again, Masson was gripped by fear, but greed drove him on.
forward. He crawled and crawled further, passing several side
passages. The walls were wet and slimy. One time for him
something collapsed. When it happened the second time, Maccon
stopped and looked around.
Behind him lay clods of earth, and it looked like he was going back
there is no emy way.The caretaker's heart began to beat faster, his pulse
reverberated in his temples, and he decided to stop, giving away the spoils
to unknown creatures who continued to drag the body of the deceased further. But,
Having decided to return, Masson did not take into account one thing: the tunnel was too narrow
so that it can be turned in the opposite direction
side.
Mason almost succumbed to the panic that washed over him, but, taking
pulled myself together, I remembered the side passages. Awkwardly backing away
branches, Macson turned around and, not paying attention to the pain in
with sore knees, he quickly crawled back.
Before he had time to crawl even ten steps, his leg was pierced
sudden sharp pain; he felt teeth digging into him and
desperately kicked his leg. There was a sharp squeak and stomping of many
running legs. Shining a lantern back, Maccon became numb: the whole
a crowd of huge rats: some the size of a cat, others even larger.
Behind them someone’s figure was visible, however, quickly hiding in
shadow. Macson almost fainted, not having seen so much
how many felt the size of this creature.
Seeing the light, the rats seemed to stumble, but then again
moved to the front. Mason remembered that he had a revolver,
wriggled in an unimaginable way and, taking it out of his pocket,
took aim. Shot onstunned him for a minute, and filled the hole
the smoke caused a coughing fit. When the smoke cleared, Macson saw
that there are no rats. He put the weapon back in his pocket and quickly crawled
along the tunnel, but after a few seconds the rats caught up with him and
attacked again.
How many were there? He lost count of them. They bit him
pushing each other away and squealing furiously. Macson screamed and,
He grabbed the revolver and fired without aiming. The rats retreated again
but not so far anymore. Taking advantage of the pause, Macson did his best
Sil crawled forward, holding his revolver at the ready.
Hearing a rustling sound, he shone a flashlight and the beam illuminated
a huge gray rat, watching him with feisty eyes. Her
the long, scaly, bare tail moved slowly from side to side
side, like a cat watching a mouse. Macson screamed and
the rat retreated.
The caretaker crawled further, but stopped when he felt on the side
Elbow the emptiness - the tunnel forked here. lay ahead
a shapeless lump of clay, and it seemed to Mason that it was a block,
collapsed from the tunnel ceiling. When did he shine on himself
flashlight, it turned out that it was a human body.
Actually, this brown dried mummy should be called a man
It was already difficult. To great horrorMassona, the mummy moved, a little
Moreover, she crawled straight towards him. In the dim light the caretaker
he saw a chimerically terrible face approaching him closely,
similar to the face of an ancient corpse, revived by the forces of hell. Crazy,
the eyes bulging out of their sockets told Mescon that the mummy was blind.
Having uttered a sound similar to a groan, the mummy crawled towards Mescony, pulling out
cracked, bloody lips in a nightmarish rpumacce of hunger. And
the caretaker froze in place, paralyzed with horror and
disgust...
The path was cut off, and Mason, having come to his senses, rushed in despair
into a side hole, hearing behind him the fuss and groans of the crawler behind him
creatures. Mason lost his orientation: his only desire
wanted to get away from this obsession and, shouting, he squeezed into the narrow
move. He crawled hastily, hurting his palms and knees on sharp stones.
Dirt fell on his head and shoulders, got into his eyes, but he crawled,
without stopping for a moment, gasping, swearing and praying.
The rats attacked him again, squealing, with such fury that he
With difficulty I managed to fight off their ferocious bites. The tunnel is all
narrowed. Mason screamed in fear, kicked and shot until
I ran out of cartridges, but I still drove the rats away.
Soon, Macson felt something severely scratch emy
back: it was a huge stone,forming in this place as if
roof of the tunnel. The stone gave in slightly under the pressure of the body, and
A thought flashed through Masson's maddened brain: if emy
we managed to bring down the stone and block the tunnel behind us!
Because of the rain, the ground was wet and yielding. Mason began
dig up a stone. The rats came closer and closer, but he
continued to feverishly rake the earth with his hands. The stone began
give in. Finally, Macson pulled with all his might, and the stone
staggered in his nest.
Suddenly the caretaker saw that he was approaching
the giant rat, which he had already seen before, is gray and creepy, c
bared teeth; behind her a blind mummy crawled moaning.
Mason tensed, leaned on the stone and, feeling that he
slid down and pulled back. The stone fell behind him and
Masson heard the dying cry of a rat and the scream of the one crawling behind it
non-human. Chunks of dirt fell on my feet, something heavy
fell on them, so that with difficulty he threw off the obstacle that was preventing him from crawling
corpse. The tunnel was collapsing along its entire length!
Choking from fear and lack of air, Macson crawled further
forward, and the earth continued to fall behind. The course narrowed to
that emy now had to squirm like an eel, and suddenly he
felt underwith ossified fingers, the silk was torn and rested
head into the barrier. He lay flat on his stomach, and when he wanted
rise, I discovered that the arch is located only in
a few centimeters from the back. Masson was seized with panic.
He understood: when the blind creature blocked his path, he
Desperately, he rushed into a side tunnel from which there was no way out.
Mason found himself inside a coffin - one of those, the end of which
rats chewed it out!
He wanted to turn on his back, but this too failed:
The lid of the coffin pressed inexorably on him. Macson gathered with
With the last of his strength he pressed himself against the lid, but it didn’t even budge.
However, even if emy manages to get out of the coffin, he will be able to
will he break through the two tightly compressed above him, or even
three meters of land?
Mason began to choke: the air was fetid and unbearable.
hot. In a fit of anger, he tore the silk upholstery to shreds,
then he tried to kick the fallen thing into the tunnel with his feet and
the earth blocking the way back. If Maccony had succeeded
turn around, perhaps he could do it with his fingers
hole for air... Air!
It was as if my chest had been pierced by a white-hot arrow,
trembling ineyeballs, and the head was swollen to a huge
magnitude, and suddenly the jubilant squeal of rats was heard. Macson is hysterical
began to thrash, but calmed down a moment later. His eyelids closed
a blackened tongue protruded from his mouth, and the caretaker plunged into
a black abyss, taking with it the mad rat's ear-filled
squeal...
. . .
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