In the middle of the same night, Sasha heard the short barking of dogs and the screams of girls in his sleep, and he sat up from his bed at once, the blanket falling from his shoulders, and the dark blue sky light filtered through the cracks in the curtains, and the things in the room were blurred in the edges and softened in outline.

The handle of the door of the room turned slightly in a half circle, and the door opened. Hopkins, now Mr. Striff, stood in the doorway, with his back to the orange-yellow light in the hallway, his face and half of his body shrouded in shadow, only a pair of gray-blue eyes twinkling in the darkness, "uninvited guest," he said, "but it is not surprising," he listened, and the dogs and people outside were getting louder and louder, and if it weren't for the fact that the house Mr. Striff had chosen was too remote, their movements would probably have awakened the people of nearly half the street: "I'll go down and see, But I'm afraid it won't end too soon. ”

Sasha turned on the lamp, and the father approached him, leaned down and kissed the child on the forehead, and Sasha realized that Mr. Stryf was neatly dressed, and he was wearing a dark brown sheepskin turtleneck jacket, which smelled of leather, and felt as soft as cotton silk when brushing Sasha's bare skin, "All right, here I go." The tall, thin male whispered softly, and he stepped back, his legging-wrapped boots leaving a faint mark on the carpet without a sound at all.

"You can read the books," suggested Mr. Striff, before the door was closed again, "or read something else, whatever you want." ”

Sasha sat on the bed, blinking, and there was a collection of Chernoston's short stories on the bedside table, but since his father said so, he would have preferred to "see something else"—he jumped out of bed, wrapped himself in a small blanket on the bedframe, and walked to the window, which was just high enough for him to show his eyes—and he saw his father appear on the grass, through the moonlit garden, into the dark woods.

***

Mr. Stryff paused at the edge of the woods, and some light-colored creature was humming under a leafy lilac, and Striff, whose vision was not impaired in the night, easily recognized it as one of the bull terriers he had raised, its head pressed against the ground, its limbs curled up under its body, and when it sensed approaching, it struggled to raise its head, one of its eye sockets was gurgling outward, and it showed its teeth vigilantly—Striff walked over and dodged its teeth, After controlling it, he briefly but quickly examined it, and found that the dog was hopeless, one of its eyes had been gouged out entirely, from the ribs to the groin, with several abnormal depressions, no bones, and it was so soft that it could not bear any strength, and he guessed that its belly should have been full of broken internal organs.

Stlev grabbed the bull terrier's goofy head, and with a slight force, the dog's head spun forty-five degrees upwards under his powerful hand with a crisp cracking sound.

"Good dog." He whispered, letting it lie under the lilac and walk into the woods alone.

The path in the woods is narrow and winding, and the trees beside the path are each sloping outward, and it is difficult to leave intermittent traces here through the moonlight of the dense foliage in summer, like a zigzag, casually drawn dotted line, and after walking along this dotted line for about five minutes, you can see a small clearing, empty except for an apple tree with only a stump left, where the Stryff dogs gathered, and the object of their siege was almost exhausted, after another bull terrier with white fur and black eyes was kicked out, Its grey companion cunningly circled to the nearby stake, and with the help of this height, it leaped violently and bit at the neck of its foe like a ferocious wolf! It almost succeeded completely, the other party deftly avoided letting its teeth rub the skin on the back of its neck, but it could not be said to be a failure, because the gray bull terrier's teeth bit the raised brown braid when it closed, the illegal intruder was suddenly pulled by the weight of nearly seventy pounds, her body lost its balance, and fell to the ground on her back, a spotted bull terrier pounced on it, and was accurately kicked out by her hard little leather boots, and another pure white bull terrier ran a small half circle when it saw the opportunity, and attacked from the back of her shoulder, She raised her arm just in time, and the teeth that should have been biting her neck landed on her forearm, and she let out a scream of pain, and beyond that, the gray bull terrier was still shaking its head frantically—its teeth were stuck in the unusually tight braids, and her head had to be dragged around the ground with it.

"Save ...... Save me! She pleaded sharply, "Let them ...... I don't care about you! ”

"Anne. Kent. Mr. Stryff said the name calmly: "It is strange to see you in this place at this time, and the good children should lie down in bed now." He pursed his lips, and with a short whistle, the bull terriers stopped, but their teeth were still in place.

Anne bit her lip, her eyes were hidden under the loose hair, her eyes were poisonous, and her bare face was scarred, but not too serious, "let your dog ......" she hissed in pain: "Let go of me!" ”

"Explain the meaning," said Mr. Striff, "though I can almost guess that...... You shouldn't have come for afternoon tea," he said, holding up his fingers, and then bending them down one by one: "The time is wrong, the method is wrong, the emotions are wrong, the intentions are wrong, the clothes are wrong." The ghoul's gaze swept over the girl's body, she was not as cute as usual today, a hooded overall, a long-sleeved shirt, boots, a backpack that had been grabbed by the dogs with an open mouth, and Striff pulled out an old razor from it and tried it on his fingers, very sharp: "The gift is not good either." ”

"I don't know what you're talking about...... It's just an adventure, a night adventure...... All the little ones here will come here to play! ”

"When your adoptive mother is unconscious and your adoptive father has to deal with two deformed children?" Mr. Stryff disagreed: "Anne. Kent, you should be by their side now, comforting them with your sweetness and purity. ”

At this moment, the anger in Anne's eyes could almost burst out of her eyes: "If it weren't for you! She shouted straight at the throat, "Of course!" Absolutely! ”

"Oh," Mr. Stryff asked, with some interest, "what did I do?" ”

Anne closed her mouth tightly, the white bull terrier shook her head, and she wailed in pain again.

"Let me go...... I'm going to die......" she cried out with difficulty, "If I die, you'll ...... There is trouble. She stared at the man in front of her: "You're going to be in trouble!" She affirmed, "You're going to be in big trouble." ”

"I think you're here alone, and you didn't tell anyone, including the hapless couple and Dolores or whatever. It's very quiet and the nearest neighbour is two kilometres away. Striff sat down on the stump, "But it's only two kilometers from Riverside State Park, and of course, in a straight line, I've been to Riverbank Park more than once, and there's a very beautiful wetland there, you know what a wetland is, right?" You have always been a good and diligent student, 'natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, marshland, marshland, peatland, or water area, with still or flowing, or fresh, brackish or brackish water bodies', and perhaps you have seen it with your own eyes. I will offer you flowers, what do you like, lilies or roses, or daisies? ”

The girl tried to bite her teeth, but failed, and her upper and lower dentitions couldn't help but fight, "You don't dare," she retorted weakly, "there will be traces, the police will come to investigate, you will be caught." ”

"Perhaps," Stryff nodded slightly, "but you're dead." ”

The girl shuddered, the dogs purred uneasily, and Stryff pursed his lips a second time, this time with a much longer whistle, and the white and gray bull terriers whined in protest, but still let go of their teeth and took two steps back.

"What do you want to know?" The girl said, "I just want to scare you, because you obviously can't control your tongue." At the mention of this, her anger seemed to prevail over the pain for a moment, and she propped up her uninjured elbow and tried to sit up, but the gray bull terrier immediately jumped over like an agile boxer, sat down on her chest, and bared her teeth.

"I guess that's just a reminder." Mr. Stryff also showed his small, white, neat teeth, and the tiger teeth on either side were particularly sharp: "It's also a reward." ”

"Okay...... It doesn't matter what you're for...... "Annie. Kent squirmed his lips, "I've been rewarded by you, very deeply. She raised her injured arm slightly: "Please, I'm going to the hospital...... I'm in pain, I'm so sad that I'm dying and I swear, I'm not going to say anything...... I would tell them that I was running away from home and walking alone on the road when I was attacked by a wild dog...... God, can't you show mercy?! She sobbed impatiently: "I want to go back, I want to go home...... I didn't do anything! ”

Annie. Kent wept alone on the dark, cold, damp, filthy grass for a few moments, and when she paused in a painful choking, she despaired to find that her last trick had failed.

The man was observing her with interest, Anne. It occurred to Kent that perhaps what he had said earlier was more than just intimidation.

"What exactly do you want?!"

"A deeper conversation." Stryff's elbows rested on his knees, his fingers crossed at his chin: "I'm a very curious person - Anne. Kent, you're a rare child, look, look," he gestured, "a brilliant mind, a healthy body, a quick mind, a sense of reason and strength that an adult might not have, and an extraordinary endurance - there are many people who have been bitten by bull terriers, and they are rarely able to stop crying or screaming until they faint, and even think well...... You are indeed outstanding. Annie. He summed it up in a small way: "The only mistake you've made so far has been to confront me and tell me, why? I guess in the beginning, I didn't have anything in your way? ”

"......" Anne was silent for a while, she lowered her eyes, "I don't understand what you're talking about. ”

Stryff shook his head, "No," he whispered, "No, dear, you know, very well, Annie. Kent...... Or maybe Nina.. G.P., Lilley. Rapp, Angela. Cruise...... And the most correct one - Fanta. Wharton. ”

(To be continued)