Дуэль

'I͡A byl odin, sovershenno odin, pri͡achasʹ pod krovatʹi͡u v komnate, k dveri͡am kotoroĭ priblizhalisʹ ti͡azhelye strashnye shagi…' Tak nachinaet semiklassnik David svoĭ rasskaz o strannykh sobytii͡akh, razygravshikhsi͡a posle zagadochnogo pokhishchenii͡a starinnogo risunka. Zapodozrennogo v krazhe druga Davida vyzyvaet na Duėlʹ chempion universiteta po strelʹbe. Taĭna ischeznuvshego risunka vedet v dalekoe proshloe, i tolʹko David znaet, kak predotvratitʹ duėlʹ i spasti druga ot vernoĭ gibeli. No uspeet li on?'Nas bylo troe. Rami, samyĭ silʹnyĭ parenʹ v klasse; Amnon, umevshiĭ dvigatʹ ushami i khrabryĭ, kak i͡aponskiĭ kamikadze; i i͡a tretiĭ. Net, ne tak. Nas bylo semero. Semero geroev. Semero besstrashnykh. Semero dʹi͡avolʹski pronit͡satelʹnykh. I konechno, sobaka, kak zhe inache?..Net. I͡A byl odin, sovershenno odin… I͡A lezhal pod krovatʹi͡u, so strakhom ozhidai͡a poi͡avlenii͡a samogo strashnogo iz vsekh strashnykh khuliganov…'David Grossman. Dli͡a starshego shkolʹnogo vozrasta.

'I was alone, completely alone, hiding under the bed in a room with heavy, terrible footsteps approaching the door...' So begins the seventh-grader David his story about the strange events that took place after the mysterious abduction of an ancient drawing. David's friend, suspected of stealing, is challenged to a duel by the university's shooting champion. The mystery of the missing drawing leads to the distant past, and only David knows how to prevent a duel and save a friend from certain death. But will he make it?'There were three of us. Rami, the strongest guy in the class; Amnon, who could move his ears and was as brave as a Japanese kamikaze; and I was the third. No, it's not. There were seven of us. The seven heroes. The Seven Dauntless. Seven devilishly astute. And of course, the dog, how else?..No. I was alone, completely alone… I was lying under the bed, dreading the appearance of the scariest of all the scariest hooligans... ' David Grossman. For high school age.