They twitched but would not quite come out of his lap.
He bent his head forward and began to shake it back and forth (он нагнул голову вперед и принялся трясти ею во все стороны: «взад и вперед»), like a man shaking soap out of his eyes (как человек, которому в глаза попало мыло: «вытряхивающий мыло из глаз»). Hissing and squalling, the cat held on (шипя и повизгивая, кошка продолжала держаться). Halston could feel blood trickling down his cheeks (Хэлстон чувствовал, как по его щекам струится кровь). It was hard to get his breath (было трудно дышать: «получить воздух»;
горели
to sustain — поддерживать; испытывать; переносить, претерпевать; whiplash — ремень или бечева плети, хлыста; /= whiplash injury/ хлыстовая травма шеи /травма от внезапного резкого движения головы и шеи/
squall [skw?:l], sustain [sq'steIn], whiplash ['wIplxS]
He bent his head forward and began to shake it back and forth, like a man shaking soap out of his eyes. Hissing and squalling, the cat held on. Halston could feel blood trickling down his cheeks. It was hard to get his breath. The cat's chest was pressed over his nose. It was possible to get some air in by mouth, but not much. What he did get came through fur. His ears felt as if they had been doused with lighter fluid and then set on fire.
He snapped his head back and cried out in agony — he must have sustained a whiplash when the Plymouth hit. But the cat hadn't been expecting the reverse and it flew off. Halston heard it thud down in the back seat.
A trickle of blood ran in his eye (струйка крови затекла в один глаз). He tried again to move his hands (он снова попытался пошевелить руками), to raise one of them and wipe the blood away (поднять одну из них и вытереть кровь).
They trembled in his lap (они подрагивали у него на коленях), but he was still unable to actually move them (но он все еще не мог их сдвинуть). He thought of the .45 special in its holster under his left arm (он вспомнил про свой специальный револьвер 45-го калибра в кобуре под левой рукой).
If I can get to my piece, kitty, the rest of your nine lives are going in a lump sum (если я /только/ смогу дотянуться до ствола, киска, остаток твоих девяти жизней пропадет одним разом;
).
More tingles now (снова покалывание, уже сильнее: «больше покалываний теперь»). Dull throbs of pain from his feet, buried and surely shattered under the engine block (тупая, пульсирующая боль в ступнях, зажатых и, конечно же, раздробленных двигателем;
= которую вы отлежали во сне
Maybe I had a few lives left myself (может, у меня самого осталось /в запасе/ несколько жизней).
blood [blAd], holster ['hqVlstq], sever ['sevq]
A trickle of blood ran in his eye. He tried again to move his hands, to raise one of them and wipe the blood away.
They trembled in his lap, but he was still unable to actually move them. He thought of the .45 special in its holster under his left arm.
If I can get to my piece, kitty, the rest of your nine lives are going in a lump sum.
More tingles now. Dull throbs of pain from his feet, buried and surely shattered under the engine block, zips and tingles from his legs — it felt exactly the way a limb that you've slept on does when it's starting to wake up. At that moment Halston didn't care about his feet. It was enough to know that his spine wasn't severed, that he wasn't going to finish out his life as a dead lump of body attached to a talking head.
Maybe I had a few lives left myself.
Take care of the cat (/теперь надо/ разобраться с кошкой;
not likely but barely possible — не вероятно, а едва возможно; back — спинной; задний; глухой, отдаленный
в нем отражалось
Purring (урчание).
Hellcat my ass (вот ведь чертов кот). It's gone to sleep back there (он там заснул).
wreck [rek], barely ['beqlI], awry [q'raI]
Take care of the cat. That was the first thing. Then get out of the wreck — maybe someone would come along, that would solve both problems at once. Not likely at 4:30 in the morning on a back road like this one, but barely possible. And —
And what was the cat doing back there?
He didn't like having it on his face, but he didn't like having it behind him and out of sight, either. He tried the rearview mirror, but that was useless. The crash had knocked it awry and all it reflected was the grassy ravine he had finished up in.
A sound from behind him, like low, ripping cloth.
Purring.
Hellcat my ass. It's gone to sleep back there.
And even if it hadn't (ну, а если даже не уснул), even if it was somehow planning murder (если даже он каким-то образом замышляет убийство = обдумывает, как его убить), what could it do (что он =
soaking wet — промокшийнасквозь; to soak — пропитываться; впитываться
incursion — набег, вторжение, внезапное нападение; наступление /моря/
A dawn-line was appearing in the eastern sky (на востоке: «восточном небе» появилась /светлая/ полоска рассвета). Somewhere a bird sang (где-то запела птица).
weigh [weI], flood [flAd], circumstance ['sWkqmstxns]
And even if it hadn't, even if it was somehow planning murder, what could it do? It was a skinny little thing, probably weighed all of four pounds soaking wet. And soon... soon he would be able to move his hands enough to get his gun. He was sure of it.
Halston sat and waited. Feeling continued to flood back into his body in a series of pins-and-needles incursions. Absurdly (or maybe in instinctive reaction to his close brush with death) he got an erection for a minute or so. Be kind of hard to beat off under present circumstances, he thought.
A dawn-line was appearing in the eastern sky. Somewhere a bird sang.
Halston tried his hands again (снова попытался пошевелить руками) and got them to move an eighth of an inch before they fell back (и смог приподнять их лишь на восьмую часть дюйма, прежде чем =
Halston spoke to it (заговорил с ним = котом).
"I have never blown a hit once I took it on, kitty (я никогда не проваливал задания, за которое взялся, киска;
The cat stared at him (кот таращился на него).
eighth [eIt?], pupil ['pjHp(q)l], advice [qd'vaIs]
Halston tried his hands again and got them to move an eighth of an inch before they fell back.
Not yet. But soon.
A soft thud on the seatback beside him. Halston turned his head and looked into the black-white face, the glowing eyes with their huge dark pupils.
Halston spoke to it.
"I have never blown a hit once I took it on, kitty. This could be a first. I'm getting my hands back. Five minutes, ten at most. You want my advice? Go out the window. They're all open. Go out and take your tail with you."
The cat stared at him.
Halston tried his hands again (еще раз проверил руки). They came up, trembling wildly (они поднялись, отчаянно трясясь). Half an inch (на пол-дюйма). An inch. He let them fall back limply (он позволил им вяло шлепнуться обратно). They slipped off his lap and thudded to the Plymouth's seat (они соскользнули с его колен и ударились о сиденье машины). They glimmered there palely, like large tropical spiders (они бледно мерцали там, словно огромные тропические пауки).
The cat was grinning at him (кот ухмылялся, глядя на него).
Did I make a mistake (я сделал ошибку)?, he wondered confusedly (подумал он спутано/как сквозь сон). He was a creature of hunch (он был существом/человеком интуиции;
even — плоский, ровный; точный; точно, ровно, как раз
The cat landed on Halston's crotch, claws out, digging (кот опустился ему на промежность, выпуская когти и впиваясь /ими в тело/).
confusedly [kqn'fjHzIdlI], creature ['krJCq], overwhelming ["qVvq'welmIN]
Halston tried his hands again. They came up, trembling wildly. Half an inch. An inch. He let them fall back limply. They slipped off his lap and thudded to the Plymouth's seat. They glimmered there palely, like large tropical spiders.
The cat was grinning at him.
Did I make a mistake?, he wondered confusedly. He was a creature of hunch, and the feeling that he had made one was suddenly overwhelming. Then the cat's body tensed, and even as it leaped, Halston knew what it was going to do and he opened his mouth to scream.
The cat landed on Halston's crotch, claws out, digging.
At that moment, Halston wished he had been paralyzed (в этот момент Хэлстон пожелал /действительно/ быть парализованным = пожалел, что он и вправду не парализован). The pain was gigantic, terrible (боль была гигантская, ужасная/кошмарная). He had never suspected that there could be such pain in the world (он даже представить себе не мог, что на свете существует подобная боль;
). The cat was a spitting coiled spring of fury, clawing at his balls (кот был одним шипящим комком: «сжатой пружиной» ярости, вонзающей когти в его яйца;
murderous intent — намерение совершить убийство).