Dark Earth by Rebecca Stott

Author:Rebecca Stott
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Published: 2022-04-29T21:51:47+00:00

Now Blue is climbing up onto the old stone trough, to see if they can get out through one of the windows. She is putting her face up close to a crack she’s found in the boards.

‘Can you see anything?’ Isla asks.

‘There’s some kind of a garden out there. And on the other side of the garden, there’s this long stone building with a porch. Lanterns hanging all along the edge of it. Rugs and stools scattered about. Looms up against the walls. Loom weights hanging from the rafters. There’s a row of Sun King carved heads arranged on the top of pots all along the edge of the porch. They’re all upside down. There’s a white cat curled up asleep on the steps. It’s twitching its tail.’

‘What about people? Can you see any people?’

‘No people.’

Blue climbs down again and finds a metal pole to lever off a piece of the boarding. Once she is back up on the trough, she smashes the pane of glass on the other side, knocking out the whole panel. Isla winces at the clatter she’s making.

‘Can’t you be quieter? They might hear you.’

‘You ready?’ Blue asks, hauling Isla to her feet, hitching up her tunic and tucking it into her belt. ‘I’ll go first. It’s not far to jump. Just climb up onto this crate first. Then onto the trough. Slowly. Here. I’ll help you. Don’t go falling down again. And watch your ankles when you jump.’

Isla follows Blue, landing in a patch of nettles. Her sister is already down on all fours, slipping through the long grasses ahead towards the porch, keeping low and out of sight. Isla watches her creep up the steps on her hands and knees. There’s cuckoo spittle clinging to her legs. The white cat lifts its head, blinks and yawns. Now Blue is edging through the leaned-up looms, under the stone loom weights swinging in the sun.

The bright sunlight is making Isla dizzy. By the time she lowers herself down onto one of the piles of bedding on the porch, she can feel sleep rising up on her again like water across the mudflats. There is no stopping it.

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