Silence and Stone by Kathleen Duey

Author:Kathleen Duey
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Aladdin
Published: 2010-09-27T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter

7

Alida knocked softly the first time.

No one called out. No one came to the door.

She knocked again. Then she stepped back, waiting, holding her breath until she had to let it out.

Alida walked up to the door again, and this time she knocked as hard as she could—but it made no difference.

No one came.

Maybe Ruth Oakes was in Market Square, buying food with everyone else in Ash Grove.

Alida sat on the porch for a while.

Then she walked around the cottage.

The backyard was as neat and pretty as the front yard. There was a beautiful garden, full of flowers. Beyond it were a tidy barn, a wagon shed, and what looked like a doghouse.

That made Alida uneasy—faeries were not usually fond of dogs.

Dogs ran through the forest barking.

They scared the deer and the birds. And they trampled flowers.

Grown-up faeries tricked dogs.

She had seen her mother magically lift a startled dog—moving it back a long way, then letting it sink gently to the ground.

It had run off, barking.

Alida remembered her father lifting heavy field stones without touching them too.

But she didn’t know how to work magic yet, so she just stood still, watching the little door of the doghouse, ready to run since she couldn’t fly.

But no dog came out of the little house.

Once she was sure she was alone, Alida wandered through the garden.

There were wood’s herbs planted everywhere. Meadow flowers had been mixed with roses and tall purple irises.

Alida stared at the roses.

There were a hundred blooms, at least.

She couldn’t see anyone, but she wanted to make sure.

“Hello?” she said, raising her voice. “Ruth Oakes? Are you here? Is anyone here?”

There was no answer.

Alida glanced at the house, the barn, and the doghouse. Then she plucked a single rose.

She ate it as fast as she could. When there was still no sound from inside, she picked another bloom and ate it, too.

Then a third.

And a fourth.

She tried to make the fifth one drop into her hand without touching it.

She couldn’t.

But maybe she would be able to learn magic soon.

By the barn, she found a rain barrel. She dipped up rainwater in her hands and drank as much as she could hold.

Then she walked back to the front porch.

There was nothing left to do but wait.

She sat down on the steps, facing the road.

The sun was going down by the time Alida finally heard the squeaking of wooden wagon wheels.

She hid, watching.

A sleek bay horse pulled the wagon around the corner and down the path that led to the barn behind the house.

Alida could hear women’s voices, then a dog barking, then silence. She waited, scared, hoping the dog wouldn’t come running back around the house on its own.

It didn’t.

And when she heard two women laughing, her fear eased.

Their voices got a little louder, then Alida heard the sound of the back door opening and closing.

She waited.

Before long she saw lantern light coming from the windows. Then she gathered her courage and knocked on the door.

The voices stilled.

There was a silence, then a sliding sound, and the door opened a little.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.