The Color of Darkness by Ruth Hatfield

Author:Ruth Hatfield
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781627790024
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)

CHAPTER 16

DOWN TO EARTH

As Cath fell out of Chromos, Zadoc’s legs hit the ground and crumpled, and his nose banged against a pile of bricks so that his whole body jerked in a spasm of surprise. Cath was thrown into a mess of wire. It snaked into the holes in her sweater and pulled at her as she sat up, seeing the last fragments of Zadoc’s hooves dissolve into the air as he leapt straight back into the place he belonged.

Where was Barshin?

The hare was close by, trying to find somewhere solid to put his feet in a mound of broken wood. Deftly avoiding rusty nails and splinters, he managed to balance on the end of a plank and stood trembling, the wood shuddering underneath him.

Cath reached out a hand to steady the plank, sending nervous Barshin leaping into the air. “What was that? How did we get back?”

“He pushed us into a gray patch. We fell out of Chromos.”

Cath remembered Zadoc’s words, and panic leapt into her throat. “Did Zadoc die? He said he’d die if he went down one of those patches. He can’t die!”

“Oh no.” Barshin settled himself uneasily back on the plank. “I think it was quite an old patch—the colors were slow. He’ll only have started to die. It will take him a while to finish.”

A swell of sickness rose up Cath’s throat, and she tasted sour bile. It was just hunger, she told herself, and closed her eyes to make it go away. Barshin didn’t sound that sure, really. He was probably being dramatic. Zadoc would be fine.

When she opened her eyes, she saw that they were in some kind of junkyard, piles of broken stuff all strangled with grass and rubbish. Away to the right there was a fence with barbed wire along the top. The fence was old and sagging, but the barbs were shiny and stretched taut between the posts.

Then Cath knew where she was—the allotments behind the Sawtry, where the old coffin dodgers spent their lives shaking their fists at kids who got through the fences and waged war on their vegetables. Cath had stomped on a rotten old pumpkin here once—her foot had squelched into a pile of smelly mush that stank like ripe old fish guts.

She shook herself off and got up, trying to put away the thoughts of Zadoc. “Can’t we—?”

“Oi!” came a shout from behind her. “Oi! You! Ruddy kids! Just you wait…”

Cath ran. There was a gap in the fence at the bottom corner where the plots were overgrown. She dodged around the edge of the rough scrub that passed for the gardens of the Sawtry and ran on, liking the way her legs lifted and her feet touched only lightly on the ground, as though she were flying, just touching the earth to remember that it was still there.

“We’ve got to get back to Danny!” Barshin loped easily beside her, bouncing smoothly over the wasteland. “We’ve got to save Tom’s sand. You’ve seen for

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