Dark Waters by Katherine Arden
Author:Katherine Arden [Arden, Katherine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2021-08-03T00:00:00+00:00
11
FOR A SECOND, everyone just stared. ThenââWho are you?â demanded the stranger, bristling at them. âThieves? Trying to wake up Tommy, are ye? Well, he wonât wake. I tried already.â He glared at the bones with bloodshot dark eyes. âUngrateful sod. After how long Iâve protected him.â
Brian, staring at the man in the doorway, found himself terribly conscious of the shadowy gaze of the skull at his back.
The stranger had enormous, bushy eyebrows that dominated a face the color of modeling clay. One shoulder was a lot higher than the other, and he was hugeâhis head thrust forward and the back of his neck brushed the lintel of the door. His beard poured down his chest in a series of bristles. Brian licked his lips. âIâm Brian,â he said. âThis is Phil, and thatâs Coco. Our boat sank.â
âSank, did it?â said the man, looking from one of them to the other. âMarooned, are you? Me anâ Tommy know all about that.â He gave the skull a conspiratorial grin that faded quickly. âOr did. Tommy wonât talk to me anymoreââ
âNo!â said Phil. âNot marooned. Weâre waiting for a boat. A boatâs coming to pick us up.â
âAnd you thought youâd wait here, did you? Thought youâd take me ânâ Tommyâs cabin for yerself, did yer?â He pulled the axe down off his shoulder and hefted it.
âNo!â chimed in Coco, almost yelping. âNo, we justâsaw it and wondered who lived here. We wondered if you could help us?â Her voice had started off confident but faded as she kept talking. The strangerâs eyes were wild in his clay-colored face.
âHelp you?â said the stranger. âWant me to axe you, do yer? Want me to axe you and leave you in here with Tommy, so that you donât have to wait? Wait like Iâm waiting? Wait for the thing in the woods?â He shuddered. Then his face softened. âPoor kids. Iâll axe you if you like.â He raised the axe. âNo bed, of course, but ye can have the floor. Tommy wonât mind. Hold still . . .â
Coco yelped, backing up. âAxe us? Noâwe donât wantâthat.â
The axe was lowered. A frown creased the strangerâs face. âWell, sure,â he said. âBetter the axe than whatâs coming for you.â
âWhatâs coming for us?â whispered Brian.
The stranger laughed at him. High, wild, shrill laughter spilled out of his mouth, rising and rising, awful, not sane. His teeth were ground down, rotted and gapped; the inside of his mouth was black. âOh, youâll find out,â he said. âI got my axe ready for anyone who wants it. Youâre not getting off, you see. Not nohow, not never. I never got off, donâtcha see. I got the boys off, but not me. Canât leave while sheâs still here. Gotta get her. Gotta do it for Tommy . . .â
âWho?â demanded Phil. âAnd youâre wrong. Weâre totally getting off this island. Weââ
He was interrupted by Coco shouting, âShut up shut up shut up!â
When Brian and Phil swung round to look at her, she said, âI think I heard something.
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