The Blood List by Sarah Naughton

Author:Sarah Naughton [Naughton, Sarah]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Juvenile Fiction, General
ISBN: 9780857078674
Google: rd-4AQAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00DJWA0FQ
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2014-02-27T00:00:00+00:00

9

Ice

A few days after the party winter fell like a hammer.

The remaining leaves dropped from the trees so quickly that in less than a week the branches were bare and black and birds fell dead from their roosts overnight. Many farmers hadn’t even begun bringing their cattle in and, on their morning rounds, discovered some of the younger animals had died from the shock of it. The old ones stood huddled together in the fields, barely discernible in clouds of their smoky breath.

A traveller on the road to Grimston was discovered, stiff as dry leather, crouching by the blackened embers of a fire.

Barnaby woke to the crunch of Juliet’s feet on the grass as she brought in the washing.

He was surprised to find himself fully clothed, then dimly remembered blundering about the room several times in the night as he grew colder and colder.

He had no intention of stripping off again to wash in the steaming bowl of water she had left. The steam was no indication that the water was hot: the air in the room was so cold that ice had formed on the inside of the window. He got up and went over to it, watching her through the intricate lacy patterns of ice on the pane. She moved stiffly, folding the laundry as if it were made of wood.

Behind her the forest was a huge black fist threatening the sky. He shivered a little at a thin breeze creeping between the glass and the frame.

The crow was back, pecking for worms, and occasionally she would turn her head to speak to it. The creature must have sensed his presence for its head suddenly jerked up and it regarded him with an eye that was, even from this distance, disconcertingly human. Its dour black garb and judgemental gaze reminded him of Abel and he had a sudden desire to break its wings.

He turned away, rubbing his face. The mirror above the wash bowl was misted but when he wiped it clear he wished he hadn’t. His face had a greyish tinge and there were shadows beneath his eyes he had never noticed before. Even his teeth looked yellow in the watery sunlight.

Though he had slept late again the sleep was fitful and plagued with anxious dreams. Abel was gone; never to return in all probability. Leaving the party directly after his humiliation he had passed the night at the Boar and taken himself straight back to Cambridge the following day, without even collecting his things from the house. Other than unpleasant reruns of the incident in his dreams, Barnaby didn’t care: he was more furious at the way Naomi had behaved afterwards.

After all that Abel had put her through she had actually helped him up from the pig fat, and tried to get the worst of the filth off him, while he snarled and slapped at her hands, finally pushing her over and ruining her dress. All the while she’d been throwing Barnaby black glances, as if it was he who had behaved badly! Though she had returned to work, they were barely speaking.

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.