Darkwood Read Free Page B

Aunt P. Hurry!”

    Annie opened the chest.
I’ll only take what I need. Only a few, and only the darkest
. But there was nothing inside. Not one stone. She looked around the spare cottage in disbelief. Had he spent it all? There had been enough stone in that chest to buy a farm like Uncle Jock’s twice over.
    There was nothing else of value in the cottage. Nothing, unless—did she dare?
    Every night before bed Uncle Jock dropped his clothes on the floor and put on his long underwear, and every night Aunt Prim picked up his clothes and put them away in the dresser.
    After the man left, Uncle Jock had poured himself another drink and patted his knee.
    â€œCome here, Prim, and have a look at this.” He held the white ringstone up to the light. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
    Aunt Prim put aside her sewing, but she sat on the bench, not his lap.
    â€œIt’s so beautiful!” She smiled, and almost looked beautiful herself. “It’s how I imagine a star might look. A fallen star.”She reached for the ringstone but Uncle Jock raised it over his head.
    â€œTut, tut, Primmy. This is my special burden.”
    Aunt Prim scowled. “Is it from the Drop?”
    â€œCould be. Awfully fine for the Drop, though. Awfully fine.”
    â€œWhat did he mean about whetting your appetite, Jock? This was to be the end of it.”
    â€œWe’ll be free, my wild Primrose. We’ll be free.” Then he kissed not his wife but the stone, and tucked it into his front shirt pocket.
    It would be easy enough for Annie to get his shirt from the dresser and the white ringstone from the pocket of his shirt, except for one thing. Uncle Jock had made the dresser, and Uncle Jock was as lazy about carpentry as everything else. The drawers squeaked.
    He’s had five cups of whisky at least. Five cups! That should keep him snoring
. Still, Annie’s heart beat faster as she eased open the first drawer. Socks and underpants. She tried the second. There it was, neatly folded but still smelling sourly of her uncle.
    Aunt Prim was right. The white ringstone was as beautiful as a star, so clear and brilliant she almost expected it to give off heat.
    The stone in her pocket made her feel bold and she shut the drawer too fast. The drawer jammed, the dresser shuddered, and
The Book of Household Virtues
toppled to its side with a bang.
    Uncle Jock was on his feet in an instant. “Kinderstalk!” he roared, aiming his rifle at the dresser. When he saw Annie standing there he dropped the muzzle.
    â€œYou?”
    Annie looked at her uncle and then at the book. Her mind said,
What if you miss
? But her hand knew what to do. The book struck him full in the face. He yowled and doubled over. Annie darted past him to the bed and thrust her hand between the mattress and the frame. Her eyes found Aunt Prim’s stricken face, then she was across the room and up the ladder to the garret.
    Annie half kicked, half dragged the heavy old mattress over the hatch, then stood on it for good measure. But what now? Already Uncle Jock was pounding on the door, lifting the mattress higher with each blow. One hand appeared through the hole. He heaved a shoulder through, then reached around and groped for Annie’s ankle. She cried out and leapt clear of him, but soon his head and torso were visible. Annie looked desperately from her uncle to the window and back again.
    â€œDon’t you do it, girl!” Uncle Jock shouted. The nose of his rifle emerged through the trapdoor. She had no pistol, no knife, nothing.
    Her uncle must have had the same thought, because he began to laugh. Blood trickled from a cut over his eye.
    â€œYou’re caught now, kitten.”
    Annie snatched up her cloak and lantern, stuffed her feet into her boots, and threw open the window. Outside, though she couldn’t see it, was the steeply slanting roof of thepassageway that led to the privy. Prudence streaked out