The Bone Garden by Heather Kassner EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online
- Status: Available for Free Download
- Author:Heather Kassner
- Language: English
- Genre:Children’s Paranormal, Occult & Supernatural Books
- Format: PDF / EPUB
- Size: 2 MB
- Price: Free
The Underside of the Graveyard
She descended into the basement, tasked with collecting the bones. In her
hand, a single candle illuminated the way. It cast a small circle of golden
light that pressed the deepest shadows into the corners.
Not that the dark bothered Irréelle. She could see quite well in even the
blackest part of the night, and besides, she knew her way around the house
by heart, especially this area so far beneath the floorboards. She carried the
candle as much to guide her as to warm her, if only a little. Her gray smock
dress was too thin for the chill of the cellar.
At the bottom of the staircase, she cupped her hand to guard the flame.
A draft (that seemed to come from nowhere, but most certainly came from
somewhere) blew cold against her face. It whispered through the white
strands of her hair, surrounding her with the scent of earth and rot. She
wrinkled her nose. Though she was accustomed to the dank, gloomy
basement, it always smelled stronger after the rain.
Irréelle shivered in the enclosed space and reluctantly set the candle
down on a stack of wooden crates crammed full of potatoes. She crossed
the room, watching her shadow-self stretch ahead. It grew out of proportion
to her actual limbs, even taller, even slimmer, her silhouette even more ill
composed than her body.
She frowned. The shadow only reminded her of the bony points of her
elbows and knees, and worse, the uneven lengths of her arms and the
mismatched bones of her legs.
But there was nothing to be done about that except to snub her nose at
the shadow.
When she reached the far wall, she placed her hands flat against the
bricks, running them over the rough surface until her fingers found the
appropriate indentations. Then she pushed down on the grooves as hard as
she could. Within the wall, gears began to grind and click. She jumped back
and watched as a hidden door groaned open. Beyond it, a long passageway
stretched into the darkness. Irréelle could not see to the end.
She retrieved the candle and entered the tunnel. Although the ceiling
was higher here, the space crowded tighter. If she held both arms out to the
side, she would just be able to touch the walls with the very tips of her
fingers.
At eye level along one wall, a shallow metal trough ran the length of
the tunnel. She raised the candle, tipping it forward, and touched flame to
liquid. The inky black substance at the base of the well ignited. It gave off
the scent of tar as it burned, shooting forward in a line of orange flame like
a flickering path of lanterns on All Hallows’ Eve.
She followed the light. The floor of the passageway sloped downward
by the slightest degree the deeper she went underground. Here and there,
the thin ends of tree roots poked through from above. She brushed them
away as she would a cobweb, very carefully, undisturbed when they swept
through her hair or grazed her cheeks.
She hurried along. Back upstairs, and likely none too patiently, Miss
Arden Vesper was waiting for her.
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