The Cockatrice Boys
“The storm still raged outside. She could see a grey whirl of snow pass the window. When she opened the door snowflakes slashed at her like razor-blades.
She flinched back inside again and shut the door. The fire glowed faintly; with blue fingers she piled on more lumps of peat then, for the first time, forced herself to look around the small, frowsty room.
The floor of beaten earth was piled several inches deep with layers of newspaper, yellow and crinkled with age and dirt. The last date was t...en years back. When Mam and Dad were still alive, thought Sauna sadly.
Then she compelled herself to look at the narrow cot-bed which stood by the wall opposite the entrance door. Something lay on it covered and wrapped in thin moth-eaten grey blankets, stiff with dirt. Something faintly moved. Sauna could see—just—the weak, flickering rise and fall of breath. Holding her own breath, battling against violent repugnance, she tiptoed over and stared at what lay there.
It seemed more like a skeleton than a human being.MoreLess
She flinched back inside again and shut the door. The fire glowed faintly; with blue fingers she piled on more lumps of peat then, for the first time, forced herself to look around the small, frowsty room.
The floor of beaten earth was piled several inches deep with layers of newspaper, yellow and crinkled with age and dirt. The last date was t...en years back. When Mam and Dad were still alive, thought Sauna sadly.
Then she compelled herself to look at the narrow cot-bed which stood by the wall opposite the entrance door. Something lay on it covered and wrapped in thin moth-eaten grey blankets, stiff with dirt. Something faintly moved. Sauna could see—just—the weak, flickering rise and fall of breath. Holding her own breath, battling against violent repugnance, she tiptoed over and stared at what lay there.
It seemed more like a skeleton than a human being.MoreLess
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