of children about her own size. The cold hand squeezed her hand back. ‘Thank you,’ said the voice.
‘Are you a girl?’ asked Coraline. ‘Or a boy?’
There was a pause. ‘When I was small I wore skirts and my hair was long and curled,’ it said doubtfully. ‘But now that you ask, it does seem to me that one day they took my skirts and gave me britches and cut my hair.’
‘’Tain’t something we give a mind to,’ said the first of the voices.
‘A boy, perhaps, then,’ continued the one whose hand she was holding. ‘I believe I was once a boy.’ And it glowed a little more brightly in the darkness of the room behind the mirror.
‘What happened to you all?’ asked Coraline. ‘How did you come here?’
‘She left us here,’ said one of the voices. ‘She stole our hearts, and she stole our souls, and she took our lives away, and she left us here, and she forgot about us in the dark.’
‘You poor things,’ said Coraline. ‘How long have you been here?’
‘So very long a time,’ said a voice.
‘Aye. Time beyond reckoning,’ said another voice.
‘I walked through the scullery door,’ said the voice of the one that thought it might be a boy, ‘and I found myself back in the parlour. But she was waiting for me. She told me she was my other mamma, but I never saw my true mamma again.’
‘Flee!’ said the very first of the voices – another girl, Coraline fancied – ‘Flee, while there’s still air in your lungs and blood in your veins and warmth in your heart. Flee while you still have your mind and your soul.’
‘I’m not running away,’ said Coraline. ‘She has my parents. I came to get them back.’
‘Ah, but she’ll keep you here while the days turn to dust and the leaves fall and the years pass one after the next like the tick-tick-ticking of a clock.’
‘No,’ said Coraline. ‘She won’t.’
There was silence then in the room behind the mirror.
‘Peradventure,’ said a voice in the darkness, ‘if you could win your mama and your papa back from the beldam, you could also win free our souls.’
‘Has she taken them?’ asked Coraline, shocked.
‘Aye. And hidden them.’
‘That is why we could not leave here, when we died. She kept us, and she fed on us, until now we’re nothing left of ourselves, only snakeskins and spider-husks. Find our secret hearts, young mistress.’
‘And what will happen to you if I do?’ asked Coraline.
The voices said nothing.
‘And what is she going to do to me?’ she said.
The pale figures pulsed faintly; she could imagine that they were nothing more than afterimages, like the glow left by a bright light in your eyes, after the lights go out.
‘It doth not hurt,’ whispered one faint voice.
‘She will take your life and all you are and all you care’st for, and she will leave you with nothing but mist and fog. She’ll take your joy. And one day you’ll awake and your heart and your soul will have gone. A husk you’ll be, a wisp you’ll be, and a thing no more than a dream on waking, or a memory of something forgotten.’
‘Hollow,’ whispered the third voice. ‘Hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow.’
‘You must flee,’ sighed a voice, faintly.
‘I don’t think so,’ said Coraline. ‘I tried running away, and it didn’t work. She just took my parents. Can you tell me how to get out of this room?’
‘If we knew then we would tell you.’
‘Poor things,’ said Coraline to herself.
She sat down. She took off her sweater and rolled it up and put it behind her head, as a pillow. ‘She won’t keep me in the dark for ever,’ said Coraline. ‘She brought me here to play games. “Games and challenges,” the cat said. I’m not much of a challenge here in the dark.’ She tried to get comfortable, twisting and bending herself to fit the cramped space behind the mirror. Her stomach rumbled. She ate her last apple, taking the tiniest bites, making it last as long as she could. When she had
‘Are you a girl?’ asked Coraline. ‘Or a boy?’
There was a pause. ‘When I was small I wore skirts and my hair was long and curled,’ it said doubtfully. ‘But now that you ask, it does seem to me that one day they took my skirts and gave me britches and cut my hair.’
‘’Tain’t something we give a mind to,’ said the first of the voices.
‘A boy, perhaps, then,’ continued the one whose hand she was holding. ‘I believe I was once a boy.’ And it glowed a little more brightly in the darkness of the room behind the mirror.
‘What happened to you all?’ asked Coraline. ‘How did you come here?’
‘She left us here,’ said one of the voices. ‘She stole our hearts, and she stole our souls, and she took our lives away, and she left us here, and she forgot about us in the dark.’
‘You poor things,’ said Coraline. ‘How long have you been here?’
‘So very long a time,’ said a voice.
‘Aye. Time beyond reckoning,’ said another voice.
‘I walked through the scullery door,’ said the voice of the one that thought it might be a boy, ‘and I found myself back in the parlour. But she was waiting for me. She told me she was my other mamma, but I never saw my true mamma again.’
‘Flee!’ said the very first of the voices – another girl, Coraline fancied – ‘Flee, while there’s still air in your lungs and blood in your veins and warmth in your heart. Flee while you still have your mind and your soul.’
‘I’m not running away,’ said Coraline. ‘She has my parents. I came to get them back.’
‘Ah, but she’ll keep you here while the days turn to dust and the leaves fall and the years pass one after the next like the tick-tick-ticking of a clock.’
‘No,’ said Coraline. ‘She won’t.’
There was silence then in the room behind the mirror.
‘Peradventure,’ said a voice in the darkness, ‘if you could win your mama and your papa back from the beldam, you could also win free our souls.’
‘Has she taken them?’ asked Coraline, shocked.
‘Aye. And hidden them.’
‘That is why we could not leave here, when we died. She kept us, and she fed on us, until now we’re nothing left of ourselves, only snakeskins and spider-husks. Find our secret hearts, young mistress.’
‘And what will happen to you if I do?’ asked Coraline.
The voices said nothing.
‘And what is she going to do to me?’ she said.
The pale figures pulsed faintly; she could imagine that they were nothing more than afterimages, like the glow left by a bright light in your eyes, after the lights go out.
‘It doth not hurt,’ whispered one faint voice.
‘She will take your life and all you are and all you care’st for, and she will leave you with nothing but mist and fog. She’ll take your joy. And one day you’ll awake and your heart and your soul will have gone. A husk you’ll be, a wisp you’ll be, and a thing no more than a dream on waking, or a memory of something forgotten.’
‘Hollow,’ whispered the third voice. ‘Hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow, hollow.’
‘You must flee,’ sighed a voice, faintly.
‘I don’t think so,’ said Coraline. ‘I tried running away, and it didn’t work. She just took my parents. Can you tell me how to get out of this room?’
‘If we knew then we would tell you.’
‘Poor things,’ said Coraline to herself.
She sat down. She took off her sweater and rolled it up and put it behind her head, as a pillow. ‘She won’t keep me in the dark for ever,’ said Coraline. ‘She brought me here to play games. “Games and challenges,” the cat said. I’m not much of a challenge here in the dark.’ She tried to get comfortable, twisting and bending herself to fit the cramped space behind the mirror. Her stomach rumbled. She ate her last apple, taking the tiniest bites, making it last as long as she could. When she had
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