Miss Forcible threw the knife at the balloon. It popped loudly, and the knife stuck into the board just above Coralineʼs head and twanged there. Coraline breathed out.
The dogs went wild.
Miss Spink gave Coraline a very small box of chocolates and thanked her for being such a good sport. Coraline went back to her seat.
“You were very good,” said the little dog.
“Thank you,” said Coraline.
Miss Forcible and Miss Spink began juggling with huge wooden clubs. Coraline opened the box of chocolates. The dog looked at them longingly.
“Would you like one?” she asked the little dog.
“Yes, please,” whispered the dog. “Only not toffee ones. They make me drool.”
“I thought chocolates werenʼt very good for dogs,” she said, remembering something Miss Forcible had once told her.
“Maybe where you come from,” whispered the little dog. “Here, itʼs all we eat.”
Coraline couldnʼt see what the chocolates were, in the dark. She took an experimental bite of one which turned out to be coconut. Coraline didnʼt like coconut. She gave it to the dog.
“Thank you,” said the dog.
“Youʼre welcome,” said Coraline.
Miss Forcible and Miss Spink were doing some acting. Miss Forcible was sitting on a stepladder, and Miss Spink was standing at the bottom.
“Whatʼs in a name?” asked Miss Forcible. “That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”
“Have you got any more chocolates?” said the dog.
Coraline gave the dog another chocolate.
“I know not how to tell thee who I am,” said Miss Spink to Miss Forcible.
“This bit finishes soon,” whispered the dog. “Then they start folk dancing.”
“How long does this go on for?” asked Coraline. “The theater?”
“All the time,” said the dog. “For ever and always.”
“Here,” said Coraline. “Keep the chocolates.”
“Thank you,” said the dog. Coraline stood up.
“See you soon,” said the dog.
“Bye,” said Coraline. She walked out of the theater and back into the garden. She had to blink her eyes at the daylight.
Her other parents were waiting for her in the garden, standing side by side. They were smiling.
“Did you have a nice time?” asked her other mother.
“It was interesting,” said Coraline.
The three of them walked back up to Coralineʼs other house together. Coralineʼs other mother stroked Coralineʼs hair with her long white fingers. Coraline shook her head. “Donʼt do that,” said Coraline.
Her other mother took her hand away.
“So,” said her other father. “Do you like it here?”
“I suppose,” said Coraline. “Itʼs much more interesting than at home.”
They went inside.
“Iʼm glad you like it,” said Coralineʼs mother. “Because weʼd like to think that this is your home. You can stay here for ever and always. If you want to.”
“Hmm,” said Coraline. She put her hand in her pockets, and thought about it. Her hand touched the stone that the real Misses Spink and Forcible had given her the day before, the stone with the hole in it.
“If you want to stay,” said her other father, “thereʼs only one little thing weʼll have to do, so you can stay here for ever and always.”
They went into the kitchen. On a china plate on the kitchen table was a spool of black cotton, and a long silver needle, and, beside them, two large black buttons.
“I donʼt think so,” said Coraline.
“Oh, but we want you to,” said her other mother. “We want you to stay. And itʼs just a little thing.”
“It wonʼt hurt,” said her other father.
Coraline knew that when grown-ups told you something wouldnʼt hurt it almost always did. She shook her head.
Her other mother smiled brightly and the hair on her head drifted like plants under the sea. “We only want whatʼs best for you,” she said.
She put her hand on Coralineʼs shoulder. Coraline backed away.
“Iʼm going now,” said Coraline. She put her hands in her pockets. Her fingers closed around the stone with the hole in it.
Her other motherʼs hand scuttled off Coralineʼs shoulder like a frightened spider.
“If thatʼs what you want,” she said.
“Yes,” said Coraline.
“Weʼll see you soon, though,” said her other father. “When you come back.”
“Um,” said Coraline.
“And then weʼll all be together as one big happy family,” said her other mother. “For ever and always.”
Coraline backed away. She turned and hurried into the drawing room and pulled open the door in the corner. There was no brick wall there now—just darkness, a night-black underground darkness that seemed as if things in it might be moving.
Coraline hesitated. She turned back. Her other mother and her other father were walking toward her, holding hands. They were looking at her with their black button eyes. Or at least she thought they were looking at her. She couldnʼt be sure.
Her other mother reached out her free hand and beckoned, gently, with one white finger. Her pale lips mouthed, “Come back soon,” although she said nothing aloud.
Coraline took a deep breath and stepped into the darkness, where strange voices whispered and distant winds howled. She became certain that there was something in the dark behind her: something very old and very slow. Her heart beat so hard and so loudly she was scared it would burst out of her chest. She closed her eyes against the dark.
Eventually she bumped into something, and opened her eyes, startled. She had bumped into an armchair, in her drawing room.
The open doorway behind her was blocked by rough red bricks.
She was home.
V
Coraline locked the door of the drawing room with the cold black key.
She went back into the kitchen and climbed onto a chair. She tried to put the bunch of keys back on top of the doorframe again. She tried four or five times before she was forced to accept that she just wasnʼt big enough, and she put them down on the counter next to the door.
Her mother still hadnʼt returned from her shopping expedition.
Coraline went to the freezer and took out the spare loaf of frozen bread in the bottom compartment. She made herself some toast, with jam and peanut butter. She drank a glass of water.
She waited for her parents to come back.
When it began to get dark, Coraline microwaved herself a frozen pizza.
Then Coraline watched television. She wondered why grown-ups gave themselves all the good programs, with all the shouting and running around in.
After a while she started yawning. Then she undressed, brushed her teeth, and put herself to bed.
In the morning she went into her parentsʼ room, but their bed hadnʼt been slept in, and they werenʼt around. She ate canned spaghetti for breakfast.
For lunch she had a block of cooking chocolate and an apple. The apple was yellow and slightly shriveled, but it tasted sweet and good.
For tea she went down to see Misses Spink and Forcible. She had three digestive biscuits, a glass of limeade, and a cup of weak tea. The limeade was very interesting. It didnʼt taste anything like limes. It tasted bright green and vaguely chemical. Coraline liked it enormously. She wished they had it at home.
Примечания
1
Highland terrier – Хайленд терьер (порода собак, выведенная в Шотландии)
2
to tread the boards – играть на сцене
3
fairy ring – «Ведьмин круг» (равномерно разросшаяся грибница, образующая на поверхности круг из грибов)
4
Itʼs bucketing down. – Льет, как из ведра
5
itʼll bring on her shingles – это вызовет у нее лишай
6
knitting hard – увлеченно вязала
7
by the by – между прочим