Coraline Read Online Free PDF Page B

Forcible was sitting on a stepladder, and Miss Spink was standing at the bottom.
    ‘What’s 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 theatre?’
    ‘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 theatre 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 Coraline’s other house together. Coraline’s other mother stroked Coraline’s hair with her long white fingers. Coraline shook her head.
    ‘Don’t 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. ‘It’s much more interesting than at home.’
    They went inside.
    ‘I’m glad you like it,’ said Coraline’s other mother. ‘Because we’d 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 hands in her pockets and thought about it. Her fingertips 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. ‘There’s only one little thing we’ll 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 were a spool of black cotton and a long silver needle and, beside them, two large black buttons.
    ‘I don’t think so,’ said Coraline.
    ‘Oh, but we want you to,’ said her other mother. ‘We want you to stay. And it’s just a little thing.’
    ‘It won’t hurt,’ said her other father.
    Coraline knew that when grown-ups told you something wouldn’t 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 what’s best for you,’ she said.
    She put her hand on Coraline’s shoulder. Coraline backed away.
    ‘I’m going now,’ said Coraline. She put her hands back in her pockets. Her fingers closed around the stone with the hole in.
    Her other mother’s hand scuttled off Coraline’s shoulder like a frightened spider.
    ‘If that’s what you want,’ she said.
    ‘Yes,’ said Coraline.
    ‘We’ll see you soon, though,’ said her other father. ‘When you come back.’
    ‘Um,’ said Coraline.
    ‘And then we’ll 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 towards her, holding hands. They were looking at her with their black-button eyes. Or at least she thought they were looking at her. She couldn’t 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.