Silence.
I carry Barney to the bottom of the broken ladder. See how far it is to get onto the first rung.
I look up at the locked trapdoor.
Soft footsteps cross the floor above me, and stop.
The sound of a key, turning.
Acknowledgements
I’d like to thank my agent Lucy Luck, for her editorial advice through early drafts, and her constant support and wisdom.
My talented editors, Jocasta Hamilton and Suzie Dooré; Carole Welch and the team at Sceptre.
With thanks to the hardworking team at HarperCollins, Canada: Jennifer Lambert, Iris Tupholme and Jane Warren.
The staff at Sussex University CCE: Mark Slater, Susannah Waters, and especially Catherine Smith for always being right and Anna McGrail for her invaluable questions and for demanding a weekly word count. My writing group: Anna, Gra, Lucy, Noel and Woody for their feedback and friendship, David for his expert advice and kindness.
Alan for his knowledge of birds and plants, and Anne for not reading the ending first.
Andy, Ben, Caspian, Fiona, Kate A, Kirsty, Orlando, Rachel, Sophie and Tom for reading early drafts.
Ros, for her help with echoes.
Rosie and Sue, for their faith in dreams.
Jac, for believing in hard work and magic.
Paul and Sarah for cake, hugs and emergency coffee.
And Kakey, for reminding me ‘it’s time to take the red shoes off; stop writing and get some sleep’, and then giving me a pair of bright red shoes for Christmas.
About the Author
JESS RICHARDS
was born in Wales in 1972 and grew up too fast in southwest Scotland, where she lived with her English parents and three brothers, watching the ferry boats going to and from Northern Ireland. At age twenty-one, she earned a first-class degree from Dartington College of Arts. After brief stints busking and carrying on in both Leeds and London, she moved to Brighton, where she has lived and worked ever since. She has recently studied creative writing at the University of Sussex and has had a number of short stories published. Visit her online at www.jessrichards.com.
Visit www.AuthorTracker.com for exclusive information on your favorite HarperCollins authors.
Credits
Cover art: Clayton Bastiani / Trevillion Images
Cover design: Lisa Bettencourt
Copyright
Snake Ropes
Copyright © Jess Richards 2012
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © APRIL 2012 ISBN: 978-1-443-41016-8
Published by HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
FIRST CANADIAN EDITION
All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd
2 Bloor Street East, 20th Floor
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M4W 1A8
www.harpercollins.ca
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication information is available upon request
ISBN 978-1-44341-014-4
WEB 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
About the Publisher
Australia
HarperCollins Publishers (Australia) Pty. Ltd.
25 Ryde Road (PO Box 321)
Pymble, NSW 2073, Australia
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com.au
Canada
HarperCollins Canada
2 Bloor Street East - 20th Floor
Toronto, ON, M4W 1A8, Canada
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.ca
New Zealand
HarperCollinsPublishers (New Zealand) Limited
P.O. Box 1 Auckland,
New Zealand
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.nz
United Kingdom
HarperCollins Publishers Ltd.
77-85 Fulham Palace Road
London, W6 8JB, UK
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.co.uk
United States
HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
10 East 53rd Street
New York, NY 10022
http://www.harpercollinsebooks.com
Snake Ropes Page 29