Runelight
Page 51
‘How long do we have?’ she said.
‘Till what?’
‘Till it happens again.’
He shrugged. ‘Who knows how these things happen? The Worlds have ended so often before. So many gods have been and gone. Order and Chaos have their tides, just as the One Sea ebbs and flows. We may have hundreds of years before Chaos bursts its banks again. What the Hel are you grinning at now?’
She smiled. ‘It’s just that it sounds kind of funny, with you still looking so like Perth and sounding so like One-Eye.’
He shrugged again. ‘Maddy, we’re gods. We have to be all things to all men. I’m Odin, Allfather, son of Bór. I’m also the Rider of Carnage. To you I was One-Eye. Then I was Perth. Now I’m all those things, and more.’
Maddy sighed and closed her eyes. The sun was warm on her eyelids. It felt so safe, so familiar. She might have been on Red Horse Hill, lying on her back in the grass, chewing a stem of clover and listening to the crickets sing. Instead she was miles above the Worlds in a Cradle built from runelight and dreams.
‘We’ve come a long way from Red Horse Hill,’ she said, unaware that she’d spoken aloud.
‘Not as far as you’d think,’ he said. ‘Remember, you brought it with you.’
Maddy smiled. ‘So I did. Want to come with me? Smoke a pipe? Watch the clouds from the Horse’s Eye? Dream a little dream? Waste time? Play cards? Or doesn’t Allfather do those things?’ she said, a little wistfully.
‘Maddy, I’m sorry. I don’t think he does. Allfather has work to do. But as for Perth—’ He broke off and gave her a flash of his salesman’s smile. ‘Perth is never too busy to dream. Perth never turns down a game of chance. And as for wasting time with you – what better way to waste it?’
They took the long way to Red Horse Hill. By then the light was almost gone. A band of luminescence had appeared against the western sky. It shimmered, moving gently, like the sails of a giant ship, shifting from green, to pink, to blue as it sailed across the Firmament.
‘Northlights,’ Maddy said. ‘I’ve always wanted to see them. You know, they’re supposed to bring good luck?’
‘Bring it on,’ said Perth.
Acknowledgements
Not all heroes get a chapter – or even a verse – in a story. And yet, without them, a story is like a stage without lighting or sound – just a group of characters, talking to themselves in the dark. So, thank you to all the engineers; to Philippa Dickinson and Sue Cook, my editors, for their patience and precision; to Jennifer Luithlen, my agent; to Anne Riley, my P.A.; to Mark Richards who looks after my website; to copy-editor Sophie Nelson and jacket designer Dominica Clements. Thanks also to Anouchka, for knowing when to turn on the lights; to Kevin for building the scenery; and to all the reps and retailers who work so hard (and for little reward) to keep my books on the shelves. Special thanks too to Wardrobe Mistress Becca Marovolo, who knows and loves these characters almost as well as I do.
Most of all, thanks to you, the audience, for your applause, your affection and your continued ability to take these books on trust, one by one.
About the Author
JOANNE HARRIS is the author of the Whitbread-shortlisted Chocolat (made into an Oscar-nominated film) and a number of other bestselling titles for adult readers. Her books are published in over forty countries and have won a number of British and international awards.
Joanne’s list of hobbies in Who’s Who includes ‘mooching, lounging, strutting and strumming’.
She plays bass guitar in a band first formed when she was sixteen, is currently studying Old Norse, and lives with her husband and daughter in Yorkshire, about fifteen miles from the place where she was born.
Runelight is the second title to feature the Norse gods; the first, Runemarks, was Joanne’s debut fantasy novel published by Random House.
‘Glorious and complex’ Publishers Weekly
‘Breathes life into the Norse gods’ Carousel
For further information about the author, see:
www.joanne-harris.co.uk
www.randomhouse.co.uk
Also available by Joanne Harris,
and published by Random House Children’s Books:
RUNEMARKS
‘A mighty feat of storytelling’ Books for Keeps
‘Inventive, moving and witty’ TES
Novels by Joanne Harris,
published by Corgi Books for adult readers:
BLACKBERRY WINE
blueeyedboy
CHOCOLAT
COASTLINERS
FIVE QUARTERS OF THE ORANGE
GENTLEMEN & PLAYERS
HOLY FOOLS
JIGS & REELS
SLEEP, PALE SISTER
THE EVIL SEED
THE LOLLIPOP SHOES
www.joanne-harris.co.uk
RUNELIGHT
AN RHCB DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 446 45205 9
Published in Great Britain by RHCB Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Books
A Random House Group Company
This ebook edition published 2011
Copyright © Frogspawn Ltd, 2011
Cover horse and landscape artwork copyright © Emile Facey, 2011
Map illustrations copyright © David Wyatt, 2011
Rune illustrations copyright © Dawn Toshack, 2011
First published in Great Britain by Doubleday, 2011
The right of Joanne Harris to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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