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Back Timberdark Save as PDF
Chapters (44)
  1. Title Page
  2. Contents
  3. Dedication
  4. Praise for Wranglestone
  5. Epigraph
  6. Map
  7. Part I
  8. Prologue
  9. 1
  10. 2
  11. 3
  12. 4
  13. 5
  14. 6
  15. 7
  16. 8
  17. Part II
  18. 9
  19. 10
  20. 11
  21. 12
  22. 13
  23. 14
  24. 15
  25. 16
  26. 17
  27. 18
  28. 19
  29. 20
  30. 21
  31. 22
  32. 23
  33. 24
  34. 25
  35. 26
  36. Part III
  37. 27
  38. 28
  39. 29
  40. 30
  41. 31
  42. 5 Years Later
  43. Acknowledgements
  44. About the Author

Peter dug his nails into the staff. All at once, his name sounded as dumb and small as it had always done. It was like it’d never even lived inside Cooper in the first place. Fear and fury swapped places in a heartbeat. Peter looked to Becky for support. But she was no help. She nodded gently as if to tell him to be a good boy and do as he was told, and quietly turned her back on him.

The Ghost Ranger’s skull cocked to one side, seemingly intrigued by the promise of the boys’ differences, when a single gunshot ricocheted out across the lake.

Tokala walked towards the ranger, aiming the rifle his way. “You have no business being here. Who sent you?”

But the ranger was quite untroubled by Tokala’s intervention. He dropped the piece of meat on the ground and produced something else from the pocket of his gown. A black wallet bearing a silver star.

Tokala lowered the rifle. “Then, you’re a U.S. marshal. The government has sanctioned your being here.”

The ranger withdrew the wallet as if doing so was answer enough. But his attention never once left Cooper. Snow came twisting out of the night sky and Cooper briefly looked back.

“Pete. Peter, look at me.”

But Peter didn’t want to hear his name spoken tenderly any more.

“Don’t,” he said hardly mustering the words. “It doesn’t matter now anyway. We’re leaving. We’re leaving the lake for good. They’re closing all the parks and we’re never coming back. The Escape Programme is over. Sorry. Didn’t I mention that?”

Cooper’s eyes burned. Whether that was in pain at the thought of losing the lake or losing him, Peter couldn’t tell. But it barely seemed to matter now. There were secrets and secret parts of Cooper he’d decided not to share. And for the very first time, Peter realized something, that two people, no matter how much they might love one another, were only ever two separate people.

Part II

9

Snow drifted between the gap in the blinds. Peter didn’t part them to take a look outside. The plastic slats were filthy. But he could hear voices out on the street. Voices in the corridor just outside the office talking about him, too. They kept saying how someone should go in and be with him. They just didn’t know who yet.