New Home in the Countryside: a Coraline story

Chapter Ten: The Escape

"What?" Christine asked.

She was confused. Jake shrugged as Coraline walked at the door.

"Oh... the Jake that talks..." Coraline said.

Jake nodded. Christine looked back at Coraline, her eyes wide in surprise.

"And those old dolls, the dolls that you stole those dolls, didn't you?" Christine said.

Jake nodded, his face expressionless. "Yes, I did but they looked just like you. And I figured-"

"They both look just like us, Jake! It used to look like this pioneer girl; then Huck Finn junior; then it was this Little Rascals chick with all these ribbons, and braids, and...." Coraline's voice trails off.

Then, snaps her fingers. "Grandma's missing sister!" she said.

He nods, one brow raising up.

"I think we just met her. C'mon!" Coraline pulls him inside and drags him down the hall.

"Uh, listen, I-I-I'm really not supposed to- whoa!" He said.

April walks him to the little door in the corner wall and points. Jake looks around anxiously, fearful and curious to be in his grandmother's old house. "She is in there."

Reluctantly, he bends down and reaches for the key in the lock. "C-can you – can you unlock it?" She grabs his hand and stops him.

"Not in a million years. But it wouldn't matter. She can't escape without her eyes. None of the ghosts can." Coraline said.

Jake felt a chill run down his spine as he stared at her, nodding his head as if he understands. He changes the subject.

"Huhhhhhh... So, uh, I really need to get those dolls?" He asked.

"Great! we'd love to get rid of them!" Coraline exhales in a huff. She grabs his sleeve, and leads him from the room. The dolls are not on the bed, not on the chairs or moving boxes. "Where are you hiding, you little monsters?!"

"You and Grandma have been talking?" Jake asked.

"The dolls are her spies! It's how she watches you, and finds out what's wrong with your life!" Coraline said.

"The doll...is my Gramma's...spy?" He asked.

"NO! Winifred or the Beldam! She's got this whole world where everything's better, the food, the garden, the—" she leans in on him. "The neighbors. But it's all a trap!"

Jake backed away slowly, cups a hand to his ear by the window.

"Yeah... Uh, I think I heard someone calling me, Coraline." He said.

"Don't believe me?... You can ask the cat!" Coraline snapped. "The cat...?"

He moves around her towards the door, turns to leave. "I-I'll just tell Gramma that you couldn't find the doll-- OW!"

A blue boot thrown by Coraline, "You're not listening to me!" She snapped.

"That's ... cause ... you're CRAZY!" He flees as the second boot flies past.

Coraline growls, and gives chase. She grabs her boots from the floor, and chases him down the stairs in her socks. The door flies open and Wybie runs down the front steps to his electric bike. Coraline races down after him. "You creep!"

"Crazy!!" He runs his bike towards the fallen tree, hops on and pedals off. As Coraline hurls a boot at him, he guns the motor and escapes down a side path past the driveway.

"Crazy?... You're the jerk-wad that gave me the dolls!" She shouted.

"Coraline." Andrea asked. "What are you doing?"

"That creep gave me the dolls!" Coraline yelled.

"What are you talking about?" Andrea asked.

Coraline tried to explain what had happened.

"So the dolls are her spies." Andrea shook her head in disbelief.

Coraline was taken aback by Andrea's lack of reaction.

"You don't believe me!" she cried.

Andrea let out a sigh. "No, Coraline. After this, no one is going to believe us," she said, her words heavy with resignation.

"Yeah!" Coraline's heart sank.

"Hey, I called the bus, they told us that Mom was never on the bus." Nancy said.

"What."Andrea yelled.

Coraline shook her head. "Mom is gone."

So Andrea got her phone and speed dial a number. "Pick it up, Mom, pick it up."

"Hi!" Lorraine said.

"Mom! Whe-" Andrea said.

"I'm digging in my garden right now, but leave a message and I'll get right back to you." She dejectedly looks at the phone, then snaps it shut.

"Where have you gone?" Andrea said.

Miss Spink is knitting a sweater with wings for a worried looking Angus, one of the Scotties, who sits on her lap.

Allison sips tea, anxious, the other two dogs beside her. "Uh... don't you only make wings for the ... dead ones?" April asked.

"Just looking ahead dear... Angus hasn't been feeling very well of late." Miss Spink said. "Anne? Aren't you getting ready?"

Miss Forcible asked. "We've lost our ride, Miriam. The girls say their mother has vanished, quite completely."

Miss Forcible tightens her elaborate corset, using pulleys and hooks. "What?! We've waited months for those tickets." One of the corset hooks flies up and pulls off her wig.

She ignores it and comes over to address Spink. "I suppose we could walk." Miss Spink said.

"With your gamy legs? It's nearly two miles to the theater!" Miss Forcible said.

Allison clears her throat, frustrated.

"Oh, oh yes ... your missing Mum. We know just what you need. Miriam, get...that's right." Miss Spink said.

Miss Forcible grabs another dish of old stuck-together candy and puts it in front of Allison. "How is a hundred-year-old candy going to help—" Miss Spink suddenly raises her knitting needles.

The girls yelps, hands up in defense.

But it's candies she attacks, sending sticky chips flying, making loud grunts. She pulls a large, three-sided candy with a hole from the rubble and passes it to Allison. "There you go, sweetie." Allison studies the odd candy.

"What's it for?" She holds it up, looks through its hole at the ladies.

"Well, it might help. They're good for bad things, sometimes." Miss Spink said.

"No, they're good for lost things." Miss Forcible said

"It's a bad thing, Miriam." Miss Spink added.

"Lost things, April." Miss Forcible added.

"Bad."

"Lost."

"Bad things!"

"Lost."

"Bad"

"LOST!"

Allison and April get up, take the odd piece of candy and leaves, and they exchange a puzzled glance. They had no idea what to make of the strange candy or the cryptic instructions from Miss Spink and Miss Forcible. But they knew they had to find their mother, and they were willing to try anything.

They wandered through the house, their minds racing. Where could their mother be?