The Dark Is Rising (29 page)

As he looked down the road still, with the music singing in his ears, Will saw that out beyond Merriman the trees and the mist and the stretch of the road were shaking, shivering, in a way that he knew well. And then gradually, out there, he saw the great Doors take shape. There they stood, as he had seen them on the open hillside and in the Manor: the tall carved doors that led out of Time, standing alone and upright in the Old Way that was known now as Huntercombe Lane. Very slowly, they began to open. Somewhere behind Will the music of “Greensleeves” broke off, with a laugh and some muffled words from Paul; but there was no break in the music that was in Will's head, for now it had changed into that haunting, bell-like phrase that came always with the opening of the Doors or any great change that might alter the lives of the Old Ones. Will clenched his fists as he listened, yearning towards the sweet beckoning sound that was the space between waking and dreaming, yesterday and tomorrow, memory and imagining. It floated lovingly in his mind, then gradually grew distant, fading, as out on the Old Way Merriman's tall figure, swirled round again now by a blue cloak, passed through the open Doors. Behind him, the towering slabs of heavy carved oak swung slowly together, together, until silently they shut. Then as the last echo of the enchanted music died, they disappeared.

And in a great blaze of yellow-white light, the sun rose over Hunter's Combe and the valley of the Thames.

*  *  *

Here ends
THE DARK IS RISING
, second book of the sequence by the same name. The first book was called
OVER SEA
,
UNDER STONE
. The third book will be called
GREENWITCH
. There will be five books.

SUSAN COOPER is best known for her acclaimed sequence of fantasy novels known as The Dark Is Rising which includes
OVER SEA, UNDER STONE, THE DARK IS RISING
(1974 Newbery Honor book);
GREENWITCH
;
THE GREY KING
(1976 Newbery Award book); and
SILVER ON THE TREE
. Her novels for young readers also include
SEAWARD
and
DAWN OF FEAR
. She has written three books for younger children as well:
THE SILVER COW, THE SELKIE GIRL
, and
TAM LIN
, all illustrated by Warwick Hutton. In collaboration with actor Hume Cronyn, she wrote the Broadway play
Foxfire
and — for Jane Fonda — the television film
The Dollmaker
, for which they received the Humanitas Prize in 1985. Born in Buckinghamshire, England, Susan Cooper moved to the United States in 1963 and now lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.