Nightfall Read Online Free

looking for confirmation, and a second figure emerged in the doorway. This was a grown man, wearing a yellow mask emblazoned with flame-shaped metalwork.
    â€œWho are they?” whispered Francis, his face half buried in Line’s neck.
    â€œI am the Specter of Night,” the boy with the serpent eyes intoned. His deep voice was clearly forced. “And he is the Specter of Day.”
    The man in the golden mask nodded.
    â€œThe tide has turned,” continued the boy with the serpent eyes. He spoke solemnly and deliberately, enunciating every word, as if reciting the lines from a poem. “The cycle of the stars has begun. The sun is gone. Darkness shrouds the island. We are to leave.”
    Line took a step forward. “We have the envelope,” he said. “And we’re in the middle of preparing the house.” He paused. “Are you done here? Like I said, my brother is scared.”
    â€œHe
should
be scared,” the boy said. “I am the Specter of Night and there are other spirits, much more gruesome than I, waiting in the woods. My face was made in their likeness.”
    â€œIs that true?” asked Francis, looking up at his brother.
    â€œHe’s repeating the lines from an old poem,” said Line. “It’s just a silly game.”
    â€œYou should show more
respect
,” interjected the man with the golden mask. He pointed an accusing finger at Line. “Thesecustoms are sacred. Prepare your house before the furriers arrive.” He looked around. “You have work to do here,
boy
.”
    Line’s jaw tightened. He set his brother on the ground and stalked toward the door. Marin, sensing a possible confrontation, stepped in front of Line and addressed the man with the golden mask.
    â€œSpecter of Night,” she said, inclining her head respectfully. “You have something for this house, do you not?”
    The man nodded, appeased. The boy with the serpent eyes reached into his coat, pulled out a small paper bag, and gave it to Marin.
“Cover your scent.”
    Francis pushed his way toward Marin. “What is it?”
    â€œLime,” replied the boy with the serpent eyes, using his regular pitch now. “It’s what they put on dead bodies. You need to sprinkle it around the house before you leave.”
    Marin bowed. “I’m sure there are other houses awaiting your arrival.”
    â€œBlessed be the Day,” said the man with the golden mask.
    â€œSave us from the Night,” said the boy with the serpent eyes.
    And then, much to everyone’s relief, they departed.
    No one spoke at first. Francis kept his large brown eyes fixed on his brother.
    â€œWas that the silversmith?” asked Marin, finally breaking the silence.
    â€œIt sounded like him. He’s a friend of my
uncle’s
,” Line said with a roll of his eyes.
    Line sent Francis to play with his soldiers, then returned to the kitchen. Eager for something to do, Marin began to clean,starting with wiping down the windows. As she rubbed a cloth across the dusty panes of glass, she thought again of the hag in the ocean.
The houses must be without stain.
    Line cooked up a generous amount of dandelion greens, sprinkling in salt, pepper, and dried cod. When the food was ready, he served three large plates and they sat at a rickety wooden table. They were hungry, and ate in silence.
    Francis finished first. He dashed to a worn-down armchair and picked up an oversize leather-bound book embossed with flowing gold script across its cover:
Tales of the Desert Lands
. It told the story of a little girl named Shiloh who was born along the equator, where the sun rose and set in a shorter cycle: seventy-two hours of Day followed by seventy-two hours of Night. Children from all of the northern islands were given this book, in order to prepare them for life in the desert. Once there, the islanders would spend fourteen years in a small city of sandstone buildings,