Just then a door opened, echoing loudly in the empty hall. She turned to her right and began to walk. There were posters on the walls exhorting students to SHOW SCHOOL SPIRIT! READ THE RECORD! JOIN THE FFA! and other more-or-less comprehensible advertisements, but nothing to tell her where to go. Unconsciously flexing her fingers as if about to attack a keypad, Rose took a deep breath, pulled open the heavy door, and stepped into a long, wide hall lined with ranks of tall metal lockers. She didn’t know what happened to kids who turned up late for school in America, but she wasn’t a coward. Rose straightened her shoulders, ignored the trembling at the back of her knees, and marched up to the entrance. For a moment she wished she’d stayed in bed, or at least let Gran come in with her, as she’d offered. She was one week and twenty minutes late for the start of school. She was standing in front of Livingston-Duckett High School, all pale concrete and glass, almost hurtful to look at in the bright, hot September sunshine.

Pretend you’re on-line, Rose advised herself. To Emily’s wonderful grannies, Betty Tuttle and Dolly Murray. To Roy and Jean Murray, remembering the night we watched The Masquers at “The Rowans” Panther in Argyll was published by Mammoth in 1996. Since then her published work has included science fiction, horror and non-fiction. She began writing at an early age, and her first short stories were published while she was still at university. After ten years in London, she now lives on the west coast of Scotland with her husband, their daughter, and various animals.

Lisa Tuttle grew up in Texas but has spent most of her adult life in Great Britain. You can find this and many other great books at: Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.Ī CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library The moral right of Lisa Tuttle to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.Īll rights reserved. First published in Great Britain in 1998 by Mammoth

The Silver Bough by Lisa Tuttle